Ann Aboushousha
Sometimes a chance opportunity we take proves to shape our life in a very lasting way. Such is the case with Anne Aboushousha, owner of Sweet Annie’s, a bakery in Flossmoor, Illinois.
Nancy Burrows, Annie, Kelly Cooper
When Anne was a teen, she worked at a bakery called The Shaker Baker in Elm Grove Wisconsin, where she grew up. Anne and her twin sister stopped off at the bakery every day as the owner was preparing to open it, begging for a job. And, while Anne’s sister liked the job, Anne loved it! Starting out washing dishes, she eventually moved up the ranks, continuing to work there through school, including holidays, when she came home from college.
This love of people and customer service continued for Anne, who later worked for Quaker Oats, providing customer service on their toll free number—for nine years.
Following this, after starting a family, Anne and her husband, Mo, a civil engineer, started their own Project Management business out of their home.
Eventually, Anne decided she wanted to go back to work, decided that she wanted to revisit that special love she had for working in a bakery, and that Flossmoor really needed a bakery. Miraculously, a space opened up in downtown Flossmoor, and the rest, as they say, is history, when in October of 2008 Sweet Annie’s opened its ovens and its doors.
The bakery has grown since then—not in space—it is all of 500 square feet—but in the variety of products it offers and the ambition to take on new challenges. Anne says she decided to first crawl, then walk, and then skip—not taking on jobs or clients until she knew she could serve them with exceptional quality sweets. She now has a customer base that enters her shop and she also has special catering clients. Each time she thinks of her next goal, she asks herself the questions “What do I want? Can I do it justice? Am I ready?”
Anne says that other businesses in the area have been especially supportive of her business. Sweet Annie’s has not used conventional advertising. Anne says, “People find their way to us—we’re not in a highly visible spot even.” She is known for her generosity of giving customers and browsers something to taste, something to try. Sometimes her staff tries to keep her from the counter, because she tends to give things away for free. But Anne says this has helped her business grow through “word of mouth.” We say Sweet Annie’s has grown through “mouth watering” quality baked goods. We are pleased to present our Small Business award winner of the year, Anne Aboushousha of Sweet Annie’s.