BONDURANT, Iowa — Taste of Comfort bakery owner Mary Harris has felt overwhelmed lately, not due to holiday stress, but because she’s seen an outpouring of support since a racist incident earlier this month.
Harris' business is a cottage food bakery, meaning most of the prep work is done from her own home.
In the warmer months, she can be found at farmers markets in the Bondurant area serving some pretty unique cinnamon roll flavors: both savory and sweet. She also sells her food at pop-up events through Home Slice Handmade Pies in Bondurant.
On Nov. 9 a customer at a pop-up event told Mary he had a “joke” for her right before he left.
“He closes out his bill and everything, and he looks at me and he goes, ‘All right, it's a little Diddy out of southeast Iowa,’” Harris said. “He goes, ‘I want you to get down, turn around and pick a bale of cotton.’”
Harris, who is Black, then posted on Facebook about what happened to her. It led to pretty sweet success with hundreds of comments and thousands of reactions from complete strangers.
“I just needed them to know that this happened to your local cinnamon roll lady,” she said. “This is not something made up. This is not somebody's agenda. This is not fake.”
Harris' Facebook page went from 850 followers to more than 5,300.
“Knowing that people are looking out for me and willing to stand by me and support me has meant the world,” Harris said.
At her past two pop-ups, she sold out in just hours.
“Communicate who you are and what you're about at any opportunity because it means more to people than you may realize,” Harris said.
The world is at Harris' fingertips, and she’s already planning her next steps.
“Hopefully in the next week or so, I'll be offering shipping,” Harris said. “The support did not just stay in Iowa, it has gone across the country.”
Mary wants to eventually open up her own brick-and-mortar cinnamon roll bakery in Bondurant.
For now, she serves breakfast on most Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon at Home Slice Handmade Pies.
