Trish Karter, mother of Eleanna, 17, and Dimitri, 13; CEO, Dancing Deer Baking Company. Number of employees: 65 full-time, 100 temp and seasonal. Projected 2007 sales: $10.7 million.Sweet Smell of Success: Trish Karter's belief in making a difference—using natural ingredients, packaging with recycled paper, supporting homeless causes—is paying off. The business should grow by 40 percent this year.My story: At holiday parties, people will say, "Oh, Trish, I thought I smelled you!" I laugh, because it's hard not to give off the distinct scent of gingerbread during the three and a half breakneck weeks before Christmas. This is the season when my baking company more than doubles in workforce, bakes 24 hours a day and takes in 35 percent of its total annual revenue. Each December, I think that we're ready for the onslaught, that we've solved all of the things that went wrong the previous year. But something always comes up, like the graveyard manager gets sick, and there I am at midnight packing cakes and tying ribbons.

As an athlete, I'm used to running marathons. As a businesswoman—I have an MBA from Yale—I know that running a holiday-dependent business is a body-taxing race to the finish line. If I want our employees to be dedicated to our all-natural, fresh-baked, artfully packaged gifts, then I have to go that extra mile, too.My penchant for pitching in is what got me here in the first place. In 1994, my ex-husband, Ayis Antoniou, and I invested $20,000 in Dancing Deer, which was started by our housepainter's wife, baker Suzanne Lombardi. Even though I'd given up business to pursue a career as an artist, in the fall of 1995 I realized that Dancing Deer was about to be swamped by holiday orders. I jumped in to manage operations and handle the marketing—temporarily. I thought I'd finish the portrait I was working on just as soon as we installed more ovens in the old pizza parlor that we were working out of and recovered from our Whole Foods Market order (which started with holiday cookies and turned into a year-round relationship). The painting is still unfinished. In 2000, I got divorced and my partners opted out of Dancing Deer, leaving me to grow the company. We've expanded at an annual rate of 30 percent, and this year I'm expecting 40 percent growth—with a major boost from Christmas. Why push so hard? I want to be a force for change toward more socially and ecologically friendly business practices. At Dancing Deer we use natural ingredients, print with soy inks, package with recycled paper, support homeless causes and set aside 10 percent of company stock for employees.My kids understand my mission and help out when they can. In fact, Dimitri has been our official taster ever since he was 8. At first his title was just honorary, but it turns out he has a fabulous palate. How much peppermint should we put in those brownies that we're hoping will be our new best-seller? He's the guy to ask. And fortunately, like me, he never gets tired of sweets. Lessons learned1. Diversify, diversify. We've come up with shortbread cookies in flavors like triple chocolate chip and lemon daisy. They're less seasonal, helping us tap new markets. And with a longer shelf life than many natural-foods products, they can be baked ahead to balance production pressures at holiday time.  2. Stick to your values. In 1997, Williams-Sonoma asked if we could supply molasses-clove cookies to their then 165 stores. We had to say no because they needed a product with a four-month shelf life. But the buyer called back and said, "I respect your values. How about a gingerbread mix?" Eureka! Mixes, which have a long shelf life, have been a growth area ever since.3. Find new markets. We're working with the food service industry and airlines to offer single-serving cookies and cakes. Corporate gifts are another major part of our business. For Fleet Bank we baked 100,000 cookies that were handed out on the streets of New York City.4. pamper your customers. At holiday time, our call center expands from two people to about ten. If that rare customer is unhappy, we do whatever it takes to restore the sparkly, good-karma feeling our products promise. Sometimes that means I call a customer. Could I delegate this task? No. My call shows that we care deeply about creating loyalty.