Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Willis.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Our story began in 2020, during the COVID pandemic. My job had laid off all non-essential employees, which unfortunately included my position in Human Resources. My husband was able to keep his job, but we were on completely conflicting schedules. We had recently moved to a seedy part of a new town after being affected by the General Motors strike the previous year. The unit we were forced to move into had no functioning HVAC unit or central air. Life felt bleak. I had an overwhelming amount of time on my hands and no real hobbies. I tried getting into fitness, painting, interior designing but nothing fit. I needed a challenge to help fight the incessant boredom and depression. I stumbled upon an article about “The hardest pastries to master” and saw French Macarons at the tippy top. I had always wanted to try one but no one in my area made them. I became obsessed with cracking the code on Macarons. I tried and failed, so many times. I was working with the bare essentials on equipment in a non-climate controlled kitchen. I fed samples to friends, family, strangers and neighbors to collect feedback. I tried hundreds of recipes/methods. Finally, I got my first halfway decent batch of Macaron Shells. I felt untouchable, like I had finally won the lottery. I had taught myself how to make one of the most tedious pastries at home. My husband and family encouraged me to start selling them, so I put out a post on social media thinking no one would bother messaging me. I was shocked when I got my first order. We offered contactless delivery and drove all of the Middle Tennessee Area with macarons in our Altima. Business waxed and waned for a while. We eventually went back to working day jobs while delivering on weekends. But we never gave up on our dream of opening a bakery that was different. We put our heads down and just worked. We worked and worked and worked. Finally, we had paid off our car and were able to use it for collateral on a small loan. A location with a fully built kitchen became available and we signed a lease before we even had the deposit! It hasn’t been easy, but we are coming up on our 3 year anniversary! We still struggle with inflation, rising ingredient cost, SO MANY TAXES, and burnout. BUT, we show up and we don’t quit. We now have an amazing small business with an amazing community and staff!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have definitely faced our share of struggles. We once had all of our kitchen sink plumbing fall out of the basins, AT ONCE. It was a huge mess. We are constantly struggling against an economy that is not favorable for small businesses or local economies. The road has not been smooth, but we wouldn’t take another route.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Make It Sweet Bakery?
We are a small French Inspired bakery in Lawrenceburg, TN. We have a lot of common bakery items like Cupcakes, Doughnuts, Loaf Breads, Brownies, etc. We also specialize in French Pastries such as Macarons, Croissants, Napoleons, Pain Au Chocolat, etc. Our number one selling item of all time is our 1/2lb Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie w/ Sea Salt. It is my favorite sweet treat of all time. Our second best seller is our Loaded Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake. It consists of a Graham Cracker Crust, our Housemade Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Batter, moist Strawberry cake and is topped with White Chocolate Ganache and Strawberry Crunch Crumbs.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is not something I see through a monetary lens. I would define being successful as having a peaceful mind, slow mornings, laughs with loved ones and gratitude for the simple pleasures in life.
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