A new bakery opened in Madill. Cakes, cookies, pies, cupcakes, muffins, brownies, fried pies… you name it, they have it. Everything is made from scratch.
Sweet Honey Bakery opened Tuesday, July 20, 2021, outside of Madill city limits going toward Mannsville, Okla. The bakery hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. It is owned and run by two talented ladies by the names of Andrea and Alicia. Andrea is the cake decorator and Alicia is the cookie decorator. Even though Andrea is the decorator, she wears many hats in the company.
“My specialty is cake decorating, but I do any jobs that need done and Alicia, specializes in sugar cookies and loves making anything chocolate,” Andrea said.
Alicia owned a home baking cookie business for five years and Andrea had been doing cakes from home for years. They may have worked from home, but they did not lack motivation. They both made desserts and cupcakes for their church’s missions and things like dessert auctions.
Both their husbands quickly realized their skills together would serve the Marshall County community well with a bakery. Andrea shared that their true inspiration comes from the duo’s combined eight children who are always keeping them in the loop on what is popular and relevant.
Even though the two women are both originally from Texas, they moved to Marshall County at different times in their lives. Andrea came from a little town in west Texas and moved to Madill in second grade. She started dating her future husband Nick her sophomore year. She said they were totally
She said they were totally smitten and decided to get married their first summer of college. They left Madill for ten years for her husband to pursue his career in the safety field. An opportunity in Dallas, where Nick currently works for Texas Instruments, allowed them to move back to where they consider home.
They have four daughters and one very spoiled mini-Aussie pup named Kaya. They like to spend their summers at the lake and enjoy anything outdoors. Andrea said she would not be as successful as she is without the people dearest to her heart.
“We love to travel but aren't road trip people,” Andrea said. “We attend the First Baptist Church of Madill, where I also teach Sunday school. I definitely wouldn't be where I am today without the love, support, and carpentry skills, I learned from my parents, brothers, and husband.”
Andrea worked in a bakery for years during high school and college. After college and while moving around in various states with her husband's job, she began baking cakes from home.
Alicia hails from Aubrey, Texas. She was living in Arrington, Texas when her stepbrother came home from the US Air Force for Thanksgiving dinner with three of his airman buddies. Alicia said that it was love at first sight for her and one of her stepbrother’s friends, Bryan. She later moved to Midwest City, Okla. to be closer to Bryan in the Air force, where they later married in 2005. Bryan decided in 2007 he would leave the USAF and they decided to move to Arizona, where he is originally from. They have three sons and one daughter.
Eventually, they decided they wanted to experience country living, so they moved to Oklahoma where Alicia's grandmother lived. She said they love spending their spare time on the water and volunteering at church, and she also attributes her success to her family.
“In the summers, we love to be out on the lake playing on the beach and water skiing,” Alicia said. “We are active at the First Baptist Church of Madill where we love to volunteer and sponsor youth events. The love and support of our family and friends are what has made me successful.”
Alicia said her craft began by a simple request from a friend. She was once approached by a friend to make a cookie bouquet, which she thought was a paper craft because she liked to scrapbook. She quickly declined once she realized it was cookies. Her friend then asked and encouraged her to just give it a try. When she did, her business took off from there.
Both ladies said they feel that their biggest success to date has been opening the bakery. However, they say the biggest challenge for them have been trying to balance their work with church, school activities and family time.
They said if they could do anything different it would be to go back and start the adventure years ago. However, neither question the timing.
“God’s timing is perfect in everything,” and said for those looking to do something similar, “don’t give up, keep practicing, and go for it.”