March 20, 2017

Meet Hala Yassine of Seven Sisters Scones in Johns Creek

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hala Yassine.

Hala, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Seven Sisters Scones is a bakery with a modern take on scones. We make everything in house daily using high-quality ingredients. Contrary to traditional, crumbly scones, ours are moist and come in a wide variety of sweet and savory flavors. We offer breakfast and lunch sconewiches (our take on sandwiches) as well as soups and salads. In addition, we have a variety of specialty items – sauces, croutons and Bissconies (our response to the biscotti).

Like most good stories, this one starts with love. Growing up in a family of seven opinionated, stubborn, loving sisters and two wonderful brothers meant that discussing food was a constant in Hala’s house. Meals were where everyone talked, shared and reached across the table to say “I care”.

For Hala, food nurtures our souls as much as our body.

So, when her family needed a way to have a nutritious, flavorful breakfast option, she baked her first scone – straight out of a box. It was exactly what she thought it would be – slightly dry and very uninteresting.

Then, the box disappeared. That’s when the love came in. Hala decided to bake them herself. After all, she had worked as a professional chef before.

First, it was a classic scone – cranberry orange. Then, her sisters got a hold of it. And, as always, the sisters had requests. “Can’t you make an apple caramel?” “No, a chocolate scone that would be great.” “I hate sweet – what about savory scones?”

Let’s just say – when the sisters start, they go on for a while.

Soon, Hala was creating all these different flavors. And stocking her freezer so that anyone could grab and go. Orders came in from friends and family. She was giving them away as gifts. New flavor requests came in. They became a fallback easy meal any time of the day, not just breakfast.

The scone bug had bitten, hard.

And the obvious question came – why not make it a business?

That’s when Hala started selling at farmer’s markets. She went from one market to seven in a year and quickly outgrew being in a shared kitchen. That led to our first store at 6955 McGinnis Ferry Rd, Johns Creek, GA. We’ve been open for almost two years now and are continually growing our online, wholesale and retail business.

We hope that every customer will take the time to enjoy scones like the sisters do – sitting together with a hot cup of coffee, out on the deck, talking about life.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No, it hasn’t always been a smooth road. Your official title is owner. But, in reality, you are everything. One day, you’re purchasing equipment, the next you are cleaning toilets. We built our store from scratch which can be very challenging – delays, equipment that doesn’t work, licensing. Also, finding the right people to staff the store and kitchen was very tough.

I think the biggest struggle is balancing home life with work. When you’re a business owner, you work a tremendous amount of hours and your business is always on your mind. That requires an adjustment not only for you but for your family as well.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Seven Sisters Scones is a bakery with a modern take on scones. Contrary to traditional, crumbly scones, ours are moist and come in a wide variety of sweet and savory flavors. We offer breakfast and lunch sconewiches (our take on sandwiches) as well as soups, salads, hot meals, desserts, bissconie (our response to biscotti) and croutons.

We bake everything daily, in-house, from scratch. We only use high-quality ingredients and no preservatives. Most people think that our scones are high in calories but they are actually very reasonable, mainly because we keep it simple.

We also offer a full gluten-free line of scones as well as several other gluten-free products (soups, cookies, brownies, desserts, etc…)

What were you like growing up?
I would describe myself as a sassy middle child. Growing up in a large family (yes, there really are seven sisters and two brothers), siblings often have to take care of each other. I had to care for my younger siblings which meant that I grew up fairly quick.

I was interested in movies, communications, drama and, obviously, cooking. I started cooking at the age of 8. I would bake all of my sister’s birthday cakes as well as help cook for the family.

After college, I took that informal experience and convinced a chef to hire me in Monterrey, CA. A few years later, I wanted a career change. I ended up getting my Ph.D. in Psychology. Before I could put it in practice though, my husband and I moved to Georgia for his job. I spent the next ten years raising the kids and doing freelance operations work. Then, I started baking scones and the rest is history.

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