Jessica and Jeneene, a mother-daughter duo, opened The Sweet Spot COLA last year, driven by their shared love of baking. But behind the flour, sugar and eggs lies the story of a man who inspired it all.

The thought of opening a business had long been on their minds. Jessica, a Lexington local who has years of experience in healthcare, and Jeneene, a registered dietitian, create all their desserts with clean ingredients. 

“We pride ourselves on the fact that maybe our cookies may not look perfect in terms of color and vibrance, but the taste is amazing because we use clean ingredients and we refuse to use artificials," Jeneene said. 

Growing up, health was at the center of their lifestyle. For years, weekends were filled with yoga sessions, cleaning days and breakfast in bed. 

But their true inspiration comes from Mario, Jessica’s dad and Jeneene’s grandfather, the king of the kitchen. 

“We have created The Sweet Spot around him because we lost him a couple of years ago,” Jessica said.

Mario first learned how to cook overseas while serving in Vietnam. When he returned home, he built a career out of his skills, working in some of the finest restaurants in South Florida. 

The kitchen was Mario’s domain, and no one in the family dared to cook, even for the holidays. He didn’t measure ingredients; he just threw things together, like magic.

When Jessica and Jeneene went vegan for 14 years, Mario transformed his recipes so they could still enjoy them.

Always there for his family in and out of the kitchen, Mario taught Jeneene how to cook, bake and ride a bike. 

For Jessica, the kitchen became the place she felt closest to him when he died from renal failure. “I found that there was a connection with me being in the kitchen with my dad,” she said.

Similar to her mother, sprinkles of special moments run through Jeneene's memories with a whisk in hand.

So, in 2024, they decided to take a chance on starting a business. The kitchen at home, which they call the science lab, is where they experiment with new recipes. 

From tinkering with mixers, ingredients and more, it could take months to perfect a recipe, and it’s hard to find clean ingredients in South Carolina, Jessica said. 

Once they feel confident in a recipe, the family becomes the taste-testing panel. Jeneene’s husband quickly earned a reputation as the toughest critic. 

“We don’t like the word ‘good.' That means it's not good,” they agreed.

Some of their cookies reflect their Hispanic heritage, including ingredients such as guava, a tropical fruit, commonly with a pink center and sweet taste, that grows in Latin America and other tropical climates. Additionally, one creation coming soon called Benito’s Coquito Cookie, a recent creation Jessica and Jeneene concocted, is a coconut cookie with dulce de leche and rum flavor.  

There's another aspect of their business that sets them apart from most bakers: some adult humor.

Like best friends in grade school, Jessica and Jeneene seldom give up the chance to make a pun that might stand out in the Southern Bible Belt. With cookies named things like "I Like Big Butta," "Cookies n CreamMe" and "Chip Tease," they want it to be apparent that these cookies are gourmet creations meant for adults to indulge in; however, customers have the option for "clean" cookie names to be on the packaging to complement the cookies' always-clean makeup. 

Today, the Sweet Spot COLA operates out of a rented kitchen in Columbia, with dreams of opening a storefront in the future. They sell locally with local pick-up options available in Lexington, but the mother-daughter duo's reach has already spread beyond South Carolina, with supporters in Tennessee, Texas, Florida, New York and California. 

Though gone, Mario’s legacy lives on through every recipe his girls bake, along with some palpable camaraderie and the occasional spritz of adult humor.

Jessica and Jeneene are transitioning the business name from The Sweet Spot COLA to Sweet Spot Crumbs, LLC, and orders can be placed at sweetspotcrumbs.com. Customers can opt to have their orders shipped to them, or if you live in Lexington or Columbia, local pick-up is available by appointment only.