She takes the

Cake Lori Mullins Pitts (96C) wasn’t looking for inspiration the day she walked into a cupcake shop in New Orleans –

the successful accountant and CFO of an Atlanta-based CPA firm simply wanted something to satisfy her sweet tooth. She walked away with a delicious treat and a spark of entrepreneurial desire to launch a similar enterprise. The result was a whole new course for her life. “After 20 years in accounting, I was starting to feel cooped up sitting in an office all day long,” she explained. “I always knew I wanted to be self-directed, and I was looking for something more.” Excited by the thought of opening a business better suited to her personality, Pitts decided it was time to take a risk. “I was about to turn 40, and I thought, ‘I’m just going to try it!’” she recalled. “Then I started running the numbers until one day I said, ‘I think I can actually make money at this.’” Today, the owner of two successful “Smallcakes” franchises in Metro Atlanta and a third in Augusta has proven her intuition to be correct. She also has discovered that her love of baking is matched by a passion for entrepreneurship. “I think it’s my personality,” she related. “I’m never satisfied to just say, ‘OK, I’m

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Berry Magazine • Spring 2015