Eileen Spitalny

While most kids were playing kickball on their kindergarten playgrounds, Eileen Spitalny and David Kravetz were deciding how they’d one day be their own boss and do their own thing. The two took a childhood playground pact and turned it into something not only tangible, but massively profitable, with Fairytale Brownies now baking and delivering millions of brownies, cookies and bars to new and intensely loyal customers every year.

While Eileen had an interest in being her own boss from day one, she detoured along her path to gourmet baked goods industry domination, securing degrees in business and Spanish from the University of Southern California and spending seven years as a top sales producer at Univision, a leading Spanish television network, before jumping into the brownie game with both feet in 1992. Making it a true family affair, Eileen’s husband, Michael, was Fairytale’s first-ever paid baker and employee.

Nowadays, Eileen serves as Fairytale’s Sales and Public Relations team leader, orchestrating the business’ corporate sales, wholesale and public relations efforts. She’s also maintained a soft spot for where Fairytale’s story began – the playground – and proved instrumental in supporting KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping communities build and improve their own playgrounds, by donating thousands of brownies, volunteer hours, and more than $300,000 to its efforts. The bakery just finished its most recent playground build in the spring of 2017, marking the kick off of Fairytale Brownies 25th anniversary.

A one-time USC Entrepreneur and Arizona Small Businessperson of the Year, Eileen has made immense strides at the local level, too, serving as an ASU Art Museum Advisory Board member and Slow Food member in addition to working closely alongside the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. She also served as Programs Co-chair and President for the San Francisco and Phoenix Les Dames d’Escoffier Chapters and was featured in Cooking with Les Dames d’Escoffier: At Home with the Women Who Shape the Way We Eat and Drink.

Eileen maintains a keen interest in the arts, yoga and exploring the culinary wonders of the world while splitting her time between Phoenix and San Francisco. You may spot her daughter and husband helping her at times to spread the brownie word worldwide.