GRIMES, Iowa — An Iowa cookie artist will be featured on The Christmas Cookie Challenge on Food Network next week.

Justina Rucinski is the owner of Sweetems Co by Justina, a home-based cookie company, where she makes literal art on her treats. Earlier this year, she received some national recognition when she was asked to join Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge.

“I remember when I got that call that I was officially casted, I was like nope we’re not going to get too excited… this isn’t real until I’m on the plane. And I get on the plane, and it still didn’t feel real. It was when we got on set. I started crying, I was like holy cow. The set was so magical,” she said.

She learned how to bake when she was a little girl, and she frequently watched baking competitions on the Food Network.

“We came from a very poor background, and my mom was a single mom of seven kids, so we couldn’t afford to buy fancy baked goods. So, she would bake them and I always loved to bake with her,” said Rucinski.

Her company started as “Sweetems Cakery,” and she only baked cakes. She borrowed baking pans from a close friend and was gifted a mixer from another close family friend. Her first cake was a two-tier Victoria’s Secret-inspired cake for her sister’s 16th birthday.

Eventually, her company grew in popularity and she received her first request for cookies. After her first attempt, she was not a fan of how they came out.

“It was terrible. I cried. I cussed them out. I told them I’m never doing this again,” Rucinski recalled.

However, she decided to give cookies another chance a year later when a customer asked for a Toy Story cookie set. Eager to conquer the cookie, she accepted the request, and it changed her life.

“I was able to decorate each individual cookie and them for it together, almost like a puzzle and make a story. And it scratched my brain, it made me happy,” she said.

Since then, she has dropped the ‘Cakery’ from her company name and now only bakes and decorates cookies.

However, overcoming a difficult childhood and failure wasn’t the only time she was resilient. In 2019, a stranger posing as a customer raped her in her own home.

“I remember when he was in my home and I was terrified of him. And then I remember, flashforward, we’re in the courtroom and he was in shackles and confined and I was like, oh wow I have all the power,” she said.

Rucinski healed through her art.

“I’ve been through a lot in my life and my work has become very therapeutic for me. It has become almost like I’m able to channel all of my emotions into my art,” she said.

Since then, she started teaching cookie decorating classes and serves as an inspiration for others. To many of her students, friends, and family, Rucinski is the personification of resilience. She’s excited to share her art with the nation through the upcoming baking competition.

The Christmas Cookie Challenge airs on Monday, November 25th at 8 p.m. on Food Network.