The Secret Ingredient

October 8, 2018
Entrepreneur Butler convincingly demonstrates the sass and determination that made her Gigi’s Cupcakes empire a success. Hoping to become a country singer after college, Butler supported herself as a house cleaner, first in her native California, and then in Nashville. Despite her best efforts at singing, Butler found herself making far more money from her cleaning business than her music; she then focused on another dream, to own a cupcake shop. She saved and borrowed money to open her first shop in downtown Nashville in 2007; since then her business has grown to more than 94 locations, attracting celebrity clients (Taylor Swift’s favorite confection is said to be the Scarlett Red Velvet) and everyday folks alike. Butler writes with wit and honesty about her bumpy road to success in life and in love (including a brief marriage and a romance with a Navy SEAL, the father of her daughter) and on the importance of learning from other entrepreneurs. She opens each chapter with a recipe and a story behind it; Hunka Chunka Banana Love, for instance, was “the first cupcake I baked the morning I opened the original Gigi’s.” Butler’s memoir provides an encouraging argument for the value of chasing dreams.

November 15, 2018
Butler, the entrepreneur behind the popular Gigi's Cupcakes chain, shares her inspiring story. She founded her first business, a housecleaning company, as a teen living in rural California. But her passion was music, and after high school and one semester of college, she packed up and moved to Nashville in the hopes of making it as a country singer. Despite years of networking, gigging, and recording, Butler's singing career didn't take off, and though she had success with her reestablished housecleaning service, she wanted something more, and she found it in family recipes. With no experience in commercial baking but a lot of faith, Butler opened her first bakery in an up-and-coming Nashville neighborhood in 2008?just in time for the cupcake trend. With its conversational tone, this memoir reads like a chatty mentor sharing helpful advice and the occasional personal anecdote rather than a how-to guide for budding entrepreneurs, but there's plenty to learn from Butler's experiences. Christian readers will find Butler's faith especially appealing, and if all the talk of cupcakes makes readers hungry, there are recipes at the end of each chapter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)