Tori Chasing Hawk achieves sweet success with side hustle.
What started out as a way for Tori Chasing Hawk to make some extra cash has grown into a booming business that now employs seven part-time workers. T’s Sweet Treats offers a variety of freshly baked and beautiful confections to the community members of Eagle Butte, South Dakota, on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.
Tori says it all started in 2021 when her daughter, Tommi, was on a traveling basketball team. She and her daughter started making and selling cake pops to help with the sports travel expenses. During these early days, they really focused on formulating their recipe.
“It was a lot of trial and error at first – making the portions right size, getting the right consistency. It needs to be perfect to work out all together,” explains Tori.
Even though the cake pops turned out to be a great fundraiser for the basketball season, Tori didn’t realize she was actually setting the foundation for something bigger than she ever imagined. A year went by, and then her daughter expressed interest in picking up where they left off.
“She said she had $60 and wanted to start a cake pop business,” says Tori. Supporting her daughter’s entrepreneurial spirit, Tori helped Tommi order the supplies and start advertising. T’s Sweet Treats was officially launched.
“We posted on Snapchat and sold to family and friends. We did that for a few weekends, but then we started getting more requests for orders,” says Tori.
Tommi kept a good pace through the summer of 2023 by engaging the community through social media and experienced viral growth on Facebook. But when sports started up that fall, Tori stepped in and started helping with the business more. That’s about the time she became aware that the business was becoming more than expected and they needed to think about how to keep up with the growing demand.
“I didn’t know how to run a business or anything, but I took CREATE,” says Tori. CREATE (Cheyenne River Entrepreneurial Assistance Training and Education), delivered by Four Bands Community Fund, is a comprehensive business development class that guides aspiring entrepreneurs step-by-step through the process of starting a business.
“It was a lot to learn. I didn’t know how much goes into running a business,” reflects Tori on her CREATE experience. Through the class, Tori developed a plan to scale the cake pop business into a type of virtual bakery.
She explains, “I wanted to keep my regular job but still do the baking. I saw a refrigerated vending machine on YouTube, so I figured out how much of a loan I would need and how much I would need to sell. Building the business plan and doing the projections was my favorite part of CREATE.”
Using a loan from Four Bands, Tori purchased a customized refrigerated vending machine and a locker pick-up station that uses smart technology to deliver cake pops, crunch cakes, cheesecakes, chocolate covered strawberries, and custom order baked goods to customers. On November 30, 2024, T’s Sweet Treats hosted a grand opening celebration at their new location in the Four Bands business incubator on Main Street. Since then, the business’s growth has exploded.
“I thought I would need to fill the vending machine once a week, but it’s more like once a day,” says Tori.
To keep up with the demand, Tori has hired seven part-time employees who help her bake in the evenings. She fills the vending machine in the mornings before work, and most days by noon the crunch cakes – the biggest sellers – are gone. In just a few short months of taking a strategic growth step, Tori is having to think, yet again, on how to keep pace with the increasing demand. She is evaluating the potential for hiring staff, adding a commercial kitchen, or even a brick-and-mortar bakery; but she is taking her time and being intentional about the decisions she makes for the future.
She is also enjoying the sweet success of this entrepreneurial venture. The business is providing extra financial support for her large family of seven, but for Tori the best part is being able to give back to the community. Some of her helpers are teens who are gaining valuable work experience and earning some extra money for themselves. T’s Sweet Treats has gained recognition within the community as a thriving business and now receives requests to support fundraisers. Tori says she loves donating to bake sales because she is supporting – not competing with – local causes.
“If it wasn’t for the community and the support they have given us, we wouldn’t be where we are at today,” expresses Tori with gratitude.