The smell of sugar and almonds wafted through the air as the warmth from the oven basked the kitchen in a comforting embrace. Even more heartwarming was the joy that 10-year-old Eve Welhener shared with her grandmother. The pair had just baked macarons, a French sandwich cookie that is notoriously difficult to make, for the first time — and they tasted perfect.
Since she was 3, Welhener, a senior business management student from Vandalia, Ohio, could be found in the kitchen helping her grandma make cakes, Christmas cookies and old family recipes.
“I learned that baking was a skill I could use to make others happy,” Welhener said. “I love giving my desserts to people.”
Her baking, however, was just as much a way for Welhener to escape from the pain of loneliness, confusion, and despair as it was a creative expression through special treats. As a high school student, she got caught up in comparing herself with her classmates and friends. She was more concerned about what others thought of her than anything else.
During her sophomore year of high school, Welhener’s struggles intensified — and so did her baking. She regularly baked her cookie creations for friends and teachers at school. They loved the cookies, but all the while, Welhner was personally struggling to accept herself as someone with value and purpose.
While baking was her cover for her emotional issues, she turned to avoiding food. She became anorexic, which added stress to her life and concerned her family.
Video: Why Eve Opened Her Business
It took months for Welhner to realize the real problem: She was self-focused and turned away from her belief in God and reliance on Him.
“I walked away from my relationship with Jesus. I wasn’t praying. I wasn’t reading the Bible. I was self-absorbed in looking good and being accepted by others,” said Welhener.
Even as she strove to overcome her difficulties, Welhener also dealt with the turmoil many high school students face as they move closer to their graduation and college or career choice — her future. That’s when it dawned on her that she could turn her love for baking cookies and serving others into a business — Eve’s Original Sin Cookies.
As days turned into weeks, Welhener started reading the Bible and focusing on spiritual matters. She also began using her love of baking as a way to provide a service for others.
“Once I figured out that this was something I had to change, I knew I needed to find an outlet that would allow me to get more creative with my food,” said Welhener. “I needed to tempt myself a little bit, so I started making my own cookie creations that had a lot of different flavor combinations.”
Her renewed love for baking was the impetus for her developing a cookie business tailored to customer requests. And she harkened back to her understanding of Scripture by realizing that God never intended people to be perfect but to overcome sin through His plan.
This brought Welhener to start Eve’s Original Sin Cookies, a business based on God’s grace and mercy in her life.
“When I was thinking about the name of my business, I was taken back to my eating disorder and realized that society is centered on perfection. But the truth is, God doesn’t call us to perfection,” Welhener said. “Eve made the original sin — God never intended for her to sin, yet He still made a plan to overcome that sin.”
Welhener’s new mission is to create a business that exemplifies this truth and makes a one-of-a-kind culinary experience for customers.
“The idea is that my customers can experience food freedom through creating their own cookie,” Welhener said. “Customers can pick out their cookie dough, either original or chocolate, and choose whichever mix-ins they like to come up with their own flavors.”
The food-freedom concept, much to her surprise, has revolutionized Welhener’s online business. After graduation, she intends to open a storefront and offer additional options for her customers.
Even with Welhener’s business success, she experienced feelings of doubt last spring which almost caused her to walk away entirely.
“I thought about giving up my business because I was discouraged and lost focus,” said Welhener. “But one of my professors, Dr. Kary Oberbrunner, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and the Berry Chair of Entrepreneurship, talked about Christian entrepreneurship in one of my classes that totally inspired me. He talked about how entrepreneurship is something you have to just jump into and then learn lessons from there.”
Welhener’s vision for Eve’s Original Sin Cookies LLC was rekindled, and the business continues to bake lasting memories for her customers and friends.
She remains in close communication with Oberbrunner, her newly found mentor, who offers business wisdom and advice to Welhener that’s helped motivate her to continue pursuing her dreams.
“I’m thankful that God has continued to give me opportunities to grow my skill,” Welhener said. “I don’t know what I’d be doing if I hadn’t been encouraged to go through with this despite my struggles. It’s a reminder to trust the process and run with what God’s given you.”
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 5,456 undergraduate, graduate, and dual-enrolled high school students in more than 175 areas of study.Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, high graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and the #4 national ranking by the Wall Street Journal for student engagement. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.