Our Story
Beloved Cheesecakes exists to serve a beloved community, state, and nation because every person deserves to be loved, especially with assorted slices of heaven.
Hello Beloveds, my name is Jen. Beloved Cheesecakes belongs to God. I am his Beloved and He is mine. I didn’t create Beloved Cheesecakes for God, God created Beloved Cheesecakes for me.
My story starts long before Beloved Cheesecakes, it is a story of Jesus, perseverance, diligence, but most of all, grit, and a lot of it! My story begins with my earliest memory. I was five years old and woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain in my ear. My ear was popping and hot wax was gushing out. I screamed for my dad. Nothing. I stumbled out of bed yelling and searching for my dad. Our house was a tiny two bedroom house and he was nowhere to be found. He came home 2 days later. That became my norm, I would be home for a days at a time by myself, possibly starting earlier than age 5. In 5th grade a teacher reported to the Child Services Division (CSD) concerns she observed with me. They ended up taking me away from my dad. My biological mother was found by CSD and a few years later and I ended up moving in with her the summer before my 8th grade year, fast forward to the winter of my freshman year and my biological father died (age 39) from drugs. Although my childhood had been riddled with emotional, physical, and sexual abuse from my father and his friends, I loved him as the only real family member I knew and his loss devastated me, I blamed myself for the longest time.
My biological mother hated me, and why she resented me is still a question I ask myself to this day. All I craved was a mother’s love and I was instead kicked out a month before I turned 17. My mother’s last words to me were that I would never graduate high school, I would end up a pregnant teenager, and I would never amount to anything. I was determined to prove her wrong. All my life I have had people tell me I can’t do something, tell me I’m not worth anything, and tell me that I will never accomplish anything. I have built an innate sense in me to prove these people wrong and have been proving them wrong ever since that day my mother spoke those words. As soon as I hear “I can’t” my brain starts working to figure out how I can.
Sure enough, I proved my mother wrong and graduated high school. Three years later I encountered Jesus. Although my life was looking up, my self worth was on the ground. A childhood of abuse and neglect left me with no self esteem, no worth, and unbearably shy. Not knowing my worth or value, I fell into an unhealthy marriage that turned quickly into a domestic violence situation. Shortly after the wedding it became clear that my ex-husband was an abusive and controlling man financially, physically, emotionally, and sexually. However, what the devil intends for evil, God turns to good and our marriage birthed three beautiful boys who became my life and joy.
Seven years into our marriage I began stashing away cash, knowing that the time would come soon where I would have to stop staying in a marriage that was detrimental not just to me, but to my sons who I loved so dearly. I had to be creative in saving money as my ex was the sole provider and controlled every penny that I was allowed to access. A girlfriend of mine who cut my hair would have me write extra on each hair appointment check so she could give me cash back under the table and I began purchasing and returning extra items to Costco to collect the cash return. I believe that it was in these times that God forged my character and my will. I was determined to make a way no matter what and I was being prepared for the problem solving, out of the box thinking, and grit that I would need to carry me through starting a business in the future.
With the self worth I have now, I can look back on my past marriage and know that I stayed in it way longer than I ever should have, but in the moment leaving sounded like the scariest thing. It took God planting a very special police officer in my life to finally give me the nudge I needed to get out. The county sheriff was called after yet another domestic violence situation at our house and as I spoke to the deputy, he looked me dead in the eyes and said “Ma’am you are not raising boys. You are raising men and they need to know that this behavior is unacceptable.”. His words pierced my heart and I knew he was right. I thought filing for divorce in 2014 would have been where the battle ended, but unfortunately it was only just the beginning.
Needless to say, my ex-husband did not take the divorce very well and we proceeded to a series of 12 court sessions over the next 4.5 years. I was out lawyered and out financed by my ex husband but I didn’t care about the house, money, or cars- all I wanted was for my boys to be safe. Unfortunately, on paper, my ex had a lot more going for him than I did, a point that his lawyers made sure to point out claiming that “She is going nowhere in life, she is working as a waitress with no plans to further better her life”. I had no family, no money, and no career but I had a mother’s love and was willing to do whatever it took for my boys. Even as I was working full time and fighting in court while being a mom of three boys, I also decided to pursue a college degree and began attending Portland State University in pursuit of my Bachelor’s in social work. Just as I had my whole life, I was determined to prove that lawyer wrong, I was going somewhere with my life and I was going to provide for my three boys if it was the last thing I did.
In the winter of 2015, when I was still sharing custody of my boys, I was a part of a food share program and received a flat of blackberries… little did I know that it was the birth of Beloved Cheesecakes. Unsure what to do with so many blackberries, I decided to make a blackberry cheesecake to gift to my sons’ school staff as they all had gone above and beyond in helping me and my boys out during the recent months of hell in court and a custody battle. I had never made cheesecake before, I found a recipe and even had to use YouTube to learn how to take the cheesecake off the pan. I went to Michaels Craft Store and bought a nice cake box and delivered the cheesecake with no idea if it even tasted good at all!
The next day when I came in to pick up my boys I was stopped by the school staff and asked where I bought the cheesecake from, when I told them it was my own creation they were all amazed and told me it was the best cheesecake that they had ever tasted. With Christmas coming up and being short on money, I decided to gift cheesecakes that year and pair them with a bottle of wine from the winery that I was working at at the time. It so happened that it was the first Christmas without my boys and baking cheesecakes became a therapy for me, I was able to put all of my hurt, thoughts, and emotions into my baking. So I formed the idea of “Cheesecake Therapy” that can now be found on our business cards and shirts today.
After baking my Christmas gifts and posting a picture of them on my personal Facebook page I quickly received three people asking me if they could pay me to make them a cheesecake for the New Years. I was shocked, first of all that my cheesecakes looked/tasted that good, and that people wanted to give me money for them? I didn’t feel right taking money from my friends to make them cheesecakes but they insisted and soon a side hustle developed and became more than I ever could have anticipated. Over the next couple years I grew my side hustle, baking cheesecake out of my kitchen and taking custom orders, providing an additional source of income for my sons and myself as a single mom.
Word started circulating that I should start an official business and open a store, I was adamantly against it. I never wanted a business and after graduating from Portland State University with my Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work in 2018, I sought out a career in criminal justice. But God had other plans. Doors did not open for me in my social work career after I graduated but doors for Beloved Cheesecakes began unlocking. More and more customers came to me requesting special cheesecakes; doctors, schools, businesses, the orders were piling up and the idea of opening a shop was becoming more of a reality with every passing day.
A space opened up in downtown Silverton, the small town where my boys and I lived and on a whim I took a chance and looked at it. By my own strength starting a shop would be impossible, but with God and a community behind my back a Kickstarter was formed and fully funded before my very eyes. Because of my upbringing I was frugal and able to use the money wisely, thrifting from local garage sales, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace to find all the appliances and equipment I needed.
In August of 2019 we opened our doors for the first time and were greeted with a line down the sidewalk. Business was booming, our community loved us and we loved them. I got to integrate my heart’s passion for social work by hiring and working with those with barriers; special needs, trauma/abuse victims, or backgrounds that other employers wouldn’t see past. The first eight months of business were incredible, our shop was busy almost every day and night and friends and strangers alike loved my cheesecake, it all seemed too good to be true… and unfortunately it was.
Covid hit in March of 2020 and brought with it lockdowns, mandates, and no business. As the sole provider for myself and my three boys I was essential to my boys and therefore I didn’t close my doors. Despite massive backlash from a community that once loved and supported me, I remained open during Covid, relying on my grit and determination to keep myself and my boys afloat. As a result of my choice to stay open and by God’s divine plan, I became spotlighted by multiple media sources who were intrigued by the story of a single mom of three boys determined to make ends meet, even in the midst of controversy. Over the next two years award winning actor Kirk Cameron came out and interviewed me for his event Non-Essential and FOX and Friends ran a segment about my story, both experiences resulted in hundreds of orders from all across the country that kept my boys and I afloat during those dark months.
Just as all bad comes with a little good, I met my now husband, Makai, in the midst of the lockdown frenzy. Keeping three boys entertained during the unlawful lockdowns was a full time job itself so I researched a park that was open and took the three of them there to blow off some steam. It so happened that my future husband was taking his dog out at that very same park, fast forward a few months later to December 2020 and we were saying “I do” at the altar in front of family and friends. Makai is now my rock and has helped me immensely in my journey of growing and developing Beloved Cheesecakes; doing everything from mopping the floors to running business meetings.
Coming out of the “Covid era” I was more determined than ever for the success of this business that God had birthed in my very hands, and my boys and Makai were right at my side. Through a series of divine encounters, I fell into contact with Clay Clark, founder of the ReAwaken America Tour, and soon big names like Eric Trump and General Flynn were being served my cheesecake! My amazing cheesecake and firm belief in constitutional liberties led me to becoming a part of the ReAwaken tour, traveling all over the country these last few years speaking in front of thousands of people and making new friends and supporters along the way.
In the summer of 2023 I opened my second brick and mortar location in adorable historic downtown Albany, Oregon. After a few months of running both stores simultaneously we said a bittersweet goodbye to our smalltown start and moved full time operations to Albany. We began working with restaurants to provide cheesecake as their dessert and our wholesale program took off, launching us into over 20 restaurants and growing all across the country from the Hilton Hotel in Seattle, WA all the way to The Meltdown in Barre, VT. In January of 2025 I opened up another brick and mortar shop in Canby, Oregon and my family and I are now looking ahead to further, nationwide expansion coming in the near future.
If you would have told that shy, abused, and insecure little girl of my childhood that one day she would be running her own company and touching the hearts and lives of many she never would have believed you. But here I am today, living out what even my own wildest dreams could never have imagined. Beloved Cheesecakes exists to serve a beloved community, state, and nation because every person deserves to be loved, especially with assorted slices of heaven. While I may not know what our future holds, I sure know who does and I hold onto Jesus as I continue on in this beautiful, wonderful, perfectly imperfect life.
“ I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine”
Song of Solomon’s 6:3
When God Blesses Your Business
Learn More: https://www2.cbn.com/article/hope/when-god-blesses-your-business