MILWAUKEE — Ever since she was a little girl, Adija Greer-Smith loved being in the kitchen.
"It was the place that I found the most peace," said Adija Greer-Smith.
And it wasn't long before she realized that she had a passion for baking sweets.
"Baking and creating great things for people is something that I never get sick of," said Greer-Smith.
After making cobblers, cakes, pies, and more for family and friends over the years, Greer-Smith decided to take her love of baking to the next level. In 2018 she opened up her very own bakery called Confectionately Yours inside the Sherman Phoenix.
"I was just blessed with the opportunity," said Greer-Smith.
Greer-Smith says the road to becoming a business owner wasn't easy for her. Not only as a woman but a woman of color who didn't have access to a lot of resources.
"We talk about how small businesses fail in their first five years being in business because of those hurdles that we go through. You need marketing, you need human resources, you need all these different strategic planning," said Greer-Smith.
But she didn't let that stop her from trying.
"I said Adija, you have nothing to be afraid of, you are great at what you do, you have people who will support you. You never know if you will fly if you never jump," said Greer-Smith.
Now as a successful business owner, baker, and entrepreneur with hundreds of customers and more than 50 corporate partners, Greer-Smith hopes others will be inspired to take that leap of faith.
"We may not have seen the possibility then, but now we are living that possibility so that the younger women and the younger girls behind us can see that it's doable," said Greer-Smith.
Greer-Smith has launched a campaign to help her expand her kitchen space to keep up with demand, and create a membership program for young men and women interested in becoming entrepreneurs. If you'd like to donate, click here.
