In a world where the meaning of "Follow Your Dreams" is a real thing, Bridget Morris of Point Plesant Boro, New Jersey, took it to a whole new level. What started as a passionate hobby became more than she could have imagined. Here is the story of Bridget Morris, who started her own baking business when she was in high school after overcoming several challenges that she has had to face during her lifetime.
Morris was born on June 3, 2004. As a child, Morris was generally happy and has grown up having a close relationship with both of her parents. Morris was an only child, but she has grown up having many best friends, "I have so many amazing best friends that I have grown up with and are always encouraging me and happy," Morris said.
(behind_baking_by_bridget [@behind_baking_baking_by_bridget] (2023, 30 March) My Story [Photograph] Instagram.
During Morris's childhood, in 2012, she was met with a challenge while in the second grade when she was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor that was growing on her brain stem. Morris spent two months in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. While she was there, she had OT, PT, and speech therapies to help get her through her battle. Morris had to relearn everything. When she was in the hospital, she had a shunt put in to help stop the drainage, "When I was in the hospital, they had to put a shunt in to help with the drainage, and two years ago, the shunt had stopped working. At this point, I was a junior in high school, and I knew what was happening, which was very traumatic. It emotionally took a toll on me. It showed me how important life is every day," Morris said.
Morris had to go in and get her shunt fixed. Morris went to Jersey Shore Medical Center, where she had received two surgeries. The first one was to patch the original shunt up. After the first surgery, Morris woke up feeling like herself again, "I woke up feeling pretty talkative and like my happy self," Morris said.
Shortly after, she was released to go home from the hospital. While thinking all was well, Morris became ill again that same day and returned to Jersey Shore, where a second surgery was performed to replace the shunt. Since then, Morris has been okay physically, "Since then, I've been fine physically. I've been so lucky to come to a full recovery, and of course, there are things I struggle with every once in a while, and sometimes I get anxious and worried every once in a while when I get a headache, but I work through my struggles," Morris said.
In the middle of everything going on, Morris had started to bake as a hobby. She had found a real passion for it. Morris has been baking since then and has always baked for all of her friends and family who are around her.
Morris keeps her inspiration in mind while she works in the kitchen, "My inspiration is that knowing that everything that I have been through, knowing that I have been given a chance to live my life every day and know that every day is a gift."
However, ever Morris also has a second inspiration that she keeps in mind while she is baking, "The people in my life, like my marching band family at Point Pleasant Boro High School. Especially my marching band director, Mr. Visco, has always been my biggest supporter. He's the first one whom I first baked apple crisps for, and my mom had mentioned it to him. If she had not said that, I would have never considered bringing some to school. So, Thank goodness for mom! So I did, and he raved about it for a week straight. So from there, I kept baking every week for the band dads and my band family. They always support and compliment me even to this day. To this day, I still go back, and it's one of my favorite things to do."
(behind_baking_by_bridget [@behind_baking_by_bridget] (2023, September 26) "The Greatest Story" [Photograph] Instagram.
Since then, Morris has been baking her heart out. She doesn't quite have a favorite, only because it can vary from week to week. Morris has stated that she does enjoy making cupcakes and cake rolls from time to time. Cookies have not been very popular in her kitchen, but when she gets many orders, she enjoys making each one of these desserts. She's just happy to be in the kitchen! Morris has stated that she has never gone four or five weeks without baking.
(baking_by_bridget) [@baking_by_bridget] (10 January, 2021) "Parents anniversary" [photograph] Instagram.
In the last year or two, she has had a rough estimate of 40 orders. Morris stated, "Since I started taking orders between this year and the previous year, Probably about 40. There was a time over the summer when I was doing two orders per week, which was fun! So I'm hoping once ,I graduate that I will be able to focus more on marketing and getting more orders!"
Morris wants to find a small shop in the future where she can go to bake and share her treats with the world, "Someday, I hope to have a little coffee shop with tables where I want to be near the high school, my market would be toward high school kids or community college kids and give them a community. I would love to do event days too, where we would have activities, and there are so many things you could do in the baking industry!"
While Morris is in college, she does her best to keep up with everything. She has school during the week, but her afternoons are usually clear to get in the kitchen and bake something. Her Thursday is her Friday, and she gets a lot done even if she has school work to do or she is going to her job in Point Pleasant, "Getting stressed, my mom tells me I do at the time, but I'm good at scheduling my week. Sundays are usually my planning day. I have a chart for the tasks that I need to get done and plan day by day. It helps me not be too stressed. The only time I stress is when I'm baking, and something doesn't turn out how I want it to, or when I'm icing, and something goes wrong. I might get a little frustrated but I step away and come back. It used to be hard for me but I'm better with it now."
(behind_baking_by_bridget) [behind_baking_by_bridget] "Taking time" (2023, 17 July) [photograph] Instagram.
When Morris has the time, she does go small events at some of the fairs. She stays close to home at the moment but she would like to branch out and do a little bit more. She had a table set up at an event at Point Pleasant Boro High School this past December and sold some of her treats there, "So far, I've only done one craft fair; it was such a great experience, and I had so much fun, and I loved it!" She hopes to do more over the summer.
Amid all her baking, Morris does have both of her parents for help. Her mom usually helps her in the kitchen, "I try to do a lot of things myself, but I'm not very good at asking for help, but my mom helps me. If need be, she will help me do small things in the kitchen, like breaking pretzels and anything for decoration. Like when I was baking cupcakes in December, I was making cupcake reindeers, she would break the pretzels and sort the red and green M and M's. She also is a huge help because she'll drive me to deliver orders. After all, I don't drive."
(baking_by_bridget) [@baking_by_bridge] "Happy Birthday Jesus" (25, December 2021) [Photograph] Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CX7cu51tzHR/?igsh=MWd5MmlqenBndWw1Zg==
Morris's dad also helps her out where he can; as she puts it, they have a small business negotiation, "I give him my list, and he will go grocery shopping for me!"
Morris's friends also step in and help her when it comes to getting her where she needs to be, "My friends, I'll text them to see if they want to go to Michaels with me so we can get the fun cupcake liners, and decorate them with me!"
Morris has overcome many obstacles in her lifetime, and this is just the beginning of her dreams coming true. She truly enjoys what she does and everyone is looking forward to seeing her succeed her dreams within the coming years!
(Thelatestview) [@TheLatestview] "Baking By Bridget" (2024, 8 February) [Photograph] Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C3GNpmDOIgf/?igsh=MXUyejFiOGxtZ2U2OQ==
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