ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Renate met Jaheel when the two worked together at Lowe's.
She was his boss. Still is.
She left that management job, and he left his in banking.
This married couple, who raised six children, is busy raising a business called Freakin' Sweet Jars.
Their motto is “Heaven in a Jar.”
Even before the curtain opens, there is a line at the stand inside the Westfield Annapolis Mall. They come for the fresh-baked cookies and the layered look of desserts.
“When my wife came home with this idea, I said, baby, we ain’t startin a business with desserts, you crazy”, said Jaheel, married to Renate for 14 years.
She came up with the name “Freakin Sweet Jars”, while searching online. And it has stuck.
“We are out to serve love and not in it for the money,” she said.
But Renate has more ailments than the items on her menu.
She has heart trouble and arthritis. She has a battery built into her back to jolt circulation throughout her body.
“I’m trying, I’m really trying”, said the mom of six.
She has Lupus fog and says she is sorry she can’t remember the faces of long-time customers.
But when she does see a familiar face, it’s a song and a dance, and suddenly Heaven in a Jar becomes Heaven in a Mall.
