You could probably call it a fairytale. Boy meets girl in kindergarten. They remain friends through their early years and vow in high school to be together again after he goes to Stanford University and she heads to the University of Southern California. Years later after successful careers in the corporate world, they meet again to renew their love -- for brownies.

Eileen Spitalny and David Kravetz grew up in Phoenix where he often shared his mother’s homemade brownies with her. It was love at first bite. They made a pledge in high school to go into business together and share their love for brownies and chocolate with the world

When they finally gave up their successful careers in 1993 – he was with Proctor & Gamble, she worked in television – they created Fairytale Brownies. With a $14,000 investment and a secret recipe from David’s mother, they baked brownies in a caterer’s kitchen and used volunteers, including David’s wife, Mandy, to participate in street fairs and farmer’s markets to share the gourmet brownie experience with anyone who wanted to try one. And the customers liked what they tasted from the company’s first baker, Eileen’s husband, Michael. A soft, chewy brownie made from the finest ingredients: Callebaut Belgian dark chocolate, premium Grade AA butter, farm-fresh eggs and fluffy cake flour.

Not long after Fairytale started, the company moved to a 1,000 square-foot facility in Scottsdale and remained there until they moved to a 2,000 square-foot property a year later. As the business began to grow, Fairytale started shipping brownies by the dozen directly to doorsteps across America. With a bit of luck and foresight, the company was the original buyer of the Internet domain, brownies.com. Today, more than 50 percent of all orders – about 35 percent of the company’s revenue – come through the Web site

Sales volume growth has been represented by significant milestones: $1 million gross in 1997, $5 million in 2002, and $10 million projected in 2007. Three U.S. Small Business Administration loans over a 10-year period in the amounts of $100,000, $150,000 and $250,000 have been used to finance and achieve Fairytale’s goals and growth. An SBA 504 loan was taken out in 2005 to acquire land and construct a 37,000 square-foot building in Chandler which will house baking, sales and office operations under one roof in 2006.

From one baker in 1993, Fairytale now employs about 30 year-round team members and about 80 during the holiday peak season. From the beginning, Eileen and David wanted Fairytale to be a company where they would feel comfortable working. Fairytale has a $100 empowerment policy which authorizes any employee to spend up to that amount to make a customer happy.Cash bonuses and awards to team members for various reasons – meeting productivity goals, attendance, years of service, birthdays – are also paid out during the year.

All businesses face adversity and Fairytale Brownies is no exception. In addition to a forced relocation one year when a landlord wanted to move in a new tenant, the company faced a far more serious threat in the fall of 2004. The holiday season can be a make-or-break time for many small businesses that sell products especially popular this time of the year. A number of problems associated with the firm’s new delivery software popped up and some shipments either went out late, to the wrong address or never went out at all. Eileen and David personally called many customers to apologize for the inconvenience and offered to help resolve problems.

Fairytale Brownies donates products locally to Waste Not and St. Vincent de Paul.They’ve partnered nationally with KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization whose goal is to help build playgrounds within walking distance from every child in America. Fairytale donates three boxes of brownies for every playground that’s built. Since 2002, the charitable organization has received over $10,000 in cash and more than $30,000 in brownies from Fairytale. David and Eileen are also involved in the Phoenix, Tempe and Chandler Chamber of Commerce, as well as a number of business, art and educational boards in the Phoenix area.