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Charlie Armitage has fond memories of her time at Durham Tech and believes the College helped put her where she is in her life.
Armitage graduated from Durham Tech in 2022 as part of the Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program (C-Step). She went on to graduate in two years from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2024 with a major in psychology and a minor in anthropology.
“I have such a soft spot for Durham Tech,” Armitage said. “It was a bright spot after graduating high school in the year of COVID.”
Armitage applied for the C-Step program knowing full well that getting in was not a given
“We did activities with a large group of students wanting the same thing I did. To get into the program,” she said. “I applied and then it came down to grade point average and essays.”
Armitage got in and began her journey toward UNC. While at Durham Tech, she worked hard to get in classes that were tough for her such as her STEM classes and Spanish.
“I wanted to get tough classes done at Durham Tech because of the immense support I had at the College,” she said. “I grew through the C-Step program. I grew thanks in part to my instructors, success coaches and the administration at Durham Tech. Covid made it tough to make friends, but students are just one part of the community at Durham Tech and while I did make some friends, it was the instructors I relied on for support and direction.”
The support from Durham Tech and the C-Step program got Armitage into UNC and it was here that her creativity led to a business. Always a creative type, Armitage needed a creative outlet. The outlet for her was baking.
“My finance, Camryn [Kellogg] and I baked all through Covid, eating some of what we made and giving away the rest to friends and family. We both love baking”
These days, Armitage and Kellogg work from home baking and selling their baked goods. Their business, Ollie’s Great Bakery, is named after Kellogg’s grandmother who is no longer with them due to Covid.
“She loved to bake and now we love to bake her recipes. Her desserts are specifically what we like to bake,” Armitage said. “When we moved to the UNC area the business began to grow. We now have some land in Mebane and we built an addition of sorts to our home so we bake out of there. We even have chickens that supply our eggs.”
What started from solely Facebook marketing has grown into a full-time business for both Armitage and Kellogg
“Through our Facebook marketing we ended up having the parents of college students reach out to us,” said Armitage. “They wanted to send care packages to their students.”
Armitage shared how she and her fiancé built these relationships with families.
“We remember them. We remember the students. I will pull up to drop off some Ollie’s Delights [brownies with marshmallows, chocolate peanut butter crunch and peanut butter drizzle] and I realize I know the student. I have said things like ‘I remember your first day of school’ and I do. We love having this connection with our clients. With our families.”
Even though her current job may look different from what she imagined while at the College or at UNC, Armitage says Durham Tech and her time there has much to do with where she is now.
“I sing the praises of Durham Tech loudly,” Armitage said. “Without Durham Tech I don’t know where I would be. Durham Tech gave me tools.”