Established bakery owners give newcomers a gift to jumpstart their business


Thanks to some help from the Sugar Sisters, the Little Sistas will be able to serve up more of their dessert creations.
Zyaire Hawkins, 11, and Charl'Les Hawkins, 9, enjoy baking, and came up with a recipe for ice cream cones filled with cheesecake. They experiment with flavors, and add sprinkles and other toppings. In June, the sisters from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, started their own business, Little Sistas Treats, and have been doing research on how to run a successful dessert company.
Their mom, Marietta Hawkins, went to the Sugar Sisters Bakery in Castle Rock to pick up a cake, and told owners Molly Witt and Rebekah Lydon about her daughters. She asked if she could bring the girls in one day to get some tips and see what their business might turn into, and when they came to visit, they were shocked to learn that Witt and Lydon were giving them a gift of $1,015 to get Little Sistas Treats off the ground.
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Marietta told KMGH she was so excited and appreciative. "I think it's a great lesson to my daughters: When you give, it comes back to you," she said. The girls were also thrilled, and have been inspired by Witt and Lydon to grow their business to include a food truck; they also hope to hire other young girls. "The Little Sistas and the Sugar Sisters," Lydon said. "It was just meant to be." Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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