Kati Singley has turned her passion for baking bright and bubbly desserts into a business. While CupKate’s began as a social media phenomenon, which kept Singley busy with pop up shops and fulfilling online orders, she’s since grown CupKate’s into a Greenville, Delaware storefront bakery.
What makes her baked goods stand apart, according to Singley, is that they’re made with high quality and locally sourced ingredients. “We don’t use mixes or frozen items like most bakeries and grocery stores do,” she said.
While cupcakes put her on the social media map – flavors change weekly and include red velvet, S’mores, mint chocolate chip and cotton candy – she also does custom celebration cakes, intricately designed cookies, and colorful hues of macarons. Singley said she’s also become known for her banana pudding and homemade pop tarts. There’s always something new being introduced as well, such as edible cookie dough, brownies and cinnamon buns.
Singley is as much a baker as she is an entrepreneur. While her baking days started early, helping her mother make birthday cakes for all of her extended family, she also won a Top Entrepreneur Award in fourth grade, selling handcrafted purses made from recycled Capri Sun pouches. Later, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in marketing and entrepreneurship, before working as a tech recruiter and marketing director for a large company. But when Singley lost her father to cancer in 2019, the loss had a huge impact on her chasing her dreams. She decided to leave her corporate job of three years and turn her talent and desire to bake and create into CupKate’s. Singley is the sole owner of her bakery and is completely self-funded.
The creative process, Singley told Beyondish, is a collaborative effort between her and her bakers, who like to “find different recipes and ideas and brainstorm all day” while they work. Her life and work philosophy is that life is too short not to be doing something you love, and she infuses this belief into her business by making sure her staff feels that they can be creative as well and “have a voice.”
CupKate’s has been open for seven months and Singley said she’s still dreaming. “I think about a cupcake truck or another small location or a big HQ,” she said. For now, however, she’s focused on making the lives of others sweeter.
AUTHOR
Ashley is a writer and teacher living in Florida. When she isn't reading or writing, you can find her in the kitchen experimenting with a new recipe, on the yoga mat in downward dog, or lost out in nature with her family.
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