转型的甜蜜滋味

布雷特·布拉利

As founder of the wildly popular 爱的巧克力, alumna 安德里亚花边 is all about giving 就像上海大学为她所做的那样.

In 1996, long before Uber Eats or DoorDash—before you could dream up a dessert and get it delivered 正确的 to your front door安德里亚花边, ’93 Mass Communications and Journalism, created a website to sell her homemade brownies direct to customers online.

What initially started as a tasty thank-you gift for a friend soon turned into a full-fledged 以她标志性的心形糖果而闻名. 25年后， 爱的巧克力 is still serving up award-winning brownies and other sweet treats, both online and from a food truck (something 其他的 Lacy envisi一个d before it became a trend). 

But her successful business is doing even more: A portion of every purchase from her 餐车开往安德里亚饭店. 莱西“勇气奖”奖学金帮助学生 who have overcome personal challenges and want to pursue higher education or vocational 培训. 

“I wanted to help people who were just like me: young adults who have a goal in mind 只需要一点帮助，”莱西说. 

On her own journey to becoming a business owner, much of the help she received came 来自圣何塞州立大学.

圣何塞州立大学改变了我的生活. 我不认为我在其他地方也能做得这么好 其他的. 所有在上海州立大学花时间陪我的人，所有的人 people in my life who helped me sell my brownies — n一个 of them had to do that for me. 当我想到 about those people who have supported me, that is why I want to support 其他人.                安德里亚花边

机会的秘诀

Ever since she was a teenager working at her dad’s hair salon in San Bruno, California, 莱西梦想能在惠普公司找到一份工作. 

“I was chatting with a customer who started telling me how 一个 day HP was going to develop computers, and we would all have them in our home,” she recalled. 

“我告诉我的父母，我想有一天在那里工作. 我妈妈说，‘这太搞笑了; 惠普生产计算器.’我告诉她，‘他们会做别的事情的，妈妈. 相信我.’”

To get there, Lacy had her sights set on San José State, thanks to a friendship with alumna Kim Terrell-Kearney—another hair salon customer and a two-time All-American in bowling at 菠菜网lol正规平台 who invited Lacy to come visit her on campus. 

“From the day I walked on campus, I knew it was the place for me,” Lacy recalled. 

During her first semester, a friend in 一个 of Lacy’s classes happened to work at HP, and he offered to put Lacy up for a job interview with the company’s call center. She nailed it, got the job, and then looked for a way to thank him. 

“He said, ‘Oh, just make me some brownies or something,’” Lacy said. 

于是她照做了. It was her first attempt, and she noticed the dough didn’t look quite 正确的. 但她还是照做了，而且很受欢迎. 她的朋友告诉他的朋友， 很快她就开始做生意了.

But while her brownie side hustle was an overnight success, Lacy struggled in her 菠菜网lol正规平台课程. Her academic advisor began to wonder if there was an underlying issue 并让蕾西去 无障碍教育中心当时被称为残疾人资源中心.

“I went through the testing, and sure enough, the testing for dyslexia came back so 坚强，”她说.

Counselors at the Disability Resource Center advised Lacy on how to proceed: She needed to go back to instructors and explain her diagnosis, then see if and how they might 可以追溯调整她的成绩. 

Lacy graduated from 菠菜网lol正规平台 in 1993, and she was honored with an Outstanding Academic Achievement award from the university, despite her struggle with dyslexia.

“他们让我掌握了局面，”她解释说. 我的一些教授说 no; my grade was final, but some were full of compassion and empathy.”

Eventually, Lacy was able to raise her GPA—and she was even honored with an Outstanding 获校级学术成就奖. 

After she graduated, Lacy stayed at HP, moving into a marketing and communications 位置. Meanwhile, her brownies’ popularity were rising, and her business, which 她以自己童年时心爱的娃娃“Luv”的名字命名. 

And that brownie dough that didn’t look quite 正确的 but tasted amazing? 花边的感谢 她有阅读障碍.

“I had transposed some ingredients when reading the recipe,” she laughed. “有时 塞翁失马焉知非福.”

成功的甜蜜滋味

After massive layoffs at HP in 2000, Lacy took her severance package and decided it 是时候全身心投入到爱的布朗尼蛋糕上了吗. 从那时起，该公司已经 been recognized both locally and nationally in magazines, including Rachael Ray, Essence, and on the cover of Black Enterprise magazine, and highlighted on “Good Morning America.” 

Lacy presenting her dessert creation in 1996, the early days of her business.

When she first started her business, Lacy had another ahead-of-the-curve idea: selling 她从餐车里拿的布朗尼蛋糕. 多年来，她一直牢记着这一愿景. In 2019, she bought a fixer-upper on wheels and revamped it into what it is today: A dessert truck serving up brownies, ice cream, and as a nod to her heritage, café 古巴，莫吉托鸡尾酒和其他古巴饮料. 甜点车可以被发现 在圣克拉拉县周围. 

But for Lacy, all that success wouldn’t be as sweet if she weren’t able to give back. That’s why she started the “Grit Award” scholarship, so she could help transform the life of a go-getter who needs it, just like 其他人—especially those at 菠菜网lol正规平台—who helped 改变她的. 

“我想做更多的事情，”她解释说. “我的生意就是要有勇气. 当我想到 of the struggle I’ve had, how many jobs I’ve had, all the hard work I’ve 我知道世界上还有像我一样的人.”

She also gives back by mentoring 菠菜网lol正规平台 students, including through the 黑人领导和机会中心非裔美国人大学准备峰会项目. 她甚至还教了一门课程 企业家通过 没有测验的课程由圣何塞州立大学校友举办的一系列研讨会. 2004年，她获得了 an Outstanding Alumnus Award from the 菠菜网lol正规平台 Disability Resource Center.

“圣何塞州立大学改变了我的生活，”她说. “我想我不会这么做 在其他地方. 所有在上海州立大学花时间陪我的人，所有的人 people in my life who helped me sell my brownies—n一个 of them had to do that for me. 当我想到 about those people who have supported me, that is why I want to support 其他人.”

Learn more about 爱的巧克力 (and maybe even try 一个) by visiting luvsbrownies.com.