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

Raniah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I had just took a break from college after coming back from Rome, Italy because I couldn’t find what it was that I wanted to major in and do for the rest of my life. I was good at everything I’ve done in high school, so I went into college as a chemistry major. I soon realized that college chemistry and high school chemistry were on two totally different spectrums! I changed my major twice to special education and then psychology, but nothing seemed to keep me interested enough to want to major in it. At this time I took a break from Christian Brothers University to just work and find what was for me. My mom kept telling me that I didn’t necessarily have to go to college, and that I should try doing something with baking. At the time I didn’t listen because going to college was the only option for me because that’s what they literally engrave into you in high school. I wish we had more teachers pushing us to just find what is truly our passion. The pandemic came around, and everyone started shutting their doors, at the time I was working at the childrens museum of Memphis, so since we were closed I had more time on my hands. I took a class on how to do party treats such as candy apples, chocolate covered strawberries, etc, and I absolutely loved it. This was in March of 2020 right after Mother’s Day. From that point on, I have been in the treats business. My cake career didn’t come along until a year later. I wish I would’ve started my business much earlier to be ahead of the game, and to have saved money on college, those fund could’ve went towards the start up of my business.

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 back background and context?

My name is Raniah White. I am a 21year old Memphis native (born and raised), and the oldest of 8. I currently live in the Dallas, TX area. I graduated high school at 16, went straight into college, and was lost because I was always so good at everything, but I never really knew my place. I finally took a break from school and that is how my business started up. I went from The Yum Factory (which is still around, I gave it to my baby sister), and changed my name to Heavenly Sweets. Heavenly Sweets turned out to be commonly used, and I was not able to trademark my logo and things as I wanted to, so I needed to change my name again. It took me a while but I finally came up with Southern Star Sweets. This name came about from my big move to Texas. It represents a huge turning point in my life. I had just moved to Lewisville, Tx (Dallas area) for my 20th birthday all alone, no friends or family there. Southern came from me being a southern woman. I was born and raised in the south. Star came from Lone Star State, representing Texas, the symbol you see on the highways as you enter Texas from Arkansas. Of course Sweets came from the type of product and services that I offer. I got into baking when I was younger, I used to always bake with my great grandma just as something fun to do, and I grew a liking towards it. I started my business up in 2020 with treats and desserts, and then I took a cake class from Quishandrea Williams with Sweet Aromas Bakery in MEMPHIS, TN in 2021. I offer anything from custom cakes to treats and desserts. I am also in the process of launching my custom items store on Etsy which will focus on custom cake toppers and custom items such as tumblers, etc. I am most proud of never giving up, especially during this time when we are experiencing a recession, so business is not a busy as it used to be, but I just tackle that with adding more services and products to my business.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

When I first started my business, of course I was completely new to everything. I didn’t know how to properly advertise, I didn’t know how to properly price items. I went into it head on with no previous experience at all. When I initially started running my business, it wasn’t set up properly and ran as a business should operate. I learned a lot from my mentor and favorite teacher, Quishandrea Williams. Her, and her sister has been very heavy influencers in my career choices. Quishandrea (Shun) runs a local bakery in MEMPHIS, TN, and her sister runs and operates her own business/residence cleaning business. They both have helped me with structuring my business to be ran as a business and not a side hustle. I have changed how I accept payments, I have started requiring deposits for orders, I no longer make such small batches of things and try to sell them because you end up losing more money than you gain, and I am in the process of building my own website where future customers can go and learn about me and also inquire about having special treats or a cake made just because or for a special event. I have definitely seen major growth within my business starting from customer service to sales and exposure.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing clientele in my line of business is definitely word of mouth. I have gained so much clientele from previous customers sharing their experiences with others or just by simply referring me. In the future I plan to reach new clients through social media more as I do plan to get into marketing myself on social media platforms more often. I do also post my work on social media and use that to gain clientele as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Southern Star Sweets
• Facebook: SouthernStarSweets