We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sonya Vaverek a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sonya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I have always loved to bake. From the time I could reach the counter my mom would let me help her in the kitchen. She has always made everything from scratch and helped to instill in me my love of baking. I went to college and as I was graduating decided I wanted to go to Culinary School for Pastry Arts but instead chose to get married and raise a family. Fast forward 21 years full of baking for friends, family, and others in our community. Along with teaching myself new skills and recipes, I decided to fulfill a life-long dream and open a Cottage Licensed and Insured Boutique Bakery with my middle daughter, who inherited the love of baking that my mom passed to me. We started the bakery in April of 2020 which was not an ideal time start a business, but with dedication, hard work, and the support of our community we made the dream become a reality. In May of 2021 we added a converted horse trailer as a mobile bakery trailer for events and festivals to provide a unique and more personalized experience for our clients.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I jumped into the bakery business to fulfill a life-long dream. I believe food is the center of most gatherings and events and provides a shared experience of joy for everyone around. I joke that feeding people is my love language so having others allow me to be a part of their special days and their everyday brings me great joy. We bake everything from wedding cakes to cinnamon rolls, from decorated sugar cookies to pecan pie bars and everything in between. I would say I am most proud of all I have learned from this adventure and how much growth the business has seen in just 2.5 short years, it is always a privilege when someone chooses us to bake for them and we fill every bite with love – and sugar!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I would say the most effective strategy for growing our clientele has been to keep our customers happy. By exceeding expectations and providing great quality product we have had the blessing of maintaining repeat customers who share their experience with their friends and family. Word of mouth has allowed us to gain the majority of our business. By staying true to who we are and not being afraid of admitting when we have messed up we have been able to keep customers coming back for more.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

For us social media is still a work in progress. Attempting to keep up with the trends and posting daily has provided the most benefit for us. Constantly learning new techniques and improving our content. The goal is to not just keep followers engaged, but use social media as a gallery of our work, a way to keep our followers up to date on our business, and provide value to our followers. My biggest suggestion would be just keep posting, stay on brand, and keep learning new trends.

Contact Info:

• Website: ohsweetbakery.com
• Instagram: @ohsweetbakeryga
• Facebook: @ohsweetbakerygeorgia

Image Credits
Amber Brannen Photography