Today we’d like to introduce you to Sareena Clarke.
Hi, Sareena. We appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started my business back in 2019. I had always wanted to be a Pastry Chef, but I ended up being a Culinary chef instead for a while. Around 2004, there wasn’t a need for Pastry chefs, so I taught myself to do more than just box and cheesecakes. I had always loved baking. My grandma Johnson would always say that I would be a chef. She has known me since I was 2. Her favorite story to tell about me is how I loved making peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches for my grandfather; it was the best he had. That has stuck with me my whole life. So, after attending culinary school, I still needed to be fulfilled. I wanted to bake! So, after some years of learning independently, I wanted to return to school to hone my craft. I then applied to Escoffier Online Academy. Once I received my diploma, I was excited and remembered my grandmother. And I said, “We did it, grandma!” My family had so much faith in me, pushing me to the next level.
With that, everything that I had ever felt as a little kid, from my mom letting me bake my first cheesecake and her bragging to everyone about how good it was, and my sister Felicia telling me I better open a shop and my sister Tee amping me up. My brother Terry telling my bad, embarrassing cooking stories, I knew I had created The Sugar Vixen. Fast forward, I could have done better in business. I was a wife mom, and struggling health-wise. Years had past orders were coming in, but they needed to turn out like I wanted. Something was wrong. I had been tested for Lupus. I then put everything on hold. Life happened, I couldn’t do it anymore. As I was in Kansas at the time, being a military wife, I wasn’t happy; business was not well, I didn’t know what was going on health-wise, and I had no niche in my business. I remembered Chef Sinade, who taught my chocolate class, how enthusiastic she was, and how it made me feel as I did the assignments! I then put myself through chocolatier school at E-cole Chocolate online school. This was the best thing ever!
I then decided I needed to move. I needed to be somewhere I could grow, So with a lot of prayer, seeking God’s face, and blessing from my family, we moved to Greenville, SC. Once here, I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, Lupus. Business was still slow; I prayed and prayed and prayed. It wasn’t till I attended Relentless Church and met my spiritual auntie that she told me, “You need to change your name,” which is exactly what God had told me. So I followed God, and we went from The Sugar Vixen to Sugar. God gave me the vision; I followed His way. Soon after changing everything with the business, we were invited to Dessert Wars, one of the biggest dessert festivals in America! Not only that, I had been asked to interview with a magazine. We are setting up for the holidays and looking forward to opening our e-commerce website. Sugar is a company cultivating Sugar with unique spices and an infusion of flavors, making all sweet desserts from handmade chocolates to Pastries. Sugar will be the next global phenomenon, mark my words. I want all the kids and the kids at heart to enjoy the candies and sweet treats that come from Sugar. When they take a bite, they will return to the childhood feeling of what their grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles used to make for them. To press their noses to the widows watching the chefs create. Knowing that a young black girl who battled with life still made it by God’s true grace is a feeling I want everyone to feel when I create treats with Sugar.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a challenging road. I struggled a lot. People are losing faith in me, and I am losing faith in myself. I hated myself for years. I was trying to price my products right, being used by friends and family, trying to take advantage, and not getting orders because things were too expensive. Once I got sick, I needed to be more consistent with putting my business out there. Then, of course, this social media was just another whole thing to wrap my head around: how to post and what to post, if I’ll followers, will I get orders through. Ugg. It was just a lot. I couldn’t handle it anymore. But God, I had to realize that this is a business; you can’t and won’t please everyone. If people will spend money for a Fendi bag on a food stamp budget, they can afford your product. If they want it bad enough, they will buy it. So keep everything the same except developing new products, to bring even more success.
As you know, we’re big fans of Sugar. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with the brand?
This business is a true vision given by God. He blessed the work of my hands. I want the readers to see Sugar as the next global phenomenon. I want to draw in kids of all ages. From young to old. Sugar started as an e-commerce store selling candies, handmade chocolates, and pastries to open stores. I pray to be one of the world’s largest candy and chocolatier shops. Sugar is a company that cultivates Sugar with spices and infusion. I am a multicultural black woman with so much diversity in my family and with people I meet daily. I want everyone of every culture to taste a little bit of home when they taste something from Sugar. I am most proud of how I allowed my son Malichi to help me get what we want done with this business and prepare products. This company is very family-oriented and big on customer service. We make our products personal and want to bring joy and blessings to everyone who buys into Sugar.
We’d love to hear about your fond memories from growing up.
My favorite childhood memory is being in school. I love theater. As a kid, I was all drama. So it was super fun! I wanted to be an actress, but I always navigated toward the kitchen, especially when I saw Gale Gand on The Food Network. I wanted to be her so bad! I could have the best of both worlds. I could bake and be on TV. I was that kid; when we had book reports, I would never grab a” book.” I would always get a cookbook and act like I was baking the recipe at home as if on TV. Man, I was a weird, cool kid! Lol
Contact Info:
- Website: Getsugarwasted.com
- Instagram: Sugar_wasted2023
- Facebook: Facebook.com/sugarinternationalllc
