Teen baker finds entrepreneurial success is sweet
Alannah Williams, owner of Dance Like a Cupcake, at the kids market inside of the Cooper Young Festival. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Alannah Williams started her baking business, Dance Like a Cupcake, when she was 10 and living in Seoul, South Korea.
And then she restarted it at 11 as her military family moved to another base, this time in Vilseck, Germany. And again when she was 13 and her family moved to Okinawa, Japan. And finally, at least for now, again at age 17 when she and her family moved to the Memphis area last fall.
It’s that type of resilience — finding the right ingredients and proportions in each new country, figuring out what types of baked goods will sell in a new area and building a new customer base with every move — that Williams hopes has her business positioned for a successful breakout here in Memphis, even if she’s starting small and selling just a few cookies at a time.
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“This isn’t the end goal,” she said. “It’s the beginning.”
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Jody Callahan
Jody Callahan graduated with degrees in journalism and economics from what is now known as the University of Memphis. He has covered news in Memphis for more than 25 years.
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