Black Aurora business woman, Tamara Turner will be hosting a Grand Opening on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 for Silver Spoon Desserts. The Grand Opening will be at 10:00 am at 3501 W. 48th Place #2W.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May 2021, after working with a catering company providing food service for American Airlines, Turner then was asked to have her desserts served on the airlines\u2019 domestic flights. Turner recently moved her business to a 16,000\u2013square-foot building in Chicago, to accommodate the influx of orders for American Airlines. It was a new home for Silver Spoon Desserts, and another success story for Black women business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turner\u2019s business coach, a Black woman from Aurora, Terrie Simmons, recalls Turner\u2019s humble beginnings. Turner had approached several places, including Portillo\u2019s restaurant, as a destination to sell her infamous Bundt cakes. However, during that time, Turner did not have an established business or a location, just her Bundt cakes for sale. She had the small cakes in all sizes and flavors, but her options for expanding her business as a Black woman were far and few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI began working with Tamara in 2017. And now, just five years later, Tamara\u2019s business model has excelled,\u201d said Simmons, Turner\u2019s business coach and CEO of Strategic Exceptions, an Aurora-based organization that caters to the growth of small businesses. Simmons is an Illinois business trailblazer, formerly of ComEd and the Aurora Women\u2019s Business Development Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBlack women in business often receive little to no support to help their small businesses thrive. I had grown tired of seeing Black women struggle to maintain the same businesses they worked so hard to build, from the ground up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year, Turner told ABC 7, that she launched her Bundt cakes business, Silver Spoon Desserts, in 2017 because she \u201cheard the voice of what I am going to call God, tell me to do the cakes first. I was told, \u2018do the cakes first.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you know the term, \u2018born with a silver spoon in your mouth\u2019 it makes you wonder why Tamara would name her business that,\u201d said Simmons. \u201cShe, by no means, was born into privilege, or had an easy life. I often tell my clients that the thing about small business ventures is that they take a big heart. Tamara had that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black business owners are traditionally underserved in Illinois, and across the country. According to estimates based on the Federal Reserve\u2019s Survey of Consumer Finance, Black businesses have 1.3% of total U.S. sales and 1.7% of the nation\u2019s employees. According to recent government data, the racial wealth gap is between $8 trillion and $10 trillion, with nearly 20 million white-owned businesses in the U.S. that obtains 88% of overall sales and controls nearly 90% of the nation’s employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen [Tamara] first started her business, it started as an idea based off her love of baking. Strategic Exceptions worked with her on necessary skills to strengthen Silver Spoon Desserts, using her personal journey as a Black woman to help brand her business. The rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To learn more about Silver Spoon Desserts, visit the website at www.silverspoondesserts.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n