“As sisters, we are very close and have done most things together. When we were children our father gave us a Fisher-Price play kitchen and our favorite playtime was spent there with fake food toys. We also had fun playing in our Barbie house. Our bakery kinda reminds us of that house. We used to play bakery and now we get to live out our childhood playtime every day."
Nicole and Alejandra Leiva are the owners of Duceology. Dulceology Bakery was opened in Federal Hill during the pandemic last year. It's a female-founded, sister and family-run business. They just had an interview with BaltimoreSmallBusinnessStory.
Read the full story below which was published by BaltimoreSmall.com on 04.27.2021
Article From BaltimoreSmall.com
Alejandra: “We were raised by hardworking and entrepreneurial parents. Our father at just 12 years of age, inherited and ran a hardware store after my grandfather passed away. He had to learn all of the tools, plumbing, electrical work…everything, on his own.”
Nicole: “Since we were kids we have always looked up to our parents, they compliment each other. Our Mother is a chef and our Father manufactured commercial kitchen equipment for over 30 years. Father always gives 200% to everything he does so we continue to learn a lot by watching him."
Alejandra: “In El Salvador, we grew up surrounded by locally grown spices such as cocoa beans, cinnamon, and vanilla. When we moved to this country we missed the treats our grandmother baked for us. She would roast for us cocoa beans for chocolate, grains for horchata, and fresh cashews from her garden.
After living in the US for a few years, we began recreating our grandmother’s recipes with the guidance of our Mother. One of these recipes was the Alfajor cookie and it was love at first bite.
At the time, we were both Towson University students. This is when the idea for Dulceology was born. Our friends knew of our treats and they were our first customers. Soon, their friends also knew, and we then set up a website where they could place orders.
I attended George Washington University for my master's degree. We entered their 2019 New Venture business competition and won. With the prize award, we decided we had to open a brick-and-mortar space. We needed a bakery with a nice area where we could connect with our customers. It was the natural next step for our business."
