CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Kimberly Outlaw owns and operates Sweet Cravings Bakery in Chesapeake.
Outlaw makes life-like creations that are all cake. When asked how she got started baking, Outlaw says it was a complete accident. She was baking cakes for her children’s birthday parties using the skills she learned from her Grandma Marjorie.
“We were just spending time in the kitchen. And she’s telling me stories about what she made with her grandmother. It just started as family time and making memories, me showing love for my children. I was making beautiful things for them and wanting them to have the same memories with me. I never would’ve imagined it would’ve gotten attention outside of Hampton Roads or outside of my family," Outlaw said.
Her cakes and creations in her wholesale business gained so much attention not only from the community but nationally from a big-time celebrity.
“I received a $10,000 grant from Beyonce Knowles-Carter herself."
The pop icon recognized Outlaw for thriving in her small, black-owned business with $10,000 from the BeyGood grant.
“I thank God for placing on whoever's heart to come up with BeyGood and for selecting me because it is changing my life for the better, and it’s that little glimmer of hope I have,” says Outlaw.
A glimmer of hope for a career path that she said is God-given.
“God planted that seed in me; I had no idea until I started working on cakes for my own children,” she added.
She not only makes custom cakes, but she has a wholesale side to her business too. Her wholesale side is where you see more of who inspires her, her family.
“I initially started baking with my grandmother Marjorie, and she passed in November of last year, and now when I’m in the kitchen, I feel closer to her when I’m baking cakes, or it brings back those memories that I’ve tucked away that I didn’t even know I had there,” Outlaw explained.
Outlaw’s Grandma Marjorie and Grandma Mattie have both passed away, but their memories live on through Sweet Cravings Bakery. Outlaw sells “Grandma Marjorie’s Banana Pudding” and “Grandma Mattie’s Southern Sweet Potato Cake,” which is a taste of home in every bite.
“That’s my way of kind of putting a little bit of my grandmother in everyone’s home and just a little piece of me as well,” Outlaw remarked.
She told 13News Now that this business is everything to her. She plans to use the BeyGood grant to grow her wholesale business to hopefully build a legacy for her children and teach them never to give up.
“At some point, I’m not going to be able to make cakes anymore. I’m going to age out of the process. One day, I’m going to be with the Lord too. So, on my wholesale side, If I can keep that going or maybe my daughter can add to it. That’s the goal, just legacy, just knowing that my life meant something.” Outlaw explained.
If you want to learn more about Sweet Cravings Bakery, click here.