We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Candis Brooks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Candis below.
Candis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
My first clients were my student’s families and my friends. They truly embraced and encouraged, what I would jokingly call my psychosis, but it turned out they believed in me and I will never be able to pay them back for the ways they held me up. My girls KEPT me busy during the pandemic, Sunday dinners, cookouts, baby showers, weddings, girls nights just anything to keep sweets on the table! I’m so grateful for my village they truly helped me gain a little confidence in business! My cousins were my taste testers! Break up parties, wine tastings, cake decorating parties, New Year’s Eve strawberry champagne cupcakes! We did it all! Then I started being added to groups by my students moms, they started referring me and tagging me when people were looking for a baker and that has been life ever since!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
CandiCakes Bakery is a vision in motion… one rooted in community, creativity, and care.
My name is Candis, and I’m the founder of CandiCakes. My journey into baking started long before business plans or storefronts… it started as a way to show love. Baking has always been personal for me. It’s how I celebrate people, how I bring comfort, and how I turn everyday moments into something meaningful.
Over time, I realized that what I was creating wasn’t just dessert… it was experience, connection, and intention. That realization is what led me to begin building CandiCakes Bakery.
Right now, CandiCakes is a growing business and evolving brand, working toward a full storefront experience. Even in this phase, I offer custom event cakes, thoughtfully crafted baked goods, and personalized service that centers each client’s vision and needs. Every order is made with care, detail, and the intention to make people feel seen.
But what I’m building goes far beyond baked goods.
CandiCakes Bakery is being designed as a space where people can gather, celebrate, and create. Alongside the bakery, Shoppe Noir will serve as a specialty retail and event space… highlighting community businesses while offering room for workshops, performances, and cultural experiences.
What sets my work apart is the intention behind it. I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all service. Too often, people feel like just another order… but at CandiCakes, every person matters. I listen deeply, personalize intentionally, and create with purpose.
I’m not just solving “where to get something sweet”… I’m creating an experience that brings warmth, thoughtfulness, and connection back into how people are served.
What I’m most proud of is that this vision is being built with purpose. Every step forward is intentional… from the flavors I develop to the space I’m working to create for my community.
I want people to know that CandiCakes is more than a business… it’s something you can be part of. We call it the CandiFam because that’s exactly what it is. When you support CandiCakes, you’re not just placing an order… you’re joining a community, helping build a space, and becoming part of something meaningful.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
For a long time, I believed success had a very specific look. I thought you had to be extremely organized, highly educated, and follow a clear, structured path… one filled with degrees, certifications, and credentials… before you were “allowed” to step into what you were good at. So I stayed in the lanes I was certified in, and everything else… music, baking, creating… I treated like hobbies, even though those were the very things that came most naturally to me.
I’ve always been someone with a lot of interests. I have ADHD, so my mind is always moving… curious, creative, constantly exploring. But instead of seeing that as a strength, I thought it meant I needed to narrow myself down to one “acceptable” thing. Looking back, those weren’t just hobbies… they were real parts of me operating at full capacity without formal training.
That belief came from a mix of family and church. I grew up deeply rooted in the Black church… my grandfather was a bishop and my other grandfather was a pastor… so structure, discipline, and doing things “the right way” were part of everyday life. And there’s so much beauty in that foundation… the community, the faith, the lessons. But as a child, it can also feel like life is supposed to move in a single straight line. Stay in order. Follow the path. Don’t step out of formation.
The truth is… life is messier than that.
The shift really came during the pandemic. When everything shut down… jobs, systems, all the things people thought were secure… it created a moment of clarity. I realized you don’t have to stop doing the thing you’re naturally good at just to go back and get permission to do it. Yes, you learn along the way… but you don’t have to pause your gifts until someone stamps them as valid.
The hardest part wasn’t learning something new… it was unlearning the need to fit in. I had to unlearn shrinking myself. I had to unlearn agreeing with things I knew weren’t right just to stay aligned with a group. And I had to unlearn the idea that creativity needs permission to exist.
Now my mindset is simple… the truth is the truth. What’s right is right, what’s wrong is wrong… and I stand on that.
That shift shows up in how I run CandiCakes. I still care deeply about giving people exactly what they want… down to the smallest sprinkle. But I also have boundaries now. I’m not bending myself into something I’m not just to please everyone.
I’ve moved from being a people-pleaser to being a community gatherer… and there’s a difference.
Because when people step into my world now, they’re not just getting a product… they’re getting me. Fully authentic. Fully present. And without apology
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
During the pandemic, there was a season when things genuinely weren’t working the way I thought life was supposed to. My days started around 5:30 in the morning. I’d wake up, take my dog outside, get dressed, and head out the door… never quite sure if my car would start that day, but determined to make it to work anyway.
At the time, I was teaching. My mornings were spent opening the building, setting up my classroom, putting the chairs down, and greeting parents and children as they came through the door. I cared deeply about those kids, and showing up for them mattered to me.
But every other day looked different. Instead of heading straight into my routine, I would wake up, grab my dog, and go care for one of my grandparents, who was very sick. They weren’t just family… they were my covering… my guardian angels. Within two years they would both be gone, and the world I knew would shift in ways I wasn’t prepared for. They were just gone so quickly and so abruptly.
At the same time, the pandemic was reshaping the workplace around me. I was the only person of color in my role, and as shutdowns began, many of the people who looked like me… people I worked alongside every day… were furloughed or let go. Aides, kitchen staff, banquet staff… people who were not only coworkers but friends. One by one, they disappeared from the building.
What kept me going during that time was something I didn’t expect.
The parents of the students in my classroom… and the community around me… began rallying behind something I had been building quietly on the side: CandiCakes. They ordered birthday cakes, anniversary cakes, and treats for their families. They told their friends and relatives about my baking. They left reviews, sent photos, and celebrated my work in ways that made me feel seen.
In the middle of grief, uncertainty, and long days that seemed to start before the sun and end long after it set… those small acts of support meant everything.
Looking back now, I realize resilience didn’t show up for me as some big, dramatic moment of strength. It looked like getting up the next morning and trying again. It looked like caring for my grandparents, showing up for my students, and slowly realizing that the thing I created out of love… baking for people… was also creating a path forward for me.
And the community that surrounded me during that time reminded me of something I’ll never forget… sometimes resilience isn’t just about pushing through alone… sometimes it’s about allowing people to believe in you until you can see the possibility for yourself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://CandiCakesBakery.com
- Instagram: @CandicakesSweetsandtreats
- Facebook: @CandiCakesbakery
Image Credits
TreJaeProductions