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

Angelia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The idea of Not Yo Mama’s Cupcakes was conceived way before it officially became a business. Over ten years ago, baking was a hobby of mine. From cream puffs to cheesecakes to making birthday cakes, I took in baking as a hobby and a creative outlet. I started making cupcakes to sell at fundraisers at church and dance events where many people responded well to it. At one particular dance event, people were blurting out all kinds of names to catch the attention of the crowd. “Get your sexy cupcakes! Try these fire cupcakes! These are Not Yo Mama’s Cupcakes!” The name stuck. At that moment, it was just a catchy phrase with no meaning to it, just a ring to it. Little did I know that was going to change. I initially started off with American flavors then started to mix it with Asian as there weren’t too many of those options available. Generally Asians don’t like their desserts too sweet and Americans like it extremely sweet. I wanted to find a middle ground, which is why I initially started baking. To create a balance of both worlds. Also being a dancer at the time, I knew I wanted to incorporate elements of street culture into the brand as well. As I took baking with me everywhere I went, it always remained a hobby. The idea and vision wasn’t clear until I moved to Kona, Hawai’i in 2017. I was recruited to help build a dance outreach program which was short lived. I was working multiple jobs to make ends meet but was still baking time to time. Two years after being in Hawai’i, I finally decided to take baking more seriously. Being in a small town, there wasn’t many options except the grocery store. I thought if I switch up the flavors and cater to the locals, it would make it more special. And surely it did. Not Yo Mama’s Cupcakes was officially born. I started to incorporate Asian and Pacific Island flavors to offer something unique to bridge the gap of bringing cross cultural flavors together. Not Yo Mama’s Cupcakes not only became a cultural representation for me but also a connection to the Asian and Pacific Island community and opportunity to educate people outside of those cultures about our food. The name Not Yo Mama’s Cupcakes resembles breaking tradition to blend tradition. I always tell people no other mamas are making these kinds of cupcakes, because its not traditional, its outside the box as its a fusion of different cultural influences. We as people share more similarities than differences and if we can just take a moment to embrace that and celebrate life through a cupcake, our job is done.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Aloha. Hafa Adai. My name is Angelia aka Cupcake Bae. I can proudly say I now make cupcakes for a living. Not just any cupcakes, but Not Yo Mama’s Cupcakes! At NYMC, our flavors are influenced by Asia and the Pacific Islands but go beyond that as well. I got into this industry through my love for sweets with a desire to create something that appeals to people who look like me. When it comes to cultural representation, growing up, I saw a lack in general but especially when it comes to food, even more for sweets. American bakeries were too sweet and Asian bakeries were often times not sweet enough or even unavailable. When I lived in Kona, Hawai’i, where NYMC was birthed, there was nothing except large grocery chains that would often sell desserts incorporating local flavors, which was better than nothing. Since Hawai’i has a large population of Asians and Pacific Islanders, I thought why not fuse flavors together that they are already familiar with but not make it so sweet so that it’s enjoyable? Because the flavors are so different than traditional cupcakes with some kind of island or Asian twist to it, it definitely sets NYMC apart from others. There is also a sprinkle of street culture throughout the branding to celebrate the dancer side of me. I am proud to have created this unique brand to represent my cultural backgrounds and to share that experience with others.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

THE PANDEMIC. As those words may have gotten the worst of many of us, it actually helped me to reset and become more laser focused on the things that served me with purpose. NYMC was on pause when the pandemic hit. Even prior to that, NYMC had only started and operated six months within the year of 2019 and then shortly after, the pandemic hit. As Hawai’i was more strict when it came down to the rules and regulations, businesses were not allowed to operate during a certain time period. At the time, I decided to move back to Colorado where my family resided. I had no family in Hawai’i and built all my relations from ground up while I was there. As much I loved the community, I wanted to be close to family. Upon moving back, the goal was to make my way back to Hawai’i after a few months, but with the pandemic prolonging, I decided to stay in Denver and relaunch NYMC as a test run in a bigger city. I didn’t want to give up on something I just started. I also saw the same issue in Denver where it was culturally disproportionate and there wasn’t much Asian and Pacific Island representation. Our communities are always talking about the lack of representation but if we don’t start filling up those gaps ourselves, someone else that shouldn’t be representing us, will. NYMC then relaunched in Denver in Oct of 2020. From then til now, NYMC has gone through ups and downs including a scam with a food truck builder as I was looking to expand to a mobile unit as we wanted to further our growth. That was a big hit, but we still here! I learned that if you focus on your losses, you may continue to lose more but if you keep focused on the vison God put on your life and remember the purpose it serves, it gives you the strength to push through. I am grateful to still be here to run NYMC.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being genuine and authentic. There’s nothing like NYMC, at least not here in Denver or even any of the bigger cities. NYMC is based on a story, life experiences that are extracted into a bite size experience. Aside from the unique combination of flavors we offer, our branding is also different from traditional bakeries. I have a pretty bright outgoing personality which is incorporated into the product as well as the colorful branding. I literally built the brand off my life journey and tried to create what makes sense to me but still resonates with others. Staying active on social media has definitely helped with building a following since many people were glued to their phones and computers during the pandemic. As things were opening back up, physically being at pop ups and meeting people, naturally connected me to the community in Denver as well. Connecting with other small businesses in the community has helped tremendously as it creates opportunities to collab and give back to our communities and help build a communal reputation as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.notyomamascupcakes.com
• Instagram: @_notyomamascupcakes
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/notyomamascupcakes