Here we are  one month beyond the new year – Wow, how time flies! While having lunch today at the Cheese Cake factory with my friend Talisa, I had the opportunity to meet one of her close friends Maggie who was in town visiting family. It was a really nice outing, we dined, laughed and talked about everything from work to school to children.  Midway through, Maggie  began to show us some photos of the most incredibly designed cakes I had ever seen!!! No really, if these cakes only taste half as good as they look, I’m sold!

These were not your ordinary looking pastel -icing, butter cream – decorative flower lined cakes. These were beautifully hand crafted works of art! I’m talking lady bugs, chocolate Barbies, caterpillars and butterflies! Prior to her revealing it, I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined that the pictures were of cakes, let alone being anything remotely  edible. The entrepreneur in me immediately envisioned Maggie’s cakes ranking high upon Oprah’s  list of Favorite Things. I inquired about her website and marketing strategy, she told me that she bakes as a means of comfort and only wants to do it for non-profit organizations right now because she’s not certain if she can handle high volume orders  yet.  Maggie is actively researching shipping options that will allow her cakes to be shipped and arrive in tact, as this is one of her biggest concerns.

Maggie has no formal pastry chef training and bakes all of her cakes from scratch – Home made -No Betty Crocker here. Currently, Maggie only has a Facebook page: (FACEBOOK.COM/NOTENUFCAKE) where she displays pictures of her phenomenal artisan cakes.  Her full website “NOTENUFCAKE.com” will hopefully be available in 2010.  I would love to encourage Maggie and anyone else reading this article who has a natural born talent to follow through!!! You never know how far you’ll go if you never give it a try. No one ever got anywhere by doing nothing. Don’t be afraid of success – use any failure as fuel and don’t let fear stifle your dreams.

I must say that this past year has been one of gratitude and reflection for me. I have had the opportunity to be reconnected with childhood friends as well as make a plethora of new acquaintances through all the great social media networks: Twitter, Facebook, ISeeColor… I can’t wait to see what 2010 has in store for everyone, I pray that everyone will live abundantly, prosperously and utilize each day as expeditiously and we possibly can because just as 2010 rapidly approached – 2011 will be here in the bat of an eyelash.

Do you have a dream you’re afraid to follow? Do you know of someone who does and would definitely be successful? What words of encouragement would you offer to someone who’s afraid to take the preliminary steps towards realizing their dreams? Reach out to someone and encourage them to make it happen!