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

Hi Kimberly, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started out creating custom treats as a hobby for my daughters class. I didn’t care for baking at all. At the time I had a stressful job and started to find treat making an an outlet for stress relief. I started spending more time to honing in on my craft and then one day my friends asked why I didn’t sell me items. Honestly I didn’t think they were good enough to sell. So I asked if the actually thought people would purchase my treats. So finally I created a few mock ups and posted them for sale on Facebook and the comments for pricing started rolling in. I was floored by the feedback that I’d received. So then I started trying to come up with a business name. I had no clue what I would call it, but I knew I didn’t want my name in it. My best friend would always comment under my pictures saying “Are your treats slayed or just made?” , “Another day, another slay!” so I was like that’s it I’ll name my business Treat slayer.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I believe my attention to detail, the neatness of my work, my passion, and drive is what makes me stand out. I’ve gotten here by investing in myself. I have taken a paid class when I begin doing sugar cookies and spent numerous hours studying YouTube videos for treats making. It wasn’t easy because I’m a single mom facing the obstacles of still making sure I had time to get my child from point a to point b which extracurricular activities and still coming home and working late and sometimes pulling all nighters to complete orders. To not compare myself to others and that being an entrepreneur is not for the weak. Treat Slayer consists of myself and my daughter. Mostly myself and I wear a lot of hats; I am the CEO, I complete all the baking, preparation for orders, shopping, packaging, decorating, the social media manager, the photographer, and the web site manager. My daughter is the taste tester and assists with event setups. I specialize in decorated sugar cookies. My menu also includes chocolate covered sweets, cupcakes, dessert shooters, mini donuts and cake pops. My decorated sugar cookies are my most requested item that lead to me to my greatest success within the business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m originally from Shreveport, Louisiana and I’ve been in Georgia for about 2 1/2 years. I rarely go places so this is a tough one. We would start by having breakfast at Atlanta Breakfast Club or The Real Milk and Honey, The Hive Buckhead for drinks and hookah, and The Garden Room or Two Urban Licks for dinner.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My best friends are absolutely amazing and God sent. Outside of family, they are my biggest supporters and cheerleaders. They encourage me to keep going when I hit rough patches. I can’t thank God enough for bringing them into my life.

Website: www.TreatSlayer.com

Instagram: @treat.slayer

Facebook: Treatslayer1

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