On Friday afternoon, Warren Brown '93, founder of CakeLove bakery and Love Café, and host of the Food Network's hit show "Sugar Rush," returned to his alma mater to serve Italian buttercream meringue cupcakes in the Blue Room.
"It's a great way to blow off class and steam," said Brown, joking about how he thought of the idea to serve cupcakes to students.
Brown and Dana Cowin '82, editor-in-chief of Food and Wine Magazine, were back on campus for the first annual Alumni Spotlight event, sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations and the Office of Campus Life and Student Services. According to David Greene, vice president for Campus Life and Student Services, Alumni Spotlight was created to improve the quality of programming outside of the classroom by connecting students with notable alums.
Brown's visit included speaking as a guest in Professor Barrett Hazeltine's EN 90: "Managerial Decision Making" on April 6, along with a well-attended informal talk in Arnold Lounge the same day.
While Brown began his career as a litigator for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, he explained to EN 90 students how he was able to receive a large bank loan in March 2002 to begin his dream business, CakeLove bakery, in Washington, D.C., and eventually two Love Cafés. The success of his operation resulted in an offer from the Food Network to host his own show.
The highlight of Brown's visit to campus was an interview conducted by Cowin. The interview was modeled after the television series, "Inside the Actor's Studio," and was appropriately titled, "Inside the Stuart Studio," as it took place in Stuart Theatre. In the beginning of the program, the audience, composed of both students and members of the Providence community, viewed a short clip from "Sugar Rush."
During the interview portion of the program, Brown spoke about his journey to success. Brown said he came up with the idea to start a bakery in response to positive comments he received from travelers while walking through John F. Kennedy International Airport with a homemade cake wrapped in blue bubble-wrap. It was at this moment he decided cake would be his entry into the business world.
Still, Brown had a lot of learning to do. While he grew up cooking burritos and pasta, he was now faced with the challenge of learning how to bake professional cakes. To solve his knowledge deficit, Brown read cookbooks. Though he did take one cooking class to learn about the art of decorating cakes, he is largely a self-trained baker.
For Brown, cooking is all about visualization. "I put myself in the bowl when I am cooking. I am part of the bowl," he said.
Brown's business philosophy focuses on customer satisfaction, he said, adding, "We have to understand what our customers want and match that."
While Brown is not looking to sell his product wholesale, he does want to expand the business by opening more bakeries across the country, he said.
Both Brown and Cowin expressed their satisfaction in being able to return to the University to share their stories with students.
"I love Brown and I take any chance I can to come back," Cowin said. She also said that it was the people she interacted with in college, combined with the University's overall philosophy of personal choice and independence, that helped her create her success.
Brown ended his interview by telling students how important it is to find a passion in life. For him, opening a cake shop and running his own business is about finding happiness. Having been an imaginative and inquisitive child, Brown said "(Baking) feels a lot like what I used to do as a kid."
When Cowin asked Brown to describe his goals for the future, he concluded by saying, "I like to think my painting is not yet finished."
Because Brown did not start his career as a baker, Greene said Brown could serve as an inspiration to students. "He is a real entrepreneur ... because he took risks to follow his dream," Greene said. He also added that Brown's unusual career path should resonate with Brown students, who are often multi-talented.
Brown pointed to the positive impact of his undergraduate education. "I had no idea how valuable it was until I left," he said.
