Mikala Everson

Owner/Bakery Chef of Granny's Sweeties Celina

I am opening Granny's Sweeties Bakery in Summer 2022 on the downtown square. I grew up loving to bake. I have been in the kitchen since as long as I can remember. I never knew I could make this a career but now I can’t imagine doing anything else. My Granny was the one who got me to fall in love with baking. She and I use to bake together all the time. She is the one who pushed for me to make this a career and we talked about opening a bakery together. Unfortunately, she passed away my sophomore year of high school. I made it my life’s mission to open this bakery and teach everyone what granny taught me. A week later the Culinary Institute of America came to my high school so I knew it was a sign to make this dream come true for the both of us. As soon as I graduated from Prosper High School, I started at the Culinary Institute that summer. I got the opportunity to learn from chefs who have been in the industry for decades. We had a different class every three weeks that focused on a specific part of the industry. For example, we had a class for breads, entremets, confections, chocolates, etc. One of my favorite parts of the program was our externship. We got to choose where to work for an entire semester so we can get a glimpse of what it will be like before we graduate. I moved to California to work at Google. I spent time in their pastry kitchen, I learned how to be a barista, and assist the savory chef in their innovation kitchen where googlers learned how to cook. Shortly after I finished the externship, I graduated with my associates degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. After graduation I had some down time before I could start my bachelor’s program. I chose to pack everything up and move to Tennessee. I got the opportunity to work at Gaylord Opryland as one of their many pastry chefs. It was really cool to experience a fusion of fine dining and catering. They had events all the time and it was cool to experience pastries on such a high volume. After my time in Tennessee, I moved back to New York to start my bachelor’s degree. I studied business administration with a minor in Entrepreneurship. In this degree we got to come up with business concepts, pitch them, and then make the winning concept come to life. We had an innovation kitchen in our dining hall that changed every semester for the students that went through this program. Our class went with the concept of bao buns and called it Bao Town. We created a business plan, created manuals, hired people and ran the restaurant on a small scale. It helped us realized the true struggles that business owners face to run a successful establishment. We ended up having the highest profit from all fourteen concepts that went through that kitchen. This degree really confirmed for me that I am right where I am supposed to be. After graduation I worked on National Geographic Cruise Lines as their pastry chef. I loved this job. Not only did I get to travel the world doing what I loved I got to learn how to be 100% self-sufficient. I prepped five breakfast pastries, three lunch pastries, and a plated dessert for dinner as well as thirty loafs a bread a day. I worked on the boats until covid hit. This ended being the biggest blessing for me because that lead me here today. I love Celina and I can't wait to open and continue to share my passion for baking.