My Story
Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to learn a little about me and my business. My name is Stephanie Biron and I am the owner and baker of Divinely Dolce. I started as a self-taught baker with a passion for cake design who had been baking for friends and family for several years before opening Divinely Dolce in 2013. I took my passion to the next level by taking classes and receiving certifications. I have a sugar flower certification from the French Culinary School in New York City and took pastry chef classes from the Escoffier International Culinary Academy. I am married to my wonderful and supportive husband Mike and we have two beautiful sons named Michael and Noah.
Building a business from the ground up is something many can relate to—it’s a mix of both tough and rewarding moments. For me, the bakery has become a place where I can truly express my creativity, tapping into something that’s been important to me for over 15 years. But, honestly, there have been times when I’ve found myself asking if I should keep pushing forward.
The first roadbump was a very unexpected diagnosis for my then 2 year old of Type 1 diabetes in January of 2019. Turning our lives completely upside down I began my journey into health and the human body. I gained the title of “pancreas” as I became the pancreas for my son. I am a person who hates shots and when I was a young multiple people would have to hold me down in order for me to get a shot. Now here I was, not being able to leave the hospital without learning different types of shots and practicing administering those to a two year old who barely knew what was happening to him. I had to be mad at something at the time and I decided sugar was the culprit. I decided this because when he got diagnosed I instinctively knew that we couldn’t only rely on doctors and medications to fix this situation. I wanted to know how the body worked with insulin, why we needed insulin, and what I could do to help support him and these medications. He was two years old and had to live with this the rest of his life with this and I want it to be long, healthy and happy. So I researched and learned about how the pancreas functioned. I was sort of shocked at my ability to learn about organs and how they worked. Wasn’t this only reserved for doctors who had many many years of schooling? It made sense to me how the body all worked together in a cohesive unit one part not being able to work well without another. So we changed our diets and I quickly found I could no longer consume a single food without knowing how many carbohydrates were in it. Thankfully because of technology we have a Dexcom (CGM – continuous glucose monitor) that tells me my son’s blood sugar every 5 minutes and that data shows me how his body reacts to every single thing that goes into his mouth. Diabetes is a 7 day a week, 24 hour a day job where I make around 180 more health-related decisions per day than people without diabetes. The bakery was last on my mind and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a provider of sweet treats when this was something that was a struggle for us at home.
I did decide that I really missed the bakery and as a family we were getting more into a rhythm but I still was making major changes in our family lifestyle. I removed the majority of chemical products in our home, I reduced our gluten consumption dramatically and we made sure our meals were protein focused. I also learned about how even the way you eat your meal can change your blood sugar’s response and so we always start with vegetables, then protein and then carbohydrates. I learned about the glycemic index and highly processed foods and what essential oils can be used for what and when. But these were things that were for at home and not to change my bakery lifestyle. I was determined to get back on track with the bakery and continue there as business as usual. I had processes in place and customers that wanted their normal product they had come to depend on and I knew where to source my ingredients.
Things were going along amazingly and even in 2020 when the pandemic hit my business was doing very well because people wanted to support small businesses in our area. I even developed a streamline pick up process so that people did not have to see each other and it was all outside to help to keep everyone safe.
Unfortunately, COVID like it did for almost everyone, got us at Christmas time in 2021 and by January of 2022 something was very wrong with me. I could not eat anything without becoming very sick. That led me down a scary path of every test you can think of and 3 rheumatologists and a neurologist as I got sicker and sicker. I don’t want to bore you with an incredibly long story that lasts over a two year period but basically I was diagnosed with:
- Celiacs Disease
- Faulty Gallbladder – which they took out and should not have (told me after that my gallbladder was fine and I wanted to take it out) and it made me worse!
- Severe reaction to that surgery caused me to pass out and be rehospitalized by ambulance and my hemoglobin plummeted and had to have an iron transfusion.
- Multiple endoscopes and I was diagnosed with SIBO and H pylori and given meds that might make me a little better and then just made me a whole lot worse.
- A couple ER trips then showed a brain aneurysm in my left carotid artery (which I still have) but they also said that is not part of my problem and just a new issue.
- Diagnosed with sjogren’s syndrome.
All of this was a common pattern of tests, diagnosis, results that were not really the problem but let’s try these drugs that made the situation worse. It was so frustrating that I would move on to try and find the real cause with a new doctor or through my own research. Eventually I decided to take my health into my own hands. Of course I no longer eat gluten and never will touch it with a 10 foot pole again, BUT I was not going to accept the other diagnosis’s as affecting my daily life. I am a person with autoimmune disease and if I am inflamed I will see it affecting one of my MANY symptoms so let’s just work to get less inflamed. Autoimmune has caused me nerve pain, stomach pain, digestive issues, panic attacks, nerve pain headaches, extreme exhaustion, hair loss, dryness in eyes and body, vision issues, nerve pain in my body, severe bloating, brain fog and more.
But let’s move on and talk about how I am now on a path to health and wellness. I was connected with an amazing functional medicine group called Be Well in my home town and I have a CNS (certified nutrition specialist) named Laura who has been the ONLY person to help me on this journey. We have taken a multi-step approach and over the last year or so I have really started to see improvements. I learned that all of the problems above were due to a hormonal imbalance, extreme histamine sensitivity and food allergies to corn, soy, potato, tapioca, dairy, and gluten. I went on an extreme diet which allowed me to function as a real person while we have been fighting my histamine intolerance (which stopped the panic attacks) and allow me to eat more foods. Through a lot of my own research and through Laura I have learned what I need to help my body heal and I no longer dread having to put food into my body. I try to never take that for granted.
Obviously the mention of Celiacs Disease at the beginning of my journey was a punch to the gut. I had to close the bakery in it’s current state because I could not even breathe gluten in. It felt final to me. I was super sad but I also then spent the next several years doing all of those tests and learning because I desperately wanted my health back. I never thought the bakery was going to be possible but through more hard work and this passion that I can’t seem to let go of, here we are again! But THIS time I am going to do what I have really wanted from the beginning, to provide healthier options for people. To have treats that anyone can enjoy and not have them be too toxic or detrimental to our body. Because of my allergies I wanted to use whole grains for the flour. I didn’t want to have these filler or more processed flours that might be convenient or seem closer to regular gluten but are not really helping to fight the problem of us always eating ultra processed foods. The dark time of meds, tests, doctors, and the unknown has led me to this place where I hope that desserts and health can live together and where we can learn and enjoy!
I work very hard to make my customers happy and take a lot of pride in having delicious tasting AND beautiful desserts that will make your event or holiday special. BUT I now also want to share some of this knowledge I have AND I want the desserts that I put my heart and soul into to be more healthy and cautiously cleaner wherever possible to help you to be more successful and happier. I heard someone say recently that “a sick person only has one goal, hope or wish and that is to be well.” That is so painfully true and we all take for granted each day what our bodies do for us and we can’t even comprehend the true miracle that they are. I pray that your health is a priority for you and that maybe my little blog will inspire and educate you by sharing what I have spent hours and years learning. Thank you for your support and if you made it through this incredibly long story thank you!
Sincerely,
Steph