Telling Women's Lives

Kook – Community Leader Profile on Danielle Kattan

Whisk-y Business: Where there’s a whisk there’s a way
Danielle Kattan Cakes of Winston-Salem
By E. Emma Kook

The woman rummaged through her purse, past the school notes, the home bills, and the ‘To- Do’ lists, until she finally found what she was looking for. The paper was crumpled and weathered. Yet there on the page were beautiful works of art.

Danielle Kattan, owner of Danielle Kattan Cakes, does not just bake cakes. She crafts edible artwork. She may run her business from her home kitchen but her creativity and skill have earned her several baking awards, including the 2017 Couple’s Choice award from the website Wedding Wire.

“I have always had this fire within me, this strong desire to do something of my own,” Kattan said in a recent interview.

A native of Honduras, Kattan grew up in an entrepreneurial family. From a young age, she believed she would work in the fashion industry alongside her father. Initially, Kattan traveled to Mexico and Miami to pursue her career in Fashion Design. But things changed when she returned to Honduras, met her husband and started a family.

When she and her family moved to Winston-Salem, Kattan became driven by her desire to do something. She returned to school to study culinary arts, winning high honors. Uncovering her passion for cake design, she then studied as an apprentice to Chef Donald McMillan at the Stocked Pot, a local kitchen used for teaching, where she became the chief pastry chef.

“Danielle came to me full of energy, and not once did she lose that spark. There were those days that family and responsibilities took center stage, but that did not stop her,” said Chef McMillan “She held her ground with all of us men.”

Kattan knew she could do this for herself but the dream kept slipping from her grasp. Family took priority.

“You have to take one day at a time. Do you pay someone else to raise your children so you can focus on your business?” Kattan said, as if asking herself, “Family is very important in Honduras and many people do not have the luxury to work for [what they] want.”

So she started working from her home kitchen. This gave balance to life and work while providing an example to her sons. The business launched in 2006 but she encountered a great deal of backlash from community friends. “Other mothers were not supportive,” Kattan said. “They were not afraid to share their opinions. Many thought it was stupid of me to open a business because of my children or because of my family’s mortgage.”

In spite of that criticism, the greatest obstacle Kattan overcame was personal dissuasion. To let go of sacrifices and risks are hard, especially when the mother is the glue that keeps the family together. But able to silence the discouraging voice, Kattan realized everything she needed was right there along with her family support.

In 2009 the Kattan family’s relocation to Thailand was a major turning point for Danielle Kattan Cakes. Kattan returned to culinary school and successfully completed the Thai Cuisine program at Le Cordon Bleu School. With her children a bit older and living in a foreign place, she was able to reach out to the community through her baking. Networking with locals, in particular, helped strengthen her goals. Among the many people she met, Allena, a Greek chef, left a special mark. The owner of four Greek restaurants in Thailand, she helped Kattan see the value of sticking to your dreams.

Kattan’s business was fueled by the support of female entrepreneurs. Working with InnovateHER, a local Winston-Salem company that helps women with start-up ideas, her confidence grew to move the business forward.

“When I first met Danielle I was impressed by her drive and desire. She had done so much research and preparation,” said Fay Horwitt, owner of InnovateHER. “I saw her confidence grow working with InnovateHER. I realized this woman was going to accomplish whatever she set her mind to.”

Kattan believes starting a business is often easier for a man. There is no worry of running out of time to start a family nor any pressure to have a family in the first place. However, Kattan mentions the importance for women to be open to advice and mentorship from men.

“When I first started out, the chef career was like a men’s club. They thought because I was a young woman I could not possibly be experienced,” said Kattan, who won first place winner in the Kellogg’s ‘Make It Special’ dessert recipe contest in 2007. “Because of their ignorance, I was able to hold my ground and learn. I am proud of myself.”

By 2012 Danielle Kattan Cakes was re-launched in the Winston-Salem area – this time with a new desire to achieve. More advertising, more networking, and more time went into the business. Now the only thing holding back Danielle Kattan Cakes is funding. Still in hopes of finding an angel investor, Kattan has continued to delay her expansion project. Kattan’s long-term goal is to turn her cake business into a wine-and-cake evening café. But nevertheless, Kattan is very pleased with the success of her company.

She proudly folds the piece of weathered paper and places it back into her bag. It falls to the bottom, below the school notes, the bills, and the ‘To-Do’ lists, but it stills holds an important place in her purse.

“If you want to taste the fruits, you have to be willing to plant the seeds, shower it with nutrients and love, and have the patience to watch it grow through all types of weather and seasons,” Kattan said. “But I promise, if you do this, it will give you fruits.”

Emma Kook – Reader Response for Unfinished Business and The 30% Solution

Can women really have it all? Slaughter seems to believe it can only be the case if caregiving dilemmas become a gender neutral issue. Deriving from personal experiences, Slaughter found it difficult to move up in her career while finding time for family commitments. When she finally decided to choose family over a promotion she was greatly criticized by colleagues. This seemed odd when most people at work were going through the same problems. The main problem appeared to stem from the workplace. It made people choose, which led to a lack of value for caregivers. Slaughter says we are locked in “the struggle to combine competition and care in a system that rewards one and penalizes the other.” In order to change this, Slaughter has proposed to make it everybody’s business. Change it from a primarily female issue to an issue that affects all parents in the situation, while educating companies on the importance of balancing family and career goals.

The 30% Solution complemented the Slaughter piece well. Its main idea is to push the number of women found in leadership roles to 30%. The belief is that by having at least 30% of women represented in these roles, equality will happen and changes will be made to ensure it does. In other words, solutions for gender equality will be implemented because they won’t just be talked about but will be taken seriously with women at the helm. As Senator Landrieu says, “Do you really think if the US Senate was comprised of 91 women and 9 men we’d still be just talking about good child care instead of making it happen?”

These two pieces are significant because they raise the issue that women are still the primary gender that has to choose between promotions or family. Slaughter believes the solution is to convert caregiving into a neutral dilemma which will begin to trigger the 30% Solution. Once caregiving becomes a neutral issue, more women will likely stick in the competition and move up to more leadership roles. This will, in turn, start to create an equal working environment which will lead to more gender equality solutions being implemented, forming almost a circle of progress taken from the two pieces.

Emma Kook – Reader Response for Farmer Jane

Reading the opening chapter of Farmer Jane stirred a memory from my childhood. When I was about 5 years old my class took a trip to Walton’s Farm, a local farm filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and free roaming animals. This place was incredible to see, especially from a young child’s eyes. At that age, you do not think about where your food comes from therefore an experience like this opens up a new world to a child. I decided to do some research, as this book sprung curiosity towards my hometown, and I found that 80% of Bermuda’s food is imported, and that is not a small feat by any means. It has to be shipped or flown over to Bermuda, which usually takes a few days meaning most of the food we get is processed or full of GMOs as to preserve the produce. It is sad to think, especially after reading this book, that Bermuda believes its land has more worth than to be used for farming. Not only is this devastating from the sustainable and environmental viewpoint, it is also scary in terms of survival. If there were a crisis that prevented transportation to Bermuda, 80% of the population would be without food.

Therefore, I believe the woman whose story had the greatest impact on me was Dru Rivers, Farmer of Full Belly Farm. A laughing Buddha icon welcomes families and children to the diversified, organic farm. A farm which is full of music, food, laughter, and thousands of people. Full Belly Farms has taken farming to a whole new innovative level by creating a fun and exciting environment for city-dwellers. They create seasonal produce boxes which they serve to over 1,500 customers while providing a hands-on experience to appreciate the importance of farming. Rivers has changed the thinking associated with farming. She has created an exciting, happy, and healthy environment that has greatly encouraged people to think organic before heading to the grocery store. Receiving constant requests to expand, it is clear Full Belly Farm is changing the consumer mindset behind purchasing food. Yet, Rivers believes in the importance of not becoming ‘removed’ from the family business by staying local and appropriately seized. For Rivers, farming is more important than the money.

Emma Kook – Reader Response

Gender disparity is weaved deep into our society. Often we are unable to recognize when biased behavior is occurring. As “The Effects of Gender Roles” article by Rachel Godsil identifies, this biased behavior is socially ingrained in our workforce behavior that it is subtle but it has a substantial impact on women. This issue comes to the forefront in the interview with Dr. Urry who shares her concerns with sexual harassment occurring at astronomy conferences. It is upsetting to read how prominent and typical it is for women to be ‘hit on’ by work colleagues and superiors.

In terms of gender disparity in the workplace, from the articles, it became clear how few women are found in many political positions, leadership positions, and STEM-focused jobs. It is crazy to me that we have to persuade people to hire more women when it has been proven the capabilities of men and women are equal. Yet the answer to decreasing gender disparity found in “Why are there still so Few Women in Science?” by Eileen Pollack, is to broaden the pool of females in this positions to make the culture more livable. Pollack went on to identify that this will not “lower standards” which is disheartening to me that she feels the need to point this out.

The articles acknowledged that success is entirely dependent on culture. These disparities in culture have caused the disparities among gender. I found the 1999 Math Test Study discussed in Pollack’s article to be very interesting. Clearly, cultural signals affect a woman’s ability to perform. In a society where women are faced with biased behavior, it seems only natural that women have struggled with success in the workforce. Dr. Urry shared her experience with becoming a scientist and the constant discouragement that came from her male professors and superiors. This continuous dissuasion is bound to get into the heads of many women that will begin to believe for themselves they are incapable. Gender disparities are subtle norms that are ingrained in our daily lives. This culture is the reason for success; it is not a matter of gender.

Emma Kook: News Article

Yoshiko Shinohara is the first female entrepreneur in Japan to become a billionaire. Overcoming divorce and the limitations of the business world as a female, Shinohara changed the corporate culture of Japan. Unfazed by the struggles of the business world, she makes it clear nothing would hold her back; not the law, not her citizenship, not even her sex.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/24/japans-first-self-made-woman-billionaire-sees-opportunity-in-mistakes.html

WFU Student Leader Profile

Student to interview: Kathryn Webster

Kathryn Webster is an incredible leader on campus. She has been involved in the Wake Forest Innovation center with many start-up ideas, Leaders in Heels, Treasurer of Student Government, Chair of Bolunteer Service Corps, as well as some many other programs. One of her greatest achievements has been creating a friendlier environment for students with disabilities, as she understands what it is like to have to adapt. Majoring at the Business School, Kathryn has overcome many obstacles as a visually impaired student. She is a true inspirational leader.