Meet Tia Robinson of Tastee Tee’s Treats in Westchase

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tia Robinson.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Tia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started Tastee Tee’s in 2011, I come from a long line of amazing cooks from my Great Grandmother down to my Mom! So naturally I was very intrigued by Carlos on Cake Boss and this particular episode featured Cake Pops! I thought these small little bites of cake were adorable so I did some research, since that was my career at the time, and I found an amazing lady name Bakerella who made all types of characters with her cake pops. I went to Michael’s and purchased all the supplies and decided to try my luck at making some Mummy Cake pops! I made the cake pops, took them to work and people were so impressed that I received requests to make cake pops for a few of my co-workers Halloween parties…that turned into Thanksgiving Cake pops and by Christmas I had received an order to make 10 dozen Cake pops for a Holiday party.

That birthed the idea to start, a business…the demand was there and I had tapped into an unknown talent! One day I was sitting at home and I received a call from Groupon asking if I would be interested in doing cake pops classes in the Houston area. When they googled cake pops in Houston miraculously my business pictures popped up. I was floored and said yes, not realizing how huge this would be!

The next 2 years I ended up doing cake pops classes with Groupon and Living Social…the response was overwhelming! I would have 4-2-hour classes every Saturday with about 25 students a class…It was such a blessing to reach so many people doing something I was enjoying! During my stint of Cake Pops classes I was also working as a Molecular Biologist with Nasa and I also was doing auditing with Aetna…however my new-found passion pushed me to want to do more than just cake pops! So, I started to research more and more…and I self-taught myself to do custom cake, candy apples, cupcakes, sugar cookies, chocolate covered strawberries…you name it! I am amazed sometimes at the gift that I have, I feel like the path of starting Tastee Tee’s Treats was my destiny! In 2016 I lost my Father to Cancer, was laid off as a Molecular Biologist, as well as was going through a break up so my business was the driving force that kept me afloat…making Cakes and desserts is my place of peace.

I can go into a zone and put all the beauty in my heart into the desserts that I make for others…I can give a piece of love to each customer that hires me! In 2017 I was laid off from my job with Aetna and experienced some other set-backs but I felt peace because I prayed and asked if doing Tastee Tee’s Treats full time was what I should be doing…. My prayers have been answered. The end of 2017 was amazing for my business I received a huge order for 400 Candy apples, I was asked to make Candy Apples for Warner Brother’s Movie Paddington Bear 2 and I also have been Certified as a Wilton’s Teaching instructor! So Tastee Tee’s is on the move in Houston, you never know where you will find us next…I have my fingers crossed for TV! The journey has been hard, full of sleepless nights, sacrifices, and tears…but I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have been many ups and downs…. Going out on faith and having Tastee Tee’s Treats as my primary source of income has been very challenging. I was used to the safety net of Corporate America, so that made me really realize I have a Growing Business and I am an Entrepreneur! I have to really be cognizant of the business decisions that I make because they can affect me more gravely now! I also think a challenge is finding balance and not letting my business consume me! I work so hard that sometimes I don’t make time for myself, if I’m not baking cakes, or attending a meeting of some sort, I’m hosting a radio show on Tuesdays with an online Radio Show called Happy Hour with TMS on GMT radio. There have been MANY days where I’ve gotten up at 6am to work on orders and didn’t go back to sleep until about 5am the next day to only have to get back up at 7am to start all over again!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Tastee Tee’s Treats – what should we know?
So I like to call my company an online Dessert Boutique because I think it sounds more Posh! We have a huge gambit of desserts from Wedding cakes, to custom cakes, cake pops, cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered apples, candy apples, decorated sugar cookies and even my favorite salted caramel chip cookies! We DO IT ALL….we even offer infused desserts! We have infused Candy Apples as well as Infused cakes/Cupcakes…the strawberry margarita cupcake infused with Tequila topped with a strawberry and strawberry filling is amazing! I think I am known for the creativity of my cakes, I try to be creative with my desserts and I’m happy that many of my customers allow me to be creative when creating their delicious treats! I am most proud of the opportunity to make Candy Apples for Warner Brothers for the movie Paddington 2, when I saw the email from Warner Brothers I cried for an hour! I think what sets me apart is that I try to pour love into every order! I try to not only make a “Tastee” treat but I also like to have a good rapport with my customers, I don’t give my customers a hand shake I often give them hugs because I want them to know they are important to me and I appreciate them believing in me!

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Definitely my parents Robert and Connie Robinson, even though my family lives miles away they always give me great feedback about my business and positive words of encouragement. It’s nothing better than to hear your parents say that they are proud of you! My life plan was to be an OB/GYN but that turned into me going into Science and now I’m baking but Hey there is Science in Everything right! So, to be able to go down a totally different path than what your parents thought and still make them proud while doing something you love is a blessing! I have so many amazing friends and family outside of my friends that have supported me and motivated me that it would be unfair to individually name them all. I will say one of my mentor’s is my Sorority Sister (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, I have to show homage always!) Aisha Dacosta. She is so business saavy and she always calls me with ideas to better my business and makes me think outside of the box in the business realm.

I always tell her I’m a science major not a business major I just happen to have a business. She has pushed me to read more books about growing my business, accounting, and marketing strategies that were foreign to me. So, I truly appreciate our conversations as a mentor in pushing me to be the best business woman that I can be! I also had a huge order one time with 400 candy apples and I call them the Apple Dream Team! I want to thank my friends, Diane Johnson, Cathy McNair, Eric Griggs, and Stacy Brown for helping; de-steam, wash, boil, dip, bag and package 400 candy apples in 2 days! I still owe them dinner for that! I also have to mention my assistant Kelley Gaskin who sends out contracts, invoices, answers texts, and emails…she is blessing as well as our Mini decorating and art guru who is 11 years old Miss Karsyn!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.TasteeTeesTreats.com
• Phone: 281-803-9223
• Email: TasteeTee@live.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/tasteetees
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TasteeTees

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