Written by Candice Roberts

Joi Johnson began her journey to entrepreneurship as a side hustle, making cakes for friends and family as she pursued a full-time career in the medical field. After years of encouragement to pursue her dreams, in 2018 she decided to start Fabu-licious Cake Creations, a full service custom cake boutique that prides itself on building personal connections with clients to make sure the centerpiece of their special event, the cake, is outstanding. 

Baby showers and birthday parties are among the more popular events that Joi services. She finds it very important to consistently connect and communicate with her customers to understand their vision. As her website mentions, “Every cake, cupcake and ounce of buttercream is made from scratch…and to make the cake special you have to understand the client, know their favorite colors, flavors and why this cake is being made.” 

Originally, her side hustle was an event planning business, but Joi discovered that capitalizing on her talents in baking could be something special since customers constantly asked if she knew someone to make cakes for their events. Michaels Wilton Cake Decorating Course took her interests in simply baking cakes for friends and family to the next level by teaching her the intricacies of elaborate cake decorating. 

Using social media to showcase her creations, her clients grew, and Joi found herself wanting to level up her business and learn about the ‘back of house’; profit, taxes,  and finances. Tech Incubator at Queens College, Idea to Business Course, and Queens Public Library Queens Feast gave Joi the knowledge needed to grow her passion project for custom cake-making into a full-time business. 

“The class was great. In addition to learning finances during class, I was sent videos and links to help teach me how to set up my Excel spreadsheets and how to better manage my books. From Queens Feast, I gained an amazing mentor that is an entrepreneurship instructor for the program who helped me stay motivated and focused on my goals. There were days I wanted to give up or found myself being too hard on myself, my husband and son would encourage me to keep going.” 

Joi’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is to take your time and keep in mind everything you aspire to have and do will come in due time. “Don’t get discouraged when you find that people close to you are not as supportive as you would like them to be. Seek out mentors that are willing to help and guide you. Stay focused on your goals and dreams and don’t forget to do the work.” 

Connect with Joi and Fabu-licious Cake Creations at: 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/fabucakecreations/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fabucakecreations 

Email     joi@fabucakes.com