Support the #BootlegCheesecake roadshow

Hi, Jess! Most of you know me as @TheMaineJess on the inter webs or here, there and everywhere.

 

I'm known in my little corner of the world in Maine (and beyond, I suppose) mainly for 2 things:

 

1) Being a domestic violence survivor and former Republican fundraiser who was married to that guy who was a speechwriter for Donald trump who had the worst parts of her life and divorce splashed on the front page of every newspaper in this country and a few across the pond; who was then subsequently sued for 4 million dollars by her abusive ex-husband, ghosted by her fiancé one day before their wedding and having to figure all of that out, basically for the whole world to see (shout out to all of those in the UK who have sent so much love and support!)

 

2) Baking the best damn cheesecake anyone has ever had.

 

The story is fairly well known at this point: my friends did so much to support me through those awful months and I wanted to show my gratitude, so that Thanksgiving, not knowing what else to do... I baked a cheesecake recipe from my grandmother's cookbook, which was the only named item I requested in the divorce.

 

It was good. Really good.

 

My friends Melanie and Pliny, who own my favorite restaurant in Portland , loved it. Wilson, their chef, loved it.

 

I started baking them to help raise money for my legal fund and the legal funds of other domestic violence victims. they raised tens of thousands of dollars for causes I care about.

 

My only objective for the cheesecakes is to operate under a mission driven business model that works to empower women economically, from sourcing, procurement, hiring, labor, ultimately investing the profits of that work into organizations that support vulnerable women.

 

I was prepared to re-launch them after a successful launch New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day at Terlingua.

 

Then Covid happened.

 

My amazing Daddy died. I contracted Covid at some point traveling for his funeral and endured a 21 day quarantine over Thanksgiving 2020. I was unable to launch the cheesecakes that Holiday Season.

 

For my 35th birthday, I took most of the money I'd recently inherited and attempted to start the cheesecake business again, fully as a not for profit. Again, my friends at Terlingua stepped up to support me, lending their kitchen and serving as their exclusive retail outlet. Once again, the community supported me and those cheesecakes sold out week after week.

 

Then my grandmother was gravely ill and nearly died.

 

My closest friend and one of my greatest loves, William, died very unexpectedly, this past May. He was one of the first taste testers of the original cheesecakes, but he was also on of the wisest, kindest, immensely talented humans that God has put into this world. His love changed me, for the better, forever. 

After losing my Dad, Aunt, Will, saying goodbye to my most beloved grandmother, plus a number of other setbacks... I was pretty much ready to give up again. 

The question that ket repeating itself in my mind was "why are you even here?" "what was the point of all of this?"

I was struggling trying to make sense of the terrible events of my life. I felt like the 80 year old woman in the background who survives a tragic greek play. 

It has been a struggle and I won't bore you with the sad details- we've all been there. Wondering what the purpose of it all was- wondering why we worked so hard to survive and to live, only for that existence to be absolutely miserable. 

I cannot change my past. I cannot change a lot of things. 

But I can help change the future for other women like me, other women who have it worse than me. 

So, I want to open a not-for-profit cheesecake company. 

Yes, the cheesecake is good. It's incredible. 

But this isn't about the cheesecake. It's about *how* the cheesecake comes into this world. 

I tell everyone that it only exists for one reason and only reason only:

TO EMPOWER WOMEN, SPECIFICALLY IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE WOMEN, TO BE ECONOMICALLY INDEPENDENT. 

That's it. Otherwise I would go camp myself out on someone's payroll, utilize my skills and rolodex to someone else's personal gain and write a check to my local domestic violence shelter. 

It would be a lot easier, I promise. 

But I can't let myself do that, not without trying. 

I don't just want to donate my profits- I want to empower women economically at every single step of the process, from sourcing and procurement, hiring and finally, donation of profits. 

Why does this matter?

Because women who are not economically free are not truly free. 

There are more details to come, but for now... I wanted you to know what my vision was. 

More updates to come. 

Xo, 
Jess