If you are a frequent follower of Sweet Baton Rouge® you know our passion lies within our Baton Rouge businesses. Like many communities around the nation, COVID-19 hit our Louisiana businesses hard in March. Thus, we created our Locals Supporting Locals initiative!
Here’s how it works:
- We design and print “Locals Supporting Locals” T-shirts
- We pick one of the many Baton Rouge businesses to support each month.
- We donate 50% of the sales from this collection to that business
May Giveback: Zanella’s Wax Bar
With an adorable hairless cat as their mascot, Erica Zanella-Ourso set out with a mission –to provide clients with the best waxing services in Baton Rouge. Thus Baton Rouge’s first waxing only business began in 2006 as Zanella’s Wax Bar. After all, whether it’s your brows or Brazillian, waxing is a serious undertaking. And when it’s your first time waxing, it can be intimidating. Erica believes that waxing services shouldn’t be an afterthought. Rather, she wants to give all the waxing clients receive special attention for a fantastic experience.
Great clients and happy employees are essential to running a great Baton Rouge business. So Zanella’s also provides a positive working environment where Estheticians in Baton Rouge can make a career. And happy employees create the best experiences for their clients.
How To Find Them
Now they have two locations in Baton Rouge. But, they are both on Perkins, so don’t get confused! They started on Perkins past Bluebonnet and grew into the Garden District. You can book your appointment at either location, whichever is most convenient for you.
“Smooth As A Great Pickup Line”
Due to the first round of COVID-19 quarantine orders, Zanella’s was definitely impacted. Their business relies almost completely on face-to-face interaction kept them closed for longer than other businesses in the area. As such an important founding business of Baton Rouge, we’re so happy to be able to support them. Our giveback to Zanella’s Wax Bar has ended, but you can always support them directly. They are now open for business and following strict guidelines to keep clients safe! Follow them on their Instagram and Facebook’ to stay updated on their skincare services–and fun photos of their cat, of course!
June Giveback: Honey Dew Sips and Savory
Honey Dew Sips and Savory is a fairly new local Baton Rouge business – Toni Shea began operating in June of 2019. Very similar to food trucks, but for sweets – coffee drinks, snoballs, and sweet baked goods. With the cutest vintage camper named Mazi, Honey Dew services South Louisiana for an aMAZIng time!
A quick scroll through their Instagram and you can tell just how sweet they treat their guests. Whether you’re stopping by Mazi or planning a party, Honey Dew will make sure your event is the most memorable!
We teamed up with Honey Dew for our 2019 Local Pop Up Holiday Shop so we can personally vouch for them. Their drinks and desserts are fantastic and working with Toni was a TREAT, too! We’re so blessed to have had the opportunity to support Honey Dew during our June Locals Supporting Locals giveback.
The Scoop On Honey Dew
You can hire “Mazi” for a variety of exciting events, such as Weddings, Baby Showers, Birthday Parties, Corporate Events, Tailgating, Fundraisers, honestly anything you can think of. The great thing about Mazi is that she can travel wherever your party is! If you have any events coming up soon, we definitely recommend learning more about Honey Dew’s offerings on their website.
Of course, COVID hasn’t exactly been kind to an event-central business like Honey Dew. But that hasn’t stopped them from hustling hard! Mazi has been popping up at community events all over the place. Perkins Rowe, various Farmer’s Markets, Tin Roof Brewing Company, Mid City Makers Market, and more – follow them on Facebook and Instagram so you know where they will pop up next!
July Giveback (Extended Through August): Power Pump Girls (PPG)
As you might guess, there’s a special place in our hearts for women-owned Baton Rouge businesses. So in July, we decided to support the Power Pump Girls and extend this giveback through the end of August. Power Pump Girls, in short, is a non-profit and “social impact club that empowers women to connect and the serve.”
Their mission and vision reflect a quote often used at Ellevest, a national investing company for women. “Nothing bad happens when women have more money.” Women are far more likely to use their money for good, such as supporting nonprofits, volunteering, education, and more. By supporting each other, we are supporting the progress of our community!
The Power Pump Girls Impact
Among other goals, the club actively works to end period poverty through its initiative “secured.” Period poverty is the lack of access to basic sanitary products, menstrual education, hand washing facilities, and waste management. Menstruation stigma is a problem on a global scale that majorly contributes to period poverty. Many women, especially young women, feel shameful and resort to staying home from school or work during their cycle. Couple this with expensive period products and even pink taxes in some areas, and we’ve got a problem.
It’s a self-perpetuating cycle. Without education, young girls are at a higher risk of “entering child marriages, early pregnancy, malnourishment, domestic violence, and pregnancy complications as a result.” Women often miss work when they’re menstruating, causing them to miss out on advancement opportunities at work. Besides, when they forgo income, they can’t afford to pay for the already expensive hygiene products. Which leads us back to the issue of public menstruation shame.
Good deeds don’t happen on their own. Here’s a summary of how Power Pump Girls take action to help the secured. cause, which you can also find on their website.
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- Key Partners: Partnering with schools, non-profit organizations, and other vital groups in the community that help them identify the needs in our community.
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- Ambassadors: Connecting with individuals in the community who can share and spread the secured. mission.
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- Fund-raising: Hygiene products are expensive and unfortunately out of reach for women in poverty. By raising money we help provide these very necessary resources to them.
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- Advocacy & Awareness: Educating and empowering those in our community to make the difference.
How You Can Help: If you’re interested in joining the Power Pump Girls in their mission to end period poverty, learn more here.
It Doesn’t Stop There
A major mission of PPG is to empower women globally by solving period poverty. Locally, however, they are striving to empower women every day. PPG is a place where daring women with great ideas come together to network. With the support of one another, our local women can accomplish their organizational and business goals!
If you or someone you know would be a great addition to this organization, please don’t hesitate to reach out to them! More networking events will be coming as soon as possible (i.e. when COVID-19 calms down). See for yourself how they can help you reach your full potential and how you can help your fellow girl gang reach their full potential, too.
Supporting their organization has been so inspiring for us. So thanks Power Pump Girls–You impress and motivate us every day!
September Giveback: CounterspaceBR
This September is sweet when it comes to our local Baton Rouge business giveback–CounterspaceBR! What started as a hobby for the business owner Sarah Joy, has turned into an exciting and delicious bakery! They pride themself on baking their sweets from scratch! Journey to the heart of Baton Rouge for a taste of their homemade treats such as breakfast pastries, desserts, decadent cakes, coffee, and more. Plus, they have a special selection of retail products from Jamboree Jams, Mojo Coffee of New Orleans, and Fancy Sprinkles!
Of course, they are so much more than your average bakery business in Baton Rouge. Before COVID put the business on pause, they would hold a variety of monthly baking classes and events. These included cake decorating, biscuits and scones, even pop tarts, and much more. Luckily they were able to bring back the cake decorating classes this past August and now in September, too.
Baking is Sarah Joy’s passion and she wants to share it with the world. She’s often shared tips and tricks for baking at home on her blog and seasonal inspiration recipes and ideas with community magazines.
Have A Birthday Bash
Counterspace hosts two-hour themed parties where you and your guests can create cakes, cupcakes, or cookies. Just tell them your party theme, they’ll design and make an original dessert and provide all the materials needed to recreate it. A memorable birthday party for children or even adults! Learn more about it here.
CounterspaceBR Gives Back, Too
CounterspaceBR gives back to a cause called “Bakers Against Racism“, an international bake sale founded in Washington DC. So when you go to order online, be sure to check out their under Bakers Against Racism menu. They donate the proceeds from this menu to The Loveland Foundation. This foundation raises money and helps to provide therapy and support to Black women and girls. And they have committed to donating a minimum of $100 per month.
How Sweet It Is
Go online to order your cakes, cookie cakes, cinnamon rolls, and pies for any event you wish. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram for your daily dose of delicious pictures.
As you can tell, we love the CounterspaceBR Bakery and we’re thrilled to support this well deserved Baton Rouge business! You can show your support by purchasing a “Locals Supporting Locals” T-Shirt this month online.
* this campaign ended in 2020!