Today we’d like to introduce you to Audris Barnes.
Audris, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My maternal Grandmother’s name is Dorothy Louise, also known as Nana Dot. She was born in Toxey Alabama where she began cooking at the age of fourteen. She was originally taught by her Aunt Mary Catherine and over the years mastered both the art of cooking and baking. Friends and family would rave about the goodness of her sweets and especially “that sweet potato pie.” As a recent widow and mother of three girls, Nana Dot seldom had the time and resources to take her skills in the kitchen outside of her community. However, in 2007 Nana Dot began sharing her Southern recipes with me. I would bake the Sweet Potato Pie for friends and family and they would often tell me that I should sell it. In 2017, after another nudge from my Father, I launched Nana Dot’s Southern Sweets as an online bakery where the world can experience the goodness of her Southern Sweets.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road of entrepreneurship has smooth sections, but there are always bumps along the way. The bumps for Nana Dot’s Southern Sweets include marketing and advertising.
Our products are great and word of mouth always works, but getting the business name and its products out in the DFW area and across the U.S. is a hurdle we are still maneuvering around.
Nana Dot’s Southern Sweets – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Nana Dot’s Southern Sweets is an online bakery that prepares and specializes in Southern and Gourmet desserts infused with love & happiness that produces comfort and healing in every bite. We deliver locally around the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex and ship throughout the United States. These recipes were birthed from Grandma Dorothy or “Nana Dot” as we call her, and some have been millennial’ized thanks to yours truly. The taste of these southern sweets will bring back childhood memories as well as allow the creation of new memories because you will taste the familiar and an enhancement in every bite. Each batch is prepared with an anointed touch of love and a sprinkle of happiness that each taster can feel as they consume. The goal of the company is to become a household name that is able to change lives by bringing comfort and healing with every bite by reminiscing on past memories and creating new memories that will encourage uplift set free and deliver.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Talking to Nana Dot about the idea of launching this business and actually showing her the finished product of a website, business cards with her picture on it, and a section dedicated to talking about her and her amazing baking skills.
Pricing:
- Sweet Potato Pies ($13-$20)
- Pecan Pies ($21-$27)
- Cheesecakes $25
- German Chocolate Cakes $40
- Butter Cakes $25
- Pound Cakes ($25 -$35)
- Red Velvet Cakes $40
Contact Info:
- Website: www.NanaDotsSouthernSweets.com
- Phone: (818) 457-9569
- Email: NanaDotsSouthernSweets@gmail.com
- Instagram: @NanaDotsSoSweet
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NanaDotsSouthernSweets
- Twitter: @NanaDotsSoSweet
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nana-dots-southern-sweets-dallas
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NanaDotSuthernSweets
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
