PR for People Monthly AUGUST 2015 | Page 29

Just north of Boston, there are two shops, a state-of-the-art cooking facility, sisters, family, friends, and a healthy business, somthingsweetwithoutwheat.com. Christine Penney, (a hairdresser) and her family suffered from a variety of digestive conditions. A physician suggested a gluten-free diet requiring her and her sister, Sandy Federico, (a nurse) to become inventive with their cooking. During a holiday gathering, she took some of her gluten-free treats to the shop where she purchased her gluten-free flour and customers clamored for them. Shortly after spending time working at farmer’s markets, finding her first space and building it out with her family,somethingsweetwithoutwheat.com took flight.

Prestigious accounts came on board like Whole Foods Markets. The Judge, The Heat, and other A-List films shot scenes in Boston and ordered her baked goods giving A-lister celebs a chance to taste her gluten-free treats. However, one of Christine’s favorite reasons to celebrate is that her son, Joe Penney, runs one of the retail sites. Whether it is the pizza, delicious bread, a whoopee pie or layer cake, these products are so delicious, people who do not have any health concerns are fans too.

Christine exudes cheer as she explains what motivated her to create this company – “We always say, out of lemons came lemonade. I got used to having stomachaches as far back as a little girl. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis as an adult; my niece was diagnosed with Crohns and my son, a rare disease called KLS, and my younger son was sick too.” The lifestyle changes they made together turned into a thriving business: “Running a business is a lot of work, challenging at times, while running a family. We are very fortunate; we have so much family support. We started this business, probably blindfolded and learned as we went along! If we thought it out to much, we probably wouldn't be here today,” said Christine.

Alison Harris is a communications professional in Boston and served in Governor Patrick’s administration, held three rising PR positions at Harvard, wrote for the Boston Herald, and worked for Liz Claiborne and Tommy Hilfiger.

From Boston:

Christine Penney's SomethingSweetWithoutWheat.com

Making it by baking it with love and a supportive family.

By Alison Harris