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

Jean from Giovanna’s Gourmets is what I can only describe as a tasty artist! Her home baked, decorative sugar cookies are as delicious looking as they are beautiful. You almost don’t want to eat them (almost!). She uses her talents to run her business, while bringing a smile to other people’s faces.

She’s always loved baking, and people looked forward to receiving her treats as gifts around the holidays. As people began asking her if they could buy what she made, she felt like it was only a natural step to expand her passion into a business. While she bakes many different delectable goodies, her business focuses on hand decorated sugar cookies, which allows for seasonal versatility and customization. This also makes sure that she can perfect one product, rather than be spread too thin.

As soon as you see her hand done cookies, you’ll wonder where she gained such fantastic skills! She has been doing this for 10 years as a hobby, but as a competitive person, she diligently worked to learn the skills and perfect her craft. Without the help of other talents in the cookie industry, she may not be where she is today. Nothing like people coming together to teach and mentor!

As a 100% self taught and mentored baker, the care really comes through in her products. She gets very excited when something comes out of the oven to share, and loves to receive happy notes from her customers.

She loves to decorate cookies for fall, but also has a soft spot for flowers and and anything vibrant and show stopping! Color isn’t the only place you’ll find her being creative.

I love being in the kitchen.  I love being creative and I’m definitely artsy!  I read cookbooks for fun! I watch videos!  I love to learn from what others share.  I am always willing to try new things, and that is how you learn.  I have a skill set that I stick with, but if I find something that works better, I adjust.  I have taken a couple of stand-alone classes, to hone my skills, but mostly I watch others.

As an entrepreneur, work-life balance is something she’s still working on, but tries to not work on weekends. Something else she learned is that she’s not her own boss, she really works for her customers, since they are what keeps her business ruining (which she loves).

She has some great advice for those entering the business sphere as well…

Be persistent, and be consistent. Don’t ever let up, and always do the best you can to make customers happy.  Happy customers bring in new customers. Just go for it!  Make sure you are passionate about what you do and you will find success! 

One of the best ways you can support her business is through social media, even if you aren’t local! Most of her sales are through social, so even just liking a post boosts her viewership and audience. It costs nothing to like a post, and it does make a difference. Sharing the posts help too, so others can see her beautiful work! Follow her on Instagram here and Facebook here. 

All thoughts and opinions are my own.