We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katrina Golden. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katrina below.

Alright, Katrina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

We started Lil Mama’s Sweets and Treats in 2019 with a simple idea. We wanted to make desserts that remind people of home. In the beginning, it was just us doing everything. Baking, selling, delivering, and figuring things out as we went. There was no big master plan. We were learning in real time what people actually wanted and how to give it to them.

That middle phase, the part nobody really sees, is where it got real.

We were growing, but not in a straight line. Some days felt like progress and other days felt like we were starting over. We made mistakes. We priced things too low early on. We said yes to opportunities that helped us and yes to some that stretched us too thin. But every one of those moments taught us something we needed to know.

One of the hardest lessons came with a location opportunity at Columbiana Mall. On paper, it looked like exactly the kind of step forward we were supposed to take. The numbers made sense, the visibility was there, and it felt like we were ready.

The day I realized it was not going to work, we sat there all day at the kiosk in the center of the food court. It had great visibility. We did everything we were supposed to do. At the end of the day, we had made $35.

That was the moment we could not ignore the numbers.

Once we got into it, it became clear that the costs and day to day reality of that space did not match what we needed as a growing business. Had we stayed locked into that lease, it could have done serious damage.

What saved us was being willing to pivot quickly. We made the decision to get out before it got worse. It was not easy, but it forced us to be more disciplined about how we evaluate opportunities. Not everything that looks like growth is the right growth.

That experience changed how we moved going forward.

We stopped waiting for people to find us and started focusing on where people already were. That led us into cafés, community spaces, and other high traffic locations. It meant we had to focus on consistency and volume without losing what made our desserts special.

That part was not easy.

We had to rethink recipes so they could hold up at scale. We had to build systems where there were none. We had to learn how to manage people, not just tasks. We were also intentional about who we hired, creating opportunities for people who might not otherwise get them and staying connected to our community through the work we do.

There was no single moment where everything just worked. It was a series of small decisions stacked over time. Investing in a commercial kitchen before we felt ready. Trying new revenue streams. Fixing what did not work and trying again.

Over time, those decisions added up. What started as something small and hands on grew into something more structured, more stable, and more intentional.

The biggest lesson is that the middle is where the real work happens. It is messy, uncomfortable, and often overlooked. But that is where you build something that actually lasts.

Katrina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Katrina Golden, founder and CEO of Lil Mama’s Sweets and Treats. I started the business in 2019 with a simple idea. I wanted to bring back the kind of desserts people grew up on. The kind that remind you of your mom, your grandmother, or someone in your life who baked from scratch and got it right every time.

Baking has always been personal for me. It was never just about making something sweet. It was about how food makes people feel. A good dessert can take you somewhere. It can slow you down for a second, bring back a memory, or just make your day better. When I started the business, that was the focus. I was not trying to reinvent anything. I just wanted to do it the right way.

In the beginning, it was very hands on. I was doing everything and figuring it out as I went. Over time, that grew into something much bigger. Today, we serve thousands of customers through direct sales, partnerships, and placements in spaces where people already are. What we make is simple. Cookies, brownies, cakes. But the standard is not simple. It has to taste like it was made with care every single time.

What I have learned is that we are not just selling desserts. We are filling a gap. People want food that feels homemade, but they also want it to be consistent and available. That is where we operate. We bring that homemade quality into places where it usually does not exist at that level, and we do it in a way that can scale.

What sets us apart is that we have not sacrificed quality to grow. That has been a conscious decision from day one. It would be easier to cut corners, but that is not what built our reputation. We have taken the harder route of building systems that protect the product, not water it down.

I am also proud of how we show up in our community. We donate our commercial kitchen space to outreach ministries that feed people for free. We provide desserts to local chapters of the Multiple Sclerosis Association. We hire people who might not have had the opportunity to work before or who would have a hard time getting hired elsewhere. That matters to me just as much as anything else we do.

More than anything, I am proud that we have built something real. This has not been fast or easy. It has been a lot of learning, a lot of adjusting, and a lot of figuring things out the hard way. But because of that, what we have now is strong.

What I want people to know about Lil Mama’s Sweets and Treats is simple. We care about what we make, we care about the people we serve, and we care about doing things the right way. We are building something that lasts, and we are doing it without losing what made people love us in the first place.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Yes, this absolutely started as a side hustle.

When I launched Lil Mama’s Sweets and Treats in 2019, it came from stress baking. Whenever I had a lot going on, I would bake and post on social media what I was making and about what time it would be ready. I would invite my local friends to come by and pick things up. I was giving everything away.

After doing that a few times, about three of my close girlfriends told me I needed to be selling these desserts, not giving them away. I pushed back at first. There were already a lot of bakers in the area, and I did not want to get lost in the mix. I am glad I listened to them.

Once I started selling, demand became consistent. That was the first real signal this could be more than a side hustle. From there, growth came in stages. Moving into a commercial kitchen allowed us to increase production and improve consistency. Expanding into partnerships and placements helped us reach customers where they already were and build more predictable revenue.

There were also tough lessons. A deal at Columbiana Mall looked great on paper, but we had a day where we made $35 in a high traffic food court. That moment forced us to rethink how we evaluate opportunities and move more strategically.

Over time, those decisions added up. What started as something small and informal grew into a structured, full-time business built to last.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

For me, funding was not about raising a large amount of capital to get started. In the beginning, we built Lil Mama’s Sweets and Treats by starting small and reinvesting what we made. It was very much a grow as you go approach.

The real challenge came later.

As the business started to grow, we reached a point where demand was increasing, but we needed capital to keep up with it. We needed better equipment, more capacity, and the ability to operate at a higher level. That is where things got difficult, because we had proven the concept, but we did not yet have the kind of access to capital that matched our growth.

That is when I was introduced to pitch competitions.

At first, it was a completely new world. I had to learn how to clearly communicate what we were building, not just as a bakery, but as a scalable business. I had to refine our story, understand our numbers, and be able to explain our growth in a way that made sense to judges and investors.

Once I got into it, we started winning.

Those wins became a critical source of non-dilutive capital that allowed us to keep moving forward without taking on debt or giving up equity. More importantly, they forced me to become a better operator and a better communicator. Every pitch made the business stronger.

That experience changed how I think about funding. It is not just about getting money. It is about being able to clearly show the value of what you are building and why it deserves to grow.

For us, pitch competitions were not just a funding source. They were a turning point.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lilmamasweets.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilmamassnt
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lilmamassnt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kvgolden
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/cakeheadnation
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/lilmamassnt