Hi, I'm Camile and I'm seeking community support in starting up my little treats business, Confetti Confections.

As many of you know, the past year has been full of obstacles. After suffering an injury and losing my job, I was determined to take care of myself and adapt how I work. I decided that it's time for me to step up, put my skills into action, and pursue something I truly care about.

Inspired to Create

My inspiration for Confetti comes mainly from my Mama, who I've looked up to my entire life. Recently, she suffered a heart attack and underwent surgery - The fear of losing her shook me something fierce, I'd never cried so hard in my life.

I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful friend who helped me get back home and take the time I needed to help my mama post-op. The time I spent with her was so healing for us both - just as she had taken care of me growing up, I was able to bring that love right back to her as I took care of her.

Seeing her regain her strength and bounce right back has been a blessing. Even now as she continues to recover, she remains steadfast and focused, a beacon of absolute ambition and boundless hope. Mama's my main motivator to keep going, and I hope with the success of Confetti I will be able to get to a place in my life where I can see her and the rest of my family more often.

Everything Mama makes, she makes with great care - this is a gift she has passed to me, one that I'm endlessly grateful for. This care, combined with her passion for baking and making treats, is what inspired me to create Confetti.

The Joy it Brings

As a child, when my birthday rolled around, Mama would ask me what treats we should make.

See, Brazilians are a little extra - sure we have chips, cake and soda, but there is an additional array of birthday snacks which we categorize as salgadinhos(lil' savories) and docinhos(lil'sweets).

Walk into a Brazilian birthday party and you'll likely see the tables filled to the edge with these homemade treats, often made lovingly from scratch over several days.

The crowning glory, the icon of them all?

✨Brigadeiro! ✨

Almost every birthday without fail, Mama would make brigadeiro and its counterpart beijinho. I grew up making them alongside her, taking them to school for cultural events and bringing them to friends.

Brigadeiro...These sweet little truffles are unique - soft like a caramel, sweet like fudge, and typically covered with eye-catching sprinkles. Beijinho is similarly soft and sweet, with sweet coconut and clove instead of chocolate.

I love bringing a batch to parties and watching people's faces go from curiosity to surprise to pure delight.

I realized that so many people simply haven't been introduced to the joys of brigadeiro - and what joy it is! I want to share that joy with my local community and bring a little bit of who I am to the wonderful city of Eugene. Especially during these times, I want nothing more than to spread a little happiness in the form of tasty little treats.

Humble Beginnings:

I officially licensed Confetti Confections with the Dept. of Agriculture on July 24th!

That means it's time to get the ball rolling.

I will be making brigadeiro, beijinho, doce de leite, passionfruit mousse, and other Brazilian goodies to start with. They'll be unlike anything else you can find in town!

The money I'm raising will be going towards commissary deposit and fees, equipment, supplies and of course ingredients.

I plan on starting with a retrofitted insulated patio pushcart, which I will decorate and modify myself. I will take this to weekend markets as well as taking custom orders for birthday parties and other events.

I'm doing everything I can to keep this budget limited - I think I can start out small, and with some help I can grow this into something beautiful.

I've always been an accessibility-first person, so I intend to approach this project with that in mind and eventually would like to set up a community fund where I can redistribute my profits from Confetti to different mutual aid and community projects. I want to get to the point where I can also hire someone to assist me, and it's incredibly important for me to be able to pay that person a realistic living wage. I've been in the service industry long enough to know that exploitation runs rampant, and I want to make sure any employees I hire on are being compensated for their time, effort, and care.

Of course, all of that will be further along in the future - for now, I'm doing this solo and I intend to put in all the work I can to make Confetti successful.

Love is the Way

The sweet smell of brigadeiro cooking on the stove takes me back to Mama's kitchen, standing beside her as she stirred, teaching me what texture to look for and to "keep stirring - watch out, it pops!"

As we cooked, we'd talk about life and dreams - She would recall the shenanigans she'd get into with her best friend(my aunt - te amo, Tulu!) during her youth in Brazil, and I'd ask her for advice on navigating friendships while making dumb teenage jokes(which she always was so kind to laugh at - thanks mamas!)

We'd talk about the day where we would move out of the apartments into a house of our own, dreams of going on vacations and finally taking a break from all the work. Life often wasn't easy, but Mama always set out to make it the best for us. I feel her love everywhere every day, even from 3,000 miles away. We dreamt about a future that was stable, and comfortable, and that we built with our hard work and the love we have for our family.

I see that future still - it's right here in my hands. All I need is a little help from you.