Meet Connell of Connell Smiles

 

Connell Green has been with the Helius Foundation for about seven months. His business, Connell Smiles, is a growing cookie company here in Durham, NC. Connell talks a little about what brought him to Helius:

 

“I had a bad accident about a few years ago. A support beam fell over my head; in the next years, I had to learn how to talk again, I underwent speech therapy, I had to learn alphabets and numbers all over again. It was a very hard time. But it was in this time that I asked God to help heal me, I asked Him to help me find my calling. One day, I had a vision; I saw a pair of golden hands, and I wondered what that meant. Later on, something else happened to me. I started to hear different types of baking ingredients whispered into my ear. Then it dawned upon me- God was telling me that my gift was to use my hands. I was still recovering physically when I started to knead dough. I would spend hours kneading dough, and then I started to notice that it was giving strength back to my arms and shoulders. I started kneading dough every day and after a while thought “Hey I better make something out of it,” so I made cookies, delicious cookies. Soon I started to give them away to people, and soon after I started selling them. This whole process was really a way that God healed me from the inside out. 

It’s been years now. And I still love making cookies; every time I bake, a part of me becomes energised. That’s my love, cookies are my babies. I see cookies as a tool to get people to relax. You know, have a cookie and some coffee, have a good time, relax for a moment, see what’s in you, see what’s around you. I hope to sell my cookies at even more stores, perhaps a couple of franchises way into the future. Helius has been great in helping me reach my goals. I joined about 7-8 months ago, and really I learned that the best teacher you can ever get is the one that can be honest with you, tells you when you haven’t pulled up to your standards, and lets you harness your strengths. Geraud from Helius has been this teacher to me. And now he’s connected me with Duke students who are helping me refine my business ideas and targets. I’m really thankful. "

 

We're thankful to be working with such an amazing and driven individual. And it is great seeing him working with so many others. We have no doubt that Connell Smiles will be bringing smiles to everyone throughout the Triangle very soon!