MY STORY
Hey there! I'm Hailey (Peterson) Williams, owner of Cups-N-Cakes Bakery. I'm honored that you are visiting my bakery website and hope that you enjoy my story and portfolio of work. Here is a little bit about me and my "sweet treat" journey!
Art is definitely a passion of mine, and cakes are my way of expressing that!! I truly love and enjoy every second of it. If we go way back to the beginning, I guess you could say that I have had my hands in cakes and icing since I was 2 or 3 years old. My daddy was the manager of my granddaddy's grocery store in Forest, MS when I was growing up. I would go to work with him and sit in the bakery and "help" make cupcakes. I was fascinated by all of the pretty colors of icing and sprinkles and loved to watch the bakers create their beautiful cakes! But fast forward several years, and I really started my first job as a cake decorator in 2003. So, I have been making cakes for 17 years now. (Wow! That's hard to believe!) I started in my granddaddy's grocery store, Vowell's Market Place in Louisville, MS, working in the bakery when I was just 12 years old.
Little did I know then, that this would end up being my career one day. But God has a funny way of working things out and putting you where you are supposed to be. And it has truly been such a huge blessing to me!
In 2010, after my freshman year at Mississippi State University, I opened my first business on my own, Cups-N-Cakes Bakery, in Starkville, MS.
I had two wonderful years there. My business grew far beyond my expectations and I was so blessed to have been able to meet so many wonderful clients, have excellent employees to work with, and such an awesome community that welcomed me and supported me so much!
In March of 2012, I married the love of my life, Phillip. As we were planning our life together, we realized that God had bigger plans for us, so we closed the Starkville location and moved to Brandon. This is when I opened my bakery in Byram, MS, next to another one of my granddaddy's grocery stores. I was in business there from June 2012 through September 2016. Another wonderful 4+ years with incredible employees and customers that I will never forget! My business grew so much during this time... and so did our family!
In 2014, we welcomed our first child, Annistyn! Then 2 short years later, we welcomed our next little girl, Camryn Joy. And then 2 years after that in 2018, we welcomed our caboose, John Easton. They are our absolute pride and joy! Life is so much fun and such an adventure with our three little ones! Our family grew fast and we had to figure out how to balance everything along with owning a business.
After much prayer and looking at where we wanted our lives to be with our growing family, my husband and I decided to make another move (while I was 7 months pregnant with Camryn Joy!), and hopefully the last move... at least for a long time! Phillip, Annistyn, and I (and soon to be Camryn Joy), made our move to Louisville, MS, which is where I grew up. All of my family is still here and it is definitely the small town that I wanted to raise my children in. We are so proud to be residents of Winston County again and have enjoyed watching God write this chapter of our lives and can't wait to see what else He has in store for us!
Now... Going back to the bakery... business in Starkville and Byram both were so so great. I have been blessed far more than I deserve, but the bakery had gotten bigger and busier than I ever imagined. It became more than I could handle or wanted to handle with a growing family. I am certainly not complaining, because that was a great problem to have and I am so thankful! But we decided that it was time for a slow down in our lives so that we would be able to spend more quality family time together! Babies make you realize where your priorities are for sure! :)
Looking back on that now, the "slow down" hasnt exactly happened like we planned and the hours are still VERY long with many "all-nighters", but at least have my 3 babies with me at the bakery everyday and I wouldn't trade that time with them for the world. Sometimes its a little bit chaotic and things may take a little longer having to stop and help them, but it's exactly where I want to be! We are still figuring all of this out day by day to make it work the best for our family! :)
When we moved to Louisville, we debated on opening another commercial bakery, but decided against that after much prayer and consideration. So we chose to open under a new, smaller structure instead of the big commercial storefront with ready-to-buy products and regular, everyday hours like I had for the 7+ years of being in Starkville and Byram. I am now doing everything from "home". We expanded, remodeled, and added a commercial kitchen to the existing shop beside our house. This has given me a place to continue to do what I love... making specialty cakes for all of you! But has also given me the opportunity to slow down a little bit and enjoy life more with my husband and babies at "home"!
My Louisville location opened in November of 2016 and I could not be more thankful for how much my business has continued to grow! And it's even "sweeter" getting to make cakes for family, friends, and so many people I grew up knowing. My Louisville shop does not have regular store hours due to city ordinances/zoning, but I feel like we "live" out here more than we do at home, haha, so I am still here nearly everyday! (See my "hours" at the bottom of the page)
I have absolutely loved my job and having my bakery for the last 10+ years and wouldn't know what to do without my cakes!! It is such a huge part of my life and has been such an honor to play a small part in thousands of peoples lives on their special days throughout the years! Yes, It's tons of work and very tiring, but so worth it in the end. I'm getting to do what I love every day and it is so amazing to see such a big dream of mine come true! Through constant love and support from my amazing family and friends, dreams have definitely become a reality. I am truly so blessed!!
Juggling a business, our marriage, my sweet kiddos, friends and family, and of course... MY CAKES.. I stay extremely busy!! God is my one and only source of strength though. Through Him, I've accomplished so much and I'm so so very thankful for the talents that He has given me! I give all of the glory to Him for blessing me with this ability and hope that through my life and business, that I honor Him in every way!
And I can't end this without giving a HUGE shoutout to my wonderful husband, Phillip. I absolutely could not do this without him. He's my right hand man in every step of the bakery and such a huge support to me. He does SO much behind the scenes at the bakery that he doesn't get credit for! He's a dental hygienist by day, and a "Buddy Crocker" by night! :) We joke that I ruin the kids teeth with all of the sugar in the cakes and icing and then send them to him to fix their teeth! haha. But seriously, he's the best and such a trooper. I'm so incredibly proud of him and thankful for all of his help!
And last but not least, Thank YOU for your support of my business! I wouldn't be where I am today without all of my wonderful customers! Thank you for your encouragement and prayers during all of our transitions and for continuing to support me and my business no matter where I go!
I hope you have enjoyed looking through my portfolio on here and I look forward to making you a special "cake creation" of mine soon! :)
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Love in Christ,
Hailey P. Williams