Flourishing in Flour: A Scientist's Recipe for Success with Dr. Lincoln Alexander

When life hands you lemons, why not make a lemon chiffon cake? That's the philosophy Dr. Lincoln L. Alexander, a scientist-turned-pastry chef, brings to our latest episode of Cake Therapy. Lincoln's story is as rich as buttercream, detailing his leap from a lab coat to an apron and the creation of the successful Flour House Cakes. The heart of our discussion beats to the rhythm of baking's emotional pull, showcasing how it bridges generations and cultures, becoming a cornerstone of family heritage and personal identity.

Ever imagined a scientist meticulously piping the perfect swirl on a cupcake? This episode is where careers in beakers and baking tins collide. Dr. Alexander shares his story, where the warm scent of vanilla and the clatter of mixing bowls underlined his formative years, leading to unexpected encounters with magazine features and government officials—all through the power of a well-baked treat. Lincoln and I explore the delicate balance of embracing a culinary calling while navigating the expectations of traditional career paths, discussing how baking can rise as a source of solace and expression amidst life's trials.

Finally, we close with a sprinkle of gratitude and a dollop of encouragement, celebrating the listeners who have been the yeast in our community's growth. By supporting the Cake Therapy Podcast, you help us spread the therapeutic essence of baking. We're stirring up more than just ingredients here; we're mixing in inspiration, resilience, and a shared love for the transformative power of a good cake. Join us at the table for a slice of connection and discovery, and remember to spread the joy by sharing this episode with those who knead a little sweetness in their lives.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Cake Therapy podcast a slice of joy and healing, with your host, Dr Altricia Foster. This is a heartwarming and uplifting space that celebrates the transformative power of baking therapy. The conversations will be a delightful blend of inspirational stories, expert insights and practical baking tips. Each episode will take listeners on a journey of self-discovery, emotional healing and connection through the therapeutic art of baking. There's something here for everyone, so lock in and let's get into it.

Speaker 2: 0:36

Hi everyone, welcome to the Cake Therapy podcast, your slice of joy and healing. So you know, with Cake Therapy, our aim is to bring you interesting guests, interesting conversations about bakers and cake artists alike who are doing this work. But they're doing it from a place of purpose and passion, and today's guest is a wonderful slice for you. His name is Dr Lincoln L Alexander. So let me tell you about this guy. So he's a scientist turned pastry chef. He's a multi-award winning food and cake artist. He's an author and he is the owner of Flowerhouse Cakes.

Speaker 2: 1:16

And if you're a baker, yep, you saw that cake. He just recently had this mega, ultra viral cake. So he's here with us today. His award-winning couture cakes have been featured in publications worldwide such as Essence, the Knot Magazine, muna Luchi, bride, black Bride Magazine, whimsical Wonderful Weddings, the Bee Collective, Hello, beautiful Grand Rapids Magazine, our Detroit Magazine and so much more. Listen, I got a breathless reading about all these man's accolades. All right, so he comes from a place where he's helping his mom. From helping his mom decorate cakes in his childhood home to now running this widely successful business. Lincoln Alexander is making his mark in the cake industry.

Speaker 3: 2:06

Welcome, sir. Wow, wow, what an introduction. Thank you so much, Dr Foster. I really appreciate this opportunity to speak with you.

Speaker 2: 2:16

Yeah, listen big up yourself and welcome. So let me tell you, I can only go into my potwell, my native tongue, because I know he understands.

Speaker 3: 2:27

Okay.

Speaker 2: 2:28

Lincoln is also Jamaican right, and you know me, I would be so hurt if I was born anywhere else but Jamaica. So welcome again, big up yourself and have a happy holiday.

Speaker 3: 2:39

Big up yourself, jamaican proud, yes, yes, of course.

Speaker 2: 2:43

Well, as I was reading your bio from scientists to pastry chef, it sounded just like me, right?

Speaker 3: 2:52

That's exactly what I said. I said wait a minute. This sounds just like me.

Speaker 2: 2:57

Yeah, so I'm really excited to talk to the male version of our treasurer. Yes, you know, we met by happenstance on Instagram. You found me. He said you know, this unicorn is here and I can see you. I can see where you found me. Interesting, because our lives really parallel each other so much and I'm really excited that you reached out and I feel, I felt an instant connection with you on Instagram and it's I feel like it's a thing with Jamaican's first to have that instant connection once they recognize that they're from the same native space. But then you were much more than that and I appreciate you for reaching out and having these, you know, formidable conversations with me thereafter. So thank you. Yeah, let's talk about Lincoln. Tell me about how is the family doing, how are you doing? It's cold as hell and I know it's cold in Detroit right now.

Speaker 3: 3:56

It is cold in Detroit, it's freezing out here, but as expected, I mean it's midway through January, so we were expecting this cold weather, but all is going well. Family is well. As I said, this this art of mine is. I love that you said ask about the family, because it's so family inspired, so family based. My mother is probably my biggest cheerleader and we'll be listening into the podcast too, so I gotta keep looking, right, you know. Try to correct me so. But yeah, everyone is doing well. As I said, just so, so fortunate, so glad that I just out of chance, I just came across and I said wait a minute, there's another unicorn out here. How was this possible? How did I not know this? And an amazing artist, thank you so much, thank you.

Speaker 3: 4:50

I feel like we were meant to meet.

Speaker 2: 4:52

Yeah, I know, I do believe. So you know, sometimes you meet people and you know, because there is something instantaneous you could have like acquaintances and friends for a long time, but then you meet this one person and you know there is a purpose in that meeting and yeah, so I definitely agree with you there. I think we had that connection. So you mentioned mom yeah, like baking, yeah, cakes and being with her. I've been a prominent part of your life, lincoln, you know, from a very early age because of mom. So tell us about that Share with our guests. You know how that relationship and that connection is.

Speaker 3: 5:32

Yeah, so definitely so. I like to call myself a generational baker. My grandmother was a phenomenal baker and she passed it down to my mother. My mother, by trade, wasn't that countenous. No, us Jamaicans we have many jobs. She was an accountant but she also ran. But she also ran a small cake baking and decorating Business out of our family home. And so, being the last of five kids, you know I got into trouble quite some. You know I was bored, and how much so my mother would put me in the kitchen with her. She said, oh, you want to act up? Will come act up in the kitchen with me.

Speaker 3: 6:10

And so she would have me, like, tinker around with stuff, you know, mix up bowls of this and that, and I just started to appreciate the art of baking. And then one day she was taking a Cake decorating class and she came home and she started showing me some techniques of how you make roses, and so I was piping roses with royal icing. And then one day I was left alone to my own device and there was a cake that she had baked and I decided I was going to decorate it and surprise her. So when she came home and she saw what I did, she was floored. Leave that I had picked up so much skills. Just watching her, yeah, and so that's kind of how this, this whole magic began is just is watching my mother, just learning from her, and she's been my, my sort of sensei, you know, so to speak, throughout the years and, as I said, she's one of my biggest cheerleaders. I think I'm doing everything that she wish she could have done had she had the opportunity.

Speaker 2: 7:15

Absolutely. It's like we, when we look back, or even now, we're living some of the dreams that our parents had for themselves. So I'm really excited that you get to give her that and even continue to involve her in some of the spaces and the things that you do.

Speaker 3: 7:30

So cool, yes, and I always bigger up everything. Every magazine I'm in featured in what I always say, big up to my mother, because it wouldn't be, I wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for her.

Speaker 2: 7:39

Yeah, man, it's true, I have to definitely wherever we get a chance. So as you were in the kitchen back in those days, lincoln, tell me what did you notice about yourself that Indicated to you that you had a deep love for it? You know you that, as you were developing cakes, that you had a deep love for this party you know, this career but, not even this career made me a hobby at that, yeah.

Speaker 3: 8:03

I think you know it's. It instilled so much discipline and I didn't realize that just baking and stuff Required so much attention. You know you're off by just one small measurement in the cake won't rise, you know. So it it taught me so much discipline that I used throughout life it also helped me to refocus my energy.

Speaker 3: 8:26

As I said, I was the last child out of five kids and you know my. At the time my parents didn't have much expectations for me. You know they wanted me to do well, but all the pressure was off because my brother, all my sisters, they all had to do something. So for me, yeah like it was.

Speaker 3: 8:43

It gave me something that I didn't. I didn't notice in myself because there wasn't a pressure there, but making really helped me to define who I was going to become. Okay, because again, it brought in that discipline Mm-hmm I think I really needed. And also it gave me the passion Because it it spoke beyond just me, because my mother would tell me the stories of my grandmother baking and how, you know, cake was such a pivotal part of our, of our culture and our upbringing, mm-hmm, that it it became just something so important to me. That's what really instilled that passion.

Speaker 2: 9:22

Yeah, so the other, your other siblings, big any of them? I?

Speaker 3: 9:30

Have children. The children don't want to bake either. It's just me.

Speaker 2: 9:36

Yeah, but then I, you were doing that. I, you know, I tell these to the girls. You know, in my foundation is when I started baking, it had to kind of foster some form of communication with my own mom to be able to have conversations. Did you find that in the kitchen with you and your mother as well?

Speaker 3: 9:53

Yes.

Speaker 2: 9:54

I actually transformed you, you know, and kind of set you on the path.

Speaker 3: 9:58

Yes, and I know I think really my siblings must have been jealous. This one thing actually brought me very close to my mother, and even to today. Mm-hmm close and I think it's that line that we've built with baking and, yeah, that has really brought us close together. But I, I think I grew a stronger appreciation for my mother because she was so mullied, multifaceted Mm-hmm. I was so just enamored by her skills, yeah, that I Think that appreciation really grew our relationship more. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:34

So so that's cool. But you know what I found fascinating on your website? You tell me that. Well, I read. They didn't tell me directly that you were. You've been like baking for government officials Since you were 15. Yeah, what kind of broken right. Oh yeah, I was gonna say we've been for government officials since we were 15.

Speaker 3: 10:56

Well, tell me that I was saying thanks to my mother, because my mom was big in politics as well.

Speaker 2: 11:03

I mean as a multi-faceted.

Speaker 3: 11:04

So she used to work on campaigns in our local government and she would Always talk about her baking. It was always her passion, no matter what she was doing was always her passion. So she would say you know well, you have this big campaign coming up, let's do a celebration cake. Or when a local government official Won the the election, she made the big cake that celebrated that big win. So she always brought me in, she always made sure she included me. She always said this is my son, he also bakes with me, you know, and so it made me feel good to be like, oh okay, like I could do this, and so it really gave me the confidence to To Go out and find my own clients, so to speak. Yeah, you know, but again it's, it's because of that nurturing that happened at home with my mother.

Speaker 2: 11:55

So, recognizing that you could beg for, I would say, individuals in the upper echelons of society, right? Did this kind of is? Was this a natural progression of things for you in terms of a career path? Is this what like? Did you realize you were good then and thought that you could actually do this?

Speaker 3: 12:16

You know, I, I don't, I don't know, I don't think so, I don't think so. I knew it was a, it was a passion, became more of a hobby. My parents wanted me to go to school and do something. You know, be a. They always, you know, west Indian peers. They want, they want you to do better than yeah, they did. So you know, they wanted me to go in and get a science career, in which I did. I remember one time I said to my father I said you know, I want to go to culinary art school. He said culinary. What I said culinary art school. He said to do what he's like, to learn what he said here what do you do it, what you're gonna learn? I said but there's more to learn.

Speaker 3: 12:54

Oh they really fostered higher education and and you know some of the harder sciences which I did. But I think it took I mean I'm thinking back I think it took me making a cake for a local couple that was published in a magazine.

Speaker 2: 13:14

Okay.

Speaker 3: 13:15

And I think that was the first time that I realized that this is something I could really pursue and do well at, because I'd never been in a magazine before. I mean, to me that just seemed like who am I to get published in a magazine? Yeah, but when I saw the cake in there, I think it gave me that confidence that this is something that not only my family sees but others are seeing that I have a value in.

Speaker 2: 13:40

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I could definitely see that and I think that was the same, I would say, trigger for me, or the same space of validation. It's like six months into me starting to bake, like magazines are seeing me. So I could definitely make that connection with you seeing your cake in a magazine and getting that validation that it's actually good enough for you. And it was funny that you mentioned your dad asking you questions like what you're going to cook, to learn for cook.

Speaker 3: 14:12

Right.

Speaker 2: 14:13

And I mean that again. I mean that the Caribbean background, where our parents have this tendency to want a perfect, conventional career path for us and pushes us towards the sciences because, okay, they said, that's going to get you out of poverty. And what's fascinating is that your mom recognized that you were good at baking, that you loved cakes, and she still wanted you to pursue this degree, whatever degree it is, as long as it's a college degree. Do you think that your decision to go for higher education was to assuage? You know what your parents were saying, because you did mention you wanted to do culinary arts to your dad prior. So did your educational path, the one you traveled towards education, a higher education? Do you think you just did that to satisfy what they desired of you?

Speaker 3: 15:09

I think 100%, oh, 100%. I was a child that I don't think I really applied myself. And again, I think, again fostering. Being the last child, you know I was a little unruly so you know there was no expectation but I didn't have that much confidence. Yeah, I really have to attribute that confidence back to that nurturing in the kitchen, because I didn't really foresee myself becoming a doctor of public health and, you know, publishing and being a full, bright scholar at these big universities and all this stuff, I never aspired to that.

Speaker 3: 15:47

That was never I would have never thought I'd be doing that, or even to be a dean today of a university, that being me.

Speaker 2: 15:54

Unheard of right. I think so. I think so.

Speaker 3: 15:57

I think you know, and still to today, I have family members who are just like you know. They're shaking their head like I can't believe. Really I'm like you know, but I think I did it to appease them. I think I really did. But I also knew that I was not going to give up my passion at the same time. So throughout my education, throughout my career progression, I always remained dedicated to my art, my cake artistry.

Speaker 2: 16:27

Yeah, you know, as, like you're mentioning, like Lincoln is now the dean, lincoln is a doctor of public health. So here's where, like this nerd, if you're hearing, like it's not, it's not Altricia, it's Lincoln here, all him, okay. So this is where I really find like our journey really does parallel. You know, I have this degree in virology, I have this booming career in public health and we are bakers Right For me. I find like when I bake I bring a lot of my science right. You know, I do have the left brain, right brain going at the same time. My cakes have to be neat, they have to be. I'm so calculated in the kitchen. How was your career in science impacted your cake? The cake side of Lincoln, if any?

Speaker 3: 17:16

I think the very analytical part of me has come into play in many, many occasions. I think the way I take risks was some of my designs I'm thinking about a few that have come to mind right now, like I did this wedding cake that I hung upside down in a castle, and to me, I mean, it took a lot of engineering to think about how I was gonna do this, but just the way you have to be so detailed in your science career, your science passion, is the same type of thinking that you have to bring into cake design how things go together, understanding how things go together, understanding how one color can impact another. It's the same thing with looking at disease and looking at cause and probability. You know, or I'm looking at the etiology of something. It's the same thing. You're using the same type of concepts when you're baking or when you're designing.

Speaker 3: 18:13

So I definitely tap into that other side of the brain a lot of what I'm creating.

Speaker 2: 18:19

Yeah, absolutely I know like we are using left brainers and right brainers because we're doing great at these two things, you know, in tandem. But tell me how do you do it? You know, how does this baking thing fits into your conventional career path and how are you doing both and doing both so well?

Speaker 3: 18:42

You know, someone asked me that a few years ago, I think, during the pandemic. Someone asked me like how are you doing both of this, like how does this even work? And I always say this people have hobbies, people have extracurricular activities that they do. Mine just so happens to be cake.

Speaker 3: 19:01

So when my colleagues are going to their bowling club, they're going to this club, that club or you know, intramural sports. I'm going home to go blend something. So I find it's almost like a way of life, just like you incorporate exercise or something into your life. I've incorporated this into my life and I've prioritized it as something that I need that is going to provide for my own mental health and wellbeing, because I know I have a stressful job. You know this too. Being in this world of science, it can become very stressful.

Speaker 2: 19:37

And if you don't?

Speaker 3: 19:37

have an outlet that is going to help to provide some type of balance. I mean, we know the negative effects that can come from that and so, for me, this is my balance, this is what the passion that I think provides me with the mental, emotional stability that I need, that kind of takes me away, separates me from my stressful career.

Speaker 2: 20:03

Yeah, absolutely, and you did mention, like, when you go home, are you baking out of the home? Are you a home baker, full time home baker?

Speaker 3: 20:11

Yep, so I have a cake studio that's attached to the home, and so I also try to keep it separate from the actual home itself because, as you know, you don't want to put yourself into another stressful environments, so I keep it everything kind of separate. I have the home, I have then the studio, and it just allows me to kind of compartmentalize and act as when I need to.

Speaker 2: 20:35

Yeah, you once said that good baking takes place in the comfort of your home.

Speaker 3: 20:40

That's my motto. Yeah and Go ahead. Yeah, I firmly believe that there's a different experience when you're baking in a home. I see baking as being so. You know I don't want to get too deep, but so spiritual.

Speaker 2: 20:58

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 20:58

You know, like just being raised in a home that had so much baking just the feelings that you get the. You know, when I'm baking sometimes I feel my grandmother with me. You know, sometimes, when I make a specific cake or pastry, you know, it brings me back to a memory of my childhood. That just that is very positive.

Speaker 2: 21:19

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 21:20

So I feel like it's so spiritual that you don't necessarily get that if you're in a sterile environment. You know industrial kitchen and all that In the home. I think I produce my best, yeah, because I have that supportive emotional environment with me.

Speaker 2: 21:36

OK, yeah, I can see that. And is this why? Because you have this core memory of baking at home with your mom. That flowerhouse, you know, is now taking on a similar modality, because it's like really your comfort zone, right, Right, I can definitely see that. So I mentioned flowerhouse and I think I mentioned it once in the intro, but we're going to talk about it, like, first of all, when was flowerhouse formed, you know, when was it born?

Speaker 3: 22:09

I mean, flowerhouse has been around. It's been around for gosh over 15, 16 years, but I only incorporated the business back in 2016. And I think 2016 was a pivotal year for me because that's when I decided that I was going to do this and put this skill of mine more in the forefront. So it always existed, but it existed kind of in an auxiliary fashion.

Speaker 2: 22:40

I didn't want to fully claim it. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 22:43

But in 2016, I said I'm going forward and I'm going to claim this and I incorporated it. So it's been around for since 2016. And since I went public with it and incorporated, it just blew up. It just started blooming.

Speaker 2: 22:59

Right, you don't say it's blooming, it just blew up, yeah.

Speaker 3: 23:04

To my surprise. To my surprise, it just blew up.

Speaker 2: 23:07

Yeah, man, it's doing very, it's doing very, very well. Flowerhouse, when you said that you didn't want to claim it, what was preventing you from owning and claiming it?

Speaker 3: 23:22

I mean, I think, looking back now, I think there was a fear. There was a fear of failure. Because I have done so well in my science career. The thought of starting something more official was scary Because I didn't want to take a chance. I always have my parents in the back of my head tell me remember, this is a hobby, you're a scientist, this is a hobby. So I didn't want to necessarily claim it, but I took that chance. I don't know what changed within me, but back then, by 2016, I said I think it's time.

Speaker 2: 24:00

Yeah, absolutely, and I'm glad you made that decision and deciding that it was time for you to claim it right. So Flowerhouse's former is incorporated and you've claimed everything about this passion of yours and this talent or this gift of yours. When the media attention started, how tell me about Lincoln, the person? How did you feel? What did that make you feel? How did you manage being blown up per se?

Speaker 3: 24:32

I mean that took a lot to get used to Because before any media attention I only had that one magazine publication. That kind of gave me that push to move forward. But it was tough. It was tough because I wasn't comfortable being in the media, being in social media and showing my face. I've always just shown my work but never had to show my face, and so it took a different level of building a confidence in order to be comfortable with it.

Speaker 3: 25:05

Because once the name got out there, a local magazine contacted me right away, the Grand Rapids Magazine, where I was before Grand Rapids, michigan, and it's a big magazine for the region and I was nervous. I was very nervous to be in there because I said, well, I know I want to claim this business, but now if I get in a magazine, I really have to claim this business Absolutely. What happens when more and more people get to know who I am? Do I have to expose more of myself and how much of me do I have to give? That's what I didn't know. I got so caught up in trying to figure out how do I maintain me? The business also not interrupt what I'm doing at my university because I have a public career as a scientist and a dean.

Speaker 3: 26:01

So it's like how do I keep these different things separate?

Speaker 2: 26:04

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 26:05

So I struggled a lot in the beginning.

Speaker 2: 26:09

Would you walk away from the public health career for the baking?

Speaker 3: 26:17

Wait, who's going to be listening? Well, would I walk away? You know, I don't think I would have to walk away, but would I reprioritize? Yeah, yes, I would. I think it's grown beyond a passion now. It has always been a passion, but I think it's grown beyond that Now. It's so incorporated into who I am and in my life that I can easily see that.

Speaker 3: 26:50

And I've been asked many times why are you doing this? I filmed a show on Disney and I was talking to one of the producers and they're like we just read this bio that says you're a dean. They're like what are you doing, doing that when you do this? Like why, you know, and then just the question keeps coming why, the why, the why? And I feel like I think part of this is culture. I mean, we grew up having many skills, many jobs, you know. I think about my grandmother being a teacher. I hear she was a nurse, she was working at the post office, she was a seamstress. Yeah, you know, we have many jobs. I'm like, for me, that thought that you can only have one thing. It's foreign to me.

Speaker 2: 27:40

Yeah, it is foreign. It's a foreign concept to us.

Speaker 3: 27:44

Yeah, it's very foreign to us. So to walk away. I don't think I necessarily have to walk away from it, but I think I could reprioritize it and move this to the full one.

Speaker 2: 27:54

Yeah, so the show you mentioned on Disney is is it Foodtastic?

Speaker 3: 27:58

Yes, it was Foodtastic.

Speaker 2: 28:00

Yeah, one Our Listeners to Know right that he mentioned Disney, it's Foodtastic, and I also want our listeners to know that in 2021, wedding Day magazine named you and your company, one of the top bakers in the Midwest. Ok, so listeners, trust me, this is not no playfully a thing. This is my real thing.

Speaker 3: 28:21

My real thing is this Real?

Speaker 2: 28:22

thing, this Real thing where I talk about.

Speaker 3: 28:25

Yes.

Speaker 2: 28:26

So just to kind of shift our gears a little bit right. I saw that on Instagram the day when I scouted you and then we connected. Yes, it's that you said my art is my medicine, my art is my medicine. My art, my baking is, I think, like I tell my husband all the time, like it's intercalated in my DNA. At this point, yes, it's what I actually need to survive and that is why because, like when I found this baking thing, lincoln, I never need this. You know, I didn't need this drama. I was behind the scene. I'm an introvert at heart. No one, nobody know me. No one, nobody know my business. And then here I am with these cakes that our people are flocking to and loving, and I was doing it for my own personal survival. So talk to me a little bit right About how is it your medicine? What does it do for you?

Speaker 3: 29:30

It's funny because it's almost like a drug. There's been so many times I've said this is going to be my last year, I'm just going to walk away. I mean, there's so much going on with family and the career and all this stuff and this is a hobby. I love the passion, all this, but I'm like maybe I'll walk away.

Speaker 3: 29:52

I've been saying that for the last maybe eight years, and that's what I realize that this is more than just what it is baking and the cake artistry. It's medicine, and I'm at a point now that it's like insulin. I need it to survive when I'm low. I want to create. It's something that I don't know how I would function if it wasn't in my life, and I think, that's why I've never walked away from it.

Speaker 3: 30:25

Yeah, it's just. There's something, as I said, that has become more a spiritual connection to the art than it was just a hobby and all that. It's now as I said, the medicine that I now need in my life. Now let's see, I don't know, the next couple of 10 years the arthritis might kick in. The knees aren't so good as they were before. We'll see what happens. But until those joints go out, it's still going to be that essential medication that I need.

Speaker 2: 31:05

And I'm going to say even then you'll find a way around it, You'll figure out a way to get that in. And right now, for me, I'm really baking through things, Because whenever I'm struggling, I have to bake through things, and this is why, with the Cake Therapy Foundation, I'm trying to tell women and girls that listen, talk therapy is great, but there are other outlets, there are other art forms that you can use to help combat this or to support this. Talk therapy so I'm really happy to like all these conversations that I've been having tells the story of how this culinary art form is really helping the baker to center themselves and telling others that it can become something that they can use to center themselves. So I'm really excited about that. So tell me about how do you manage all of this with children? Are you doing this cake thing?

Speaker 2: 32:12

Are the kids involved. You said you don't want to be a baker. No, I don't want to be a baker, so nobody.

Speaker 3: 32:17

Somebody want to be with me, you know. So, while I was doing, the business really growing the business?

Speaker 2: 32:26

unfortunately I went through a divorce.

Speaker 3: 32:29

So that was a traumatic time in my life Family separation, all of that traumatic time and I realized that I could have went to other vices and other things to cope. But the baking was always there and I think the baking helped me to get through a lot of that stuff. Some of the most interesting creations I've made was during that really hard time and I think I was channeling a lot of the emotions I was going through at the time through that. My kids I have three kids, they're all teenagers a lot helped me. They've never expressed an interest at all in baking.

Speaker 1: 33:15

I don't know why.

Speaker 3: 33:16

I mean, they grew up around it, they saw me doing it, they still see me doing it. And actually my daughter she's the eldest. She and I made a cake together for the first time I made. She showed interest. She's almost 17.

Speaker 3: 33:33

She showed interest and we made this Star Wars cake together and just kind of stepping back and looking at her, I almost got really emotional because it reminded me of myself and my mother and I realized maybe I'm not pushing it enough, maybe I'm not fostering it enough, because the baking is more than just the baking. There's so much symbolism, the therapy that comes up, the discussions that my daughter and I had during that baking we would have never had before. That's why I thought about this boyfriend she says she had.

Speaker 2: 34:12

She said she had to push out of the book.

Speaker 3: 34:19

So it's just that's why I am such a advocate for this art, this creative form, because it's more than what we just see it to be. Absolutely, it really can bring out the best in people and help to be transformative for people, and I just saw how that one moment in time with my daughter and I made such a difference.

Speaker 2: 34:46

Absolutely so. You mentioned that one moment with your daughter. I want you to speak to girls and women, but not just women and girls, but anyone with anything to overcome, one with a dream in their heart too. Speak to those individuals.

Speaker 3: 35:08

Yeah, definitely, definitely. I mean a lot of us. We struggle to find passion, we struggle to find meaning, especially when we go through very traumatic things or we feel lost. I feel like this art form has a way that allows you to do a lot of self-discovery, Helps you to reclaim how you thought you had identified yourself. There is something about this focused passion of creating that I think really makes a difference on how you can live your life in a different manner, in a different way. For me, I could speak personally that baking has saved my life because, again, going through a traumatic not going in all sorts of stuff, but having childhood trauma that I experienced- and then went through a divorce.

Speaker 3: 36:06

These things trigger a lot and what the baking did for me was it helped me to stay focused and during the process of creating I'm reflecting, I'm making meaning as I'm making cakes and then having supportive people around while you're doing that is also so important because you don't even realize sometimes when you're having a discussion over making cake. You start getting so deep into something. You start having aha moments in your discussion, like, oh, I never thought about that.

Speaker 3: 36:37

Just having the baking experience with my daughter, so many aha moments, so many things I've missed and I realized, wow, why did it take so long for the two of us to get together and to really talk? That I realized I missed this in her upbringing, that I didn't realize I missed. So, as I said, it's a way of allowing a supportive and an environment for us to really get to know ourselves better, get to know others better and to help us heal. It's really, I think, that type of transformation that happens through this. It allows us to heal ourselves.

Speaker 2: 37:18

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for sharing that. And to the same individuals who are listening and they want to be like Dr Lincoln Alexander, you know, owner of Flowerhouse Cake.

Speaker 3: 37:31

Or Dr Altresha Foster Listen, listen, I will continue to big you up Because you are an amazing artist and scientist as well Two unicorns in a row.

Speaker 2: 37:45

Thank you so much. I know I know All right. So for the listeners who want to be like Altresha or Lincoln, right, what is your number one tip? Baking tip for them.

Speaker 3: 37:56

Number one baking tip. I always tell folks I used to do a baking camp for kids and they always say to me, well, I want to be a baker. And I said, well, here's the number one tip. I would say Find what you are most passionate about with baking. Some people it's the baking, some people it's the art, Some people it's just the design. Find whatever it is that you are most passionate about with this art form and then become an expert at that. You don't have to be an expert at everything.

Speaker 3: 38:28

Become an expert at that. One thing I know for myself I'm not an expert in all art forms, but I'm a learner, I'm a researcher. I will find out how to do it, but I do know that I had to specialize in something. So for me, my specialty in baking and artistry is working with gum paste, working with modeling, chocolate and fondant.

Speaker 1: 38:49

That is my thing.

Speaker 3: 38:50

We have buttercream experts out there and all that. Not really my thing, but I do it. So find what you're most passionate about and really perfect your skill in it.

Speaker 2: 39:01

Yeah, absolutely Great advice Find what you're most passionate about and become great at it. So what is in the works for Flowerhouse Cake?

Speaker 3: 39:10

You know what?

Speaker 2: 39:11

he patins a guan Right Right.

Speaker 3: 39:14

That was guan. I was guaning over here. So there's a lot happening right now, so I just wrapped up filming a show which I can't talk about yet because you know these non-disclosure agreements.

Speaker 3: 39:25

But I just don't know that will be released this spring. So look out for it. I'm really excited about it. I Do have some other big projects coming up. I've taken on some really great clients. I think just with some of the media exposure it's, it's really growing my, my reach. Yeah, oh, I have an amazing project that's gonna be happening in California this year and Another piece that's in the works right now is a book, and I have to say I have to thank dr Foster for encouraging me because I sat down and I read this cake therapy baking changed my life, thank you.

Speaker 3: 40:15

Yes, and let me tell you a great read and I think it was very inspiring of of the books inspire me to Talk about my own journey. You know, I think we all have a story to share. Yeah and I don't think we always Feel confident or feel like our story is is good enough to share, and this helped me to truly think about how my life experiences may be impactful to somebody else.

Speaker 2: 40:48

Absolutely yeah, tell the story. Yeah tell it's scared. And telling the story what? Telling the story doesn't mean you have to show All of you right. You know well the parts of you that will impact others, so tell the story, do it.

Speaker 3: 41:06

Yes, so I just I started pending some things, but we'll see. We'll see how far I get on it, but I hope to to be able to share something soon.

Speaker 2: 41:16

Yeah, man, Let me know if you need some insights of course, oh.

Speaker 2: 41:22

Well, oh, my goodness, this has been such an awesome Conversation with you today. I I wanted to tell our listeners that you know, as promised, we promised we we provide, you know, great slices of joy and healing, and I think this was an entire Cake. Today We've had cakes in the space and I'm really excited. I want to say thank you again for joining us. I want to encourage your listeners to check out our foundation website, cake that therapy, that org, and or just listen to the cake therapy podcast. You can also buy us a coffee to support girls going through or being impacted by trauma in the community that the cake therapy Foundation is really trying to provide support too. So thank you again for joining us and thank you for listening.

Speaker 3: 42:11

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 42:12

Thank you, Lincoln.

Speaker 1: 42:14

Thank you for tuning in to the cake therapy podcast. Your support means the world to us. Let us know what you thought about today's episode in the comment section. Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcast and if you found the conversation helpful, please share it with a friend. Also, follow sugar spoon desserts on all social media platforms. We invite you to support cake therapy and the work we do with our foundation by clicking on the buy me a coffee link in the description or by visiting the cake therapy website and making a donation. All your support will go towards the cake therapy foundation and the work we are doing to help women and girls. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you on the next episode.