By: Alexandria Ugarte
After being a part of corporate America for 23 years as a human resources representative for a large health insurance company, Sharon Tugman knew it was time for a change. In 2002 she was driving to work when she saw the for sale sign in front of Wisteria Cottage, a small country store in High Springs, Fla.
She phoned her husband and told him she was going to buy it. She did not have to ask, or discuss it. She knew he would support her in her decision.
Remembering the phone call, her husband Mike said, “Sharon told me Wisteria Cottage is for sale and I said, ‘And?’ She said she was going to buy it and I said ‘Sounds great, have a nice day’.”
Tugman left her desk job and became the owner of Wisteria Cottage, but after eight years, she wanted something more.
“What is the one thing would I do if I knew I wouldn’t fail,” she asked herself.
The answer was simple – BAKE. She turned the tiny, battered building behind the store into her very own bakery.
Tugman fell in love with baking in her mid-20s. She always baked for family, friends and coworkers. She did not know if she would fail or succeed, but she took another leap of faith and pursued her passion.
In five short months Secret Garden Bakery was open for business. Tugman phoned all the local businesses on that first morning to inform them that the bakery was open. One of her first customers was Theresa Edwards-Capen. According to Edwards-Capen, people get emotionally attached to Sharon and her baking.
“It’s a relationship here. There’s nothing emotional about buying from a grocery store,” stated Edwards-Capen.
For Tugman, deciding to leave her job as a human resources representative was risky, but she was not scared of the challenge.
“I had no fear, and I think that fear is what stops a lot of people,” Tugman said. “Nobody in my life ever said ‘you can’t do it’ or ‘you won’t do it.’ They were just supportive.”
Opening and operating the bakery was simply a dream come true.
“It’s just way fun for people to pay you for something you love to do,” she said.
Although Tugman still manages the store, she spends most of her time in her bakery. She bakes, sells and runs it completely on her own.
If you ask her how she turned her passion into her profession and how she manages to run it all, she just shrugs a little, laughs and says, “Thoughts become things.”
The sign above her head appropriately reads “I belong here.”
