Art + Entrepreneurship Equals Winning Recipe for Bauer Student
Brenda Melgar Combines Business Acumen with Love of Art to Launch Novelty Cake Business
Published on October 14, 2011
Art, business and Cougar pride are a winning recipe for pre-business student Brenda Melgar.
The typical attire for a business student entering the workforce may be a suit and tie, but if all goes according to plan for pre-business major Brenda Melgar, she’ll probably be wearing an apron and covered in flour for most of her days.
Melgar’s love of everything artistic combined with the business skills she is developing at the University of Houston C. T. Bauer College of Business have produced an already successful novelty cake venture, EnviCakes.
“It was an idea that was inspired by TV’s ‘Cake Boss,’ Buddy Valastro ,” Melgar says. “It was almost torture to watch him run his bakery in little Hoboken, New Jersey, and doing what he loves. I wanted so strongly to do that here in Houston.”
And even though Melgar did not even know the first thing about baking a cake just six months ago, with the help of her artistic background (along with a friend who knew her way around the kitchen), she has been able to quickly pick up cake artistry and has already begun generating interest for her business.
“We had made a baby shower cake for experimental purposes and the cake was a hit!” she says. “I posted a few photos on Facebook, and from there, friends and family were ecstatic to see more.”
Brenda’s Speedy Job
In her first semester at UH Bauer, Melgar has already made a name for herself among the campus community, most recently staging a live speed painting of the late entrepreneurial great Steve Jobs, as part of a class project in ENTR 3310.
“A few cakes we have made were made to look like fire trucks, zebra purses, and we even made one where a redfish is jumping out of water. This small business venture has been a catalyst in my desire to learn more from my classes at Bauer,” she adds.
Melgar is already taking the lessons she’s learning in the classroom and applying each to her passion.
“EnviCakes is a small home-based business, but with motivation and insightful information provided by Bauer professors like Carlos Ortega, I'm optimistic in my ability to open a successful storefront for EnviCakes,” she says. “This is something I’m passionate about, and I come before Bauer with child-like faith that the professors and advisors can and will guide me to success.”
Melgar hopes to continue in the entrepreneurship program at UH Bauer and launch other ventures.
“When I graduated high school, I decided to enroll in Bauer in lieu of art school because I have a vision of opening up a studio for the arts, as well as opening up a storefront for my novelty cakes,” she says.
Melgar has done paintings for a wide range of subjects, from professions to still life and also sculpture work. She is also a Rodeo Scholar, a recipient of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo scholarship, for her work in Western Art.
She says that she sees the bigger picture in all of her aspirations and accomplishments.
“EnviCakes is not just a fun project to toy with, nor is my time at the University of Houston just an opportunity to meet people and hang out,” Melgar said. “Both are significant in my quest to be a great role model among students of all ages.”