SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI — There’s a saying that goes, “If you try to be everything to everyone, you won’t be anything to anyone.” It’s a common mistake many entrepreneurs make as they grow. They make a great product that fills a specific need in the market, but then, they start to spread themselves too thin. They make knee-jerk reactions to every consumer trend or customer request, and suddenly, they’ve lost sight of what made them so special in the first place.

That’s not a mistake Jill Bommarito plans to make. In fact, being that “something special” is baked into everything she does as the founder and president of Shelby Township, MI-based Ethel’s Baking Co. The company, which makes hand-crafted gluten-free dessert bars and cookies, is named after Bommarito’s grandmother, Ethel St. John, who instilled in her a love of baking … and the kind of love like she was the only person in the world.

That’s what Bommarito has been doing for people with celiac disease since 2011. That was the year she decided to make a career pivot and start a food business that made people who eat gluten-free feel “like the rock star of the party.” Celiac disease runs in her family, and after experiencing years of celebrations filled with more gluten-full treats than decent gluten-free options, Bommarito decided to do something about it.

She set the bar high from day one. Her goal was to create something that would be No. 1 in the overall dessert bar category, not just No. 1 for gluten-free. At the time, gluten-free options were few and far between, and those that existed were usually underwhelming alternatives to their wheat flour counterparts.