“I was once told my dream was too big for Camrose and that maybe I should dream a little smaller. I’ve now outgrown my space twice. First the acreage, and now the building I knew from the beginning would one day be too small. So instead of dreaming smaller, I’m getting ready to dream even bigger.”
If you live in Camrose, you’ve probably heard of the Sweeterie. I remember the buzz when it first opened: this incredible little shop selling amazing doughnuts, cupcakes and all kinds of tempting sweets.
Like many small businesses, its future depended on the quality of the products it put into people’s hands. That certainly worked, but a great product alone is rarely enough.
A great product can get people through the door, but becoming a pillar of the community is what makes a business something people can’t imagine being without. I’m talking about those small, family-run businesses, sometimes tucked into old houses, where walking through the door feels a little like coming home. Those little stores are at the heart of Camrose, and of communities throughout Alberta and across Canada.
And the heart of the Sweeterie is a big one.
Tania Greenwald was born in Calgary and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, and rural Alberta, including Daysland. At 18, she moved to Camrose and declared that this was her home.
After high school, Tania went straight into the hospitality industry, and she crushed it. She started as a waitress and worked her way up until O’Shea’s recruited her to help open the business. From there, she moved on to help open the Camrose Casino. She went from being a waitress with no clear idea of what she wanted to do to opening businesses for other people, and eventually, opening one of her own.
Over the years, Tania learned that resilience, tenacity and hard work could help turn her dreams into reality. Or perhaps it was simply that her brain never stopped. It just kept thinking thoughts! Either way, those traits have led to success.
From what I can see, she had two choices: act on those thoughts and bring them to life, or become overwhelmed by them. Luckily for us, Tania is built different.
The Sweeterie grew from her love for her children and the fantastic cakes she baked for their birthdays and special events. Tania remembers making a massive, almost ridiculous cake to celebrate her daughter going to a new school. It took two months of research just to figure out the details. After that, she started thinking, “I can do this” and “I can do that.” Her creativity, combined with a passion for learning and developing new skills, laid the groundwork for everything the Sweeterie would eventually become.
“People think owning a business is for rich people and smart people,” she says. “You have to go to school and do all this stuff.” But, as she also says, “It’s just a learning game.”
Tania was the queen of winging it, and in this age of information, a motivated person has endless potential.
She got started on her acreage, collaborating with another business to create a storefront. Eventually, a difference in ideas led her to rethink the plan. There went her brain, thinking thoughts again!
Some people encouraged her to take the chance, including her then-employer at an acupuncture clinic. Tania was so valued that her employer actually encouraged her to call the health inspector and get things moving. At the time, Tania was balancing her work at the clinic with making cakes for family and friends. It says a lot about that relationship that her employer encouraged her to pursue something of her own.
So she made the call, got her licence, and in 2021, the Sweeterie was born.
Her connection to the community grew strong, not only because she believes that connecting with the community makes you part of it, but because she was now baking for a much bigger family.
The Sweeterie also gave young people looking for work a place to earn, learn and belong. That experience gave Tania a lot of insight into our youth. She quickly learned that young people arrive with different levels of experience and independence. There’s a difference, for example, between hiring a kid who grew up working on a 4-H farm and someone whose mother applies for a job on their behalf.
One of Tania’s goals is to teach real work ethic. As her young employees get older, she wants them to understand that expectations should keep rising. When another employer sees that someone worked at the Sweeterie, Tania wants them to know they’ve found a trustworthy employee. “It has definitely been interesting,” she says.
In a lot of ways, that seems to be Tania’s philosophy: life is an education. It means asking questions of people who know, paying attention to what others share, and recognizing that everyone has something to contribute to the community.
That puts Tania right at its centre. Through Love Local, she has another way to connect people and businesses, and to help bring community events to life. Who better to help create something like the Big Block Party in downtown Camrose, or November’s Midnight Madness, which brings downtown businesses together in the festive lead-up to Christmas?
Tania has also been involved with Professional Bull Riding. Even when she isn’t directly involved in an event, she finds inspiration in what others are doing, and inspires them in return.
She hopes to see the Big Block Party grow to include all parts of the community: theatre, sports groups, art and dance, social groups and vendors.
“Where you keep your attention is where the magic happens.”
Mike Hicks on Tania Greenwald and The Sweeterie