We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Teah Brooks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Teah below.
Hi Teah, thanks for joining us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me business wise was give me my flowers when they didn’t have to do so. I know this may be weird to some people, but when people give me compliments on the things that I bake it makes me get a little anxious; then I’m internally setting a bar that needs to be met every time that I bake something. The backstory behind receiving my flowers would be most recently when the sweetest soul gave me a shoutout on social media. She talked about how every time her and her family tried anything that I made it was fantastic. She made an entire video of giving me praise and opportunity to get more clientele. That truly made me feel like I was doing what I was called to do. I love to bake and create things most people wouldn’t think of. It meant a lot to me to have someone think of me and want me to succeed; because not everyone wants to see an entrepreneur succeed.
Teah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a self-taught baker that grew up watching my grandmother make cakes and pies as well as my granny making holiday cookies. The funny thing about it I personally don’t specialize in cakes or pies. I specialize in gourmet cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies, and mini cupcakes. Baking became an outlet from the outside noise. Depression and anxiety felt like a heavy burden on my shoulders especially after being home from having major surgery in 2019. I was home taking a break from college and baking helped me cope with the feeling of not being the same. I started baking in 2019 just for the release of feeling normal. In 2023 after getting my bachelor’s degree with a concentration of business administration I launched my passion project Sweet Tea’s Treats aka STT Bakery. The sweet tooth craving that my customers desperately needed to be met I provided. I bake everything with love because I genuinely love what I do. I cure those sweet cravings because I am a sugar dealer, dough slanger, and treat pusher. I am proud of myself for staying the course especially when treat sales are low and I feel discouraged. I know that with consistency that it will go back up and I will have the customers again. For all my potential customers I want them to know that when they taste my product they will definitely want more. I don’t like to brag because nothing is ever perfect but I aim to have each treat be as close to perfect as I can.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was that everyone isn’t your customer, and you can’t please everybody. I started to make different treats and test my customers out to see which one they would be willing to try. My target audience are people who love a good cinnamon roll, but not afraid to try a cinnamon roll thats not ordinary. I’ve had plenty of people who asked me if I can make birthday cakes or cupcakes when I clearly don’t advertise for them. I’ve had people try to change my products to fit their wants and needs.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Funding a business is probably the hardest thing to do as being a small business owner especially in the specific area I’m in. Currently funding my business I’m using capital to buy inventory and packaging. Being a college grad and starting a business from scratch and trying to show that there is progress in your business is troubling. For instance if you don’t have the best credit, making 10k a month, or don’t even have credit then you can definitely cut out getting a business loan. Although there are loans for startup small businesses, but they truly aren’t for startups. They are for established businesses that need extra help getting their necessities. For startups all you can truly do is enter pitch competitions to get grants, apply for grants that aren’t guaranteed, or even depend on crowdfunding. Which shouldn’t be the case; which is also why a lot of businesses don’t make it out of the startup phase. It’s selective and extremely hard to fund a business whether it’s from capital or from banks that supply business loans.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sttbakery.co
- Instagram: @sttbakery
- Facebook: Sweet Tea’s Treats
