CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/19024
McGary admits that she’s not as business savvy as she’d like to be and she has learned some hard lessons along the way, but she has a passion for what she does and it truly shines through in her cookies. Networking with other professionals and reading other blogs has helped her professionally to gain more business insight. Her passion started after a friend taught her to decorate cakes. One day, after several years of perfecting her cake baking and decorating skills, she needed something to take to her son Ian’s school for party favors. She whipped up and decorated a batch of cookies. The cookies were a big hit and McGary had so much fun making them that cookies soon became her go-to treat. “I launched Sugar Envy while stationed in Dayton, Ohio. My husband was sent to school and not deployed. I decided it was time to pursue and focus on something for me. I licensed my home kitchen and built my own website. It was time consuming but fun. I love having a creative outlet and a way to express my creativity. I enjoy seeing the finished product and being proud of what I have produced.” Besides the usual orders — baby showers, kids’ party favors, bachelor and bachelorette favors — McGary has done exact replicas of military unit insignia’s and business logos. Inspiration can also be found in unexpected places. McGary says she is often inspired by decorative fabrics and papers, which she frequently copies into designs for her cookies. As a busy wife and mother, on top In the beginning | Andrea McGary first became interested in baking after learning to decorate cakes — her passion for making elaborate cookies came later. Sugar Envy, her business, creates custom cookies for clients everywhere. of a business owner, McGary has to use her kitchen for the more typical functions, too — like cooking meals for Ian and Reagan, her children, ages 9 and 6 respectively, and for her husband Josh, who is in the Army. She comes from an Italian family so it’s no surprise that she cooks up pasta a few times a week for her family. Although she confesses that she is a much better baker than cook. “Baking is predictable, you just have to follow the directions,” said McGary. “I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my cookies, not so much in cooking though,” she jokes.CV 20 | November • 2010