Female Founders
BY KERRY PIPES
CAKES? NOTHING BUNDT!
Baking dreams into a deliciously thriving business
D
ebra Shwetz was a stay-at-home
mom working part-time while her
kids were going to school. Working for a multi-level marketing company
in her hometown of Las Vegas, she met
Dena Tripp, making a personal connection that would evolve into a professional
relationship—and a franchise concept,
Nothing Bundt Cakes, with more than
$100 million in sales. “That experience
exposed me to all kinds of operational
functions, organizational strategies, and
interpersonal relationship dynamics with
an assortment of people,” she says.
In 1997, she and Tripp were enjoying dinner and discussing the best way
to frost H