Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Sahagun.
Courtney, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It all started with planning my daughter’s first birthday party in 2019 with a guest list that included very few one-year-olds, all of my friends, and vast amounts of family. I have never been one to shy away from any opportunity to host a party, so I wanted to go all out. Needless to say, my daughter, Savannah (Savvy), deserved a first birthday party with the most extravagant dessert bar. This dessert bar included all the color coordinated candies, cupcakes, and of course, the fanciest of all cookies, french “macaroons”, because I thought they were aesthetically pleasing, not because I’ve actually eaten one before. Once I picked up the order from a bakery, I placed the box of goodies on my passenger car seat and continued my errands to pick up flowers from a friend of the family’s local flower farm. Upon arrival, I left my car door open (big mistake) and later discovered their farm dog, Skeeter, enjoys cookies too! The gracious scavenger had jumped into my car and consumed all but a few of these precious treats…what can you do? He was fat and happy, and I was desperate to replace them for the party the next day. In hopes that I could just make my own real quick when I got home, I quickly realized that wasn’t an option after doing a little research.
Little did I know, they really are a very complicated cookie to make (hence the hefty price tag) but I am never one to shy away from a challenge. I’ve always had a passion for baking since my first job when I was 16 years old as a cake decorator. After learning that these little delicious cookies are “mac-a-rons”, not “mac-a-ROONs”, I began the experimentation process. After a few failed attempts, I was sucked down the rabbit hole of social media pictures and videos of how to make them and then quickly gathered the particular materials needed (piping bags, aged egg whites, kitchen scale, etc.). With the manipulation of a few different recipes ultimately creating one of my own, I began to succeed!
My family is not much of a sweets fan (more of a chips and salsa kind of family), therefore the perfect little cookies would sit on the counter and go uneaten, eventually to the trash. My husband quickly asked, “Why do you keep making them if we keep throwing them away?” Well, I was having too much fun expressing my creativity through the experimentation of different color, flavor, and design combinations. Eventually, my husband (a local firefighter) would take the leftovers to the fire station and share the wealth, which ultimately led to my first order from a fellow firefighter.
Soon after the word spread of these new creations amongst the community, I realized ‘Savvy Macs’ needed to become an official thing. First step was to create a social media account, build followers, and continue to document my process through fun photographs and videos. Once I started receiving custom orders from people other than friends and family, I followed through with obtaining my Cottage Food Operation Permit, business license, food handlers card, etc.
Savvy is now almost 4 years old and I never would’ve thought this hobby would be my most fun business venture.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges I have faced thus far, is not being entrepreneurial in nature and learning the proper protocols and procedures for having a successful home-based business. I have made extra efforts to enhance my knowledge, such as receiving mentorships from small business professionals, which I believe has paid off. I am confident in my business and continue having fun while growing.
Whether you own a business or not, finding a consistent balance in life can be a challenge. Managing a home-based business and being a wife to a husband who’s gone for days at time, as well as a mother to two young children (Reed; 6 and Savvy; 4), life can get crazy. During certain times (such as holidays), I still struggle with finding the right balance keeping up with demand as I am continuously busy both with macarons and socially. However, having immediate control over my business is imperative to maintaining the right balance for me.
Over the summer months of 2021, I experimented with hosting a weekly macaron counter in a local shop. I enjoyed this immensely as I was able to deliver macarons face to face with my customers and receive instant gratification when they displayed joy after taking their first bite. In order to maintain the variety of macarons for the counter on a weekly basis, I had to decrease my capacity for custom orders as baking to fulfill the macaron counter took priority. I quickly learned how much joy custom orders (birthday parties, weddings, baby showers, etc.) serve me. It is a learning process and reflection and reassessment is key to continued success.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have taken my passion for creativity and found a way to express it through the art of macarons. Not only do I enjoy creating new flavor and color combinations (which are endless), I really enjoy the design aspect. Most often, I handwrite on custom macarons, but have the ability to airbrush, paint, etc. on them as well. Custom orders that provide me a general theme, but with flexibility for creative outflow are my favorite to work with. For example, I had a customer ask for teacher appreciation macarons and I used inspiration from a couple of greeting cards to create macarons that resemble rulers, lined paper, and apples. I am a bit of a perfectionist and can appreciate the attention to detail in all works of art. I believe my handcrafted abilities in the artistic nature are what set me apart from other macaron companies.
By the chance of taking photos for creative and unique social media content, my business has also dabbled into creating my own take on a dessert charcuterie board. I created what I now call a “char-MAC-erie board” for a photo opportunity in which my customers loved and began to inquire for their own gatherings. When macarons alone just aren’t enough dessert for the party, a char-mar-erie board seems to have all the sweets covered. Accompanying my festive and/or themed macarons, I carefully place high quality treats amongst a keepsake tray in a well-balanced and visually stimulating fashion ready for all guests to enjoy!
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I grew up in Northern California just outside of Sacramento. I spent many of summers visiting several different lakes, but camping for week-long vacations at Collin’s Lake in Marysville was by far my most memorable. We would spend all day, every day floating amongst the shore, playing chicken fights with friends we brought along the way, and wakeboarding and skiing behind our boat. Now that I live in Southern California without access to as many local lakes, my love for wakeboarding hasn’t diminished regardless of my frequency of practice. I have now carried on my old family traditions with my husband and children by wakeboarding and tubing behind our own boat frequently throughout the year on Lake Havasu.
Pricing:
- Starting at $25 per dozen
Contact Info:
- Email: savvymacarons@gmail.com
- Website: www.savvymacs.com
- Instagram: @savvymacs
- Facebook: Savvy Macs
Image Credits
Ashleigh Long Photography
Emma Lee What
