PC: Star Bakery
Niayah Hicks, 18, began baking at the age of seven with her parents and grandparents and launched Starr Bakery at 12. The Houston business and pop-up now has more than 250,000 followers across social media, and viral videos have brought hundreds of customers to Houston Farmers Market to try her flavoured rolls. Hicks now goes through more than 300 rolls a day, and she hopes one day to sell her products in stores and open her own brick-and-mortar shop.
Hicks sold baked goods at Randle High School while balancing her studies and softball, according to The Houston Chronicle. Everything is made at home with help from her small team, including her father, mother and grandparents. Selling food during school hours was not always allowed, so she sold to students and teachers after school instead.
Starr Bakery has more than 250,000 followers across social media. Anthoney Hicks, who has worked in finance for more than 20 years, manages the business side and teaches his daughter about taxes, goods, brand protection and the long-term picture. Hicks has been selling out of desserts for the past year and now goes through more than 300 rolls a day, according to the report.
Hicks chose entrepreneurship after graduating because she did not plan to attend college, according to the report.
She said she never expected to go viral or attract so much customer attention, and that she had thought it would be much harder. The menu changes every week but always includes the original roll, the Biscoff cookie butter roll and the roasted caramel pecan roll, which is topped with homemade caramel drizzle, according to the report. After the launch of her chocolate chip salted cookies, Hicks said the item will stay on the menu, and more offerings will follow. She told the Chronicle, “I always wanted to inspire people with my baking,” and said people do not need to go to college to succeed in a business.
Viral videos helped the business grow, and hundreds of customers now wait to try her treats. She is known for pop-ups at Houston Farmers Market, where she sells a variety of flavoured rolls. Strawberry crunch, s’mores and matcha rolls are also among the popular flavours. The bakery is not run from a large building or a spacious commercial kitchen. Everything is made at home with help from a small team: her father, Anthoney Hicks, her mother, Ronnada Hicks, and her grandparents. She hopes to sell her products in stores and eventually open her own brick-and-mortar location. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.