Ella Culpepper and Mae Strauss are the Charlotte high school seniors behind The Baker & The Scribe Baking Co. They started the Baker & The Scribe early this summer during lockdown, to share a love of baking and art with Charlotte. Their twist on the cookie biz is that their custom hand-iced cookies come with pretty hand-made cards to match.
Since scoop is all about local women doing amazing things, this was a story we knew we had to share. Here’s our Q&A with The Baker & The Scribe. (please excuse the “mom-ness” of our questions, but as moms, this is just how we roll)
How Did Y’all First Meet?
And What School Do You Attend?
We met in 6th grade at Piedmont IB Middle School and – I know this sounds cheesy but – we have been best friends since.
Mae will graduate from the IB program at Myers Park this spring and Ella will graduate from Cato Middle College with a high school diploma and an associate’s degree.
Is Baking A Hobby or Passion?
What Are Your Interests and Extracurriculars?
In regard to passions and extracurriculars, Ella was a competitive gymnast for several years before she decided to spend more time focusing on school. She is interested in studying pre med and pursuing a career in orthopedics. Aside from baking, she is passionate about fitness and naps.
Outside of school, Mae enjoys volunteering both independently and through the Teen Advisory Board of Charlotte, a teen-led coalition dedicated to community engagement. They have both been members of the Teen Advisory Board for two years and have co-chaired a committee for a little over a year. Mae plans on pursuing a career in the stem field, possibly with a focus on engineering, architecture, or maybe orthodontics.
So Who Is The Baker and Who Is The Scribe?
How Did You Decide on that Name?
Ella does the baking and Mae pairs it with a handmade watercolor card to match and helps detail the cookies. Ella has been baking all her life with her family and at her job at a bakery in Charlotte. Mae came from a family of artists and has always enjoyed art ~ she taught herself hand lettering and calligraphy in middle school and has used it ever since making cards and posters for family and friends. Thus, the baker and the scribe.
And What Does the Future Bring for You and the Business?
What Happens When You Go to College Next Year?
The girls say that they will reassess how the business is doing next summer and decide where to go from there. They really haven’t thought far enough ahead to know what they’ll do next year when they both go to college. For now, they’re just hoping that they will be allowed to go to campus in person. With a drastically altered junior and senior year, they are both just hoping to have a freshman year experience that’s not dominated by Zoom calls.
On the bright side, a lot of good has come from this additional time at home. After all, it is during this time that we got to pursue the idea of starting the baker & the scribe 🙂
Speaking of College, How’s The Application Process Going During The Virus?
Even though we are both going out of our way to avoid thinking about it…We are both working on applying to colleges right now which is definitely hectic. The expectation was that we’d visit a college campus and know that it was THE school, but with the world put on pause, there aren’t many opportunities for visitation.
However, Mae says that COVID issues have provided an interesting way to evaluate schools – on the basis of their response to such a unique situation. The girls have found it interesting to see different universities transitions and reactions in response to the unique circumstances of what will be the 2021 Admissions process.
How’s that for some refreshing resiliency? Being able to both see and appreciate this kind of silver lining is no doubt what will make these two women successful both in whatever they pursue at whatever college they attend and their lives afterward. Of course they started a business when faced with a summer of quarantine! We’re betting this is just the beginning for The Baker and The Scribe 🙂
Just a few of their popular cookie designs:
All custom cookies have a baseline price of $40/dozen. Please note that all prices are subject to change based on customizations.
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