We were lucky to catch up with Teela Caldwell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Teela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Doughlish Sweets literally came to me in the middle of the night. That day I had been mixing cookie dough for a taste testing and kept playing around with incorporating the word “dough”, but couldn’t figure it out. Late into the night I sprung out my sleep and said “DOUGHLISH”! The “sweets” portion was added after I started baking cakes, pies, and fudge.

Teela, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Three years ago I had a silent stroke that caused me to lose the ability to swallow. After months of doctors visits, procedures, and physical therapy I somewhat started to gain the ability back again. During this time some of the only foods I was able to swallow properly were desserts! With such a dramatic weight loss, I began order whole 9 inch cakes weekly hoping to gain some of my weight back, but this was beginning to be an expensive habit. That’s when I started baking my own cookies and cupcakes, and the idea of Doughlish Sweets was born!

During the times my Dysphagia gave me problems with swallowing, it made it hard to taste what I was preparing so my recipes had to be solid. That’s what makes me most proud of starting this bakery is that what was meant to sideline me actually made me prosper into a baker of all things. Something that was meant to bring despair and wavering faith brought me into a dream career path.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before I opened Doughlish Sweets I owned a graphic design company. After my silent stroke my health started to fail and designing was becoming harder. I had to make the tough decision to close my graphic company, but little did I know it was setting me up for something even better.

Obviously I still design, being the mastermind behind my logo and branding, but baking has truly become another heart happy career option for me. I’ve learned how to pivot but also how to incorporate helping others, and that prompted me to combine both my loves and create a branding company for bakers called Designlish Branding & Website Studio that will be opening early 2025.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Reaching new customers has actually been the funnest part of this business because I get to be face to face with people. We are in a great community where we are able to attend farmer’s markets, festivals, and local pop up events. People may eat with their eyes by seeing us online, but there’s nothing like actually tasting our best selling Butterfinger Cheesecake cookies, or getting a sample of our unique Cake Batter Milkshake cake slices.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.DoughlishSweets.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doughlish_sweets/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558925971467
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@doughlishsweets