Today we’d like to introduce you to Sofia Massa.
Hi Sofia , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Ever since I was really little, I always loved to bake. I got my love of baking from my dad, who when I was younger, would bake homemade treats for us at home almost every week. I took after him and started baking things as well. I’ve also always been quite an ambitious person; I’ve always wanted to live up to my full potential. I wanted to find a way to turn my passion for baking into something bigger. Starting a business seemed like not only a fun venture, but also like an amazing way to share my treats with more people.
I started my business selling homemade, gourmet brownies out of my home kitchen back in the summer of 2020 when I was thirteen years old. I would take orders for a set window of time. When that period was over, I’d fill the orders by baking all the brownies at once, topping them, cutting them, packaging them, and sending them off to be happily enjoyed and devoured by their recipients.
In the beginning, running my business wasn’t the easiest, because I’d never done anything like it before. But throughout the almost five years I’ve done it, I’ve improved, adapted, and come up with ways to spread out and streamline my work in order to run my business in a more effective, efficient, and productive manner.
I originally chose brownies because they’re a treat that’s (relatively) easy to make large batches of at a time, and my family has the best recipe. Me and my parents had come up with a variety of different flavors to offer; My original flavor lineup included my Salted Caramel, Scotchmallow, and Cookies & Cream brownies (that last flavor was actually a result from a mistake made in the kitchen!) From that point, my menu of brownie flavors has expanded to include over 10 different rotating flavors, with a few seasonal flavors offered at various times of the year being a part of that total!
I’ve gained so many different skills and so much experience through selling brownies, some that I never even expected! For example, I’ve honed skills in graphic design through designing countless flyers, stickers, handouts, and other so many other graphics throughout the years. I’ve had the opportunity to see what it’s like running a home business. I’ve gotten a glimpse into what making desserts on a large scale looks like. I even had the opportunity to sell my brownies at the Lindon Farmer’s Market last year, which was a tough challenge, but I did it, and I’m so glad that I did.
I’m eighteen years old now, getting ready to graduate from high school. Running my business throughout my teenage years has been a unique experience and opportunity that I am so grateful to have had. I’m grateful for all the customers who support my business and order brownies from me. I’m especially grateful to my astounding and endlessly supportive parents for helping me do with my business throughout the years. I never could have achieved any of it without them. Taking a look at where I started, and how far I’ve come up to this point, I can’t help but be proud of the work I’ve done and the experience I’ve gained.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In the beginning, learning how to make large orders of brownies was not the easiest task in the world. I wasn’t very good at prepping ingredients and other components necessary for the brownies. In the early days that I would bake orders, I’d be working from the moment I woke up to the end of the night. As time has gone on, I’ve established ways of prepping ingredients and other necessary elements that make the workload easier on my already busy schedule.
With practice, I’ve become much more efficient at producing and packaging the brownies.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sofia’s Sweet Stuff?
I make and sell homemade, gourmet brownies from out of my home. It’s a relatively small operation, but I’m proud of it, and work hard at it nonetheless. I’ve been doing this for almost five years now. I’d argue that my brownies are the tastiest brownies around. You could ask others who’ve tried them, and they would agree. I offer a wide variety of unique flavors. (With each flavor, the brownie base is the same, the toppings vary from one another.)
The thing that I’m most proud of brand-wise is that I try to make everything that goes into or on top of the brownies from scratch as much as possible with quality ingredients (like using butter instead of shortening, for example). I don’t used store-bought, prepackaged products on my brownies. The caramel and butterscotch sauces? Homemade. The raspberry compote? Homemade. The frostings? Homemade. That’s why I like to emphasize that my brownies are GOURMET and HOMEMADE.
I try to offer personable and amiable customer service and interactions to each of my customers so they feel like they’re talking to real person and not someone who just wants their money.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I have an Instagram, a Facebook, and website.
Instagram: sofias.sweet.stuff
Facebook: Sofia’s Sweet Stuff
Website: sofiassweetstuff.com
The Instagram is the platform which I update most often, so if I were to emphasize one, I would emphasize that one.
I post on my Instagram periodically whenever my ordering window is open with the flavors/prices being offered for that particular sale. People can order their brownies by messaging/contacting me or my dad and letting me know what flavors and how many brownies they’d like to order. The orders are filled and ready for pickup usually one or two days after the ordering window closes.
I am still a high school student, and I do have other obligations, but I do try to offer sales as often as my schedule permits me to.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sofiasweetstuff.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofias.sweet.stuff/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057380082772
