During the summer of 2021, Makyla Linder, like many kids, was bored. School was out and the spread of COVID-19 meant that most people had to stay at home. So the 12-year-old began watching videos about baking (烘焙) online. The only baking she had done before was helping out her grandmother. Soon, Makyla started baking on her own. She made cupcakes and chocolate-covered strawberries. She tested them out on her family and friends who came over.

For most kids, picking up a new hobby would have been enough. However, Makyla had bigger ideas. She asked her mom, Chelsea Hatcher, if she could start selling the treats she had created. “I said OK but I kept pushing it off. But she asked me a couple more times,” said Makyla’ s mom Chelsea Hatcher. Hatcher eventually agreed to let her daughter start a baking business. She helped Makyla buy more baking supplies. Meanwhile, Makyla focused on her baking research and worked on perfecting her recipes.

Makyla started out small, with new customers coming from recommendations. Then her mom helped her set up a business called Dolci Desserts and made an Instagram page. The page has a telephone number and an email address so people can place orders. The Dolci Desserts Instagram account has photos of the cakes for sale. There are chocolate-covered pretzeis and white chocolate-covered Oreos. There are also Rice Krispie treats and banana pudding. Makyla says she has about 30 customers. Many of them are returning customers.

“I like baking, and I like making my customers happy,” said Makyla. She also likes making her own money and saving it. She even bought herself a pair of new shoes.

Makyla’s success doesn’t surprise her mom. “She works hard,” said Hatcher. Still, lots of people have been amazed at a baker who’s so young. Generally, nobody will naturally expect that such a young teenager could make so wonderful cakes and even run an online company.