Meet the most inspirational, entrepreneurial women across the beauty, fashion, and lifestyle industries.

Eat sweet and talk sweet. This Turkish proverb fueled Ann’s life, and her decision to start Koo-Weh Nana, a State College, PA baked goods and confections business. Ann loves to be independent, set her own schedule, and chat with people over sweets. Could this be any more perfect?

Baking was a part of Ann’s life during her own entertaining, and one of her friends suggested she start selling her baklava. What started as a side hustle as she was a researcher at Penn State University grew into a business in 2017. She had some help from the Penn State Small Business Development Centre (a great resource for people to check out).

While she doesn’t have any formal baking training, she always enjoyed it and learned from friends and family. Ann is also a scientist! For her, baking isn’t much different than a lab.

The name Koo-Weh Nana originated from the word “kue” and Nana.  “Kue” is an Indonesian word used to describe a wide variety of sweet and savory snacks/desserts, and Nana is my disable younger sister’s name.

She bakes a variety of delicious items, but loves the Nastar cookies and Pandan cake. The most popular item she sells is the assorted baklava box because of the ability to try 4 different flavors in one box! And nothing beats the smell of freshly made baked goods!

Her favorite part of the job is knowing the appreciation her customers have for her effort to create beautiful baked goods.

When it comes to work-life balance, she tries to exercise and bike a lot. Rails-to-trails are her favorite to do with her husband! She finds being an entrepreneur difficult at times, but enjoys what comes along with it. She likes setting her own schedule, communicating with customers, and facing the challenges that come with learning new skills, like marketing! Family support is essential for small business success.

She has a few future goals, such as offering a wider variety of sweet and savory baked goods catering to different health concerns, have more cafes and stores carry her goods, and to make it on Oprah’s Top 50 list! We love this manifesting!

Want to promote Koo-Weh Nana? Spread the word to friends, and leave feedback on their Facebook, Instagram or Etsy. Word of mouth has been the best promotion for them, and really spreads the word about Ann’s great products.

All thoughts and opinions are my own.