Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Duncan
Hi Nathan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
SOUL-FULL TREATS dates back to the year 2000 when my grandmother wanted me to try my hand at baking. Let me be a little more specific….
My grandmother was a caterer for close to 50 years. I would watch her create some really nice looking dishes. My curiosity would always get the best of me as I would often go into the kitchen and sample some of her creations. I would always want to know (specifically) how she made a dish or dessert so I too could make it for myself (Huge Foodie)! After a while, my grandmother would get upset because I was in her kitchen (you NEVER… EVER… go in my grandmothers kitchen when she was cooking)!!! The Ultimate cardinal sin! Eventually she put me to work cutting up things such as cheese, onions, and peppers into tiny pieces (life draining), making sure she kept me out of her way. One day she was baking a cake and I was really intrigued on what she was doing, so she began to teach me.
The recipe is an old family recipe that was passed down from my Great Aunt Rose,to my grandmothers brother, my great Uncle Pete. He passed it down to grandmother Theresa “Kathy”, who passed it down to me. Three generations!!!! We have a tradition in our family where on “Mother’s Day” the men do all the prepping, cooking and cleaning, while the women enjoy a day of relaxation. The same thing goes for the women on “Fathers Day”, allowing the men to take in a minor or major league baseball game together and coming home to an amazing home cooked meal. It’s that tradition where I was introduced to the recipe! After years of baking the cake, my uncle didn’t want the duties anymore so he passed it to my grandmother. She taught me because I was so intrigued by it. After about a year of teaching me, I inherited the family recipe and responsibility of making it.
What I didn’t realize is that so many people would eventually be requesting that I make them a cake. Requests not only came from my hometown of Lansing, Michigan, but they also stretched as far as Long Beach, California. Several people even offered to pay me for them. As a 14 year old high school kid, it sounded like a winner to me. It wasn’t until years later when I began making my pound cakes as an adult that people would tell me that I needed to start my own business. I took the idea to my wife (then fiance), who too enjoys my cakes and we officially started “SOUL-FULL TREATS” in April 2017 with our original flavor “Perfect Pound” along with four additional flavors which are now known as our “Starting Five” flavors. Today the “Perfect Pound” is known as “Grandma Kathy’s Perfect Pound” as her memory will forever live on within Soul-Full Treats. I have taken what was passed down to me, given it a few upgrades (ie. the flavors), taken a lit bit of the “Soul” of my family and am excitedly looking forward to sharing with you and your family. We really look forward to pleasing your palate here at “SOUL-FULL TREATS” and we hope you continue to enjoy and grow with us!!!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been an easy road at all! There are so many nuances to what Soul-Full Treats is today. There have been a lot of challenges from the changes in flavors and making sure they not only meet our standards, but also the standards of those that patronize our business. Learning the differences in the sizes of our cakes and how each one bakes, thus putting a high level of love and detail into the integrity of our cakes. There have been strategic career moves in my personal life in order to learn how to run our business from the front and back of the house operations. Learning how to understand a product and loss (P&L) sheet, understanding the cost of goods (Food Cost). Something as simple as learning how much each cake costs to make based on the ingredients used and understanding how much to charge for each cake, in order to make a profit. Learning how to gauge different temps of the different types of ovens that we use, cooking times, elevation spaces, etc. These are all lessons that have been learned and understood over the last six to seven years of our existence.
The obstacle that many won’t admit is the obstacle of “Self”! Getting in your own way mentally and/or emotionally can make or break your business. That has been something that has slowed us down in pockets, because of how I’ve questioned myself within those pockets. “Am I good enough”, “Is our product good enough for the public”, “Will people take me seriously”, “Should I give them a discount so they will buy”, “Am I honoring my grandmother in the best way possible”, “Why am I even doing this”, “Will I be taken seriously as a chef and as a baker”? I have allowed all of these thoughts to haunt me at one point in time or another and I had to finally tell myself “It is none of your business what people think or say about you, especially if they don’t say it to you. The product will speak for itself, your love and passion from your soul will come out in each cake, where you will literally not have to say a word”.
One of the most recent challenges that I’ve been met with, is coming to the harsh reality that people will try to put you in a box based on how they view you. I’ve had to really work through that, but I think Patrick Swayze (Johnny Castle) said it best in the movie “Dirty Dancing” when he said “Nobody puts baby in a corner”. Some will try and tell you what your product is worth to them. Some will even have these grand ideas on what you should do with your business, but have not shed any blood, sweat, or tears to achieve those grand ideas. Many don’t see the ridiculously late nights and crazy early mornings to perfect your craft.
Learning, seeing and understanding that no one will have the passion you have for something you truly believe in with all of your heart and soul was a hard lesson. Something you dream about when you close your eyes at night, zone out to in the middle of the day (daily), can taste it and feel it all around you and bring you to happy tears when you envision it! Steve Harvey said it best when he said “If you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand!” Understanding, that all of that is part of the journey, I’ve grown a lot through those experiences and have gotten better, more thorough and more intentional in the growth of Soul-Full Treats because of it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Soul-Full Treats is a flavored pound cake business that was put into creation well before it even had a name. Learning in my Grandma Kathy’s kitchen in Lansing, MI at the age of 14, I knew I wanted to do something more with what I was taught! Now in my 30’s, we are here to bring uniquely flavored pound cakes to those in the United States and beyond. We specialize in pound cakes that come in a variety of unique flavors and sizes.
I think what sets us apart from others is our unique flavors, how we came to be and great customer service. What I am most proud of brand wise is the fact that we had the guts to create a brand in the first place! It’s something that people enjoy and we look forward to continuously pleasing their palate!
What I would like your readers to know about our brand is that each cake is made with genuine joy, passion and love. We offer 30+ flavors (seasonally) in 3, soon to be 4 different sizes. We are almost ready to add our gluten free cakes to the family, so be on the lookout for that announcement!!! We are currently serving the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and will be shipping nationwide and worldwide in the near future, so be sure to check out our website www.soul-fulltreats.com and all social media outlets soon!
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson(s) that I have learned along my journey is this… What God has for me is for me! I have had to let go of any turbulent thoughts and negative feelings and allow God to do his thing! I cannot compare myself to anyone else and we cannot compare ourselves to any other business in or out of our niche, because we are all running our own individual races. I know that God has put the visions in my mind, passion in my heart and joy in my spirit to achieve what he has for me. Since the age of 14, my favorite bible scripture is Psalms 37:4 “Take Delight in the LORD, and you shall have the desires of your heart”. I Delight in the fact that God is going to be God in the midst of everything, and he also knows very well of my desires. Now more than ever is the time to continue to have my work ethic match my prayers!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.soul-fulltreats.com
- Instagram: soul_fulltreats
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soulfulltreatsflavors
Image Credits
-Deja View Pics
-Soul-Full Treats
