Community Highlights: Meet Gretchen Norman of P. S. Sweets

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gretchen Norman.

Hi Gretchen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Like many children, I baked with my grandmother and relished it. I continued to bake during my childhood through to high school. I remember finishing with something in the kitchen one day and my dad randomly saying, “you know, this is really good – you could be a pastry chef.” Everything changed at that point – it had never occurred to me that I could bake and make sweets for a living!

I went to Johnson and Wales University and got my Baking and Pastry Arts degree. I enjoyed the cake decorating part of our classes as well as the plated desserts.

I was fortunate to follow a pastry path from my internship at Kiawah Island Resort to the Ritz Carlton, Atlanta, and even on to Chateau Elan. I got to experience the joy of working in top-notch pastry kitchens.

When my husband and I became parents, I left the world of the pastry chef behind so that I could stay at home with our children. For many years, my only baking was for PTA bake sales and birthday parties. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Once the kids were a little older, I found an opportunity at International Sugar Art Collection. The work kept me around baking, bakers, and baking supplies, and I was grateful for the balance of being available for my children but having a much-needed confectionary outlet.

Inevitably, as the children became more and more self-sufficient and closer to having college tuition, I decided to dive back into my passion, my hobby, my livelihood and started P.S. Sweets. I started slowly with word of mouth and as I worked out what I wanted to offer. I have been blessed to be doing this now for seven years.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any business starting out, it was slow going, but we have built an excellent clientele. As with most party/ event-based businesses, the pandemic really slowed us down. We now have recovered from that slowdown, thankfully.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
P.S. Sweets is an online specialty bakery. Our primary focus is on custom-decorated cookies and cupcakes. And around the holidays, our pecan pralines are a top seller. We would like to think our customer service and quality set us apart from others. One thing that distinguishes us is our love to give back, whether it is through donating cookies to a great cause and, all of the profits from our cookie decorating kits going towards No Kid Hungry.

How do you think about luck?
I would have to say I have been very fortunate. When I first started P.S. Sweets, it was a little slow going. An amazing event planner, Jahlil of JMCallister Events found me and really helped my business get established within the event planner community. Also, I met a wonderful group of ladies at a local networking event. One of the ladies, Sunshine was a great encourager of my work and has ordered many times for herself personally and the wonderful company she works for, SalesLoft. With extraordinary ladies like these, it has definitely been good luck. Also, I have to mention my incredibly supportive family. Without them, I would not be where I am today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pssweets.com
• Instagram: p.s.sweets
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/P.S.Sweets 

Image Credits
Katee + Caroline Photograpy is the inital cookies Gretchen Norman for the rest