By Kelly Wise Legg
Mary Hermis never dreamed that she would be opening her own bakery when her family moved to Valrico from North Carolina in 1999. Her husband, Guy, was stationed at MacDill AFB. At the time, they had two young daughters.
In 2005, Guy retired from the Army after 23 years of service. The family decided to stay in Valrico and Guy became a staff pastor at their church. It was then that God blessed the family with three more children, a sibling group in need of a family which they adopted.
“I could not imagine our life without any of them. All five of my kids are amazing,” said Mary. “We have truly been blessed.“
But, life took an unexpected turn in 2010 when the economy continued to decline, and the church had to cut back in staff. At the time, Mary was working part-time at Marshalls in Brandon.
“As the months went by, my husband still had no job and my hours were cut back,” said Mary. “I had baked for my co-workers and I was encouraged to start my own little bakery from home.”
This is when Heavenly Sweets & Pastries was born. The business was such a success that Mary quit her job and started baking full time in 2010 with nothing else but prayer and hope that it was the right thing to do.
After baking for several years from her home kitchen under Florida’s Cottage Food Law, Mary and Guy are excited to be opening their first storefront this month.
“I cannot give anyone credit other than my God, my husband, my family and last but not least my community and customers for making my dream come true,” said Mary.
Heavenly Sweets & Pastries will be offering a variety of baked goods, such as mini cakes, dinner cakes, cookies, cupcakes, cake pops and cake truffles, just to name a few. There is also party room available for rent to host children birthday parties.
“We invite you to come on in to the world of Heavenly Sweets, where custom cakes are what the name means – custom. We will never make another exactly like it again,” said Mary.
It is located in the Eastshore Plaza at 1745 S.R. 60 in Valrico. For more information, call 661-9329 or visit www.heavenlysweetspast ries.com or www.facebook .com/heavenlysweetspastries.
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