Meet The GOoDS Crew

Whether it’s a fleet of scrappy rebels taking on an empire, little ponies learning that friendship is magic, or an unlikely fellowship coming together to toss a ring into a volcano, geek culture has taught us time and again that teamwork makes the dream work.

Here at the GOoDS, we’ve assembled our own super-team of sweets-lovers to make your sugared dreams a reality; and this week, we wanted to let you know a little more about us!

SAM

Commander-in-Sweets
aka Founder, Co-Owner, Award-Winning Designer, and Master Creator

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• All of our cookies (especially the chewie-chocolate chip) and our Sea Witch truffle.

Top Fandoms:

• Chaotic neutral equal opportunity nerd — I love them all, with special shoutouts to Star Wars, Mass Effect, Muppets, Sandman, Farscape, DC, Disney Villains and Magic.

Hobbies:

• Is working a hobby? Otherwise I enjoy board games, video games, painting terrain for miniature games like Batman Miniatures and snuggling with my pup Shadow. I’m also learning how to play kalimba for my Bard D&D character who doesn’t know she’s magical… yet.

How did you get into baking and sweets?

• From the dawn of the human race there have been two things that have always brought people together: stories, and good food. I have always been a geek– I started as a kid with Star Wars, Renaissance Festivals, Pirates, and BTTF– and started baking when I was two. Mixing the two together came naturally to me. Through these two mediums that are so good at bringing people together regardless of their differences, I aim to make the world a sweeter place.

If you could move to one of the planets in the Star Wars galaxy, which would it be and why?

• Felucia is my favourite planet but there are way too many things that would try to eat me so that’s out…. After some deep thought, I would want to visit every planet, but I would want to live on Mandalor if this was before the clone wars. If it was after then I would want to put down roots on Naboo or with the Wookies on Kashyyyk. (Don’t judge me, I like the quiet pretty life with things that don’t try to kill me and Cloud City would be too boring and there aren’t enough trees.)

When in history would you take your Delorean if you knew wouldn’t mess up the timeline?

• I would go be a pirate with Anne Bonny and Jack Rackham for a while before popping over to the set of “Adventures of the Starkiller” (Star Wars: A New Hope’s working title) and watch the magic unfold while getting to meet the troublesome trio and the rest of the cast.

Destruction, Control, or Synthesis?

• #spoileralert, I chose Synthesis, but regardless of which choice you made, I’ll meet you at the bar.

MERIDITH

Emperor Chocolatine

aka Co-owner, Chief Marketing Officer and Taste-tester

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Just one?! Daily fresh baked chocolate cookies and Sloane’s Heavenly Cream Tea make my heart sing

Top Fandoms:

• Top Gun, Retro gaming, Pinball, Pikmen, Harry Potter, Seinfeld, Marvel, Walking Dead, Pixar

Hobbies:

• Board games, cooking/baking, interior design, video games, spending time with friends/family, raising 2 awesome boys

What did you do before creating the GOoDS with Sam?

• Wow…this could take a while. As a child of the 70s/80s and proud GenX-er, I grew up battling it out with my older brother on our head-to-head Coleco football game handheld or Vanguard, Berzerk or Pac-man on our Atari 2600. That began my first nerd passion that continued through the Super Nintendo years. Cut to post-university, a few years in NYC working in high-tech public relations and then remembering where my passion truly lay after playing Myst and seeing the first Playstation games — the video game industry. I spent almost 20 years helping to market every kind of game from Looney Tunes Duck Dodgers to Driver to Unreal Tournament through 4 different console and handheld cycles including the not long-lived but much loved Sega Dreamcast. My career highlight was creating the publishing arm for Digital Extremes from the ground up to self-publish our most successful game, Warframe. After that I pulled a Costanza and left on top. Beyond that I’ve been an avid cook, baker and amateur cake decorator since I was 6 years old so when I met Sam it seemed like a perfect match of our collective creative nerd forces!

What’s your favourite interior detail or decoration at the cafe?

• The exposed brick wall and art we’ve added to it is so fun and oddly enough the wallpaper we put in the cafe bathroom is one of my favorite decorations, also the cafe tables and chairs we chose especially the wingback chairs in the window really help add the charm to a comfy, cozy, quirky cafe.

What Pixar character do you most identify with?

• Elastigirl/Mrs. Incredible – kick-ass mom’s rule!

When it comes to fighting the zombie horde, are you a ranged or melee kinda gal? And where is your post-apocalyptic stronghold?

• I’ve put a lot of thought into this after too many seasons of the Walking Dead. Normally I’m a sniper fan but in the zombie apocalypse you need to polish all kinds of killing skills so I think I’d work on my melee attacks to stay agile. My stronghold would be a solar or windmill-powered farm in Montana or Idaho where population is scarce but living off the land is plentiful.

 

MARGO

Cake Wizard

aka Cake Decorator

Fave GOoDS Treat: Chocolate Chip Cookie Top Fandoms:

• Lord of the Rings, Legend of Zelda, Twin Peaks, the film industry/filmmakers

Hobbies:

• Arts and crafts, LEGO minifigures, film photography, cringing through 90 Day Fiance

What’s a cake design you’ve felt extra proud of?

• I think I would say the Stranger Things cake I did with Sam [which can be seen on our Instagram!]. I think the demogorgon I created looks really cool; I like sculpting figures.

With a tip of the hat to Agent Cooper, favourite pie flavour?

• Blueberry! Warm blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream… oh boy.

Where in Middle Earth would you want to live?

• Hmm. I feel like I should say Rivendell because of how gorgeous it is, but it’s also just so fancy. Maybe too fancy. For me. Hahah. Would have to be The Shire, even though that’s probably the most obvious answer. I just love the small town feel, gorgeous little houses with all the beautiful wood interiors, rolling hills and gardens… * drifts off into daydreams *

 

NATASHA

Dough Whisperer

aka Baker

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Garlic Parmesan Scones and Texas Cheesecake Massacre

Top Fandoms:

• Scooby Doo, Mortal Kombat, Fire Emblem, DC (Villains in particular)

Hobbies:

• D&D, video gaming, baking, writing

If you were a cookie, what kind of cookie would you be and why?

• I’d be a Rainbow Chip cookie, crispy and colourful.

Black Eagles, Blue Lions, or Golden Deer?

• Well I’d have to say Golden Deer, but most of my favourite students come from the Black Eagles house.

Who has the best FATALITY moves?

• Easy, Erron Black simply because he is a handsome cowboy so he wins at life.

 

MANDY

Chief Chocoholic

aka Chocolatier

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Double Chocolate Raspberry Cake and Chocolate Chip Cookie

Top Fandoms:

• It’s hard to pick but there’s a special place in my heart for Disney Princesses, Harry Potter, D&D, and comic books

Hobbies:

• Chasing my kids (6 and 7), baking sourdough bread, painting, watching too much TV

What’s the most peculiar chocolate you’ve ever had?:

• The most intriguing bonbon I’ve had was from Onyx and flavoured like Tom Yum Soup.

What are your House and Patronus?:

• I am a Hufflepuff and my patronus is a Doe.

Who’s your favourite Disney princess, and why?:

• Belle; fiercely loyal and uniquely herself, she stands up for what she believes in and doesn’t take crap from anyone, especially Gaston.

 

MARIANNE

E-mail Gremlin

aka Marketing and Community Management

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Eldritch Blast

Top Fandoms:

• Steven Universe, Sailor Moon, Animal Crossing, horror movies

Hobbies:

• Cosplay, hand-sewing, reading, video games, drawing, witchery

If the GOoDS social accounts were a Sailor Scout, which one would they be and why?

• Probably Sailor Pluto, who is the guardian of the portals of space and time. Potentially not fully human. Has great style, cares for others, super cute with a little dash of darkness

What kind of witch are you?

• I’m definitely a kitchen witch. All my favourite witchy things are centred on the home. And what could be more enchanting than a delicious cookie, baked with love?

What would your personal Steven Universe gemstone be?

• Probably Opalite? It’s definitely super pretty but its appearance will change depending on whether it’s placed on a black or white background. It’s mostly milky in colour but reflects oranges, pinks, blues, and violets. Opalite is apparently all about self-worth and self-esteem and I dig that! It is also supposed to be good for smoothing tough transitions in life and helping keep things on an even keel.

 

KELSEY

Head Cafe NPC

aka Front of House Supervisor

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Sponge Toffee

Top Fandoms:

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Harry Potter, Animal Crossing

Hobbies:

• Competitive cosplay (local and international), embroidery, video games

What makes The GOoDS’s customers so awesome?:

• Their excitement when they walk into the shop or visit our convention booths.

What’s your best cosplaying memory?:

• Hearing our team name called when we won the honour of representing Canada in Nagoya, and hearing our Country called when we passed to the second round/ Finals at the World Cosplay Summit. And not a memory per se but all the wonderful friends I’ve made around the world through the hobby!

Tom Nook– saint or tyrant?:

• Saint, that raccoon lets me pay back my 0 interest loan at my own pace. I wish he could give me a mortgage in real life.

 

DAMIAN

Humble Cash Monkey

aka Front of House Team

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Salted Caramel Cookie

Top Fandoms:

• Destiny 2, Haikyuu!!, ONE OK ROCK

Hobbies:

• Volleyball, doodling, napping with cats

What’s the best joke you’ve drawn for our sidewalk sign?

• The Christmas + New Year board that said “Merry Geekmas & a Happy Nerd Year” in Star Wars font.

What’s your preferred class/species in Destiny 2?

• I’m a crayon-eating Titan main/Exos for life.

If you were an anime trope, what would you be?

• Easy, shounen protagonist. I believe in the Power of Friendship.

 

KIRA

Merchant’s Apprentice

aka Front of House Team

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Cookies and Cream Cake

Top Fandoms:

• Disney (esp. Villains), Jim Henson, Pokémon, RPDR

Hobbies:

• Reading, jigsaw puzzles, handicrafts, movies, quirky video games

What’s your favourite drink to make?

• Butterbeer, in all its sparkly magical glory.

Which Disney villain do you think would have what it takes to win RPDR?

• Leaving aside Ursula, who already is a drag queen (see also: Divine), definitely Cruella de Vil. A cackling high-fashion queen who’d crush the sewing challenges and read the other queens for filth.

What movie would you pay to see reenacted by The Muppets?

• The Grand Budapest Hotel. Big cast, bright aesthetic, hijinks… Like, how has there NOT been a Wes Anderson/Muppets joint at this point?

 

RYAN

Mild-Mannered Reporter for the Daily Bugle

aka Photographer and Videographer

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Leftover cake from YouTube episode filming

Top Fandoms:

• Horror/genre films, and whatever video game I’m currently playing

Hobbies:

• Harassing my cats, making bleeps and bloops on a two-tier table of synthesizers, Twitch streaming classic games (twitch.tv/ry_tron), paying off my mortgage to Tom Nook

What was your most memorable shoot with the GOoDS?

• That time I filmed Sam get murdered by Michael Myers. What a nice day.

Who is your favourite cat from pop culture?

• Catbus, from My Neighbor Totoro

Which gaming system best represents you and why?

• Sega Saturn, as my mind is often on another planet and my films have only gotten stranger over time.

 

GOoDie

Lovable Mischievous Mascot

aka The Lovable Mischievous Mascot

Fave GOoDS Treat:

• Neptune caramel sea salt chocolate truffle and the customers that stay after closing.

Top Fandoms:

• Oh pirates and steampunk for sure! But also pingpong because I always win. I also have a soft spot for National Geographic, I like when they say my friends (like nessie, bigfoot and my lovable pal Ron) and I don’t exist. Cracks me up every time.

Hobbies:

• Outside of making every genre delicious? Swimming, sculpting and sinking ships into the watery abyss. Don’t worry, I only do that on my days off.

If you could have hands instead…would you?

• Sometimes I accidentally get tangled with the apron strings when I put on my apron, but otherwise tentacles are practically perfect in every way.

If you could bake a cake for anyone, who would it be?

• Well that’s easy, obviously Kermit the frog. He’s my idol. *Starts humming Mana, Mana….

What would you say your strengths are?

• I’m a team player and always willing to take whisks! Sometimes they don’t like that though.

And that’s our GOoDS crew! Although we’re all stuck in isolation right now, rest assured our Borg-like hive mind is always plotting through our advanced communication system (aka Zoom) to ensure that once we’re back to business, your resistance to our delicious snacks will be futile. But like… in a good way.

We want to meet you! Take a selfie or create a sketch and tag us @thegoodsweetsto #goodsweetsfamily

Big props to our resident artist, Damian who made us all into cartoon form for this blog…the talents never cease to amaze with our crew!

May the fork be with you

– The Grand Order of Divine Sweets