Shares her Passion for Macarons and Mentoring

story by KAREN SNYDER                   photos by CHARLOTTE BERKELEY

It started as a hobby and quickly became a passion. Now, it’s a successful home-based business for Shannon Gonzales, owner of Tout Sweet Macarons. Sometimes confused with “macaroons” (spelled with an extra “o”) and made from coconut, “macarons” are a French pastry made from almond flour and meringue. No matter how it’s pronounced, Gonzales will tell you that people can’t get enough of the delectable treat with its crisp outer wafers and creamy filling.

With no formal training in baking or as a pastry chef, Gonzales became interested in macarons in 2018 when they began trending on social media and gaining popularity across the United States. A military spouse and mother to two daughters, Zoe (age 9) and Kaylee (age 6), Gonzales wasn’t looking to become an entrepreneur. “I could have never predicted it,” admits Gonzales. “But once I started making macarons and getting positive feedback from friends and neighbors, I just knew I had to bring them to Beaufort!”

According to Gonzales, the secret to an incredibly tasty macaron is all in your mixing technique. Spending several weeks trying out five to six different recipes until she found one she liked and then practicing her piping skills as she dispensed the delicate pastry on baking trays, Gonzales admits she was hooked. She began making macarons for holiday parties and gatherings with friends, and asking her Marine husband, Eric, then the Drum Major of the Parris Island Marine Band, to share them with his team. “They served as my unofficial taste testers,” she jokes.

There’s no doubt that perseverance and patience also were part of the mix as the self-taught macaron maker experimented with flavor varieties, such as chocolate chip cookie dough, cookies and cream, and salted caramel that have now become her best sellers. “No matter whether you think you’ve made a batch correctly or not, you still bake them,” she advises. “That’s how you find out what works and what doesn’t. Macarons definitely live up to their reputation as a finicky, stubborn pastry!”

Yet, confident she had a delicious and marketable product, Gonzales officially launched her home bakery business in 2019, naming it Tout Sweet Macarons (which means “right away” in French). Laughing that macarons are anything but fast in the making, she promoted her business by taking samples to storefronts around Beaufort and asking business owners to put her advertising materials on their counters.

“Beaufort businesses were very welcoming to me. Along the way, I met Natalie Wohlwend, owner of Bathe, and she invited me to be part of her store’s monthly participation in the Downtown Beaufort Merchant’s Association First Friday event. From there, word of her macaron business spread, and Gonzales began growing her business organically. This included hosting “pop-ups” around town, providing custom orders for clients, offering macaron baking workshops at customers’ homes, developing a subscription service for regular porch delivery of her macarons, and participating in community-sponsored open-air markets where her best-selling, seasonal, and newly developed macaron flavors could be purchased.

Gonzales’ new entrepreneurial career path now meant she could be “as busy as she wanted to be,” she says, and it provided her flexibility to achieve work-life balance with school-aged children and a husband in the military. Her workdays were now spent right in her kitchen, baking or researching possible macaron flavor combinations.

“The creativity of developing newly flavored macarons is my favorite part of the job,” says Gonzales, who also makes all the yummy and fluffy fillings inside her macarons, including buttercreams, caramels, and jams. Having created more than 42 different varieties, Tout Sweets’ artisan-crafted list of macaron flavors is both extensive and inventive including flavors such as Lemon-Lavender (a favorite, she says, with her male clients), Rose-Strawberry, Earl Grey-Blackberry, Butterbeer, and others. She also bases many macaron flavors on beloved classic flavors or desserts, such as s’mores, cinnamon rolls, pink lemonade, crème brulee, birthday cake, cotton candy, and more!

On any given week, Gonzales bakes a minimum of 50 dozen macarons with that number rising to 60-80 dozen if preparing for a market event. She participates in a variety of area markets both in Beaufort and Bluffton to include: the Bluffton Artisan Market held every second Sunday of the month at Burnt Church Distillery or the third Saturday of the month at Martin Family Park; Lady’s Island Marina Open Air Market held on designated Saturdays; and the Lowcountry Made Market at Tanger 1 on June 5th, October 23rd, and December 4th. With each batch taking up to two hours to make, Gonzales says she’s happy that her kitchen has been updated with a new oven that can accommodate more baking trays at once!

In hindsight, Gonzales admits that starting her home-based business when she did was a hidden blessing — especially when the pandemic began. Working from her own kitchen, she was able to balance the demands of baking along with those of virtual schooling for her children. “It was also nice that during this time when many people were stuck at home, I was able to explore the Lowcountry and visit with customers when I dropped their orders at their homes,” says Gonzales, adding that some of her customers have now become close friends. “Being a military family, it sometimes can be difficult to make strong community connections. I can actually say that I have closer connections to the local community here in Beaufort than I ever had in the past.”

In fact, beyond the kitchen, Gonzales is happy to share her self-taught business acumen with military spouses and others looking to begin a home-based business. “Unfortunately, I had to deal with a lot of adversity and obstacles along the way of my receiving licensing as a “cottage” or “home-based food business” from unincorporated Beaufort County. I used to be a passive person and had insecurities about asking questions, especially of authorities when the military lifestyle teaches you not to,” she explains. Gonzales says she had to learn how to speak up and advocate for herself. “It was definitely outside my comfort zone, yet it’s one of the reasons I became involved in mentorship.”

But through her research of state and local laws and codes, Gonzales eventually persevered and now wants to help shortcut the process for other local entrepreneurs.

She loves serving as a mentor to others and is often the featured speaker at area workshops such as “Military Spouse Business Ownership” hosted by MCCS and provides in-person or virtual workshops to military spouses on base at the Laurel Bay Family Services Center. Gonzales also offers one-to-one consultation services as part of her business for start-ups or anyone looking for advice on small business marketing.

Already, Gonzales has assisted more than 20 businesses in getting licensed or helped them to revamp their business operations. “I find this aspect of my work so rewarding, just in a different way,” she explains. Having studied both business and math in college, her advice to most new businesses is “don’t go too big, too fast.”

“I had to learn to manage my time and set clear expectations for myself and my business,” she admits, swearing by her old-school planner calendar where she records her appointments and “to do” list. With Gonzales’ husband receiving new Marine Corps orders sending him to Camp Pendleton, CA, in December, where he serves as Drum Major of the First Marine Division Band, Gonzales says staying organized is more important than ever before. She and her husband made the difficult decision to live on opposite coasts for now, due to the success of her business here in Beaufort.
“My husband is extremely proud of me and what I’ve accomplished. We work hard to support one another in each of our careers. That’s important to both of us!”

Other advice she offers to entrepreneurs is to keep a separate bank account for business, make sure you’ve secured your business identity, and be consistent with marketing — especially on social media. Tout Sweet Macarons has a strong social media presence on Facebook and @toutsweetmacarons on Instagram, where Gonzales takes a “fun” but effective approach to posting videos and mouth-watering photographs of her colorful macarons — sure to leave you craving your own box.

Having reported to five duty stations throughout her 11-year marriage, including Virginia (twice), Japan, California, and South Carolina, Gonzales says she likes the quiet and peacefulness of the Lowcountry. But, she predicts a busy month ahead in May with Teacher Appreciation gifts and more outdoor markets as Beaufortonians enjoy the spring season.

“I’ve been successful with my business here because I’ve been able to find my ‘inner circle’ and a community that have supported me in starting something new. My customers have opened their homes to me and have become my friends. It truly feels like home to me.”