Learning by Doing: The Sweet Taste of Success

“There was a line with dozens of people waiting to purchase from me. ... Within an hour and 30 minutes, I was completely sold out!”

During Mountain Day Market last year, Asma Odeh ’27 hurriedly set up the stand for her business, Odeh’s Sweets. Turning around, the marketing major couldn’t believe her eyes.

“There was a line with dozens of people waiting to purchase from me,” she says. “It was so long there wasn’t enough room to walk on the path. Within an hour and 30 minutes, I was completely sold out!”

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Customer favorites

Asma has loved baking since the age of eight when she helped her mom prepare dinner and dessert. Encouraged by Assistant Director of LifeWorks Joy Wooddell, Asma launched her business in May 2024. “I said if I don’t go for it, I'll never be ready, and with that, I created my Instagram account with no second thoughts!” she remembers.

Her top sellers are brown butter cookies with twists on classics like s’mores, M&M and chocolate chip. Asma’s cakesicles — her take on cakepops — were a runaway hit last summer. Customers can request personally themed versions.

Traditional desserts, a nod to Palestinian heritage, are super popular. “Imtabak is essentially like baklava, but instead of a nut filling, you have a creamy filling that is topped with simple syrup,” Asma explains. “Kunafa are filled with Arabic sweet cheese, ricotta and mozzarella in shredded phyllo dough and topped with simple syrup.”

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Marketing internship

She also works remotely as a marketing intern for Ozmo, a technology company that builds software products to solve device and application support at scale.

Asma is sharpening her use of analytics and building out the messaging and design for ads on LinkedIn. Assisting with Facebook, Instagram, blogs, events and research rounds out her responsibilities.

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Like many student entrepreneurs, Asma stays on the go. She’s a LifeWorks office specialist and a social media manager in the Center for Personal and Professional Development. She says, “My supervisors are my built-in mentors who do not hesitate to ensure that our team grows in our positions.”

Asma can’t wait to apply competitive marketing skills to her ultimate dream — “my own coffee cafe filled with my sweets, Dar Odeh’s Cafe Co.!”