Devon Climer

Devon Climer is the co-founder of Mugsy Bakes, a Cleveland-based company making single-serve mug cake mixes that are gluten-free and dairy-free. Before entering the food startup world, she worked as a speech-language pathologist and later launched My Communicoach, where she focused on leadership communication and people-centered coaching.

The idea for Mugsy Bakes came from Climer’s own kitchen experiments with her kids. After realizing there was no convenient, high-quality single-serve dessert product on the market, she began testing recipes with co-founder Nina Dvorak Lawless. What started as late-night formulation work and home baking quickly grew into a broader effort to build a brand that emphasized joy, accessibility, and cleaner ingredients without diet-culture messaging.

Together, Climer and Lawless worked with a food scientist to scale the concept, eventually self-manufacturing before moving to a co-packer as demand increased. Early momentum came from farmers markets, local press, and programs such as JumpStart, which helped the founders prepare for retail. Mugsy Bakes now focuses on making better-for-you desserts easy to enjoy, with an emphasis on community, sustainable packaging, and a playful brand experience.