Legacy —LEAVING A—
PA S S I N G A LO N G M O R E THAN RECIPES WITH JALEN’S BAKERY
Story by Rachel Triguero | Photos by Dakota Jacobi
OMING FROM A STRONG LINE OF WOMEN, Sharhonda Mahan is continuing the legacy and instilling greatness in her young son. At the age of 8, Jalen Mahan became CEO of his fourth business and at 13, he is running a successful kitchen with his mom. A home-based bakery with a license for commercial kitchen use to ship nationwide, Jalen’s Bakery offers vegan chocolate chip cookies and vegan pancake mix. “Our vegan products are absolutely delicious. Providing exceptional products and customer service is our highest priority,” Mahan says. In addition to mixing and baking, the company gives back to their community by providing mentorship, job training and spreading opportunity to teens and families in high-poverty neighborhoods. What started with giving cookies and pies to family and friends for the holidays has become a full-time business for the two. “It was definitely his idea to start this,” Mahan says. “Entrepreneurship was a subject I added to my homeschooling curriculum with my son at an early age.” Mahan believes in not only chasing after her own dreams, but also inspiring and equipping the younger generation to do the same. The supermom reflects on her own childhood and recalls, “When I was younger, I watched my mother running her own business and saw the entrepreneurial side from her. Before she passed away, she helped me get my own photography business started as a teenager. I have to instill every great thing in my son that she instilled in me.”4 continued on page 34
SPRING 2021
www.EdibleSJV.com
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