Meet Shannon King | Owner & CEO

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

Hi Shannon, every day, we talk about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I worked with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools as the “baker” for 8 years and once I left in 2012, I still longed for the desire to bake. My kids, boyfriend and mom didn’t care much for bakery items so much of it went to waste. After a few weeks, my boyfriend( now husband) , came up with the idea to turn it into a business. I initially started with the idea of just baking for special holidays. The first holiday was Mothers Day and it has grown so much since then.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As mentioned, I worked with the school system for many years and that gave me a lot of customer service experience. My favorite customers then were elementary aged children. They showed me what it was like to be happy about a cupcake. I then decided to start upselling cupcakes to parents for children’s birthdays at school. Made sense right?  Why let the parents buy the cupcakes from the store and bring them to the school?  We make them in-house and can have them fresh and ready to serve when the child came to lunch. That helped build my selling skills. I am an all around a people person and I like to get to know people , which helps me learn what type of person they are when it comes to what they like. Now, this helps me when deciding how “extra” to be on decor for their orders. I was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) in April 2018. This was a big hit to the family and my business. I was down for months. While down, I was determined that once I was able to get back to working and baking, I would be bigger and better than I ever was, and I refuse to let this disease win. Here I am 4 years since my diagnosis and 10 years since starting my business and I am celebrating big time. So many fun announcements in the next few weeks for Kupkake Kouture Charlotte.

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.
If my best friend was coming into town (hypothetically speaking because she lives in the same city I do) for a day the itinerary would look such as this: We would go have a spa day at NuImage and get facials, waxes, and steams.

We would go have lunch at either Cuzzo’s Cuisine or Lulus.
We would go get our nails done.
We would then go shopping
We would go to Dinner
Then go sight seeing within the city (Charlotte, NC)

If she were coming into town for the week, I would have the car packed up to go to the beach. I love the beach and it is the best place for me to relax and reset.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would first like to dedicate this to my late mother, who was my biggest cheerleader. Then I would like to dedicate it to my children and husband who push me daily to continue my grind. Motivate me during busy weeks, late nights, early mornings and through the pain and stress of being an entrepreneur. Lastly, I would like to dedicate and thank all of my true supporters- my “other mom” (Missy), my best friend (Erica), my Brand Ambassadors, my KUPKAKES (aka my customers), and all of the women entrepreneurs that are grinding it out to run the world.

Website: www.kupkakekouture-clt.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kupkakekoutureclt/

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9PcDcdedV3Q1IM-7CDh-Q

Other: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/kupkake-kouture-charlotte-17852228924

Image Credits
The Eyellusionz Photography