Meet Marci Lee | Smallcakes Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marci Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marci, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have always wanted to own my own business. My degree is in hotel and restaurant management. I knew I could be successful in something in that field. I thought about what I enjoy doing and what I thought I could be good at. I also thought about what kind of business was needed in my community. While I was still teaching at an elementary school, I started looking around the areas between my school and my home. I also spoke with friends that live in the area and they said there was a need for a good dessert shop. Once I was introduced to Smallcakes and tasted how good the cupcakes were, I knew this was the business for me.

What should our readers know about your business?
Smallcakes Cupcakery and Creamery specializes in freshly baked gourmet cupcakes, as well as seasonal and featured flavors presented in a signature pink box. We hand whisk the cupcakes every morning. We always tell the customers they taste so good because they are made with love. All of my baking crew truly loves what they do and you can taste it. We also make in house small batch ice cream. We always have vanilla, chocolate, and a non-dairy option, but the other 5 flavors always rotate. We love providing new flavors for customers to try. Our custom cakes are truly custom. Our customer provides us a picture and we work with them to make it become a reality.
I would say it was fairly easy switching from teaching elementary school to owning Smallcakes. My degree is in Hotel and Restaurant management. I took the skills I learned in college to help with opening my own business. I started my build out in 2021, so I did have some difficulty because it was the end of operating in the Covid world. I ran into problems of finding materials. A huge trait to have when starting a business is patience. You will go into the process with one thought and then it will be completely changed from week to week. This can happen because of permits from the county to building supplies. It is really hard to have to wait on other people’s schedules.
A huge help to getting my brand and business name out into the community was joining the local chamber of commerce. I had a ribbon cutting a few weeks after opening. That help me meet a lot of other businesses that have since ordered cupcakes or special treats for their important events at their business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It is hard to narrow down places to eat in my area. Since Tomball is only 30 minutes from downtown Houston or an hour and a half drive to Galveston we have so many places to visit. When my best friend from college visits, we go to El Emperador in Tomball for breakfast. It has been my favorite breakfast spot for 19 years. For lunch or dinner we might visit Rib Tickler or Pecos Grill, you can never go wrong with either place. I have gone to Rib Tickler since I was in elementary school and it was just a walk-up place and you had to eat it at home.
If we are going out drinking and dancing we would go for a spin on the dance floor at Whiskey River. It is close to home and we always have fun. Since my best friend is from Oklahoma, we always take a trip to Kemah or Galveston. She loves seeing the water. We also love to shop. I take her to downtown Tomball area to show her all of the new boutiques that have opened since her last visit.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Absolutely! I would love to dedicate my shoutout to my family. My husband, David, my son, Tyler, and my mom, Rhonda. There is no way I would have been able to quit my job of teaching elementary school to start this business. When I have off the wall ideas, for the most part, my husband goes with it and helps out where he can. He is like the silent partner in this business. He is in the background getting things done without people knowing he is there. Our son, Tyler, is the biggest reason that I wanted to have a career that was flexible. His junior year of high school he was being recruited to play college football. I knew that being teacher would make it hard for me to travel to see him as much as I wanted. This is when I got serious about starting my own business to be my own boss. He is currently playing football for Army at West Point. I love visiting him there and watching their games.
My mom has always been my biggest fan and encourager. She knows that when I put my mind to something I am going to go for it. She is there to listen to me during the hard times and reminds me that everything is going to be ok. I would probably have closed the door to my shop already if it wasn’t for the support of these 3 people.

Website: https://www.smallcakestomball.com

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SmallcakesTomball