Ashland’s Roxy Schultz wins the NFIB/Betty and Steve Neighbors Young Entrepreneur Award
Student’s Passion for Baking Gives Rise to Business
Roxy Schultz’s recipe for success
starts in the kitchen.
Since her freshman year at Ashland
High School, she’s been whipping up tasty treats for others to enjoy. It
started as something to fill up her free time, Schultz said. But it quickly
evolved into a successful business called Roxy’s Baked Delights. Her ingenuity
recently earned her the NFIB/Betty and Steve Neighbors Young Entrepreneur
Award.
“I would just find recipes that I
wanted to try out, and it helped me learn how to make a lot of stuff,” said
Ashland resident Schultz.
She began by bringing free desserts
for her classmates to enjoy, and soon she was a hit at school. After
establishing her popularity, she started to charge $1 for her baked goods, and
eventually she created a website to field orders, she said. But after a new law
passed in Oregon banning food above a certain fat and sugar content in public
schools, she wasn’t able to sell her goods there anymore, she said.
“The regulations and paying for
permits have been the biggest challenge for me while running this business,”
Schultz said.
Once she wasn’t able to sell at
school anymore, Schultz got creative. She negotiated with real estate companies
in the area to have her goods sold at open houses, and she also opened and
worked a food booth at several events nearby, she said.
By overcoming so many challenges,
Schultz has developed a grit and determination that she will carry with her as
she heads to Portland State University, she said.
“Before I started this business, I
gave up really easily, and now when I run into an obstacle I don’t give up,”
Schultz said.
Running her business has given her
the entrepreneurial bug. Schultz plans to put her baking business on hold and
pursue a business endeavor selling hand-painted items such as T-shirts and wood
pieces, she said. She will attend Portland State University to study business
and marketing.
