From necessity to a calling.
Christeen didn’t set out to build a business. She set out to stay close to her son.
She is the mother of a son with severe autism. Before immigrating from Syria — where she earned a diploma in social counseling, studied at the University of Damascus, worked as a school counselor and taught music — she had a career she loved. In a new country, with a son who needed her constant care, a traditional full-time job outside the home was impossible. So she turned her creativity into a living she could build around him: custom cakes, dessert tables, and event decorations made with her own hands.
أكتر شي فخورة فيه إني بنيت شغلي من الصفر، وما تركت إيماني بحالي ولا مرة، رغم كل الصعوبات.
What I’m proudest of is simple — I built my business from nothing, and I never once stopped believing in myself.
Then her path grew much harder. She was diagnosed with lymphoma. Going through treatment — far from her family, while still caring for her children — was one of the hardest seasons of her life. There were days she felt exhausted, scared, and unsure of the future. She did not give up. She rebuilt her work from the ground up, one step at a time, and kept showing up for the people who needed her.
Today she is a paraprofessional supporting children with special needs, a content creator, and the cake artist behind Coco Sweet. Through every season, her son has remained her greatest source of strength.
Every cake she creates and every event she designs carries the same message — resilience, hope, and the quiet determination to keep moving forward.
