People have many ways to relieve their stress. A young girl named Gabrielle Williams found that her stress reliever was baking. Her stress was a result from bullying at a new school she started attending when she bowed her head in prayer before her meal. As she found that the baking would remove the bullying stress, she continued baking and trying new recipes from her grandmother. Her mother took her to women’s empowerment event where she encountered a young entrepreneur lady with the exact same name. The young lady’s last words were to “Dream Big” which gave Gabrielle the nudge to become a businesswoman.
Gabrielle went back to the kitchen and created a homemade frosting from scratch that was a hit, Chocolate Expresso Buttercream Frosting. After the frosting, she decided that she wanted to create her own business and in 2013 at the age of nine, Glorious Pastries by Gabrielle was born. The secret recipes are based on her grandmother’s and great grandmother’s recipes and some of the recipes she created on her own. The ingredients are all fresh and business emphasizes on the homemade goodness of the pastries. The pastry business was steady for several years, selling to friends and spread by word of mouth. Then in 2016, Glorious Pastries by Gabrielle was featured on the local news which expanded to ABC Good Morning America, Woman’s World Magazine, Washington Post, and many more. As her business’ fame grew, Gabrielle has had the opportunity to be a co-author to the book, The Science Behind It: Formulating Success at any Age and speak at several conventions about bullying and young entrepreneurs.
There are many challenges that Gabrielle must encounter. Responding to negative feedback and skepticism about a business run by a young girl can bring about the difficulty in running a business. There are times when business is slow and there was a time where no orders were placed for several months. Gabrielle felt discourage enough that she debated on closing the business. But shortly later, she received a large order. Throughout the challenges for the young businesswoman, Gabrielle enjoys baking and takes pride in her business.
Glorious Pastries by Gabrielle website: Glorious Pastries by Gabrielle – Home
Gabrielle is a very compelling entrepreneur, because she was able to take a bad experience and turn it into something benefitting her. It also gives her an outlet to express herself. Her strength to keep going in the ups and downs of the business make her a good entrepreneur as she is passionate about what she is doing. I also like her basis of adding in family elements with including her grandmother’s and great grandmother’s recipes into her business. Overall, Gabrielle has a great future as an entrepreneur because she is passionate and hardworking.
I think you can always tell if someone is passionate about what they’re doing. And when they are, there is a certain drive and energy that is just more powerful. You talked about how she was able to push through the initial lack of business. I think this is much harder to do if you are not passionate about what you’re doing. I also thought it was quite interesting how some of the recipes were from her grandmother and great grandmother. It would be cool to see the business continue as the recipes are refined generation generation.
Gabrielle is a great example of how commitment to any good idea can lead to success. Yes, the pastry market is currently packed with competitors, and yes it is difficult to get credibility as a culinary producer at a young age, however she was able to pull together a successful business despite all of that, and thus I tip my hat to her.
It is amazing to see the positives that she made out of a negative situation. There wasn’t retaliation or a thought of revenge. Instead she made a business! It’s so cool to see the opportunities God can give us even when we’re going through our battles.
Such a cool story!