In a community where the economy does not afford many adults a job opportunity, teens have even less of a chance in making their own way in the job market. Unless you’re of the mindset of young entrepreneur Grace Vincent who operates “Goodness Grace-ous Goodies” from her home kitchen.
After her mom and stepdad, Lainey and Tim Moore tried one of her Salted Carmel Brownies last October, Grace’s business idea was born with their exclamation of “Goodness Gracious…. these are really good!”
Grace told me “I have always liked to bake with my mom since I was a little girl. When I went to school at the Little Kanawha Valley Christian School, we got to bake in groups at times, which was a lot of fun. I love to bake because it makes me happy to create something yummy and makes me happy to see others enjoy what I make, and baking actually relaxes me.”
Grace certainly needs something to relax her with the challenge of finding time for school work and sports and operating a popular new buiness. Grace said that “Everyone has been so very nice and supportive of me that I get a lot of request for orders. I would love to be able to do them all but I have to say ‘no’ to a lot of them because with school and sports, it’s hard to bake during the week. I try to bake as much as I can on the weekends.”
As a young entrepreneur Grace has already learned a valuable lesson of time managment. Her weekends are not only filled with baking but she also finds time to go to the movies and hang out with friends, saying that her customers have been very considerate of the fact that she is a teenager with school and other obligations. Her mom helps to keep her organized. Together they have a calendar with all her upcoming track meets and other events, and she takes care to make the orders work around those dates, so not to get overwhelmed with it all.
I asked Grace if this job was to make extra money or something you would consider a career? To which she responded “This is something I am wanting to do as a career. I really enjoy it and would love to continue to do when I am an adult, I think. It is also helping me learn to manage money. I do spend some of what I make for things I would like right now but have created a savings also to put towards a car. It is nice making your own money!
Grace continues to try new recipes and combinations of different flavors and wants to learn to make different pastries. She has been making mostly cupcakes, danishes, cinnamon rolls and sticky buns, and next on her list to try are Cream Horns and Cannolis. For now, cupcakes are her favorite because it allows her to learn different decorating techniques in hopes of being able to someday bake cakes and make them look beautiful.
Grace has not only learned the art of baking but the art of marketing as well. Her baking always leads to having extras at the house from trying different recipes. Knowing that her work would be tried in the court of public opinion, Grace would share her extra’s with friends and teachers and even took them to a couple of ball games for “taste testers.” The word soon spread that Grace’s goodies were really good and the orders began to come. Between letting people try her items and her proud mom’s Facebook posts of what she would bake, “Goodness Grace-ous Goodies” began making it’s way in the business world.
Being so young, but seeminly wise, I asked Grace who she went to for advice. She informed me that her Mom and Stepdad Tim were those on who she relied. They’ve encouraged her by telling her to never let fear of failing keep you from trying new things, and hard work always pays off. They’ve encouraged their daughter to choose a career by doing something she enjoys, which will make life better if she does. They also have told her its ok right now to not know what she wants to do right now, since she is only 15. Wise advice indeed…
Grace said she will continue to learn her chosen trade and new techniques from YouTube videos, tictok and different websites but said it’s difficult not having the space to work in. Their family kithen is small and with orders of 100, even 300 cupcakes storage space or work space is hard to find.
A couple of questions in closing for Miss Grace was “What is a failure that you’ve learned from?” Her reply is one every baker has probably learned, “…do not turn your stand mixer on high
after adding your powder sugar … what a mess! Sometimes my cupcakes are not perfect or the best to
look at but they still taste good , which tasting good is better than them looking perfect.”
Grace’s goal for her business is to continue to learn, bake what her customers want and make people smile. She also wants to make some extra money and to hopefully someday have her very own bakery. She plans on going to a Culinary School once she graduates High School. And I for one, am hoping she open a little shop right down from her Stepdad’s State Farm office.
You can order Grace’s goodies from her Facebook Page or by messaging her mom, Lainey Moore through Facebook. The Link to Grace’s pages is Goodness Grace-ous Goodies
She even designed her own logo!
