2008 Woodie Awards
Baker loves business, but it's no game of patty-cake
Monica Jones/Contributing Writer
Issue date: 2/24/08 Section: Business
Renita Lake can trace her love for the art of baking all the way back to when she was nine years old. "My stepmother used to let me invite my friends over after school so that we could bake cookies. I don't know what it is, but cookies have always been my favorite things to make", confesses Lake who's never met a cookie she didn't like.
The mission of her business, Baker's Dozen, is "Baked Goodies like Grandma Used to Make." Bakers Dozen is home based, ran out of Lake's very own kitchen on E Street in Southeast Washington. She is the only worker, giving everything she produces a personal touch.
Lake was born in Saint Maarten in the West Indies and according to her, fell in to the baking business wholly by accident.
"I left my job at a city-wide public charter school because I was no longer happy with my job as a fundraiser," she recalled. "I had been fundraising for years just did not want to do it anymore."
So Lake began to help with events to help to make ends meet, until she could find a new job. Lake says she just continued to receive work at odd jobs involving administrative support, logistics, and homecare. Eventually she thought it would d be a good idea to try her hand as an official event planner so she established her umbrella business, Jump @ the Sun Enterprises, which focuses on event planning.
"It was just me and a friend of mine hosting an event for a congressional candidate from Michigan. I was in charge of the event planning, which entailed taking care of the location, catering, flowers, guests, menu, and making sure things go smoothly."
Even though she enjoyed event planning, baking, Lake said, was what she really wanted to do.
Her specialties are double chocolate chip cookies and sweet potato pound cake. Her cake recipe is a modification of the traditional pound cake recipe, with the addition of pecans for example.
"Mostly I get orders for cookies, but I get the occasional request for my sweet potato pound cake," she said.
The mission of her business, Baker's Dozen, is "Baked Goodies like Grandma Used to Make." Bakers Dozen is home based, ran out of Lake's very own kitchen on E Street in Southeast Washington. She is the only worker, giving everything she produces a personal touch.
Lake was born in Saint Maarten in the West Indies and according to her, fell in to the baking business wholly by accident.
"I left my job at a city-wide public charter school because I was no longer happy with my job as a fundraiser," she recalled. "I had been fundraising for years just did not want to do it anymore."
So Lake began to help with events to help to make ends meet, until she could find a new job. Lake says she just continued to receive work at odd jobs involving administrative support, logistics, and homecare. Eventually she thought it would d be a good idea to try her hand as an official event planner so she established her umbrella business, Jump @ the Sun Enterprises, which focuses on event planning.
"It was just me and a friend of mine hosting an event for a congressional candidate from Michigan. I was in charge of the event planning, which entailed taking care of the location, catering, flowers, guests, menu, and making sure things go smoothly."
Even though she enjoyed event planning, baking, Lake said, was what she really wanted to do.
Her specialties are double chocolate chip cookies and sweet potato pound cake. Her cake recipe is a modification of the traditional pound cake recipe, with the addition of pecans for example.
"Mostly I get orders for cookies, but I get the occasional request for my sweet potato pound cake," she said.
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