Like many North Texans last year during the pandemic, Olivia Hogan of Allen decided to undertake a new venture and start her own business. The only thing is, Hogan was 12-years-old when she founded her own baking company, Olivia's Originals.
Hogan bakes all of her goods herself, including cookies, brownies bars, from scratch and then delivers them by bike within 24 hours to make sure they are at their freshest for her customers. She told NBC DFW, "I have a backpack that I load all of the stuff into, sometimes I have to make a couple of trips. And I just go around three different neighborhoods and drop off at doorsteps."
Olivia's began baking as a young girl with her mother and grandmother, "running" her first business at the age of 7 with a baking stand with a few friends over the course of two summers.
She got the idea for starting Olivia's Originals after reading a financial book last year during the pandemic. She said, "It kind of made me think about the financial state I want to be in when I’m an adult and I wanted to work towards that."
Hogan limits her baking to one weekend a month to make sure she has plenty of time for her schoolwork and friends, but baking brings her some of the greatest joy.
"Seeing the smiles and the great reviews. It’s a real confidence booster. It’s a lot to know that what I’m doing isn't really making a huge change in the world but it’s making a change in my life. And the everyday lives of other people," she said.