Meet Eve Welhener | Founder, Owner, and CEO of Eve’s Original Sin Cookies

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eve Welhener and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eve, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I actually started my business from a very broken place.

I grew up baking as a very little girl with my grandmother and mother, and from a young age I knew that baking was my favorite way to make people happy and show my love and care for them. But as I grew up, I began to struggle with food. I no longer felt a positive connection to it anymore. Instead, I worried about it. I developed anorexia and it cut into my life quickly and harshly. It wreaked havoc on me mentally, physically, and spiritually. I grew up in a strong Christian home, and over time my relationship with the Lord lacked significantly because of the deep hurt and guilt I felt about my current feelings. My family tried all that they could to help me find freedom surrounding food, but no matter what people did to help I felt like I couldn’t quit thinking the way I did. It was all in my own head.

But, one day when I was feeling the darkest, I felt a deep desire to read my Bible and pray to God. I found rest and reassurance once I turned to Him. Once my relationship with God was getting back on track, I started baking for myself, and not so much for others anymore. I focused on making lots of different flavor combinations in cookies. I realized that in order to have a better relationship with food I needed to temp myself a bit.

Later on, as I was starting to feel much healthier, I decided that I wanted to bring my love of creativity in the kitchen and newfound food freedom to those around me. I launched Eve’s Original Sin Cookies. In my company, customers get the opportunity to have their own customizable baking experience, just without all the mess. What this means is that customers get to creatively choose different mix-ins such as chocolate, strawberries, caramel, almond flavoring, and much more for each individual cookie. It’s kind of like a choose your own adventure, but with cookie baking.

I believe that in this world we focus way too much on perfection, so little differences are often looked down upon. I often struggle with perfectionism specifically with anorexia. Because society puts so much emphasis on perfection it’s a breeding ground for eating disorders and many other unhealthy obsessions. I really want to aid in destroying that culture for myself and for other’s so that is why I put my all into my business.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Eve’s Original Sin Cookies was ultimately created to encourage creativity and food freedom. We do that by allowing the customer to have a very personalized baking experience, just without the mess that usually comes with baking. Customers have the opportunity to pick different flavors for each individual cookie. We have so many mix-in options ranging from chocolate to potato chips. It’s sort of like a choose your own adventure experience, but with cookies! What’s fun is that we can accommodate so many different customers. If someone is super adventurous and wants to make a crazy cookie then they can totally go for that. But if someone is a bit simpler, they can get a regular chocolate chip cookie. The customer is the baker at Eve’s Original Sin Cookies.

But Eve’s Original Sin Cookies didn’t just appear out of thin air one day. It came through a series of struggles and trials. I struggled as a teenager in high school with anorexia. Perfectionism ruled my life, and I didn’t feel like I could be different from the standard set by society and still be valued. Once I found my relationship with God, I knew that somehow, I needed to pivot my mindset around food. One day I started mixing and matching cookie mix-ins in the kitchen simply depending on what I felt sounded good that day. Over time, I started to heal. I am by no means perfect with my relationship with food, but my mind is so much healthier now. And I want to help other people to experience that too! Eve’s Original Sin Cookies stands to eradicate the standard of perfection in our society. So whatever perfectionistic tendency a person is dealing with we want to make them feel loved and supported. We do that by baking creatively inspired cookies one at a time.

There are so many things on the horizon for Eve’s Original Sin Cookies! Even though I’m just a college student, I’m determined to continue to grow my business this summer and throughout the school year. I’m happy to say that soon we will launch our website and start shipping. It’s been quite the ride up until this point, and certainly not easy, but completely worth it. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Eve’s Original Sin Cookies in the coming years!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Vandalia, Ohio which is sort of just a little side stop on the freeway, but we have a couple of gems of our own. If I were showing a friend around my town, I would probably take them to Taylorsville to hike. It’s a beautiful spot and sometimes when the river is low enough it’s really fun to swim in it or go fishing. I would also take them to Jim’s Donuts for breakfast one morning. Jim’s Donuts is this adorable donut and coffee shop that has been around since the 1950s. They’ve got the best blueberry cake donuts around in my opinion. That’s about all that there is in Vandalia, Ohio, but certainly not all there is to do in the area itself. Another cool place to check is the Dayton Art Institute. I’m not even a huge art lover, but they have some of the most beautiful paintings I’ve ever seen. The building itself is a work of art. For dinner one night Bunker’s would be the spot to get delicious burgers and wings. My favorite thing there is the Buffalo Fried Chicken Salad. For a fun activity one evening I would take my friend to the Melody Drive-In. When I was younger that was always a summer activity for my family, and I have very fond memories there. For an all-day affair I would take them to King’s Island Amusement Park. That is probably the most popular place to go in the area. The rides and vibes are spectacular, especially Diamondback.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people and elements of my life that have helped my business and myself to become what we are today, but I would have to say that there has been one thing in my life that has constantly pushed me and motivated me. That thing has been my relationship with God. In my darkest moments when I felt that I was all alone He proved that He was there. Though I constantly sin and make mistakes over and over again, He doesn’t leave or forsake me. All of my successes are due to Him. I am completely helpless on my own.

Besides my relationship with Him, my family have been my biggest supporters from the beginning. Every person has their nasty moments, and I know I certainly have. But no matter what my family has stood by me and pushed me through it all. Their constant honesty has been invaluable to me, and I really don’t know if I would be where I am today if they hadn’t instilled the values that they have in me. Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart and it’s certainly not the most secure career pathway, but my parents have pushed through their fear to encourage me.

Instagram: @evesoriginalsincookies

Linkedin: Eve Welhener

Facebook: Eve’s Original Sin: Custom Cookies

Image Credits
Scott Huck
Cierra Hershey