State College baker pursues dream, expresses herself through creative desserts
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- Marina Stefanovich launched Lady M & Co after surviving a cancer diagnosis.
- The home bakery produces artful, preservative-free desserts using natural ingredients.
- Stefanovich hopes to expand into a small European-style café focused on community.
Marina Stefanovich has loved baking since she was a child, finding a taste tester who offered encouragement.
“When I started [making] desserts, my father would eat everything. He usually said, ‘It’s nice. It’s very tasty,’ but sometimes it was not good — but he said everything was good, everything was perfect,” Stefanovich said with a laugh.
Originally from Kazakhstan and moving to State College in 2000, Stefanovich’s dream of turning her baking into a business fell to the wayside as she busied herself with marriage and children. However, in 2018, a stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis made her realize that, if this was a dream she wanted to see come true, she needed to act. Now, she operates Lady M & Co, a home-based bakery business in State College turning out beautiful cakes, cookies, breads and specialty items like macarons, petit fours, oreshki cookies and more.
“Now,” she said, “it’s just me and my husband and I have time for my dream.”
Stefanovich places a high emphasis on appearance and presentation, with elegant and colorful piping work taking center stage, and treats wrapped in boxes tied carefully with bows in pink or Tiffany blue. She personally describes her style as elegant, delicious, beautiful — and fast.
Taking orders online via the Lady M & Co social pages, she can typically turn around orders in about two days.
“I’m a creative person and I express myself through my desserts,” said Stefanovich, adding, “I like to make delicious and beautiful desserts from simple products. I like to see the admiring eyes of my customers.”
She makes everything herself, from dough to fillings, only using natural products and no preservatives, noting that she’s all for desserts that won’t harm your health.
While Stefanovich pursues her baking dreams, though, she also has her sights set on further opportunities, such as opening a small, European-style coffee shop. She described her vision: “It’s not big. It’s little, very cute — a place where people can meet with friends, families can [come] with kids… and have conversation with coffee, tea and a little piece of cake.”
Lady M & Co accepts both corporate and individual orders via Instagram or Facebook direct message, at www.instagram.com/ladym_and_co or www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552668377993. Orders can also be placed via text at 814-441-0949.