Hey Besties! At the heart of this site, is bringing you inspiring stories of individuals whose lives have been enriched by baking and following their passions. And today’s baker is no exception! I’m excited to introduce you to Featured Baker Cathy Doner, of C’Sweets, in Enfield, Connecticut. After 37 years in banking, Cathy took a leap of faith and left banking behind for baking and has never looked back! Hear how she has built a successful home bakery and what she has in store next! She’s embraced a life-by-design approach and is so grateful for the business and the community that supports her. If you’ve ever wanted to follow a passion, let Cathy serve as your inspiration and motivation!
Taking a Leap
Cathy fell in love with baking when creating the shaped Wilton cakes in her 20’s. And she continued baking, while transitioning to decorated sugar cookies years later. But her primary role was mom to 2 (now adult) kids, homemaker and the banking industry. She’d bring in cookies and other goodies for her coworkers who always said, “You should sell these!” So, when her position was eliminated in 2018, she considered taking another banking role, or following her passion. With a strong support system of family and friends, Cathy took the leap of faith with a passion to succeed.
Who Wants To Bank When YOu Can Bake?
Cathy’s position was eliminated in September 2018, and would you believe, Connecticut passed their first cottage food law, the next month! By January 2019, C’Sweets was born and taking orders for custom decorated sugar cookies!
When Covid hit in her second year, she took the time to really focus on her skills, soaking up online tutorials and incorporating new techniques. She is completely self-taught, by way of online information.
Cathy has one butter cookie recipe and one royal icing recipe she uses and her customers LOVE! Cathy now receives up to 5 inquires a day for her delicious and beautiful custom cookies! “I’m blessed to have too many customers,” Cathy shared. And she maxes out a week at 12 dozen cookies., which is a lot of custom decorated cookies!
Cathy Brings the Party!
On top of her custom cookie decorating, Cathy has also created an amazing mobile cookie decorating class business model! Similar to a home party model (think Tupperware), Cathy brings the cookie decorating classes to people in their homes! These have become very popular for ladies’ nights and kid’s parties. She charges a per person fee with a minimum number of people required and those in her community love it. Cathy realized that since Covid, people have lost the fellowship and engagement, and she loves bringing people together to learn this fun art!
For many, this is a really fun entertainment option for all kinds of events! The host gets a goodie bag, and the opportunity to host a fun event. Cathy’s model is having a lot of success and she’s really excited to ramp up this aspect of her business. Especially since recently learning she’s going to be a new grandma in Feb 2024!
With this exciting news, Cathy plans to scale back her volume of custom cookie orders, while increasing the number of cookie parties. She has a strong customer base and wants to be able to keep supporting them and she LOVES the creative flow she gets while making custom cookies. When customers come to pick up their order, Cathy shared, “My joy is uncontained! I just can’t wait for them to see the cookies!” She receives a lot of free hugs from her customers and her level of customer service, coupled with her delicious cookies, keep customers coming back. Her joy and passion are contagious, but it’s not the only thing she’s passionate about!
When You’re Truly Passionate, Anything Is Possible
Cathy has also had several opportunities to travel globally in support of humanitarian efforts which has forever changed her life and view of the world. She has been to the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Cambodia on multiple trips. She LOVES working with children, the local communities and is always willing to help any way she can. “If they accept what I can offer, my heart is there.”
Between her humanitarian work and her bakery business, Cathy firmly believes that “When you are passionate about something, you can make it happen.” We had a great talk about how the word “passion” is thrown around lightly these days. But we agreed that true passion is when you don’t consider a back-up plan. You follow your passion because that IS the plan, and your internal drive will create success.
Joy and Love
Cathy is so excited to move into what we called, “the Grandma phase.” Since taking that leap of faith back in 2018, Cathy now has the freedom of her time. “It’s joy and love every day from when I get up to when I go to bed.” Her friends and family gave her the courage to follow her dreams and she lives her life with purpose. Whether she’s welcoming someone to her bakery, helping kids in Cambodia, teaching ladies to decorate cookies, or prepping to be a Grandma, everything is done from a place of love and gratitude.
It was a privilege to get to know Cathy and I hope she has inspired you to follow your true passion. It’s a big part of why this site was created and she serves as a great reminder. Life is short, create the life you want and embrace the joy every day! Thank you, Cathy, for being a shining example of how serving others is the best reward.
To follow or connect with Featured Baker Cathy, you can find her website HERE and her social links below!
I hope you enjoy the gallery sampling of Cathy’s work below and visit her socials to see more!
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