Cakes, Cupcakes, Desserts & Things: May 2017

Ok, so about a month ago I posted about my win as an American Small Business Champion by SCORE Mentors and Sam's Club. Learning that I had won the championship was a huge surprise. I never in my life had won anything to that magnitude. I mean, I ~~was~~ am one of 102 winners out of 1,500 entries and in addition to being a national champion I'm in the running to win $25,000 as a grand prize champion!! That's huge! At least, for me that is.

How did I become a winner? Well, one day I was on Facebook and I saw a sponsored post by SCORE that they had a small business championship going on. I checked it out and after looking at the entries I immediately started doubting myself. Those other businesses were already established and had hundreds and thousands of votes. I didn't think I would even be considered. I mean who am I? Where did I come from? What do I do? These were all the thoughts that were going through my head that I thought people would think about me. So fear and doubt set in. I mentioned the competition to a few of my family members and friends and they encouraged that I enter. Still I doubted myself. Then one day I said to myself, screw it what do I have to lose. All that could happen is me not get enough votes and I wouldn't be qualified to win but at least I gave it a try. So that's what I did.

There were only like a few weeks left to enter and get votes so I entered. I answered all the questions and prayed. I promoted on Facebook, sent links out by email and through text messages. At first I didn't get many votes at all and I just knew I wasn't going to be qualified to win. I checked everyday for about a week to see if I were getting more votes and little by little my vote count was going up (thanks to my pink sisters the Pussyfooters) along with the number of entries in Louisiana and their vote counts were beginning to be higher than mines. After about two and a half weeks, I sort of gave up and forgot about the championship. I didn't think I was going to win and I surely didn't want to be disappointed so I just put it to the back of my mind.

Well, one day I received a direct message that I should check the SCORE website. So, I did and I learned that I had won. At first I couldn't, didn't, and wouldn't believe it. I mean, me! Little ole me had won a National Championship. How?! The answer was clear as day, GOD! I was so excited I couldn't wait to share. I didn't think it was real at first because with the win came with an all expense paid trip to Dallas, Texas to attend a symposium and stay at the very beautiful and amazing luxury and art hotel, The Joule ( I wrote a blog post about my stay there, you can check it out here), a $1,000 gift card to Sam's Club, and a dinner at the Iron Cactus, as well as a paid round airfare on American Airlines.

So I get my email from SCORE with all the information and scheduling I needed to attend the symposium. I set everything up and finally the day comes for me to get my flight and head to Dallas. The entire process was amazing. The travel arrangements were well organized. I was afraid to leave my kids and travel by myself but I said ya know, what the heck! I've never been on a vacation without my kids or a vacation as an adult ever and even though it's just two days away its time for me to relax and enjoy myself and take care of business.

The time has arrived!! I make it to Dallas, check into the hotel (my mouth dragging the floor because of how AMAZING it is), I meet the other winners, attend the symposium, eat and network. The symposium was nothing short of amazing. My favorite speaker was Giselle. She was so informative and interacted with the crowd. No time for a quick nap during her session lol. There were other speakers as well that also gave some very important and informative information such as "How to write a Business Plan" by Hal Shelton (in which we also received his book as a gift, which is a #1 seller on Amazon), and helpful tips on how to market and promote yourself on social media by Mr. Ron Crates. There are a few quotes that I took note while at the symposium and I will forever keep in mind; "Your attitude determines your altitude!", "Change your mind set to can do's", "Be great at one thing.", and lastly, "Don't get off the horse, stay on until it gets back up."

I was so lucky to be able to sit with some crazy, fun, creative, and amazing people!! I am forever grateful for this opportunity and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me next!!!

To learn more about The American Small Business Championship and to view the complete list of Champions, visit HYPERLINK "http://championship.score.org/" www.championship.score.org.

Accepting my gift card

Sally Barchman owner of State Line Animal Hospital and Holistic Health

Saidah Pearsall owner of Shea body Works

Unglued Market

Richard Upton owner of J. Gumbo's Cajun Joint

Colleen owner of Unique Settings and Rentals

Giselle Chapman SCORE Mentor

2017 American Small Business Championship Winners by SCORE

I'm not a huge fan of chocolate but I do like some foods that have chocolate chips in them. I love how when you bite into a dessert you sometimes get a burst of warm melted chocolate in your mouth and how it combines evenly with the other ingredients that just make you close your eyes and indulge in the abyss of the sweet heavens. Ok, lol, that may have been a bit much, but there are some desserts out there that bring you to that place.

Well, National Chocolate Chip Day is May 15th and below I'm going to share with you four of my favorite chocolate chip recipes that I like to do with my kids. I like to include my kids while baking (sometimes) because it teaches them math skills, reading, attention to detail, and science. Although telling them that makes them run and hide until I remind them of the plus side to it all, like, they get to lick the bowls and spoons and eat baked goods after it's all done. So, if you love baking and eating chocolate chips and don't mind including your kids (or spouse) with the deal of sharing, then check out the recipes below and ENJOY!!