Meet Kinya Hibbler: Owner & Baker

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

Hi Kinya, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Since I was young I’ve always taken risks, whether that was jumping off the monkey bars, traveling, or bringing my ideas to life, I’ve never been afraid to take any risk. My business started out of the blue, I wasn’t really looking at starting a business until one day I begin looking at a show on Netflix called “Great British bake-off”. I thought it was so cool how they only had a few hours to not only impress the judges but also make the perfect dish that had flavor. I was determined to see if I could bake just like them with the time limit they were given. The first dish I made was homemade cupcakes with Italian swiss meringue butter cream and sunflower on top. Although I could cook, I’ve never really baked unless it was sweets for my husband. I brought the cupcakes to my family and friends and everyone enjoyed them.My friend asked “have you thought about starting a business”? in my head I was telling myself “girl no not right now you have way too much going on to put anything else on your plate.” I told her I never thought about it but I’m sure I could one day. Within the next couple of days, I begin researching how to make business cards, trying to come up with a name, a menu, and more. I took my next paycheck and put it aside and told myself this is the money that will get me started. After working on my products and trying to figure out what all I wanted to sell, I still didn’t have a name. My husband and I sat down and talked about different names until Kinya’s SweetieTreats rang a bell. I knew then it was time to take my risk and start a business. I didn’t know how it would turn out, but I knew I had people in my corner to help me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy, I often hear a lot of people say well all you’re doing is baking how hard can it be? What people don’t know about being a young entrepreneur is that it takes time and dedication to fulfill your dreams, not only am I a young entrepreneur, I’m a full-time college student, a wife, and work full time on top of my business, so although some people may think it’s EASY let me break it down to you. Before you start a business you have to look at how much will it cost me to make and bake my product, find an audience who will want to buy your product, that often means deleting people off your Facebook and Instagram account to get the right target audience. I’m I pricing my product too low or too high? On average how much is a dozen of cupcakes in the store compared to me making them by hand? The list can go on forever, but what sets me apart from my business is the love and dedication I put into my product. My product is never rushed,I take my time to make sure my batter is the right consistency, the temperature is right in my shop (because the temperature does make a difference in baking) and then I begin to bake with love, my buttercream is no ordinary buttercream, it’s rich and fluffy and melts in your mouth when you take your first bite. I didn’t have the knowledge I have now by myself, it took time and patience friends and family to help me work out my kinks. I didn’t take to criticism well but I found out that you would rather have criticism from your friends and family FIRST than someone in the streets.

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?
I would like to first shout of GOD,without him my business or anything around me wouldn’t be possible. My husband, thank you for being such a great partner who loves me and supports me throughout my journey, thank you for uplifting me on days where I feel like quitting or days where I’m too hard on myself.

My family and friends, thank you for trying my products and keeping it real with me, thank you for being hard on me and telling me throughout the years what I need to do to get a little better than yesterday. You guys are all special to me in different ways. I appreciate you all for gaining the extra 5 pounds every week from trying my sweets. I love you all 🙂

Website: https://www.kinyassweetietreats.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinyassweetietreats/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kinyacookedit

Image Credits
Justshaymedia