Meet Shauny Bennett | Sweet & Salty Maker 😝

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shauny Bennett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shauny, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We started in 2020 during the pandemic. I worked for a local church and got “let go” like the rest of the world. My husband and I have 4 kids and we needed to figure out quickly how are we going to feed them? My husband and I knew nothing about baking but I had the bright idea of selling chocolate covered sweets. Then a friend of mine suggested we sell Easter DIY Cookie Kits. So we quickly learned how to bake cookies and sell kits. We made about $1500 Easter Weekend and I thought to myself, we can make money!! I’m so glad we started in 2020, it was the year of trial and error and believe me we had lots of errors but we continued to educate ourselves through instagram. There is never a “right time” to start a business, you just have to go for it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Food and sweets is an art in itself. I never understood why cakes and cookies were so expensive until I started doing them 😬. Now I know why? It’s a tedious skill that requires a lot of patience. What sets us apart from others is attention to detail, all the flier we use, pink tortillas and unique creations. We have 2 of us that think outside the box and when one says we can’t do that, the other proves the other wrong. I’m most proud of how far we have come. It was not easy, we knew absolutely nothing and had to learn from Instagram. We are still learning everyday. There are many days where I’m crying, want to quit and I just throw the towel in but everyday, I say “ I’m getting better by the day” I won’t give up, we have invested so much time and money and I actually love my job. In my world there is always a challenge, weather it’s from a customer, my oven or my kids I sit back and eat a taco and ignore everyone and everything else. Lessons I have learned is always get a deposit & bake ahead of time. The world should know that if you get sweets from us they will always have glitter and our tortillas will always be pink!!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
From JB:

I would definitely take them to Sedona! Start the day with some hiking, spending the day at the creek enjoying the views and weather. Eat lunch at a local burger joint and dinner at the fancy Italian restaurant. It would be a week of relaxation and just enjoying the company and what nature has to offer.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
To those who helped us get off the ground, you helped us financially and we appreciate all that you have done and continue to do. To the church who continues to have faith in us at all we do. To all our customers and loyal customers we would not be here without you. They stuck around and watched us grow. I also want to dedicate this article to my momma!! Growing up she taught us what hard work is. My mom is a “workaholic” she gets sh** done! All my life I knew that you had to work hard to perfect your skill. I work endlessly to perfect my cooking and decorating skills. I also want to shoutout my husband, without him there is no me!! He’s my baker and my everything else. He is my biggest supporter in the kitchen even though at times I want to strangle him. My kids are a big part, they are my taste testers and out of the 4 I hope 1 will continue the business. My dad, sister, brother and family are a big part of my journey because they have faith in us and encourage me daily!

Website: www.gorditasunite.com

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