Help A Young Black Woman Keep Her Business Open
Hello,
My name is Autumn Parker and I'm the owner and operator of Stoopid Sweet Bakery. Before I get into why we need some help; I'll tell you a little about us.
Stoopid Sweet officially opened for business on April 18th, 2021. Since then; things have moved pretty quickly. We began attending 1-3 farmer's markets and pop-up shops weekly. We've secured wholesale accounts with a few local businesses. We've even had the opportunity to be interviewed on more than one occasion. And it's only August.
I like to believe the draw of Stoopid Sweet is our authenticity and transparency. It's more than vegan desserts; it's trust. It's the luxury of peace of mind - knowing that you can have your cake and eat it too.
As the world turns to more alternatives to the things we used to know, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest information and news. What's good for you; what's not? Will this cause cancer; does this fight cancer? Stoopid Sweet is trying to carve out a tiny portion of the world where you don't have to second guess. All of our ingredients are vegan, locally sourced, and organic when available. Our site features full nutrition info for all of our items as well.
As for me, Autumn, I started baking when I was 18 and a freshman at ECU. Somewhere between art classes and heartbreak I would escape to my grandmother's house and return to the dorm with confections to prove that, "No, no, really; I'm fine." 3 years later I was a paper doll version of myself where a girl used to be and my parents collected me off the floor of my one-bedroom and brought me home.
Conveniently, around the same time, I was diagnosed with clinical depression, I was also diagnosed with GAD and Crohns Disease. (It's my real big three)
I came home, started working on myself and my life, and slowly became myself again. Just more seasoned, (and gassy). I moved from job to job increasing my income as I went and continued baking on the side. Fast forward to 2020 - COVID happened to everyone and my employer at the time took it less than seriously.
By the end of 2020, I knew a few things for certain.
1. My job did not value my healthy and safe as a high-risk person (my Crohns treatments weaken my immune system)
2. I'd exhausted my resources to improve my workspace.
3. The risk was not worth it.
So, I got to work, made Stoopid Sweet official & left in March of 2021.
Stoopid Sweet may have officially opened in 2021 but this has been years in the making and I refuse to turn around now. Stoopid Sweet is my child, and you don't give up on your children.
While I stand by that, I have to admit the event schedule takes a great physical toll and after having a Crohns flare earlier this month, it's clear I'm not taking the best care of myself.
This coupled with the fact that I am in between healthcare providers (I turned 26 on 8/11 and got booted from my parent's insurance) and new COVID cases in Charlotte are rising daily - I have decided to decrease the number of in-person events we participate in.
Since we are decreasing in-person events, we are increasing advertisements for local and national shipping orders. If you're familiar with us, you know we ship to all 50 states and deliver Wednesday-Saturday in Charlotte we offer same-day delivery as well.
August has been our first month with no events and while orders are still coming in; it's not as much revenue. Doordash helps to cover some expenses however the car is doing double duty and no AC in Carolina heat is no joke! We have been unable to qualify for any small business grants or loans for various reasons mostly to do with the length of time in business but refuse to be discouraged.
These funds will help cover bills, car maintenance, professional packing materials, advertisement, and some personal expenses as well including securing health insurance and school expenses.
The hope is that this money will give us the jump start we need to continue to grow our business. I have plans to return to school in the Spring and continue to run Stoopid Sweet full time. I just need a tiny little boost. If you would like to help without just donating, online ordering is open! I also have several paintings for sell and you can request more information about them at autumnparkerart/@/gmail/./com
Literally, anything will help. I'm grateful, endlessly, just because you've read this far.
To Order: our website
TLDR;
Black-owned vegan bakery seeking help to continue operating and secure health insurance as well as bill and schooling aide
