We recently connected with Shai Sumpter and have shared our conversation below.
Shai, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
Well, this is kind of a funny story. As a child, my grandma and I would bake in the kitchen together. We’d make all kinds of cakes, pies, and cookies. As a toddler, my grandma caught me in the fridge eating a stick of butter. I had butter everywhere! Growing up, if I was making toast, I had butter with toast and not toast with butter. That was a bit more socially acceptable. Eventually, my grandma started calling me the butter queen. Fast forward to adulthood, I thought what better name for the bakery my grandma inspired than ButterQueen Bakery.
Shai, 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?
My name is Shai Sumpter and I’m the owner of ButterQueen Bakery. I like to say that I’m a grandma-taught and self-taught licensed baker from southern Virginia with over 21 years of baking experience. I graduated college with a bachelors and masters degree in accounting, so I had no idea my childhood moments baking with grandma would one day turn into a successful business. I began my journey baking family birthday cakes using my grandmas recipes and adding my own twist to shake up the flavor profile. Eventually, I started bringing pound cakes to work events, cycling events and celebrations with friends. Soon after, I began receiving order requests for birthday cakes, weddings, and other celebrations. So in 2021, with some encouragement from my grandma and community, I created ButterQueen Bakery.
I come from a long line of bakers. My great-grandma was a cook and baker by trade for a public school system when everything was made from scratch. Can you imagine waking at 4am to bake fresh breads and cook meals from scratch for hundreds of students? Sifting and weighing several pounds of flour, mixing pounds of real butter, sugar and shelled eggs? Although, my grandma didn’t work in culinary as her day job, she did bring the skills in the kitchen as do I! I shared that story to say enjoying high quality, real ingredients is important to me, because that’s what my family and I grew up on. Freshly made southern homemade treats using quality ingredients that fill your home with an amazing fragrance will have everyone asking, “is it done yet?”. Then, everyone comes together to get a slice of cake and bond over the random happenings of life. At that moment, how could you be anything but happy? This is what I strive to re-create through my bakery. A safe space to enjoy a nostalgic feeling or memory over a great dessert with those you love the most.
Pound cakes are one of the hardest types of cakes to make because they can easily dry out, if not made properly. We chose the difficult road and succeeded as pound cakes are our specialty. Right now, we focus on high-quality southern style pound cakes and brownies. We like to preserve the homemade taste and incorporate creative flavors. These would be flavors you won’t find in a grocery store bakery. For example, our most popular pound cake is a Sweet Potato Cheesecake Pound Cake. I know that sounds like a lot, but it’s not. It’s just good! We take a little over a pound of sweet potatoes, cream cheese, and butter (along with some other ingredients!) and cream those together to get a nice smooth batter. Once it’s baked and cooled, we top it with our special caramel sauce and crushed walnuts for a crunchy, nutty flavor. It’s got the taste of sweet potato cheesecake, but the texture of cake. I originally created this cake for those that say they don’t like cheesecake because of the texture, but it is very popular with everyone! Although our name is ButterQueen Bakery, we do make vegan and gluten free pound cakes that don’t skimp on the buttery taste or texture. We created a buttery Vegan Cookie Butter Banana Bread and a fluffy Gluten Free Peach Cobbler Pound Cake that have tricked many people into thinking they are made with dairy and gluten. If you don’t tell your family, they won’t know. =)
We encourage our customers to be willing to try something new. It keeps life exciting! So, if you see we have a new vegan or gluten free cake, don’t be afraid to try it. As the ButterQueen and a butter connoisseur, if I love our vegan cakes (which have no butter or other dairy) then I know you will too!
A part of our mission is to support marginalized communities. We’ve supported through our time mentoring youth, through our talents by connecting those in need to fulfillment, and through our treasures by donating to local non-profits that support marginalized communities. As we continue to build and support our team, we’ll be able to increase our reach and impact.
We can be found at local FRESHFARM farmers markets in DC and at various pop ups throughout DC, MD, and VA. We accept orders online for local pick up and hope to offer shipping in early 2023. Wholesale opportunities are also available. We are working on some new pound cake and brownie flavors for 2023 and would love to know what flavors you’re most excited about! I can be reached through call or text at 240-808-CAKE or send me an email at info@butterqueenbakery.com
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
During a summer internship right before my graduate school program started for accounting, I realized that I did not like accounting or auditing. That internship was an eye opener! I learned that I’m more of a creative and collaborative person and accounting did not fulfill my career needs. Contrary to what school counselors told me, money and stability were not enough. Passion is also very important. Just because I was good at it, didn’t automatically mean it would fulfill me.
Unfortunately, it was too late for me to switch programs because I had already paid for tuition. So, I learned everything I could, completed the program, and began working at an accounting firm. During that time, I tried figuring out what I did enjoy and what I was good at. I took personality tests, skill assessments, and talked to people doing work I found interesting. I landed on project management. So, I got the necessary certifications and changed my day job. This was more my speed.
Being in the pandemic gave me a lot of time to think about how I wanted to live my life and what I wanted to be doing. I always knew I wanted to own my own business. I just didn’t know what business. ButterQueen Bakery was always there, since childhood. I just needed a push from my family and friends to make it real. So even though I work a day job full time and run a bakery full time, I love it! I think my story shows that we are not one thing and our story doesn’t end at the beginning. If you aren’t happy, do your best to find what will and if you don’t find it, create it.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
This is going to sound silly, but “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson was one of the books that changed my perspective on business and entrepreneurship early on. It’s a very light hearted book but shows you how easily things can change. Will you be the person who cries or complains about the change but does nothing, or will you be the one who pivots? This can be the difference in whether your business succeeds or fails.
I keep this scripture from Ecclesiastes posted on my wall as a daily reminder to just start and keep going. Ecclesiastes 11:4-6
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
If I wait for perfect conditions, I will never start. Even if things aren’t as I’d like them to be, I need to keep moving and learning. As I continue working and building on what I learned, success will come from something. Whatever it is, God will work it out for His glory and for my good, so there is no need for me to worry.
Contact Info:
- Website: butterqueenbakery.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/butterqueenbakerydmv
- Facebook: facebook.com/butterqueenbakerydmv
- Youtube: youtube.com/@butterqueenbakery9359
Image Credits
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