This was written as a news release and repurposed as a blog post.

Blue Soda Cake – A Big Idea in a Small Package

“If you’re happy with something, you will always find a way to do it.”

That’s a saying that Ms. L.T. Thomas has lived by and is what has helped her achieve success as a small business owner. She is also proof of that saying, having overcome obstacles along the way to achieving her dream.

The owner of Blue Soda Cake in Greensboro, NC, Ms. Thomas, was on the path to a career in computer science. At least, that’s what her parents had decided. But she had other ideas, which included going to culinary school. While attending North Carolina A&T University as a computer science major, she found herself drawn to the career in her heart.

“I wrestled with the idea of being in school for four years,” she says. “Instead of studying, I would be up at night, looking up and trying cake recipes. I was cake-obsessed. “  She also took cake decorating classes at local craft stores. Baking was firmly rooted in her past with a grandmother who taught her to bake when she was just 10 years old.

Today, Blue Soda Cake is a home-based bakery in Greensboro specializing in mini desserts. Its cakes, cookies, and brownies are all made from scratch; nothing is bigger than 8”. The bakery’s signature dessert – the blue soda cake – is a recipe Ms. Thomas created from three of her favorite things – the color blue, soda, and cake. It’s a cola-flavored cupcake that is blue with creamy vanilla icing.  Ms. Thomas delivers all of her desserts rather than having the overhead of a retail store.

One of the things that sets Blue Soda Cake apart is Ms. Thomas’s approach to customer service. She believes in giving customers what they need as well as what they want. “For example, if they need to feed 50 people, but their budget isn’t for a 50-person cake, I can still give them what they want with cake pops or cake truffles. They get what they need and what they want at the same time, and they feel good about it.”

Ms. Thomas started her business fairly inexpensively since all her products are baked to order from her home. She purchases her ingredients and pans wholesale. She says that her biggest lesson learned has been not placing enough value on her time. When she started as a new baker in town, she thought she had to keep her prices lower to compete. And that took time away from her six-year-old son and boyfriend without giving her much financial reward. Since then, she says she has learned that “time is as much of an investment as money is.”

Her father gave her advice on this very topic. As a salesperson and entrepreneur, he advised his daughter never to take a paid hourly job. “You get what you put into something,” he told her. “If you put in 150 percent and you’re only getting 100 percent back financially, that doesn’t make any sense.” She followed his example and decided to own her own business to generate money without being dependent on an employer.

She also got inspiration from other business owners. Before officially opening her business, Ms. Thomas was hired to provide the desserts for a hospitality suite at the Black Enterprise Convention in Atlanta. Seeing other black business owners and their successes showed her she could do the same thing.

Blue Soda Cake was recently invited to participate in the exclusive Castle McCollugh Bridal Show in Jamestown, NC. This will be one of several area wedding shows she plans to attend to market her business, along with ads in The Perfect Wedding Guide.

Her final piece of advice? “Don’t take no for your last answer. Otherwise, I’d be trying to find a computer job right now.”