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The BSweet Boutique is located in downtown Troy.
What started as a passion and a dream has become so much more for one local business owner in Downtown Troy. Now, that dream might make its way all the way to California as she’s considered for a show on Food Network.
“I grew up watching these shows,” said Jeanna Barnes, owner of BSweet Dessert Boutique.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so the chance to achieve that would be amazing.”
Jeanna Barnes is the owner of family-owned bakery BSweet, a small business tucked away right off the downtown square. When she opened her business back in March 2022, she never expected to be where she is today, especially not with the possibility of being chosen for a holiday competition baking show for Food Network.
“When I first got the call, I was thinking ‘Yeah, right. Who’s playing with me?’” Barnes said. “I was very shocked. I think I was shaking through that whole phone call.”
Barnes had submitted an application a couple years ago. When she finally received a call back, she was overjoyed. Next came the interviewing process.
“It was kind of like the clips they show of the background of the contestants,” Barnes said.
“She asked me if I had any formal education in baking, how long we’d had the bakery and about the desserts we can make.”
Barnes wasn’t the one who received good news. Her son, who bakes almost all of the shop’s goods, is also being considered for a different competition baking show on Food Network.
“It’s been fun watching this thing grow,” said 23-year-old Ethan Barnes, head baker of BSweet. “I’m nervous, being this young and with no professional experience, but I’ve always had a competitive edge.
“I’m excited to see where it goes.”
Barnes opened her business with no previous professional experience, just persistence and a passion for baking. Eleven weeks after the shop opened, her husband tragically passed away from a stroke at just 45 years old, leaving her with her two sons.
“We lost our health insurance, we lost that income, we lost all of that,” Barnes said. “Here we are, in a brand-new business coming out of a historic pandemic trying to survive. We had to sell our house and our vehicles just to get by.
“We had to really tackle it on because it was now our only source of income for the three of us.”
Today, Barnes and her eldest son are co-owners of the shop, while her youngest son tackles a majority of the baking. With support from the community, the family has bounced back from a hard couple of years. They’ve been awarded best bakery and best dessert consecutively for the past three years.
This new opportunity with Food Network, Barnes said, can make a world of difference for her family and their business. Not only will it generate exposure for the shop, but if they win, they can use the prize money to help with much-needed improvements and also fulfill a special purpose.
“We did all the work inside the building ourselves, and we don’t really have any commercial equipment, so it can help us expand and extend our production,” Barnes said. “Not only that, but the exposure, I think, would help us grow enough that I’d finally be able to bury my husband’s ashes and buy him a nice headstone.”
As the family looks to the future, they’re optimistic. After the interviewing process, it’s a waiting game to find out the next steps. No matter the outcome, Barnes plans to stay persistent and keep pushing until her dreams become a reality.
“If we don’t make it this time, of course we’ll be disappointed, but not discouraged,” Barnes said. “We’ll keep at it and keep doing what we do.”
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