We were lucky to catch up with Michael Hines recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

Well this is a very interesting topic among your list of discussion items, in part because I never thought that I would be in a position to be talking about my parents and neither one of them would be here. I owe so much of who I am today to them both. My mother was the one who raised me to have deep respect for the Bible and the importance of having faith. Also, her mild manner and calm disposition were traits that I admired and work hard to display in my life.

My father instilled in me a tremendous work ethic and steadfastness to always do my best at whatever I was doing. Being that he was a football and basketball coach at a high school in Alexandria, VA, qualities of discipline, sacrifice and teamwork are just a part of who I am even to this day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have always been one who has loved being in the kitchen watching my parents and even my grandparents cook and bake. My mother was known for baking fresh Parker House rolls, breads, cakes and pies. My father loved his desserts too and especially could make a mean sweet potato pie. I was always baking cakes, cupcakes and pies but was became more and more drawn to cheesecakes, so that became my specialty item. I used to make them for parties and gatherings and they were always a hit, so I began to really work on making my own special recipe for the crust and the filling and trying out different flavors. About 5/6 years ago I would make them and sell them at my daughters job in Rockville and people loved them and looked forward to “Cheesecake Fridays”.
But then on December 18, 2021, I did my very first pop up shop in Hyattsville, MD and it was a complete success. I mean a total sell out. So I did another one a few months later and yes another sell out and the following has begun. From this point on, I began to really think about making these cheesecakes a thing, I decided to come up with a name, at first it was Straight From Scratch, which was nice but still didn’t describe what I made. After speaking with one of my good friends and work clients, she came up with the name Think Cheesecake and it was truly a lightbulb moment. It’s unique, different, catchy and easy to remember; because when you want a great dessert just Think Cheesecake. From then on it was a done deal.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My background had been in the Legal field for some 12 years and I enjoyed it very much. I moved from one large firm to a mid-sized one and was still very happy. However, I was suddenly and expectedly let go or as they put it, “we are moving this department to the NY office.” That made no sense to me but then again, there had been some rumblings around the firm that one of the attorneys didn’t like the way I responded to her request. (That’s another story for another day.) But on October 17, 2015, I now find myself among the many unemployed in the Washington DC area. So this was a definite time in my life and career when I had to make a pivot just to make sure there was food on the table and keep a roof over my head.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I was never a social media person at all, I mean even when Facebook and My Space was grabbing everyone’s attention it seemed, However, I learned after my first Pop-Up that I needed to get a social media account as this was how people connect and do business. I’m still kind of old school and move a little differently than most, but I now have a page on IG and I’m learning how to navigate it and make it work for me.

It takes time and patience to build your presence, especially if you are not tech saavy. But social media can also be very time consuming if not careful. Also, be genuine and true to who you really are not who you think people want you to be. Social media is the biggest place where you can be someone or something that you are not and that is not good for business or building a brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thinkcheesecake.com
• Instagram: @thinkcheesecake
• Facebook: Think Cheesecake
• Yelp: Think Cheesecake

Image Credits
IG/Twitter – @dfinneyphoto Facebook – @DFinney Photography DFinney Photography