Chances are one Perry teenager is in the kitchen right now.
Brenley Fouse, 15, founded the business Love & Sugar out of necessity when it came time to raise money for a school trip.
“I bake a lot of sweets, but the one thing we do that isn’t sweet are cheese straws, and that’s my favorite,” said Fouse.
She’s pretty fond of the money coming in too, in fact she turned to flour and sugar to bring in the dough.
“I am going on a student trip to Europe, so I was trying to figure out how to make money for that,” said Fouse.
Her mother, Amy Fouse, says Brenley has taken over the kitchen.
“Her dad and I looked at it and thought that’s a really big ask [because] it’s several thousand dollars to go on this trip. We really wanted her to have some skin in the game,” said Amy. “I don’t cook very much anymore because it’s all bakery stuff.”
She doesn’t mind it, though. She says the sweet success of the business is teaching her daughter some pretty important life lessons.
“One thing we’ve learned is our daughter is a hard worker,” said Amy.
Brenley’s plate is full with school work and extracurriculars, but she squeezes in around five hours a week for baking.
“Whenever I’m waking up for school, if I can get anything done before I leave, I do that. [I’m] balancing everything for school and I play tennis for Perry High and concert band is going on right now,” said Fouse.
Speaking of school, her senior year is still two years away, but she’s already close to hitting her goal.
“[I’m] 80 to 90 percent there,” said Fouse.