Woman goes viral on TikTok selling baked goods to raise money after her dad's death

Woman goes viral selling baked goods on TikTok after dad's death

MESA, Ariz. - A Mesa woman has turned to social media in her time of need and now the community is rallying around her.

What we know:

She's selling baked goods, and it's all to help her family through a very difficult time.

Kaley Petersen lost her dad unexpectedly, and with an unexpected death comes unexpected expenses. That includes saving her childhood home, which is why she created Woojis.

Woojis is a pop-up stand with homemade baked goods. You can't miss it on Sossaman and Pecos roads, or on TikTok, where her story has gone viral.

What they're saying:

Petersen, a mother of three, started making TikTok videos of her selling muffins and cookies after her dad, Scott, passed away unexpectedly in December.

"Since then, I've been trying to hold on tight to everything that matters, that still reminds me of him. One of those things is his property. That's where I took my first steps. That's where we had all our memories," she said.

Her business is called Woojis – a nickname her dad gave her as a kid.

"The first day, I had no success, nothing. I was out here for close to three hours. I baked all day and three hours, nothing. The next day, I came, and I made $32, and I was thrilled. Then the next day, I actually ended up posting some stuff, and the next day I had a line of people," Petersen said.

Day four, she sold out in under an hour and went home with two new mixers.

The community came together to help her hold on to her dad as long as she could.

@kkaleysue
feeling on top of the world! #smallbusiness #supportsmallbusiness #arizona
♬ Island In The Sun - Weezer

"Her story was really touching," a customer named Ashleigh Cunningham said.

"I saw on Marketplace. Some young lady had actually posted here about her father passing, and like I said, here with my little daughter, I hope my daughters will do the same thing if something happened to me to keep the house and everything going," Kyle Lebtich, another customer, said.

"My sister-in-law sent me a video of her, and she's like, ‘Here, this is cool. You should try it out for a good cause,’" customer Jessica Flores said.

‘Now I am crying happy’

Petersen bakes all day to keep her dad's memory alive.

"There's many, many, many nights where I've just been crying to myself, and now I am crying happy because I know my dad's really proud, and he's looking down at me, and he's here with me right now," she said.

She plans on selling baked goods at Sossaman and Pecos roads on weekdays from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. She also posts when and where she will be selling that day on her TikTok.