Success Stories

Carlene O'Garro grew up in an inner city Boston neighborhood. She attended the Boston Public Schools. After school she opted for an office job while she found her true path but remained frustrated that she wasn't building anything for herself that would ultimately "be hers."

Listening to her inner voice and passion for baking, she enrolled in the newly created Pastry Chef program at the Cambridge School of Culinary Education. After graduating she worked grueling 10-14 hour days at a Boston restaurant "for scraps." She began taking some small baking orders but soon became overwhelmed juggling her day job with her private baking. Recently Carlene decided to make the jump to full business ownership financing it all on her credit cards and paying exorbitant interest rates. Realizing this was not a sustainable business model, she applied for a loan from the Samuel Adams Brewing The American Dream™ Fund. She is baking in a kitchen incubator where she has found natural mentors and a caring, supportive community. "All of us are struggling in one way or another with barriers to starting our own businesses. Some are personal, some are financial, but all are standing in the way of us realizing our dreams. But with this loan, I am really on my way!"

"All of us are struggling in one way or another with barriers to starting our own businesses. Some are personal, some are financial, but all are standing in the way of us realizing our dreams..."

David Warner is passionate about his local neighborhood. As a resident of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston near the Samuel Adams brewery, he and his wife saw an opportunity to create a food business that responded to the unique needs of their community. This small grocery/sandwich shop is the true embodiment of “Main Street America.” He sources locally, hires locally and the entire business is designed for people who live in the neighborhood.

David was a carpenter and his wife a theatrical set designer when they saw a hole in the neighborhood food market. Opening a store could offer them a regular source of income unlike the sporadic projects they depended on for income until that time. He built the shelves, she painted the interior and their first location opened eight years ago.

They recently opened their second location in Boston but ran into major obstacles along the way. As construction on the second store was nearing completion, unforeseen delays resulted in an $18,000 gap in funding to finish the project. David had been pre-approved for a small business loan through a small program offered by the City of Boston but as the economic climate continued to worsen, these monies were no longer available. David was referred by the Mayor’s office of business development to the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream™ fund, where he was approved for a loan to provide the capital to finish his store.

Lucy is EXTREMELY passionate about coffee and sees a unique opportunity to bring the "coffee culture" to the East Coast. Even with the proliferation of coffee chains, she thinks they have failed to do two things: 1. Deliver really high quality coffee and 2. Create community around the love of the bean. She sees herself as an artist with coffee being her medium.

With a loan from the Samuel Adams Brewing The American Dream™ Fund, she launched a high end coffee catering company, with the idea to book special events and dinner parties for coffee aficionados as well as businesses that serve clientele who appreciate better coffee. She also hopes to open a retail location, but because of the economy she decided to put her vision for a café on hold for now. She is pursuing her craft through the catering business, hoping to build a loyal following and when times are better, open a café. Her loan from the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream™ program went to pay for commercial coffee grinders, an espresso machine as well as other equipment.

She says that food and beverage entrepreneurs are essentially artists of their craft and she personally has had to stop thinking like an artist and think like a business person. "The training and technical support offered through the Samuel Adams Brewing The American Dream™ program is invaluable, because I am not trained to think like that."