Social entrepreneur urges Memphians to “Make change. Eat more Cookies.”

Sweet LaLa’s production now takes place at JIFF’s headquarters in Downtown Memphis. Aside from renting the kitchen space from JIFF, Sweet LaLa’s pays the hourly wages of the JIFF workers who produce the cookies.

“We want our students to know they are valued and that they add value to our business model,” says Young.

Participants must complete the 16 week JIFF case mentoring program in order to work for Sweet LaLa’s, and participants will rotate as JIFF assists them in landing other opportunities. Since their official launch at JIFF on December 1 of last year, eight students have worked producing Sweet LaLa’s cookies. They’ve baked up over 7,500 cookies for large corporate groups and individuals throughout the United States in the first two months of operation, with new customers being attracted each week. 

As for the future, Young plans to expand into a storefront for Sweet LaLa’s, plus work on marketing to vendors as production increases. “We certainly have dreams to grow the bakery, but for now I hope we are spinning dreams for these kids in new ways.”

She hopes that other companies will follow their lead and take on kids in the workplace. Lauren believes that the Sweet LaLa’s business model can and should be replicated by other service industry companies in the area. She explains, “Kids are eager to work and eager to be compensated. They are incredibly talented and capable, and they all have big dreams. The bakery can offer a real chance at honing employment skills and set a tone for greater expectations in the jobs they seek once they leave our company. The difference is that our bakery is not just a practice field with a certificate of achievement, it is a viable training field to understand customer expectations, packaging and inventory, product quality, timeliness, hospitality and more.”