We had the good fortune of connecting with Brooke Hoke and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brooke, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My Thought process behind starting Sweets By Bee was never a thought to ice a cake or dip an apple in candy mix yet a lone a business never was on my bucketlist until after I gave Birth to my Second child out of Three in 2014 and had a lot of down time since she was a good baby and slept mostly and I picked up my mother in law cook book after we had a heart to heart moment about what it was I enjoy doing and what was my niche and I had no clue what that was surprisingly so I started making different desserts such as a white chocolate cake and strawberry shortcake and etc… my family kept raving about how it tasted so good and I’m like all I did was follow a recipe in a book and from there I kept on and started researching about baking and the whole fundamentals and logged on Facebook and Instagram and came across that there was this whole community of Bakers and sweet treat makers and from there I’ve communicated with and they’ve led helping hands and guided me on anything , I was in the kitchen trying everything that caught my eyes like cupcakes, chocolate covered rice Krispy treats, and candy apples and my family from there pushed me to start sharing with my co workers and they all kept telling me I should sale my stuff it was sale worthy and presentation was there so my co worker Michele paid me to do her son birthday cake which gave me that final push and to whom I will forever be grateful for since we loss her to cancer and from there Sweets By Bee was created and I made social media pages for it and posted my work I had done for practice and my email started going off and that is when I knew I could actually do it and become an upcoming entrepreneur and started thinking business minded.

What should our readers know about your business?
Sweets By Bee is currently serving Atlanta and Surrounding areas all from the Covington, GA area by day I am an educator who works with Special education Pre-k, and by night I am a self-taught dessert maker who specializes in Custom Candy apples, chocolate-covered strawberries, rice Krispy treats, cake pops, cookies, and more for Birthday parties, Baby Showers, Graduation parties I enjoy doing custom treats to match your event and have your guest in awe when they see the presented setup. I aim to please so when placing an order I planning and going over and beyond for my client.

What sets Sweets By Bee apart from others is That I don’t mind hitting the reset button and relearning the fundamentals over again to come back harder than last time and providing my clients the best in high-quality products used to make their requests, the knowledge, and creativity that is being created and put together for the client’s special day.

What I’m most proud of is how much Sweets By Bee has grown especially with being self-taught over the years and looking back at old pictures I’ve come a long way from the basic work to such detailed work it really shows the late-night, sleepless nights/days and the sweat, burns, and tears I have put in lol and Also, being recognized and reposted and complimented by some of the best in this field and even big corporate brands says a lot about my work.
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How I got to where I am today business-wise was always self-promoting on social media and eventually others started sharing and reposting and word of mouth and the work and time I put in for my craft.

Was it easy? absolutely not and how I overcame the challenges were to continue to tell myself if I don’t put myself out there how will they know, there was time I got discouraged thinking no one is seeing the work I’m putting in and this is all a waste and that was not true because when I asked a client how did you hear about me and they said social media or I saw your business card in the craft store and even the hashtags and I was blown away because here I am thinking I’m getting no exposure but all the work I’m putting in isn’t going unnoticed so till this day I’m still self-promoting and not depending on others because I’m going to get the job done and when you think they are watching oh trust they indeed do.

The lessons I’ve learned along the way is there is no need to be in competition with anyone and focus on perfecting your craft and you will get to whatever level or status it is you want to be and it will show just never give up and stay focused no need for competition there is enough for us all to have.

What I want the world to know about my story is I’m a woman who was born of two Haitian descent parents who had goals and gave birth to a daughter who Is out here achieving goals they couldn’t even think to achieve and creating the best and doing what I love to do and that’s making others happy whether it’s with happy tears, raving reviews, and trusting me to make your day extra special using this God-given gift to do better in the world and spreading positivity and some happy calories lol coming from back when I had no clue what it was I wanted to do and what I was good at and letting my talent pass me by until i finally let it settle in me after a moment with a God fearing woman(My MIL) who helped get that through me it doesn’t have to be for the person reading this it doesn’t have to be Sweets By Bee make sure you find what it is your good at and build on it and share it with the world and let’s continue to help the world be a better place with you knowing you gave back to it with such a given gift.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to:
EAT & DRINK
-JUICY CRABS(Conyers)
-PAPADEAUX SEAFOOD KITCHEN (LAWRENCEVILLE)
-KAREN’S INTERNATIONAL GRILL (CONYERS)
-SCOOPS (COVINGTON)
-TAMBOU LOUNGE (MCDONOUGH)
-MADDLULU (COVINGTON)

VISIT & HANGOUT
-WORLD OF COCA-COLA (ATLANTA)
-GEORGIA AQUARIUM (ATLANTA)
-SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA (AUSTELL)
-PIEDMONT PARK(ATLANTA)
-ANDRETTI INDOOR KARTING AND GAMES (MARIETTA)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to Shoutout GOD for giving me this God-given talent (Philippians 4:13), My family & friends- Thank you for always encouraging and pushing me to level up and my mini helpers and (GEGE & MINAH)and mini taste tester(JACI), and THE CAKE &SWEET TREATS COMMUNITY and LASTLY, all my clients/supporters over the years without you all I wouldn’t know the many limits and creativity I have had to push in to provide the BEST for you all THANK YOU!

Instagram: @SweetsBy_Bee

Facebook: SweetsBy Bee

Other: Email: Sweetsbybb@gmail.com

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