Meet Jamila Saminu | Chef & Owner Foodie Chick Bakery and Sweets

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

Hi Jamila, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Taking risks in life is a must, even if you feel as if you aren’t capable take oppurtunities that are presented to you! When I was close to graduating culinary arts school, we had to pick a location to complete our intership in order to graduate. One of the places that the Head of the Culinary Arts Deparment presented to all the graduating culinarians was the Disney College Program. I ruled it off my list compeletly thinking that out of the thousands of applicants I would never be choosen and it was simply a waste of time. Weeks went by and I got an email from my school reminding everyone to send in their applications because deadline was merely days away. I can remember just staring at my phone thinking I’m a country girl, something this exciting couldn’t possibly happen to me I was not a Disney Chef. As I read the last line of the email the phrase “Let’s make magic!” stood out to me , and I begun to think, what if something magical did happen? Why not take this risk to move from North Carolina to Florida? and it was then I placed my application. A few weeks later I received an email from the Head of the Culinary Program for Disney, stating that my application was accepted and then after a phone interview, I received another email stating that I would be a Cast member at Walt Disney World. If I never would have taken the risk of simply believing in myself, I never would have been able to meet lifelong friends from across the world or cook at the Epcot Park, Contemporary Resort or Disney Springs for celebrities such as Luke Bryant and under amazing chefs like Art Smith. Take the risk!!!

What should our readers know about your business?
My business Foodie Chick’s Bakery and Sweets is an online bakery that I offer southern style gourmet cookies, cake jars and sweets. What sets my business apart from others is the unique cookie flavors that I offer such as Key Lime Pie, Peach Cobbler and Red Velvet. I am most proud of my being able to keep my late grandmother’s memory alive and honoring her daily by using some of the same receipes that she taught me within my business. For example, Majorie’s Sweet Potato Pie Cookie is essentially a pie crust flavored cookie drizzled with a cinnamon white chocolate sauce that is filled with her secret sweet potato pie recipe. Getting to this point of my career has definitely not been an easy journey. I went from being a line cook, working for myself as a private chef, to now owning an online home bakery where I happily soothe endless sweet tooths with my yummy treats. I was able to overcome the many challenges that I faced like working under enormous pressure, cooking for thousands daily and going hours without eating or seeing my family by believing in myself and never giving up on my passion and life purpose. I didnt allow myself a backup plan because I honestly could not think of anything else that I would rather be in life than a self-employed Chef. A lesson I have learned overtime is that success does not come overnight I have been building my brand since 2015 and this year I was finally able to accomplish my dream of owning a bakery. It took alot of late nights in the kitchen that trickled down into early mornings to bring my dreams to frictions and I still have alot of work to do to open my store front. What I would like the world to know about my story is that it does not matter where you come from a successful pathway can be paved by anyone who is willing to simply believe in themselves and put in consistent hard work. I grew up in a small area in the middle of no where that literally only has three stop lights in the entire town, so oppurtunities were pretty hard to come by. I decided to move to Greensboro, NC where I attended culinarty arts school at a now closed Culinard Virginia College of Greensboro where I graduated with a Certificate of Culinary Arts. I did not attend any of the major schools I dreamed on attending when younger like Art Institute or Johnson & Wells I simply followed my passion and was able to land an amazing oppurtunity that opened many doors to my career. I would like to let whomever is reading this know to never give up and take the necessary steps, no matter how big or small, that will help lead to the bigger picture of your dreams and goals. And always believe in your own magic.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Most of my friends are mommies so if they came to visit I hate to sound cliche, but I would definitely take them and the kiddos to the World Of Coca-Cola Musuem located in downtown Atlanta. It doesnt get old to me because I absolutely love trying all the different flavored drinks from around the world while also satisfying my inner nerd by learning a few historical facts about this awesome city. After that we would make a pit stop by the Atlanta Aquarium where we can let the kids learn more about marine wild and chat. After that we would stop by Go Vegan Grill for the best vegan soul food ever for dinner and for dessert visit The Yard Milkshake Bar where we would end the evening on a sweet note.

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 give a shoutout to my grandmother and mother for instilling in me the knowledge and drive to always follow my purpose and love for the kitchen. My children who have been my biggest why to pushing for my dreams and the cast members I met at Disney who have became family. I would also like to acknowlege the support I have gotten within my community in Atlanta and to all those back home in Ellenboro,NC who have always supported me during my journey as a chef.

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