Meet Jennifer LaSala of Jennifer Lee’s – An Allergen Friendly & Vegan Shoppe in Downtown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer LaSala.

Jennifer’s Gourmet Bakery has transformed from a sugar allergen filled bakery called Sugar Coated Heaven to a strict allergen friendly and vegan bakery helping thousands of people with food allergies in the New England area and beyond.

In 2011, Jennifer (who was only 17 years old at the time) started Sugar Coated Heaven. A simple sugar filled bakery focusing on chocolate covered Oreos. She took a business class in Chelsea High School ran by NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) and her business came in first place in the Chelsea High School Business Plan Competition and 3rd place out of 1100 students at the Regional Competition.

For the first three years of the business she juggled going to Johnson & Wales University, working full time in Boston, and selling at farmer’s markets in the area. In 2013 Goldman Sachs named her Global Entrepreneur of the Year for New England at 20.

One year after winning this prestigious award Jennifer was in a serious accident at her former job. She slipped and fell, hitting her head so hard that the blacked out, had a seizure, and fractured her neck. While recovering she started to constantly breaking out in hives. After seeing a doctor about it, she was told that she probably has a gluten and dairy allergy. “When the doctor told me that all I could think about was, what am I supposed to eat? Everything is filled with gluten and dairy.” -Jennifer

After some tests she found out that she does not have food allergies but is instead allergic to many painkillers. “Even though I was cleared for food allergies, the experience of possibly having them made me realize the challenges people with food allergies had to encounter every day. That experience made me want to make it my life’s mission to give people a safe place to eat.”-Jennifer

After experimenting with many different flours, dairy free options, egg free options, and everything in between she finally was able to put out a line of products that was completely free of gluten, eggs, dairy, and nuts. Due to the unique niche that she was in she was able to get a temporary spot at the Boston Public Market in January of 2016. Her temporary stall there was so successful and she had so many customers begging for her to stay that she put in a permanent application and opened up full time on March 4th, 2016. In July 2018, they will be transitioning from a gourmet bakery to an all-out shop with everything you need allergen friendly!

Has it been a smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. When I was in the regional business plan competition I high school, I came in 3rd place, which absolutely devastated me. I wanted to give up the bakery for good, but I kept going and learned from it. A few years later when I was opening the brick and mortar store for Sugar Coated Heaven, it ended up closing, three days before our grand opening due to landlord issues. Another et back that made me want to give up the bakery. Having a business is a love / hate relationship and it will be extremely rocky at times. However, I have definitely learned from every set back and challenge that I have faced and it has made me a better and wiser business owner.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Jennifer Lee’s is an allergen friendly and vegan shop. We are 100% vegan, and free of gluten, eggs, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame. We are known for our banana bread which is a family recipe, and our chocolate chip cookies that are so much better than their allergen filled counter parts. Our proudest moments are definitely when we meet our customers with severe multiple allergies. Especially when it’s a child because for the first time they can have anything they want from a place and not be scared of having a reaction, they can feel normal, and they can just for once be a kid eating at a bakery. That right there is why we do what we do. What sets us apart from others is that we are safe of so many allergens that the majority of people that come to us can actually be able to safely eat and without fear of cross contamination.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Boston is definitely a great place for us to be in because it is convenient for people all over New England to get to, as well as the MANY tourists that come to Boston and seek us out. We always love meeting family’s that come from different states and tell us our bakery, has made their trip easier or even possible because there is a safe place for their children to eat. Boston is a great place for business, and has so many amazing small business owners that are not only so easy to network with but are willing to give you much needed advice so that you can avoid bumps in the road.

Contact Info:

• Address: 100 Hanover Street Boston MA 02108
• Website: www.jenniferleesbakery.com
• Phone: 9784145180
• Email: jenniferleesbakery@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msjenniferlee/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferleesbakery/

Image Credit:
Our Accountants- Cooper and Mini Cooper (on pink blanket)

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