Sondra Ames, Chief Visionary & Co-Founder, Wonderland Bakery
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Media Contact: Inez Be/HKA, Inc.
(714) 426-0444;
SONDRA AMES
Chief Visionary & Co-Founder
Wonderland Bakery and
Wonderland Bakery Adventure
Sondra Ames would tell you her most important job is first as a mother to Allyson, and second as Chief Visionary and co-founder of their wildly successful Wonderland Bakery in Newport Beach, Calif. Fortunately for her, she has been able to combine both of her jobs into a very appetizing arrangement. Sondra mixes her entrepreneurial savvy and creativity with Allyson’s natural gift for concocting delectable desserts, cakes and cookies and – voila! A magical mingling of which dreams are made – and a sweet success for this mother-daughter twosome.
Wonderland Bakery, which wrapped up a second successful year of business, has already established itself as a landmark destination in Orange County. Sondra experienced two additional milestones at the close of 2007: a successful second location, Wonderland Bakery Adventure, a seasonal store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa for the 2007 holiday season, and the arrival of the animated, talking Allyson Wonderland Bear by GUND. Having outgrown her five-year business plan in a mere two years, Sondra is determining expansion plans for 2008 and beyond, including appointing a Board of Advisors.
Sondra is a dynamic yet soft-spoken woman whose favorite word, “Wonderlicious,” can be heard throughout her conversations. Constantly in motion, she is a marketing wizard who has created the foundation for a memorable Wonderland Bakery brand experience and footprint in a very short time. Sondra has the ability to first envision a pastel-hued, fantasy-world “wonderland” and then translate the emotional experience into a unique environment with products that touch all the senses in a sweet and powerful way.
This process, which she calls “Wonderizing,” was carried out first at the store in Newport Beach – a fantasyland that shimmers and sparkles throughout. She Wonderized the South Coast Plaza location for the 2007 holiday season – creating an enchanted world for the plush Allyson Wonderland Bear and all the other Wonderland characters.
While most people have either a creative right brain or analytical left-brain orientation, Sondra has been blessed with both. Prior to this entrepreneurial venture, Sondra was an established leader in global trading, having founded an e-commerce and technology company that she steered for more than 15 years from start-up to publicly traded acquisition. Described as the quintessential entrepreneur, she has paired her financial and marketing expertise with her daughter’s award-winning culinary talent to create Wonderland Bakery.
Nominated by United Way for her extensive involvement in philanthropic organizations as well as her long-recognized role as a business leader, mentor and role model, Sondra received the 2007 MOMS (Maternal Outreach Management System) Business Mother of the Year Award. As a single mother who lost her own mom when she was eight, Sondra has strived to be the mother she always wanted to have by contributing to children, family and community.
In addition, Sondra and her daughter founded the Thanks a Million Cookies and Cupcakes Foundation which contributes a percentage of Wonderland Bakery’s profits to many organizations including Alzheimer’s Association, Tiger Woods Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes, Pacific Symphony, Festival of Children, Working Wardrobes, Ronald McDonald House and Success by Six. She is a founding member of the Orange County United Way’s Women’s Philanthropy Fund (WPF), a group of women philanthropists who invest $10,000 or more in the Orange County community every year.
An unexpected benefit of this mother-daughter collaboration has been a variety of honors that both are delighted to share. In prestigious company with Bank of America, Boeing, Wells Fargo, Target and South Coast Plaza, Sondra and Allyson received the Orange County Business in the Arts Award for their outstanding contributions in 2006. Orange County Innovation named Wonderland Bakery the 2007 Most Innovative Retail Brand, quite a coup in an area rich in retail concepts, and the mayor proclaimed Wonderland the “Official Sweet Ambassador” for Newport Beach.
In November 2007, they received an award for exceptional leadership in their field by Woman Sage, a nonprofit organization that educates, empowers and fosters mentoring relationships among women. They were granted the Philanthropy Rising Star Award at the Woman Sage Fourth Annual Stellar Awards Dinner.
Asked about these past few years with Wonderland, Sondra responds, “I’m having the most Wonderlicious time of my life, working apron to apron with my daughter!”
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