LIZZ

Hey everyone! My name's Lizz, and I'm the owner (and only employee) of Sweet CLE-'bus!
Born and raised in Slavic Village in Cleveland; Growing up off of Fleet, I now realize provided an upbringing that I was fortunate to have. I was raised embracing my Polish culture- my Dad is 100% Polish and while growing up, it seemed that we'd all find our way to Grandma's daily. I grew up very close to my family. Being there regularly, one of my favorite things to do was hang back in the kitchen and chat with Grandma.
While Grandma may be gone, our memories go on forever.
In 2020 when the world came to a screeching halt, I didn't know at first how it would come to impact my life's trajectory. You see, I am a licensed Cosmetologist and Educator by trade. In addition, I traveled throughout Ohio as an educating Brand Ambassador for the hair product line Amika. I would travel to educate both salon professionals and Sephora cast members, and I absolutely loved it! Needless to say, when Ohio closed, I temporarily lost 3 jobs in one day.
Once able to get back to work, circumstances had changed once our local school district had addressed their education "solution" to navigate the pandemic. As an educator myself, I saw the inconsistency with this plan, and unfortunately had to scale back and work remained nonexistent to me, with the exception of weekends only. This forced me to get back to the basics with the additional time that I had available. I still work behind the chair as you can see. I only work with pre-existing clientele on a very limited basis.
Prior to working in the hair industry, I come from an extensive food service background that spanned well over a continuous decade... I am also Classic Starbucks trained - La Marzocco - no food warmer - drink calling extraordinaire... can you imagine if kids these days were expected to properly call their drink when they ordered it?! I always had a dream of owning my own bakery/cafe one day, and pierogi were never on my mind as the main item! I had initially started with family/friend orders as a way to supplement income while navigating as a Mom of 2 young kiddos during a pandemic. From there, I gained some support and realized that I really loved being back in the kitchen regularly again.
Realizing that this is something that I wanted to continue to do for the foreseeable future, I set out to find a more permanent solution to the fact that I needed to have a regular commercial kitchen to work out of. While out there, I never in my wildest dreams envisioned that I would have a storefront kitchen of my own, but I am a firm believer of being in the right place at the right time and seizing the moment. Just while I was ready to throw in the towel on a realistic solution, a Hail Mary came just seconds before the buzzer, leading me and landing me on 447 Lazelle Rd.
I had invested many hours and days of driving around *all* throughout town- Powell, Dublin, Worthington, Clintonville, Uptown- you name it. Since I was already previously self employed (but not long enough) and heading from a hard hit industry to a very turbulent industry, I unfortunately was not able to secure any financing. BUT, now I see, that it's ok. I've spent the last year learning to navigate my new surroundings. I worked at my own pace while navigating some health issues that required surgery and "Mom-ing".
Now I'm finally more consistent. I had to start small and build my momentum. I have only what I need in my space. I continue to stay true to the craft, and every pierog is still handcrafted and small batched with love!
I appreciate absolutely every one of you who has ever come to support this small business/big dream. You guys are the reason the little guys can continue to make and create.
I look forward to chatting with you and creating new memories soon!
Peace, love, & pierogi,
Lizz