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The Brooklyn-based owner of a small business Carmen Ladipo, her passion for baking took root in the beginning. "I've always had a craving for sweets for as long as I can recall," Carmen tells . "In the middle of school, I attended classes similar to Home Economics, where we learnt how to bake cookies. Once I figured out I could sustain my craving for sweets on my own, it was a wrap."

However, it wasn't until many several years afterwards that Carmen started to make money from her passion by launching a small-batch cookies ecommerce business on the side. "I'd been moving from the city of my birth to New York City, and tried to recall how to meet new people as mature," Carmen says. "I was able to join the local climbing gym and would bring cookies for members of the gym and climbers, which was an effective strategy for making friends." After receiving "fervently motivated" repeatedly to market cookies, Carmen took advantage of an extra hour between jobs to register her own food business in Brooklyn.

"It began as an excuse for me to earn money to bake cookies for friends in the area at times," Carmen jokes. "But during the past five years Carmen's Cookies has blossomed into an ecommerce site that allows me to ship cookies across the nation for strangers as well as friends."

We spoke with Carmen about the ways she prioritizes the environmental and social impacts of her enterprise, how she balances running this one-woman business with other tasks and duties, and about the equipment that helps Carmen's Cookies to run efficiently.

Local community development and social impact

Customers who go to the Carmen's Cookie website as well as social media channels are immediately greeted with the warm and welcoming nature of the brand, including the tagline: "Providing happiness for your connection." The selection of Carmen's Cookies includes the latest seasonal flavor combinations like ras el hanout or matcha lemon. They also have favorite classics such as brown butter chocolate chip and orange clove. Just a brief glance at the reviews of her cookies to discover the happiness her cookies have brought to consumers across the globe.

From the beginning that Carmen's Cookies is more than just selling cookies. "I feel like food business owners have a responsibility to the natural environment as well as their local communities to be mindful of the impact they have on their communities," Carmen says.

"There are a myriad of resources involved in the process of making and selling food that bear recognition and scrutiny in order to minimize environmental harm. To this end, I am always aware of the source of my ingredients from, and what their producers have a view of their own ecological and social impacts." Carmen is transparent on her site about how she sources her ingredients. There is even an interactive method to track the source of her baking chocolate directly from.

Her commitment to the cause doesn't end at that point. "It's essential to me to find ways to help support the efforts to ensure food justice within the larger Brooklyn community," Carmen says.

"Every every year I select an organization that works directly with its community members in order to promote economic growth and sustainable food production. I contribute a percentage of annual proceeds to these organizations as I believe that Carmen's Cookies to make an effect on the community it is based in." Customers are able to go to the company's website's About Page for more information about the places Carmen has donated a portion of profits.

"As to"the Carmen's Cookies community," Carmen adds, "it's an inspiring experience to watch the customers unite in supporting different causes over time. The ability to facilitate donations in the hundreds of dollars that we have donated to various local and national organizations to support marginalized and food justice communities with the help of cookies was a great significant event."