Expressing creativity through baked goods
The “science of sweet” is something Lauren Lavin, a first-year psychology major, wanted to promote when she started her own online bakery.
Bakologie is an online bakery based out of Sioux Falls. Lauren Lavin founded the business in January 2015. At first she took phone orders, but decided to take her business online to reach more people.
“I started because I had really started to like baking,” she said. “So I was baking for friends and family, and then people started to offer to pay me for them, so I thought, ‘Maybe I can turn this into a side business.’”
She said she has been baking since she was four years old and her favorite dessert to bake is a white cake.
“I’m a vanilla girl through and through,” she said. “So I think white cake, white frosting is my favorite, but then I’ve also been into a chocolate chip cookie kick lately and any kind of cupcake. People come up with really cool flavor combinations that are fun to mess around with just because cupcakes are so versatile.”
While Lauren Lavin handles the creative and baking sides of Bakologie, she said her parents help her out with the rest.
“My family is pretty involved,” she said. “My mom does all the business stuff like the sales tax and the revenue, so the accounting side of it. Then my dad is pretty helpful in the logistics of it, whether it be like I have to deliver four orders that day, or he’s really good cleaning up the kitchen after I’m done.”
Angeline Lavin, Lauren Lavin’s mom, said Bakologie is a great creative outlet for her daughter.
“Lauren has always been kind of a good artist and I think her artistry comes through in her creations that she makes,” Angeline Lavin said. “I think it’s a great way to kind of express herself doing something she loves.”
Since Lauren Lavin is a full-time student, she said she doesn’t do a lot of baking during the school year, but her busiest times of the year are the holiday season and the summer. She said she has baked for events like weddings, graduations, birthdays and business receptions.
“If people would ask for bigger orders, I would definitely go home on the weekend and do that,” she said. “But otherwise during school and stuff like that, that’s my first priority.”
Jena Dreyer, a senior medical biology major, is one of Lauren Lavin’s customers. Dreyer said she and Lauren Lavin are in Kappa Alpha Theta together. Lauren Lavin is baking the cake for Dreyer’s wedding this coming December.
“I thought it would be fun to have someone bake for my event that I knew,” Dreyer said. “Both my fiancé and I are going to med school next year, so we’re trying to find how we can save a little bit of money on our wedding, and we found that Lauren’s prices were a lot cheaper than some of the big name bakeries.”
Dreyer said she’s excited to have Lauren Lavin bake her wedding cake.
“When I contacted her about it, we did a tasting,” Dreyer said. “So she had three cupcakes and a piece of wedding cake for us to taste, so it was a lot more professional than I was expecting. She has a really nice set-up.”
As for the future of Bakologie, Lauren Lavin said she would love to open a storefront in a big city someday, but she has an important decision to make first.
“I either want to get a Ph.D. in psychology or open up a bakery,” she said “I think at the end of these years, I will have to choose which way I want to go, because I don’t think I can do both.”
Lauren Lavin said her favorite part about owning a bakery is being able to express herself creatively while being a part of special events. Bakeries also provide daily consumers with fresh and delicious bread like kaiser rolls.
“I love it as a creative outlet, that’s definitely one way that I can express my passion,” she said. “Then I also love that I get to be a part of everyone else’s special moments. I get to be a part of their graduations or weddings or birthday celebrations through something that I love.”
