Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Brook.
Sara, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Yes, it’s true… I learned to read off the back of a chocolate chip cookie package. I was the champion “stirrer” at Mrs. Wagner’s nursery school where we celebrated birthdays by making a cake mix and sharing it with the class. I took my first cooking class in 1968; the class was for 2nd and 3rd graders, but I begged them to let me attend even though I was only 6 at the time.
I was the top cookie seller 2 years in a row for the San Jacinto Girl Scouts by getting “wholesale” accounts with local restaurants including Kaphan’s on Main Street. And I always brought cookies and brownies to every carpool. I guess you could say that having a dessert business was my destiny. Getting to bake for a living and making a career out of doing something I love has been a dream come true. Not that it’s always been perfect or easy, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
In 1983, I was 21 when I graduated Summa Cum Laude/Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas with a degree in Sociology and Computer Science. I had absolutely no plan or vision for the future, so I thought I would go to law school. I started studying for the LSAT and working at a law firm and quickly concluded that that life was not for me. It wasn’t a total waste of time – I learned how to file a DBA at the courthouse and got my first one on October 19, 1983. I decided that I was going to make the world a better place by making fantastic homemade chocolate chip cookies, yummy cakes, and desserts!
2018 is my 35th year in business and on September 19th Dessert Gallery will celebrate its 23rd birthday! Besides Dessert Gallery, I have had two other successful startups, both dessert-related. Having my own business(es) has been the thrill of a lifetime and the scariest thing imaginable AND everything in between… usually on the same day.
In 1983, right out of college, I started my first business, The Executive Sweet, in my parents’ house.
In 1988, I started my second company called Sara Brook Desserts and ended up developing a chocolate sauce called The Great Chocolate Cover-Up. After having my daughter, Jen, in September 1989, I marketed the sauce nationally through a network of brokers and distributors across the country, with Crate & Barrel being my largest customer. In September 1992, I sold out to a company in Tulsa and the sale included a 2-year consulting gig during which time the company went public!
In Dec 1994, my consulting gig was up. I was 32, divorced, retired, and bored. So in January 1995, my four-year-old daughter, Jen and I started planning DG, and we opened in September 1995 one week before Jen’s 5th birthday. We’ve always specialized in old-fashioned, homemade yummy all-American desserts just like your grandma used to make, only better.
In 2003, I opened my second location near Post Oak & San Felipe near the Galleria.
Between 2007-2009, I opened a 5000 sq. ft. commissary kitchen, I opened (and closed) a third location in Sugar Land, and as if that wasn’t enough, I closed a total of 3 weeks due to 2 hurricanes, and survived a major fire at the commissary, and had to relocate my original cafe as well.
On the personal side, my only daughter left for college in August of 2006, and my mom who was always my rock and a second mom to my Jen…. quit driving in December 2006 due to Alzheimer’s and quickly went downhill. So there I was in the middle of this hailstorm to fight and fend for myself. Exhausted but determined, I never stopped believing passionately in my original vision of saving the world one chocolate chip cookie at a time. I always loved my desserts, my staff and my customers.
Somewhere along the way, my little Jen graduated from college. I was fortunate to be able to work with her for a year and a half leading up to my 20th anniversary. It was under her guidance that we re-branded and remodeled the café. I was terrified to make the leap from our reliable old starburst to a new look – but Jen’s vision was “spot on” and we have received nothing but accolades from old and new customers alike. They love the new logo, they love spending time at our new café, and the whole experience breathed new life into me and the whole company!
Nelson Mandela was right when he said… “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Please tell us about Dessert Gallery Bakery & Cafe.
Dessert Gallery is all about passion! Passion for life. Passion for desserts. Passion for all that desserts represents: love, friends, family, nurturing, creativity, affection, sharing, community.
Dessert Gallery is a woman-owned business started by a fifth-generation Houstonian. It is a place where real people make real desserts by hand, using great ingredients and lots of love. We were doing it this way when “homemade” and “all natural” were a given, and not just the buzzwords du jour.
Dessert Gallery is family. There are second-generation workers in our kitchens and in our stores. We love knowing that our desserts have graced your tables for countless celebrations and special occasions at work and at home. We love seeing you enjoy our cafes with family and friends and we take personal pride when we see you come back time and time again.
Passion. Hand-crafted. Family. Love. That’s Dessert Gallery!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Here are the main lessons that have helped me stay determined, focused and strong when all I really wanted to do on some days was to hide under my covers and eat ice cream and watch cartoons all day…
– You’ve got to believe!
– Act “as if.” One day it will eventually come true.
– Don’t go it alone. Ask for help. Sometimes your biggest cheerleader may come from someplace you didn’t expect.
– Surround yourself with people who believe in your dream.
– Shit happens. You are not the shit that happens.
– Follow your passion. There’s something to be said for doing something you love. Every day isn’t a fairy tale, but passion and determination go a long way when the going gets tough.
– Learn something new every day.
One of my favorite quotes is by Abraham Lincoln “I am a success today because I have a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.”
Contact Info:
- Address: 3600 Kirby Drive SW corner of Kirby & Richmond
- Website: dessertgallery.com
- Phone: 713.522.9999
- Email: customersvc@dessertgallery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Dessertgallery_1995/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DessertGallery/
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/DessertGallery
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dessert-gallery-bakery-and-cafe-houston?osq=dessert+gallery
Image Credit:
Julie Soefer, Jack Opatrny, Lulu Lopez
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