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Combining her love of baking and a desire to be her own boss, Sherrita "Rita" Roberts Magalde is opening Sheer Ambrosia, a company that specializes in homemade baklava.

A grand opening is scheduled Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday at 834 E. 9400 South, No. 58, Sandy.

As part of its mission, Sheer Ambrosia is committed to allocating 3 percent of all net profits toward micro-loans to women in developing countries who need financing for their businesses, safe spaces to interact and education.

Magalde, a Westminster MBA student, started making baklava when she was 16 years old after working for a Greek family who taught her to make gourmet desserts and pastries.

"I've always enjoyed entertaining, baking, cooking — and I just love making food look beautiful," she said. "One of the foods that stuck with me through the years was my baklava. I'm a part of a lot of different organizations in the valley, and every time I would attend a function I would take my baklava and people would always say, 'Wow, this is so good, you should sell it.'"

Magalde, a single mother of two, launched the business out of her home in 2008 to spend more time with her children. After taking the company as far as it could go from her residential space, she decided to open a commercial bakery.

"After finishing the first year of my MBA, I took Westminster's Lectures in Entrepreneurship series with Linda Muir and Michael Sutton, and they put a fire in my belly," she said. "I felt like if I'm going to do this, if I'm serious, I really need to take this to the next level."

Muir, director of Westminster's Center for Entrepreneurship, said, "Rita is such a talented entrepreneur and watching her work so hard over the summer to get her retail store open has been amazing. She is a prime example of a successful entrepreneur who understands the power of being creative with limited resources."

Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college, located in Salt Lake City. —

What • Specializes in homemade baklava

Where • 834 E. 9400 South, No. 58, Sandy

Grand opening • 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday

Hours • 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday: closed Sunday