All results
Self-taught baker Ashley Huston is opening her own shop in Philadelphia, PA. For Huston, it all started as a child. She was interested in tinkering with recipes that were as simple as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she told CBS News. “I would try to change things up and recreate things,” she shared with the outlet. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Huston decided to open a micro bakery as a side hustle. According to her company website, she offers a variety of cakes, including flavors like red velvet, cookie butter, chai-spiced carrot cake, and unique options such as matcha cake paired with strawberry lavender jam, matcha custard, and condensed milk buttercream. She also sells cookies, cinnamon rolls, brownies, and savory pastries. Her creations have even won her Philadelphia Magazine’s 2024 Best of Philly baker — not to mention she caught the attention of the legendary Patti LaBelle. Huston had the honor of making the cake for LaBelle’s 80th birthday. “We decided on...
College student Layla Wallace has secured a grant for her bakery business. Wallace started her Michigan-based business, Layla’s Cool Pops, when she was just 10 years old after being inspired by her fourth grade economics project in 2015, MLive reports. At the time, she did not have any proper knowledge of what it would take to run a business and be successful, but she is only becoming wiser in light of her steps in higher learning as a business student at Western Michigan University. “When I started the business, I didn’t know anything,” Wallace told the outlet. “I’m taking courses that are helping me develop my business, teaching me the fundamentals of how to function, develop, and grow.” In the meantime, Wallace continues to run Layla’s Cool Pops in Kalamazoo, MI. She sells cupcakes in flavors such as confetti, pink lemonade, red velvet, and lemon, among others, as well as cookie pops, cake pops, brownies, and pies. Orders are currently being fulfilled from her home, and the...
A trip to Japan led TJ Johnson into a unique business. ESSENCE reports the Atlanta, GA, native is now the proud owner of Wax on Hi-Fi. It was while in Tokyo, Japan, that she was able to immerse herself in the country’s vinyl bars. So much so that when she moved to Los Angeles, CA, her interests beyond DJing and software engineering broadened to include entreprenuership inspired by this concept. “It’s a very calming and peaceful experience, Tokyo record bars,” Johnson told ESSENCE. “The people there are very disciplined, and the employees are very exact. They wear gloves and aprons, and when they put the record on, they put on a flashlight to make sure it’s in the right groove. It’s a very technical experience. And I guess when I’m thinking about bringing it back here, I’m kind of trying to fit it for the American palate a little bit because I know that when we go out to listen to music, we go out to have fun and socialize.” Wax on Hi-Fi now functions as a restaurant that creatively...
Dedra Simmons walked away from the pharmaceutical industry to become the owner of a successful bakery. Simmons now leads Pookie Crack Cakes in Chicago, IL, alongside her husband Doug. Her dream of owning a bakery manifested at the age of six when she would bake from the comfort of her grandmother’s kitchen, the Chicago Reader reports. Throughout her life, Simmons baked at home for special occasions and during the holidays. Plus, encouragement from her family helped her business grow. Her brother, Shundell Johnson, firmly believed in her cakes, and she said that he would “go door-to-door to different businesses, beauty salons, barber shops, and he would sell the cake,” according to the outlet. In doing so, Simmons said it attracted more customers in her direction. Before opening her storefront in July 2023, she ventured to nearby restaurants to sell her cakes. Now, thanks to her storefront, people are flocking to try Pookie Crack Cakes, which offers sweet treats, including her...
April Anderson left a comfortable job to bet on herself. According to The Detroit News, the entrepreneur exited a corporate finance role that paid her six figures to pursue entrepreneurship and become a baker. Since age 9, Anderson envisioned this career path, making treats for her family, ILITCH Companies News Hub mentioned. “I have always loved doing things with my hands. I think that’s why I love working with doughs like yeast rolls, cinnamon rolls, and biscuits. I am a hands-on learner,” she told Food & Wine in 2019. Anderson launched Good Cakes and Bakes, alongside Michelle Anderson, her spouse and co-owner, in 2013 in Detroit, MI. Their joint efforts earned the shop national recognition for its organic desserts and baked goods. By July 2023, they launched a second store in Detroit, MI. “We are thrilled to expand our presence [in] Detroit,” said Anderson at the time, per ILITCH Companies News Hub. “Columbia Street is a great opportunity to expose visitors and locals to our...
Master P is launching a health-focused food venture. On Juneteenth, June 19, the rapper- turned-businessman took to Instagram to announce the launch of Miller Family Foods. The company will promote healthy living by offering consumers better “alternatives in cereal, oatmeal, breakfast bars, pancakes, waffles and more, deliciously made with the highest quality, using natural ingredients and flavors from the earth it grows.” By design, its foods will be made without artificial preservatives, hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and colors, GMOs, and BHA/BHT. Furthermore, Miller Family Foods’ mission will be to diversify the products shelved in grocery stores. “We are evolving as a culture, we are no longer just consumers,” Master P said in a statement shared on Instagram. “We spend trillions of dollars annually with no real ownership, but that’s changing. African Americans want healthier food alternatives. I heard them loud and clear. And that’s why...
Jatee Kearsley refers to herself as a “generational starter.” The Queens, NY, raised pastry chef is the owner of Je T’aime Patisserie, a business located in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. The naming of the restaurant was intentional as her love for cooking was born in her teenage years while hosting weekly bake sales in front of a building she used to reside in. “You’re a kid and you want money. So what do you do when you want money? You do what you’re good at. And I was always good at baking cakes and cupcakes for my family,” she tells AFROTECH™ during the Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit. “I would invite my friends over and they’ll come and eat cupcakes. I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m going to make money.’ So I took a table outside and just started selling these cupcakes that I was making. Then it just elevated into a passion.” Kearsley would continue to opt for self-teaching even as she pursued culinary education, honing her skills in baking intricate pastries such as macarons and...
What started as a hobby during the pandemic quickly launched Lara Adekoya into entrepreneurship, selling cookies to consumers in Los Angeles, CA, including some of Hollywood’s hottest stars, including Issa Rae, Lena Waithe and others. Today, Adekoya is taking things one step further by launching her very first brick-and-mortar for Fleurs et Sel. “I’m really happy and I’m just ready,” Adekoya told AFROTECH™. “I feel like I’ve been ready to make this jump or transition for a while. As you know, it’s not something that’s happened overnight.” In a previous interview with Adekoya, AFROTECH™ learned the backstory to how she launched her business, which has grown rapidly over roughly four years. Fast-forward to the present day, she says there wasn’t a specific incident that encouraged her to open a bakery, but it will be in a historically Black and brown neighborhood in Los Angeles. “I’m opening in West Adams, which is a historically Black and brown neighborhood in LA that has been...
Ter’Dricka Fresh is making history during Black History Month. WLKY-TV in Louisville, KY, reports the entrepreneur opened her first brick-and-mortar shop on Feb. 9. She is the proud owner of bakery and cafe Drick’s Treats, which was three years in the making, according to the self-taught baker. The outlet states Drick’s Treats is reportedly the third Black- and women-owned business to open in the Prospect area, outside of Louisville. “I’ve taken it all in. Like, I’m breaking history in Black History Month. What could be better,” Fresh told the outlet. The shop’s opening was a soft launch, as it is currently testing out its business model. According to the Drick’s Treats Instagram page, customers have a chance to try baked croissants, hot cocoa, cakesicles, chocolate-covered strawberries, and cupcakes that come in flavors such as strawberry crunch, banana pudding, and blueberry, among others. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 🌟 Drick's Bakery + Cafe | Norton Commons 🌟...
This Black-owned family bakery exists to improve its Western New York community. According to WKBW-7 TV, Radah Baked Goods Founders Lavenia and Lee Thomas have been leading the sweet shop for nearly four years and most recently moved to a new location at 247 Amherst Street in Buffalo, NY. Their shop offers brownies and cupcakes for $3.50, cookies for $2.50, and three-layer cakes for $50.
There’s so much power in partnership. Angela Simmons has officially announced that something sweet is on the way alongside Slutty Vegan and Pinky Cole. The 34-year-old serial entrepreneur is bringing vegan funnel cake desserts to the world through Angela’s Cakes. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Angela Renee Simmons (@angelasimmons)
Justin Ellen is stacking his dough metaphorically and literally. Like the tiers of the cakes he bakes, Ellen has built a successful business based on his passion and baking skills. A former contestant on Netflix’s popular baking show, “Is It Cake?” Ellen has pivoted from working a side hustle to managing a six-figure business.
Hip-Hop is big business. What was once considered a niche musical sound has become the soundtrack of our lives. And the genre’s best-known artists have become all the richer for it. “Hip-hop has, and always will, set trends,” says Kim Kaupe, founder of the creative agency Bright Ideas Only, to Variety. “Brands realize they can no longer sit on the sidelines and test what ‘might’ work. They need to be in the mix testing partnerships and trends before they have the data to back it up.” Certainly, too, some rappers do far better than others — and indie rappers, like Tech N9ne, can still make a six-figure salary for themselves. According to Variety, Tech N9ne’s earnings come from an eight-figure digital catalog deal — a deal that was previously unreported to mainstream outlets. But, as one might imagine, the marquee-name rappers — like Drake and Kanye — make the biggest bucks. What’s more, rappers who diversify their portfolios — like Jay-Z and Wiz Khalifa — can continue to make money...
A recent article featured in The New York Times talked about so-called “junk crypto.” In the story, David Segal detailed how he created his own cryptocurrency in the hopes of cashing in on the craze. But his coin, essentially, turned out to be absolutely worthless. “One day in May, I created my own cryptocurrency,” he explained in the piece. “I did it on a Zoom call with an excitable 36-year-old in Taiwan, Dan Arreola, who had posted a tutorial on YouTube about how to make, and promote, a ‘scam coin.’ It has more than 240,000 views. After a few minutes of tweaking, and about $300 in fees, I pressed a button. Instantly, 21 million coins were minted.” Whether you call them “scam coins,” “hype coins” or “junk crypto”– the end result is all the same. When it’s all said and done, you have nothing but a bunch of worthless cryptocurrency that can’t even get you a burrito off the Taco Bell dollar menu. So, why do they still prevail in the crypto market? Why is it so easy to buy this...