Running a small business is no easy task, running a small business when you are a teenager is even more of an accomplishment - but it's what bakery owner Tonya Dickens is teaching her five kids.
She opened her shop, Savor The Moment Bakery, in Greensboro in 2017 and since then her kids have branched out and started their own baking careers. It's more than a sweet life, it's a family affair.
"Well, my mom is in the back to so it's actually a three-generation business," Tonya Dickens said.
Dickens opened the storefront nearly three years ago and since then her 15-year-old daughter Jasmine has perfected cookies and French macarons and her 13-year-old son Austin took off running with bread, bagels and now, cinnamon rolls.
Austin said his mom was the reason he started backing.
"She was like, 'Austin why don't you try bagels it might be something that you're good at,' and then I start trying and I was not like Jasmine - she got seven tries and she got it right - I had so many messed up batches all around the place, I just wanted to stop," Austin said. "But after you get the hang of it and start working and research more about it you learn how to work with it and then finally the bagels are coming out right."
Like baking, running a business takes perseverance - something that's come in handy over the past few months and during a pandemic.
"I think also just having a family business help to because we already had a staff that was built in so we didn't have to worry about outside people coming in and we were secure because we all live together right."
Family is baking this business a success - and Dickens hopes that the lessons learned will stay fresh in her kid's minds for years to come.
"I feel like it's a great foundation to have the confidence that you can always create an opportunity for yourself, that is what I really want to instill in them," she said. "Even if you don't do baking, what you're learning now and the foundation and the principles are going to help in whatever you decide to do."