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Small business owner from Brooklyn Carmen Ladipo, her passion for baking took root early on. "I've always had a craving for sweets since the time I can remember," Carmen tells . "In middle school, I was in classes like Home Economics, where we learned how to bake cookies. After I realized I could sustain my craving for sweets on my own I was done."

However, it wasn't until many years afterwards that Carmen was able to earn money from that enthusiasm by starting a small batch cookies ecommerce business in the background. "I'd just moved from the city of my birth to New York City, and tried to recall the best ways to connect with friends once I became an adult" Carmen says. "I got a membership at the local gym for climbing and brought cookies to members of the gym and climbers, which was an effective way to make friends." After receiving "fervently incentivised" several times to sell cookies, Carmen took advantage of some extra time in between jobs to sign up her food-related business Brooklyn.

"It began as an excuse to get paid to bake for local friends on occasion," Carmen jokes. "But during the past five years Carmen's Cookies has blossomed into an online shop that has me shipping cookies all across the country to friends and strangers alike."

We spoke to Carmen about the ways she prioritizes environmental and social impacts of her enterprise, how she manages this single-woman business with other tasks and obligations, as well as the tools she uses to help her make Cookies to run efficiently.

Prioritizing local community and Social impact

People who visit the Carmen's Cookies website and social media are immediately welcomed by the warmth of Carmen's brand. Its tagline is: "Providing happiness for your closeness." Carmen's offerings include experimental seasonal flavors like the ras el-hanout and matcha lemon. These are in addition to her traditional favorites like the brown butter chocolate chip as well as orange clove. You only need to take a short glance through the reviews of her cookies to appreciate how much joy these cookies have brought to consumers all over.

Since the very beginning, Carmen's Cookies was about much more than simply selling cookies. "I feel like food business owners have a responsibility to the natural environment as well as their communities in general to consider their impacts," Carmen says.

"There are many sources involved in the process of the production and sale of food products which require recognition and scrutiny in order to minimize environmental harm. For this reason, I am always aware of where my ingredients are coming from and how their manufacturers consider their impact on the environment and society." Carmen is transparent on her site about the sources she uses to source her ingredients. The site even offers a interactive method to find out where the baking chocolate she uses comes directly from.

But her dedication doesn't stop at that point. "It's also been important to me to find ways to help support the continuing efforts for food justice across the Brooklyn community," Carmen says.

"Every every year I pick an organization working directly with its community members to empower economic development and sustainable food production. I give a small portion of my the profits each year to these groups because I want Carmen's Cookies to create an impact on the community it is based in." Customers are always able to go to the company's about page to learn where Carmen is donating some of its sales.

"As to"the Carmen's Cookies community," Carmen adds, "it's an inspiring experience to watch customers come together in support of different causes over time. Facilitating the donations in the hundreds of dollars that we have donated to various local and national organizations to support marginalized and food justice communities through cookie sales is a major highlight."