IC News

This is a story of growth, family, listening to what you want, and going for it. It’s what happens when two people are active participants in unfolding their paths— or, in this case—assembling a recipe for success.

Lauren ’16 and Lee Hamacher ’16 were both integrated marketing communications (IMC) majors (now called the advertising, public relations and marketing, or APRMC).

In the fall semester of their senior year, the two were taking Brand Management together and then, in the spring, they wound up in the same one-credit elective course. Having recognized each other from their three and a half years on campus and then from Brand Management, they decided to sit next to one another. The rest is history

“We communicated with one another, our humor was the same. Very quickly, we instantly wanted to spend all of our time together. We were walking to and from class. It was very instantaneous,” recalls Lauren.

Lauren and Lee’s first business was Brooklyn Balls—cake pops meeting chocolate truffles confections. While still working full-time jobs, they got their home operator license and started selling to friends and family and at pop-up markets around Brooklyn and NYC. The business was just starting to take off when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, effectively shutting them down.

During the pandemic, the two decided they wanted to start a full business. Lee’s acumen in sales and Lauren’s PR and marketing prowess offered complementary skills to build a business. Their lightbulb moment came when they looked at their own lives—they were in the stage of life when friends were getting jobs and promotions, graduating, getting married, and buying homes. Lauren made gift boxes with stickers, and trinkets—and yes, her cookies—for each occasion. 

It occurred to Lauren that other people have lifetime milestone moments too and might like to give these kinds of gift boxes but might not have the capacity to source all the theme-based items and bake all the treats. So she thought, “Let’s do that!” They named the business Gardella’s Goodies, after Lauren’s grandmother.

When Lauren and Lee celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary in June 2020, they rented a cabin by Six Mile Creek, brought their cats, and relaxed. On that trip, there was a suggestion from John Hamilton—the owner of the John Joseph Inn in Groton, where they got married—that they should buy a house. Home ownership is something many millennials feel is financially out of reach due to many factors including the rising cost of homes. These two weren’t any different and so homeownership wasn’t on their radar. But, the idea made them curious.

It was also during the pandemic when travel plans, going out and celebrating those life milestones were curbed. The pair had been able to redirect those funds into savings.

“I'll never forget that moment,” says Lee, “of looking on Zillow and having that moment of realizing, oh my God, wait, the mortgage would be less than our rent. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Oh, we can do this!” They moved into their home in Trumansburg in 2021.

At first, the duo had full-time jobs—Lee in advertising sales and Lauren in marketing in the wedding industry. Lauren is now full-time with the Gardella’s Goodies, while Lee continues to work his full-time job while working on the family business during nights and weekends.