Gratitude Drive Susan Caldwell’s Desire to Give

Gratitude Drives

Susan Caldwell’s Desire to Give

When you talk to women entrepreneurs about how they started their businesses, there seem to be a few common threads. They are passionate about something. They are trying to find a solution to a problem. They start something small, and it explodes. When they put their minds to something, they make it happen. The same seems to be true for their philanthropic endeavors. In Tomorrow’s Philanthropist, a Barclay’s Wealth study released in 2009, U.S. women were

by Elizabeth Denham

reported to be giving an average of 3.5% of their wealth to charity, while men give an average of 1.8%.

Susan Caldwell, founder and CEO of Flour Power, is one of these women.

“We are always trying to find ways to give back to the community,” Caldwell said. “Each of our franchise owners has a community service project that they do together as a group. We develop close relationships with our customers and feel very connected to our kids and our families.”

Flour Power Studios host cooking classes for children, teens, adults and special needs kids. They host birthday parties, team-building events, family cooking nights, etiquette classes and more. There are 15 locations across seven states.

Caldwell is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is active in giving back to the community there. She and her team teach free classes for special needs kids at the Frankie Lemmon School and Development Center. They have also taught classes for the school for the blind and at a local Ronald McDonald House.

“All of our franchise owners must offer at least one free class each month for special needs kids,” she said. “And we just brought on our first veteran owner, so we will be starting some free classes for veterans as well. We recently were approached to work with foster kids, so the wheels are always spinning to figure out what we can do.”

Using Flour Power as a community resource to educate people about how to eat healthily and stay active is a fundamental element of Caldwell’s mission.

“It’s great to be successful, but part of our mission is community service and giving to others,” she said. “We are starting up with some mobile

units later this year. The units will host out typical birthday parties and classes, but they will also allow us to get out into some of the more rural and underserved communities. If we can teach some of these families to make healthier choices on budgets and help them with budget planning, we think that would be a win-win for everybody.” Caldwell’s desire to give back to her community comes from a very personal place. Her gratitude and appreciation of what others have done for her translate into her passion for helping. “I think my passion for giving comes from having a child with special needs. I have a child with severe autism. A lot of people have done a lot of nice things for me. To me, I feel like I get more out of it when we do something nice for someone else than what they get out of it,” Caldwell said. “I am also adopted, and so I think I have a different outlook on life than most people do. I am grateful for the people who gave me a chance years ago. And I am grateful for people who have helped my son. And if there is a way we can turn around and help someone else, then I’m all for it.” For more information about Flour Power, visit the website at: www. flourpowerstudios.com. It’s great to be successful, but part of our mission is community service and giving to others. “

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