We recently connected with Anne Heitman and have shared our conversation below.

Anne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I have always loved to bake since I was young. When I was in college, my Sorority and I created a fundraiser called, “Cupcakes for a Cause.” We would bake cupcakes to raise money for different causes–one of which was to help raise funds for a fellow colleague’s cancer bills. After graduating with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, I took a job as an Associate Producer with KTVU CH2. My dream was to be a Producer and share all the amazing stories of people making a difference. But I realized very quickly I was telling amazing stories, not so much about amazing people and I myself was not really making a difference in the world. It was almost like an empty win. My thought then was, “What if I helped shape the story, the event itself, maybe that will make a difference.” I then changed careers to be an Event Planner. But as soon as I found my footing in this industry, COVID hit and I was about to have my second child. With no job or even a possibility to get a job in the same industry, everything was uncertain and unbelievably stressful.

After officially being laid off, I thought about who I was in college and remembered having a blast doing “Cupcakes for a Cause. I thought, “I like baking and need to find a way to be financially stable, maybe a small business bake shop might work, why not?” So I went for it, I had no idea what I was doing, never worked in the food industry, how to structure anything or even how to create a menu. It was definitely a little bit of a lot to learn.

I told myself I would give it a year, and in that year the least I could do was do something meaningful and kind while baking. After a year passed and COVID regulations were beginning to lift, I thought, “Okay. One more year. Let’s see where this goes.” In that time, I created new flavors, raised money for several different non-profit organizations, and was able to be present with my family. My kids loved helping out at pop-ups, helped make the cookie dough and often taste tested new products lol.

We created flavors that reflect our cultures and our stories. Stories that may have been forgotten by many, as the years went on. We wanted people to have a reason to share something and be kind “just because” they can and not because they have a need. Watching all of this happen, made me realize that I was finally doing what I have always wanted to do: make a difference in people’s lives. With every cookie, we saw people instantly find happiness and comfort, and as some of our Sugar Friends (our customers) would call it “the warm and fuzzies.” Many would tell us, “oh man today was rough, I needed this.” We literally were sharing kindness when people needed it most without knowing it. This was the moment that made me realize all of it was worth it.

I took a leap to do something I didn’t know how to do because I wanted to find a way to share happiness with everyone. I walked away from a mind set that I needed an office job to be secure. I realized spreading joy meant more to me than planning a mistake proof event. I found what I needed to feel whole.

We firmly believe that kindness should be spread like sugar…everywhere. So our motto became “Givin ’ you that sugar so we can give back.”

Anne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Anne (pronounced Ann-E, Filipina roots, can you tell? lol), Main Baker and Owner of Brown Sugar Sweets Co. I’m a mommy of two, and Graduated from San Jose State University. I started baking when I was young because Home Ec class inspired my creative side and loved making just about anything. When COVID hit, I was an Event Planner and lost my job. I thought, “I like baking and I want to try something that will make a difference for people, maybe a small business bake shop, why not?” So I studied, tried and failed a lot, but found my style of baking after much trial and error.

We are a small owned pastry shop that bakes to bring flavor, kindness and culture together. We sell artisan crinkle cookies, mixed snacks and chocolate.

Our signature desserts are literal comfort food…Ube ganache, Ube de Leche, Ube fudge and we can’t forget our famous crinkle cookies, just to name a few.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I was raised and taught to work hard, do things perfectly and you will never fail. In my many careers, I worked so hard to be absolutely perfect at what I did. In school, I had to have Straight As. When I was in Retail, I had to be the best associate on the floor. As a Journalist, I pushed to produce flawless videos. As an Event Planner, my events had to be nothing short of amazing, all had to be above and beyond by myself. I literally would kill myself working longer hours, not sleeping, eating on the run etc. to get the job done.

I learned that I can do all that, but at the end of the day, it was just a job I was doing for someone else. Yes, they would be happy with my work and I’d get the satisfaction of doing a job well done, but that was it. Once it was all done, all was forgotten and onto the next thing. I wasn’t making a difference, I was unhealthy physically and mentally. I wasn’t working because I enjoyed it, I was just working.

So I learned to let go, to let myself make mistakes and not beat myself up over it. I learned it was ok to not produce an amazing event to my standards. I learned there is always another time to do it better. I guess the biggest lesson I learned was that being perfect was not the secret to success, rather making the efforts, understanding what I can and can not do within reason, finding that balance between work and life, giving yourself some grace is the success.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

As loud as I can say it, communication, understanding and laughter. Having an open transparent line of communication with your team is the most amazing thing ever. It allows you to fully understand your team and allows your team to fully trust you, believe “you are human” also and come to you when they think they can’t. No matter the situation, being able to talk through it together, find the positives and negatives, makes it easier to understand each other. And when in doubt, finding a way to make your team smile, laugh or genuinely have a happy moment with them, makes it all worthwhile. When your team sees that, they know it’s worth it too.

Contact Info:

• Website: Brownsugarsweets.com
• Instagram: @brownsugarsweets.co
• Other: Email: [email protected]