Meet Aarika Hughes

We were lucky to catch up with Aarika Hughes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Aarika , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I made a choice to not let myself down and stay resilient after experiencing let downs in my life. When life’s misfortunes arise I try to bounce back as quickly as possible. It can be difficult when you are supporting yourself, I just always have the mind frame of, “I do what I can and what makes sense for me and my family”. I always had a goal in life and that was to do something I enjoyed, whether it was cooking, dancing, music, or social services. I like to come up with plans and ideas and achieve them. I like the end results and to see everyone come together and reach our goals. Life is going to keep life-ing, and it is up to you if you want to live and also how you want to live. I won’t let and you should not let inconveniences ultimately stop you from accomplishing your goals. When you want some thing and know in your mind, heart, soul, and spirit that this is what you are put on Earth to do, you will be able to withstand obstacles thrown at you because you are on a mission or a vocation. We aren’t just good at things for no reason, doing something you are passionate about makes you build for it.

There’s a lot of judgement I personally feel, for example: If I can do this? If I will grow? And because I am not in the highest financial category, Will she get a better vehicle? Will she get a building? How will I go from street level to penthouse suite? And I know people see my potential because of the type of clientele I am starting to grow. And this is real resilience because sometimes I feel like; Oh no they are gonna judge me and decide oh she’s not worth it. Even though I know in my heart I am. So, I take a deep breath, pop a mint, and make sure nothing is in my teeth. Grab my box of treats and offer them anyway. I usually sell most or all, and I do have anxiety and fear but I have a business to run.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I create and cook individual desserts, treats, and meals that make you feel good. The special part about what I do is that I truly love to cook and to me cooking is like a science, you really have to have patience and be attentive. There is a system to doing things and if you change it, your dish can come out differently. I enjoy using certain techniques and know if I do X, Y, and Z, I will get this result. I believe it is important to service our own community and give them access to quality fresh food and services. We are in underdeveloped overlooked areas, but our community should not have to go 20 miles away for some food that will be satisfying every time.

Today I am working on getting my treats and cakes out to the masses and I do offer shipping because I want my cakes available to everyone. I offer meal prep services. I am working towards contracting my meal prep services to businesses. I also want to shoot a commercial and I stick to doing small projects weekly, so basically I treat my business as a fully solidified dessert business. On Fridays and Saturdays, I create caramel and strawberry crunch cakes and other treats like, honeybun cake, apple crisp, and No banana pudding. I drive to local businesses and offer them for $10. I try to keep myself busy. I understand I have to make my own opportunities and be open and authentically creative. I have been dealing with my health, I recently had a seizure and was in the hospital again. Now I take resting, exercising, and being mentally healthy crucial. I cannot afford to be stressed or depressed. So I do things to feel good, like doing activities with my kids and taking my time to enjoy my life because life moves fast. I not going to stop cooking so quitting isn’t an option. My main goal is to have a locally owned factory where I produce treats. Southern Company Sweets will offer catering and meal prep services. Also non-profit food drives and free meals. And cooking classes. I remember taking a cooking class where we learned to prepare zucchini, and it has been part of my diet every since. It is important we educate each other.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three areas of knowledge I would consider most impactful would be to plan, staying humble, being polite and professional. Even if the plans don’t work out, just try to be prepared. Even if you’re winging it, let that be the plan. Stay humble, it’s ok to toot your own horn, but just know there is always someone who you can learn from. Being positive and nice attracts people and when you are confident in what you are doing they will take you serious. If you want to be better at doing something you would need to practice at it and that is what I do. It’s ok to be yourself and to not be so worldly. A lot of people don’t know things because they are not open to learn and take in something new. But just try to have balance within yourself, you are great but everyone has flaws. That is what makes us all different.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I want to collaborate with other entrepreneurs who need food services at their events, social get togethers, and workplace. Also people ready to start their healthy diet lifestyle and want meal prep services so they stay on track. And my Air Bnb renters who need in house catering services.

Contact Info:

  • Instagram: @southerncompanysweets
  • Facebook: Southern Company Sweets, Sugar T Hughes
  • Other: Phone: 636-249-0673

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