In honour of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day on November 19, 2021, we are profiling a few Algonquin students past and present who are entrepreneurs.
The Cupcake Lounge has been an Ottawa success story from the day the first outlet opened in the ByWard Market in 2011. Not even a pandemic could diminish the consistent appeal of this haven for dessert lovers established by entrepreneur and life-long baker Claudia Arizmendi.
“We have a very strong business,” says Arizmendi, President and CEO of The Cupcake Lounge and a graduate of Algonquin College’s Baking and Pastry Arts program (Class of 2007). “At some point, people began to worry that we were too focused, that cupcakes were a trend that might fade. But we held firm because we felt that a cupcake is like a slice of a really good-quality cake, baked fresh and in a perfect single portion.
“That’s what I wanted to give to my customers right from the start and that’s what they keep coming back to enjoy.”
Arizmendi moved to Canada from Mexico in 1994 and started a family shortly thereafter. At this stage, the prospect of one day launching her own business was little more than a dream.
