Hustler of the Month: Julie Johnson, Owner of Cakeaholic Obsession

You also offer baking classes for your customers. Tell me a little more about that.

So we have three classes. We have a kid’s classes where they come in and we teach them how to read the recipes; we teach them how to use the measuring cups. They do two [cupcakes], a chocolate and vanilla cupcake. We teach them the recipe, how to do the frosting, how to use the tips and the different pastry bags. We do that for two hours.

A session from the kids’ baking class

What day is that offered?

We do that on Sundays mostly, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Now the Cupcake 101 classes are more so for adults because I tried to split the kids from the adults because the kids need more attention than the adults do. So the Cupcake 101 classes kind of mimic [the kid’s class], but it’s more hands on; I don’t always premeasure everything for them, I give them the opportunity [to do the measurements themselves]. And we do three recipes—depending on how big the class is—[and] frostings, two frostings. I teach them how to use the mixers, the bags, how to pipe their own stuff.

And then the other class that we have, which seems to be really popular, is our Champagne and Cupcakes class, where if we make alcohol-infused cupcakes, they can BYOB and they can bring their own appetizers. And it’s kind of like a more relaxed older setting, where if you want to have a girl’s night, or a date night, it’s something to do. So that seems to be very popular.

On top of being a busy business woman, you’re also a married mom of three. How is it trying to balance all those different hats at once?

It’s crazy! This literally feels as though I have a new child. Like you know you give birth and you have to be there—I’m literally here 12 to 18 hours [every day]. But it’s hard because by the time I take the kids to school and do all my mommy duties, I have to come here and start baking. So I’m still trying to perfect that. Like for instance, I would feel really accomplished if I could make dinner every night. I really haven’t made dinner since we opened in February. I think I’ve made about two or three dinners [since then]. So my family is looking at me like [sighs].

So what is your husband saying about all this?

Oh, he loves it! He’s the one who pushed me out the window like, ‘Stop playing and do this!’

Julie and her husband Jonathan

So he’s there helping you out too?

Yeah, all the time. He helps me do everything. He’s literally like, ‘I’m here I’ll help you do whatever [you need].’ He’s awesome! He saw that we were getting busy with the business, so he just thought, ‘Why aren’t you doing this? [Why not open up your own shop?]

Would you say that opening the shop has been your biggest accomplishment with Cakeaholic thus far?

Yes. I think I’ve learned a lot, the leap to actually do it has been the biggest accomplishment in my adulthood. Because everything is very cookie cutter. You know: I went to school, I got married, had kids, bought a house, bought a car, everything is like—you’re supposed to do that.

Even when I told my parents that I was about to get a shop. My father goes, ‘So you’re leaving your job?’ He was just like, ‘Can you keep your job?’ But I was like, ‘Daddy I can’t keep my job.’ And he just kept asking, ‘Are you sure?’ and I’m like, “Well yeah dad, I’m going to do this.’ And he was like, ‘Okay, so let me know if you need me.’ [Laughs.] And I’m like ‘I will, I’ll call on you if I need you.’ So everything [else in my life had been] safe.

Even with our parents’ generation, they think you go to work and they think you’re supposed to retire from that job. I worked at [McCarter & English] for 10 years. So my thing is, I was going to work everyday and I would have to think about 30 more years to do the same thing. And I just kept thinking like, ‘Yo, no, I can’t do this. I just kept saying, ‘I can’t do this for another 30 years.’

Right, because we’re always taught to work hard for corporate America, no one teaches us that we can go out and do it on our own. So I think that your story is incredible and it takes a lot of courage to leave your job, your security blanket, to pursue your passion. Would you say that young people need to know that it’s more important to do something they’re passionate about opposed to doing something that makes more money?

Yes! I think that we all have some type of creativity, and if we could tap into that instead of going after what we’re taught to aim for, [which is] to go to school to be a doctor–or now ITs are really popular–and accumulate all this debt, then we’ll be [better off].

 Inside Julie’s bakery

Absolutely! But it is harder doing things on your own, especially for us. Would you say that you’ve encountered any major obstacles as a minority business owner or a small business owner?

Well, no one thinks I own this.

[Laughs.]

Like for real. They come in and ask me to my face, ‘Who’s the owner?’ all the time. And not that it’s funny, but I always like the reaction that I get when I say it’s me. So it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, that nappy [headed] girl over there, yeah that’s [the owner].’ And it’s like working in [the] corporate [world] for so long, that doesn’t even bother me. I mean I’ve seen it, I was the only Black girl in IT [at my old job] for 10 years, so it’s okay. But it’s funny how people are. Like we just had this customer come in like, ‘This was so needed on the South End and we’re so happy that you’re here.’ But at the same time, it’s like, ‘How happy are you really?’ are you going to patronize me all the time? So it’s kind of like a catch 22.

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