Along the way, I got to learn family traditions and hear stories from my past. And I got to figure out how I could create and express myself through my baking.
~Carina Comer
Editor’s Note
This month, Bold Blind Beauty’s Woman On The Move is Carina Comer, a powerhouse of determination, creativity, and heart. From battling cancer as an infant to navigating vision loss, workplace barriers, and the often cutthroat culinary world, Carina has faced challenge after challenge and turned each one into an opportunity to build something extraordinary.
Rooted in her Scandinavian heritage and fueled by a vegan lifestyle, Carina’s bakery is more than a place for delicious treats; it’s a haven where people of all abilities can feel safe, valued, and free to express who they truly are. Her journey is a testament to grit, perseverance, and the belief that when doors close, you can create your own.
As Carina says, baking has been her way to create, connect, and give back, from beachside bake sales for cancer patients to running a thriving business that uplifts others with disabilities. She reminds us that living boldly means embracing your values, owning your story, and making space for others to shine alongside you.
Stephanae McCoy
Editor-in-Chief, Bold Blind Beauty
Beyond Sight Magazine Cover
YouTube Video
Introduction and Background
Hi. I’m Carina here with my guide dog, Moby. Hi Moby.
I am 33, and I am legally blind due to an astrocytoma (cancerous brain tumor) I had as an infant. And as a result of that, I have tunnel vision in one eye, no vision at all, and no light perception in the other eye. The nerves were severed by the tumor, and it also caused hormonal loss in the pituitary and other long-lasting health effects.
Family Background and Values
But I grew up in a very determined, humble, well-grounded, and entrepreneurial family with lots of values. Both my grandfathers came from Sweden and Ireland, and worked their way up through the military, through odd jobs, until they both opened their own businesses in Connecticut, where I’m originally from.
So it was just natural to have that determination to carry forward no matter what happened. Even when the tumor relapsed and I had to go get radiation treatment, I made an adventure out of it, and it was exhausting, but it shaped who I am today and shaped what I would do in terms of philanthropy and how I viewed the world.
School Experience and Early Challenges
Also, what shaped me is the fact that I went to a public school, and I had aids that would help me get large print, help me get around, which both, you know, put a target on my back for being special. But also made it so I had to, you know, figure out how to navigate in the normal world without a cane ’cause my parents didn’t know what that was until I was 16, and the blind commission basically there, you know, suggested it.
But I managed even without a whole lot of self-confidence, and I buried myself in school, in the work itself, not to have to deal with the social situation of how kids thought of me differently and not worthy of their interaction.
I connected with adults, and I especially connected to the feelings I got when in the kitchen with my mom. I could forget about all the crazy diets and health regimens I was on and feel the calming nature that kneading dough has. And get a little taste of sweetness and be able to share that with others in a way that I couldn’t at that time express myself.
Discovering Baking and Philanthropy
Along the way, I got to learn family traditions and hear stories from my past. And I got to figure out how I could create and express myself through my baking. Eventually turned into a philanthropic bake sale that would last all summer. I would take it to the tricycle to sell at the beach and raise money for cancer patients. I figured out a way to make it happen. When I started crashing the tricycle later on because I was losing vision again, I stumbled through it, and eventually, that’s what led me to getting a guide dog.
Culinary School Journey
Meanwhile, I met people who really encouraged the culinary side of me and encouraged me to go to pastry school at Johnson Wales. It was an eye-opening look into how cutthroat the industry is. Sure, on paper, I had accommodations, and I would get large print textbooks and audiobooks when possible.
Although it was not easy, I had to do a lot of that work myself. But when it came to making a cake in three hours that looked amazing, there was no accommodation. And there was no getting the teacher, or at least I didn’t know how, to ask the teacher to show me again in private. Never mind the fact that kids would look at me sideways when I’d be standing there at the end, and when it was cleaning time, and I wouldn’t know what to do ’cause I felt like I was just in the way if I tried to go get something, or I was too slow.
Challenges like that continued as I tried to find internships and then find work, and I had to settle for more free internships instead. Or found work but still felt like I was being targeted. So I went to grad school, moved out to Oregon, I fell in love with its foodie scene and its transportation and acceptance.
Career Challenges and Starting Own Business
But even after going to grad school here, I still have the door upon door shut in my face. An interview would go great, and then I’d pull out my cane at the end to get out of the interview room and make my way safely home. And you could see the air change, and you could feel the disappointment, and I would never hear from them again.
So I had to go my own way. I turned what had been a side business, a hobby, selling big goods at a farmer’s market and renting out a way too expensive commissary kitchen that also didn’t know how to accommodate a person with disability. And I opened my own business that celebrates my Scandinavian roots, my vegan lifestyle, and creates a place where not only I feel safe, but my employees with all kinds of disabilities feel safe as well and can express who we truly are. Thank you.
Carina’s Bio
Carina is a cancer survivor from Connecticut who always knew she wanted to be a baker. Despite being severely vision impaired, she attended pastry school and many hard-won steps in her career took her to Oregon and eventually opened a bakery celebrating her Scandinavian roots and vegan lifestyle while making a way for people with disABILITIES to have gainful employment and a place in their community.
Connecting With Carina Comer
- Facebook: @carinasbakery
- Instagram: @carinasbakery
Connecting With Bold Blind Beauty
Image descriptions:
- The header, the Beyond Sight Magazine cover, and the YouTube Thumbnail include a Portrait-style photograph (featured in the Beyond Sight Magazine cover template). It shows an image of Carina standing in front of a backdrop of a large circular logo for ‘Carina’s Bakery,’ which is highlighted with a butterfly design, symbolizing transformation and growth. The logo is surrounded by a pale blue circle, creating a soft contrast against the overall warm and inviting atmosphere of the bakery setting. Carina is dressed in a bright blue shirt, which conveys a sense of vibrancy and friendliness. She is holding up a Disability Pride flag that has bold stripes of black, white, green, yellow, blue, and red. The image is styled as a magazine cover, titled ‘BEYOND SIGHT | A Bold Blind Beauty Project,’ and features Carina Comer. The cover is dated August 2025.
- Carina Comer, wearing a bright blue chef’s jacket, smiles while holding a clapperboard for a documentary titled ‘Legacy Makers’. The background features stage lights and a film reel design with the text ‘NEW DOCUMENTARY TV SHOW COMING IN 2025’ prominently displayed.
- Video Description: Carina is a woman with fair skin and reddish cheeks. She wears square, black-rimmed glasses and has wavy, reddish-brown hair. She is wearing a blue shirt and blue earrings.
- A 5-panel grid of Carina’s Bakery assorted baked goods.