Shana Goldberger, Sweet Babu, Winooski, VT
Sweet Learnings
Shana Goldberger is an impressive young woman to look up to in the entrepreneur world. She launched her bakery, called Sweet Babu, in Winooski, Vermont, in July 2014. Starting Sweet Babu “has been difficult every step of the way,” says Shana, and it certainly has.
Part of the reason Shana has been challenged is because she went to art school and had no background in business before beginning the difficult journey to success for women in the business world. For example she didn’t have much experience with bookkeeping, so she had to learn it along the way. Despite this, she took classes with CWE to help her learn more about starting a business, and she learned a lot from her mistakes. Shana says that Gwen Pokalo at the Center for Women & Enterprise has been “an incredibly influential mentor for [her] over the years,” and helped Shana open her storefront.
Shana was inspired to start her bakery because of her grandmother’s Jewish holiday cooking, and the name, Sweet Babu, was based off of the Russian word for grandmother, ‘babushka’. Shana first started baking as a teenager in Connecticut, and her favorite thing to make was chocolate chip cookies.
One of the services Sweet Babu provides is the Dessert Bar, where customers can purchase locally baked sweets and pastries, plated or to go. The Dessert Bar also includes beer and wine with suggested food pairings, not to mention coffee and espresso to go with a dark chocolate mousse or maybe a New York cheesecake. The bakery also takes custom cake orders for weddings or other events, so special occasions can include a unique spin on typical confections. In addition, Sweet Babu provides wholesale packaged baked goods for local grocery stores.
Gwen and CWE are continuing to provide her with support and guidance for her business. Shana most recently attended the Power Forward class earlier this year.
Visit Sweet Babu for a wonderful treat!
Special thanks to CWE volunteer writers, Laura, Julie, and Stephanie Pare Sullivan.