Melissa Johnson is the Founder and Editorial Director of Best Friends For Frosting. A self-taught baker, she used the experience she gained from working at three different bakeries to launch Best Friends For Frosting, making her the entertaining expert and dessert stylist she is today. She has combined her love of entertaining, parties, interior design, fashion, and, most of all, dessert to style numerous dessert tables, paying special attention to all intricate details. Her expertise has...

  Ardra Tippett has been baking professionally for 10 years and was originally inspired by her Madear!  Her Madear or grandmother used baking as a way to mend fences and bring people together.  Her grandmother taught her that there was nothing more special than to give someone a handwritten letter or a home-made dessert.  “Something made with your hands comes directly from your heart.”  Ardra cut her own piece of life’s pie 4 years ago when she ventured out on her own to give herself and her...

  Santresa Glass is the owner and creative visionary behind Magnolia’s Sweet Haven, LLC, an epicurean delivery dessert boutique that specializes in individual cheesecakes, chocolate covered strawberries, wine infused cupcakes, and dessert tables with a sustainable focus.  Evolving as an eccentric child at the apron strings of her grandmother and aunts into an unorthodox adult, Santresa was always  using her creativity and imagination to engender new and exciting ideas.  She has always had a...

  ~ From Ballet Slippers to Banana Bread ~ After owning a dance studio for 12 years,  Lisa Gunderson decided to hang up  her tutu so  she could be home with her  two year old daughter Emily. A year later, Hannah arrived and soon a favorite afternoon activity for Lisa and her children was baking. Fast forward 10 years and as flour flew around the kitchen,  Lisa  found herself  thinking of creating a new business...and the answer was on the kitchen counter. The Banana bread that had been...

When Kevin and Robin decided to take on the big world of small batch fudge, they took it by the Texas horns. That means they weren't  not messin’ around with any of that rinkydink prissy fudge. So, they decided to fill er up. Way up. The way they figure it, when it’s the real stuff, there’s always room for more. They put so much chewy, chunky, coconutty stuff in—that it was just plain nuts! They knew right then, the only way most folks could handle a fudge this big was to make it, well,...

Meet Helen and Jeri, the sassy fifty-something Texas chocolatiers who take classic treats such as cookies, popcorn, potato chips, marshmallows, pretzels and moon pies and transform them with a touch of Pizazz - Texas Style! Chocolate Pizazz was born out of their love for chocolate, and their incredibly FUN friendship and the desire to put some extra money in their pockets.  Fast forward seven years and they are still cracking each other up!  The difference is they now have a fabulous gourment...

  Favorable Treats is a cookie bouquet company owned by Junita Cathey.  Her company provides cookie gifts for all occasions including holidays, birthdays, get well wishes and thank-you gifts. Her company’s slogan, “give a gift in good taste” isn’t just a slogan, but it’s her company’s promise to you that every fresh baked from scratch cookie they prepare will be creatively and uniquely arranged in the best cookie bouquet you have ever sinked your teeth into or laid your eyes upon. 

  Vermont Brownie Company was born on New Years Day 2008. We had just finished snowshoeing and were warming up at a local pizza place. And we were doing what a lot of people do on New Years Day, DREAMING! We both mentioned how great it would be to start our own company. But we both knew the reality of getting a business off the ground included long hours and a special commitment in order to create something worthwhile and long lasting. One thing we knew for sure was it had to be fun! We had a...

Tosi Ufodike is a wife, dedicated mother, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. She is the CEO & founder of My Good Nanny. She hosts the ever popular MGN Radio show.  MGN Radio features great family information and entertainment.  Tosi Ufodike is the author of the children’s book, Princess Amara & The Magic Fruit. She believes all children are a gift from God.  Her upcoming book, 50 Parent Commandments will be released Spring 2012.  She is the force behind the Dare 2 Aspire annual...

Join Jem Radio as we welcome Mekeda Dempsey, Owner of Charlotte, NC based bakery Queen's Sweets.   Mekeda comes from a family of entrepreneurs and turned her love of baking into her own entrepreneurial endeavor.  Queen's Sweets offers cupcakes, cake pops and speciality cakes like Red Velvet and Carrot Cake. Tune in to hear more about Mekeda and how she is growing her bakery business!   http://www.queensweets.net/

  Pastries by Maria started when LaToya “Maria” Billups decided to take the many lessons she learned from her grandmother and share them with the locals of Atlanta, GA. Her grandmother was the neighborhood ‘Cake Lady,’ so it was destiny that LaToya would continue the family tradition and take her baking gift to the next level.   In 2008, LaToya started Pastries By Maria. LaToya began actively sharing some of her tasty treats with friends, family, and colleagues who then starting requesting...

If your family is like Lynn Steinberg’s, then food is the center of most celebrations. As a wife, mother, daughter, sister, half-sister, grand-daughter, cousin, sister-in-law, daughter-in law, aunt, friend and co-worker, Lynn is a lot of things to a lot of people. And, after living in six cities since college, she has sent gifts to all of the people in her life, all spread throughout the country, at some point each year. Over time, she found herself sending more and more food as gifts. First,...

    La'Keitha Daniels, lawyer turned baker, opened Sweet Justice in 2009 after the economy took a turn for the worst, and she found herself out of a job. Always having a passion for baking, she began to bake for friends and loved ones.  One day someone suggested that she turn her love of baking into a new career and voila! The rest is...well icing!  Sweet Justice offers gourmet and traditional cakes and cupcakes in fun, innovate flavors and combinations. Sweet Justice also hosts cupcake bars,...

  WITH A LOVE OF ENTERTAINING, COURTNEY DIAL IS QUICKLY BECOMING A WELL-KNOWN STYLIST AND WRITER IN THE FIELD OF PARTY DESIGN AND DÉCOR. Growing up in the South, she attended Vanderbilt University earning both a bachelors in Communications and masters in Organizational Leadership. Her first book, Push-Up Pops, is available for pre-order now, and she has just signed for a second to be released Fall 2012! Courtney’s expertise has been seen in HGTV.com, Nashville Lifestyles Magazine, Ladies...

Join Jem as we chat with Tamira Williams, Owner of The Ultimate Drunken Cupake! Tamira Williams has loved sugar ever since she was old enough to sneak it from her grandmothers sugar bowl. Tamira didn’t grow up in a house with alot of sweets but boy did she change that. Tamira began baking at the age of 19 and it became an unbridled passion for her. Later, Tamira began mixing alcohol and baking during the Christmas Holidays.  About 10 years ago she “accidentally” put a little too much rum in...

Join Jem of the South as we welcome our very special guest Julia M. Usher, Author, Stylist and Pastry Chef.   Julia is Contributing Editor at Dessert Professional, a 2008 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards finalist, and an entertaining consultant, party producer, and prop stylist for St. Louis AT HOME magazine. Her work, written and edible, has appeared in Vera Wang on Weddings, Bon Appétit, Fine Cooking, Better Homes and Gardens, Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion, Gastronomica, and...

  Meltonia "Mel" King launched her chocolate business in 2008, when she formed Chocolate Dreams Custom Chocolates – creating chocolate party favors for birthday parties while maintaining a full-time job in Employee Benefits. As her knowledge and self-taught skills evolved, so did Chocolate Dreams. In 2010, the company expanded into the popular arena of candy buffets. Chocolate Dreams is now Central Florida’s premier candy catering company, creating elegant and fun candy buffets for weddings,...

  Sweet Cheats & Tank Goodness have joined forces to become a local dessert company and are ready to open a small retreat that will serve our delectable cupcakes, brownies, and other treats to our  neighbors, friends and fans. We’ve outgrown our present pick-up location & are making the move to an environmentally-conscious space that will allow us to further indulge Atlanta’s sweet tooth! This location embodies the green live/work principles we all strive to follow.  We envision a...

Red Queen Tarts is a small female owned creation specializing in hand-crafted tarts made with local and    organic ingredients, heirloom whole wheat and raw cane sugar.  A short five months on the scene, Red Queen Tarts has expanded from the Atlanta farmers’ market circuit to custom orders shipped anywhere in the Continental U.S. and Canada.  Part of what makes the tarts so unique is the heirloom cold-milled whole wheat from South Carolina, rotating flavors based on seasonal produce, local...

  Felicia Joy is a nationally recognized entrepreneur who created $50 million in value for the various organizations and companies she served in corporate America before launching her business enterprise. She is the author of Hybrid Entrepreneurship: How the Middle Class Can Beat the Slow Economy, Earn Extra Income and Reclaim the American Dream and is often called on to discuss the ins and outs of entrepreneurial success. She has appeared on CNN, FOX and in other national press. Felicia...

Join Jem of the South as we welcome Rozland Morgan owner of CRAVE Cotton Candy Factory.    CRAVE Cotton Candy Factory is a company founded in the fall of 2010 to meet the need for fresh cotton candy. The idea came about while researching for a Fairy theme party, in that research there was a discovery of Fairy Floss the Australian name for cotton candy. I thought to myself this would be a fun and pretty element to add to the party and the kids would love it. Therefore, I set out to find the...

HomeBasedBaking.com is the brain child of Detra “Denay” Davis. She is the author of How to Start a Home-Based Bakery currently available in bookstores nationwide. She is also a “cottage food law” advocate who ran a small bakery out of her home in Cary, North Carolina for four years. Denay is a writer, former caterer who was featured in Bon Appetit magazine and supporter of food entrepreneurs. In her spare time, Denay enjoys walking trails, watching action and sci-fi movies and testing...

What is Sweet Poppin's? It's gourmet flavored chocolate covered popcorn that comes in flavors such as Lemon Pound Cake, Pralines & Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberry Cheesecake and more! Over 700 flavor combinations to be exact! Tashia and her team have served their popcorn to celebrities such as MC Lyte, SOS Band, Tamia, Bill Cosby, Tank, Ginuwine, El Debarge, Kem, Chrisette Michelle to name a few. Join me as we delve into Tashia's concept for her delightfully sweet popcorn and how...

Chatting with Channon "Chay" Powell, Creator of Chay J's New Orleans Candies, LLC A Taste of Southern Sweets

Chatting with Kayisha Thompson Cake Executive Officer of Pink Princess Pastry a speciality cheesecake and speciality cake company in Atlanta, GA.