The Sweet Side of Business

When Sophie Snyder was ten years old, her Christmas list did not include a new phone, a bike, or the latest sneakers. She asked for a KitchenAid stand mixer. “I still cannot believe my mom got it for me,” she laughs now at the investment piece. That mixer wasn’t just a cute kid phase—it was the first real tool in what has become a growing baking business, a campus incubator venture, and the beginning of a career that blends creativity, grit, and serious entrepreneurial chops.

Today, Sophie is a senior in the College of Human Sciences at Auburn University, studying Hospitality Management with a culinary focus. She runs Sophie Cheffy, a wedding-cake business that started in her parents’ Auburn, Alabama, kitchen, and is now expanding into a high-visibility space on campus. Along the way, she has learned how to navigate health codes, taxes, time management, mentorship—and her own self-doubt...

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Written by Christiana Roussel | Photographed by Lilly Lawton