ABOUT

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Tameka learned to cook and bake in Hattiesburg, Mississippi starting at age nine. This is when her mom, Lisa, gave Tameka her first cookbook and started sharing secrets for adding flavor to everything! Even today, neither can just follow a recipe as it's written. It's just not normal for them.

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HOW IT BEGAN

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Tameka desired to own a bakery since she was in high school. Though she won a statewide entrepreneurship competition with a bakery business plan at 16, Tameka did not become serious about pursuing her passion until the last year of undergrad at Tuskegee University. It was then that she realized she truly had a love for baking and wanted to open a dessert shop. While she did attend culinary school in Orlando, FL after undergrad, life's circumstances did not allow her to complete the course to become a Pastry Chef. Despite setbacks, Tameka vowed to keep at it on her own. 

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At this point Tameka has been baking for others making desserts and custom cakes since 2006. However, as she held a full time career in Corporate Sales, Consulting, and Training through the years, she has only had time to bake for others as a hobby.

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TAKING A LEAP​

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Tameka incorporated her business in Louisiana as Canary Cake Company in 2015 and gained a master's degree in 2016 while working for the federal government. Next came marriage and 2 kids all within 3 years of each other, so she was never able to fully give time to growing the business. Life once again changed course when her husband accepted a promotion that took the family from New Orleans, Louisiana to Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was then that Tameka transitioned into being a stay-at-home mom. The journey has allowed her to spend more time with her children, Bella (6) and Beaux (5), but she has also been able to focus on her 20 year-old vision of becoming the local go-to cake provider.

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THE JOURNEY

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Tameka took a 6 month break from baking for others when she became a stay-at-home mom, but as she started posting the items she baked for her family in the Spring of 2020, old customers in the South and new customers on the East Coast began to request shipping through social media. It was then that she realized, "NOW is my time!" Tameka changed her business name to Tameka's Cakes & Desserts, evolved her product offerings, and aimed to reach a wider audience of cake lovers. By 2021 she had shipped mason jar cakes, mini sour cream pound cakes, cookies and brownies to 29 states!

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Tameka moved into a shared commercial kitchen in the summer of 2021 and opened a private space certified by the department of health in October 2022. Though not open for walk-in retail, the N. Anthony Blvd location fulfills pre-orders from her website for both individual and large corporate orders. Tameka's goal is to one day develop a production facility with several grab-n-go retail outlets throughout the city.

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