Meet a Mom to Be: Loren Brill of Sweet Loren’s! - Newtown Moms

 

Today’s Meet a Mom is a sweet one! We chatted with Sweet Loren’s founder (and soon-to-be new mom!) Loren Brill about her delicious cookie dough—made with clean ingredients. Her refrigerated premade cookie dough and edible cookie doughs are all made with non-GMO ingredients, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. As much as we love the flavor and ingredient list of Loren’s products, we really loved her story–how a health crisis lead to the launch of her business. Here’s more about Loren and Sweet Loren’s:

What was the “aha” moment you decided to start Sweet Loren’s?
My first “aha” moment was when I personally fell in love with the taste of my cookies and how I felt after eating my cleaner ingredient cookie recipes. I could tell immediately how much better I felt after I made the switch to eating only clean ingredients. I cut out anything artificial and processed. It took several iterations in order to create a great tasting cookie with the ingredients I trusted. When I had perfected it and achieved that delicious taste, I knew I was creating something different and special. But my true “aha” moment was when I saw the reactions from moms, dads, friends, family, and strangers.

Everyone I met was looking for a cleaner and easier way to satisfy their sweet tooth. I realized I wasn’t the only one who wanted this – and that’s when I saw the national (even global) desire for a brand that stood for delicious tasting, clean ingredient sweets & treats.

How did your cancer battle factor into your business launch?
I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in my early twenties, right after graduating from college. It was a huge shock and incredibly scary. Thankfully, I was cured, but it took a year of undergoing treatment. During that time, I realized how truly precious life is and that if we don’t have our health, we have nothing. My doctor was solely focused on the medicine side, so I realized I was going to have to learn how to take care of myself holistically on my own. I took cooking classes and studied nutrition in between my treatments so that I could help heal myself with great tasting, healthy food. I got really good at cooking and realized the only hurdle to eating cleaner was that delicious taste needed to be there. I felt it was easy to find and make delicious salads, proteins, grains, etc. But when it came to dessert, everything was processed. I felt my only options were dark chocolate, almonds, dates or completely refined desserts at bakeries or from cookbooks. Because I have a huge sweet tooth and believe that satisfying it is part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle, I decided to make my own version of the most delicious warm chocolate chip cookie possible – made from ingredients I actually wanted in my body. If I didn’t have my cancer battle, I wouldn’t know first-hand how incredibly important the food we eat is to our health and well-being, physically and mentally.

What separates Sweet Loren’s from other cookie dough brands?
We are the #1 natural cookie dough brand in the U.S. because we’ve done something no other cookie dough brand has done: we believe taste is the most important thing; we only use clean, simple, and sustainably sourced ingredients; and our purpose is to create a brand you can trust and feel good about feeding to yourself and your family. We’ve crafted our products so that everyone has a seat at the table. And, best of all, it’s so convenient. We love making moms and dads look like superheroes with these decadent and delicious treats. All Sweet Loren’s products happen to be gluten free certified, vegan certified, dairy free, peanut & tree nut free, 100% whole grain, and kosher pareve. We have Pre-Portioned Cookie Dough that’s for baking so you can make as many as you’d like at a time–it’s also safe to eat raw! In addition, we have cups of Edible Cookie Dough that are easy to scoop right out of the jar and are meant to just be enjoyed raw for pure cookie dough bliss.

What is your proudest accomplishment with the brand?
There have been many proud moments for me while building this brand. Here are a couple recent things that have happened. With little resources, we’ve made it to the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies list the last two years in a row! In January this year, I was invited on The Rachael Ray Show during their special vegan segment. It was a dream come true to bake a Sweet Loren’s Brookie (half brownie/half cookie) with Rachael and serve up smiles to her entire audience.

Why is your brand so perfect for baking with kids?
Our products make baking easy. Anyone can make great tasting treats with our products. Kids love to play and be creative and there are many fun ways to use our cookie dough. Kids love to use sprinkles on our Sugar Cookie Dough to decorate them or make them into fun shapes. You can use our cookie dough to make cookie pizzas, fruit crumbles, Brookies (brownie-cookies), cookie cut-outs, birthday cakes, and more. Our cookies can be made in the oven or even the toaster oven if you are craving just a few. Baking is a stress reliever, anxiety reducer, brings joy to the family, and truly, who doesn’t love a freshly baked treat – especially one you can feel good about eating?!

What’s your favorite flavor?
I am really into our Fudgy Brownie Cookie Dough right now, but honestly, they’re all incredibly delicious and great for different events and recipes. As we get into holiday season, our Oatmeal Cranberry is very special, and our Sugar Cookie Dough makes the perfect canvas for holiday baking.

What’s next for Sweet Loren’s?
We’re working on new products and partnerships, all very exciting stuff. Personally, I am getting ready to be a mom for the first time. I am due with a girl in February (!!), and I’m so excited for this next chapter. We get emails all the time from breast-feeding moms that love Sweet Loren’s because they’re staying away from dairy or soy or eggs, so I am excited to appreciate our product’s now the way other moms do. I know being a mom will give me even more inspiration for future products for moms, dads, kids, and families.

What strategies do you plan on using to transition into working mom life?
I am not a mom yet, but as a pregnant mom-to-be, I will say that a great team and healthy lifestyle is everything to me. I hustled my business alone for many years. It was not only lonely and not that fun at times, but also unsustainable. I am so happy that we have built a smart, reliable team — they are the reason for our continued success. It also gives me the space to work on the future growth of the company and makes the company sustainable so I can take time off (for the first time ever!) when I do become a mom and not have to worry. Having a heathy lifestyle means that I am constantly prioritizing my health through what I eat, working out, taking bathes, seeing friends, whatever makes me feel great. When my cup is full, I can be my best and have endless energy to give to my company, the world, my husband, my daughter-to-be, my friends, my family, and myself.

This story is sponsored by Sweet Loren’s. Use code LOCALMOMS for 15% off before end of the year!

Join The Newtown Moms Community

Stay up-to-date with what is happening in-and-around the Newtown, CT Moms community with local events, community highlights, and exclusive deals.