Sports administration senior Marileah Niddrie’s baking company, Independent Sweets, started as a fun way to make money during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, she averages about 120 orders per month.
Niddrie’s business began by selling chocolate-covered treats on Facebook and Instagram and has since expanded to include other baked goods, such as cupcakes, brownies, cookies and charcuterie boards. She also creates special limited-edition menu items during most holiday seasons.
Niddrie’s customer base is primarily LSU parents. Holidays, Welcome Week and exam season are especially popular times for orders, as parents want to buy treats for their children who are away from home. To keep up, Niddrie often works long hours.
“My day’s usually wake up, review what orders I have, go to school, come back, go to the store – [work on] orders, and then schoolwork at night. So it’s just like that pretty much on repeat every day,” she said.
Niddrie believes part of the reason her business is so popular is that she delivers orders directly to students’ dorms.
“A lot of my parents are usually freshman year parents, and so [the students] usually don’t have a car on campus. So it’s kind of hard for them to, you know, get deliveries…unless they mailed it to the LSU mail room.” she said.
Niddrie is still deciding if she wants to continue the business after she graduates but has ideas to potentially expand the business into a physical storefront.
“My ultimate goal might be to franchise it at some point…and I really want to maybe even trial, do that for other colleges specifically because I do know that there have been other parents on [Facebook] who’ve been like, ‘I have friends who have kids at other schools who wish they had something like this at their school.’ So it’s definitely a work in progress,” she said.
Niddrie said that her business and having the opportunity to get to know so many LSU parents and students has been a “blessing” in her life.
“Just being able to connect with…all these different students with different backgrounds, from different locations is definitely something that I really enjoy,” she said.
Heather Verdi lives in Massachusetts and has made multiple orders this semester for her freshman son.
Verdi purchased a charcuterie board, brownies, cookies and chocolate-covered strawberries from Independent Sweets to be sent to her son during Welcome Week. She also ordered a cookie cake for his 19th birthday – his first birthday away from home. She’s been so happy with the service she’s received that she’s already placed another order for Halloween.
Verdi was originally drawn to the display and variety of items Independent Sweets had available. Her son prefers healthier food, and Verdi said he especially enjoyed the charcuterie boardt.
For out-of-state parents, Verdi said sending treats helps them feel close to their kids while they’re at school.
“We’re so far away, and we can’t see our kids that often. It’s nice to just send something to them to let them know you’re thinking of them,” she said.
All the orders were delivered to her son’s dorm, and Niddrie even sends pictures to parents of their child holding the treats. After not seeing her son for so long, Verdi said it was nice to receive the pictures.
“It’s just been tremendously helpful, being out-of-state [and] having someone there to provide something for your child to make them feel extra special and cared for…Especially with boys, they never send you pictures of anything, so it’s nice to actually see your kid,” Verdi said.
After hearing about Independent Sweets from a 2026 LSU parents Facebook page, Suzanne Heck, who lives in Illinois placed an order for her daughter’s birthday.
Heck ordered sugar cookies, M&M and peanut M&M cookies, and brownies for her daughter. Heck also purchased brownies and chocolate-covered strawberries for her mom, who spent her birthday in Baton Rouge visiting her daughter.
“[My mom] loved it – she ate them all and she didn’t share,” Heck said.
According to Heck, Niddrie goes above and beyond with her customers. She recalled one parent mentioning their kid was feeling sad and lonely, and Niddrie offered to meet with them and make sure they were okay.
“[Niddrie is] a student, and she’s just very sweet and supportive and genuine with everybody…I think anybody that’s hurting, she would, you know, [say] ‘I can help, what can I do for you?’” Heck said.
Heck said she is amazed at Niddrie’s work ethic and intends to order from her again in the future.
“It’s really impressive for a student to run a whole small business like that, because it takes a lot to do – the marketing, the ordering, the billing and the delivery,” she said.
Christa Seal is from Bogalusa, Louisiana, and used Independent Sweets to send a dozen cookie sandwiches to her son, who’s a freshman at LSU.
Even though she’s in-state, Seal said it meant a lot to her seeing the picture of her son with the treats.
“He had been gone for a while, so I was a little bit broken up because you know, that’s my baby,” Seal said. “But she sent me a picture with him with the things, and he was so surprised. He didn’t even know what was going on.”
Seal said Niddrie was always quick to respond and made it easy for parents to send a gift to their kids.
“You can just contact her, kind of pick out what your child likes that you normally would have at home…[Niddrie] just made it so easy. It was just a very convenient little service to surprise your child,” she said.
