Amy S. Hilliard

Amy Hilliard, a native Detroiter, honors graduate of both Howard and the Harvard Business School is the founder and CEO of The ComfortCake Company, makers of "pound cake so good it feels like a hug." Launched in 2001 and now a nationally trademarked brand, ComfortCake® is distributed through the foodservice and retail channels and their website (http://www.comfortcake.com/) with customers that have included United Airlines, 7-Eleven, Walgreen's, Jewel's, Dominick's, Rush Medical Center and the Chicago Public Schools. The ComfortCake Company is also now a supplier to McDonald's, having developed and producing the McCafe Lemon Pound Cake that tested successfully. The Company also produces Sugarless Sweetness®, their proprietary sugar substitute for baking. ComfortCake has been featured on CNN, Fox, The Food Network, AOL and Home Shopping Network, Fortune, Black Enterprise, Essence and numerous national publications. After just two years in business, ComfortCake was selected as the Emerging Minority Enterprise of the Year by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Ms. Hilliard was also named as a 2009 Business Leader of Color by Chicago United, and in February, 2010 was selected by The Clinton Foundation for their Entrepreneurship Mentor Program.

Amy Hilliard is a former senior marketing executive with leading Fortune 500 corporations and entrepreneurial firms including Bloomingdale's, Gillette, Pillsbury, L'Oreal and Burrell Communications Group. She also sits on PepsiCo's Multi-Cultural Advisory Board, is a recognized social activist in the Chicago community and owns The Hilliard Group, a marketing consulting and speaking firm.

A proud mother of two young adults, Ms. Hilliard is an internationally recognized speaker and author of "TAP INTO YOUR JUICE" - Find Your Gifts, Lose Your Fears and Build Your Dreams, which is endorsed by First Lady Michelle Obama. Additionally, the ComfortCake HUGS Foundation was established in 2009 to develop the entrepreneurial spirit in others through mentorship and scholarship programs that inspire Humble, Unbelievable, Greatness and Success. Ms. Hilliard's latest book, "POUNDING CAKE INTO A BUSINESS" will be released in 2010.

COMFORTCAKE^® HISTORY

For twenty years Amy Hilliard's family and friends have raved about her gourmet, Southern-style poundcake, and now she's bringing them to you. Amy traces her love of cooking back to her paternal grandfather, James M. Hilliard, Sr., who was an Executive Chef.

During the 1920's, Grandfather Hilliard traveled by train throughout the South teaching newly minted chefs in kitchens of the great hotels how to cook excellent, premium quality food consistently. He fed a family of twelve children as an Executive Chef, and Amy is the proud owner of two of his prized carbon steel carving knives. He learned how to cook as a teen from his future wife Minnie's mother.

Grandfather Hilliard		Grandmother Hilliard

Also, two of Amy's great aunts on her mother's side, Aunt Blanche and Aunt Clem, were caterers in Chicago during the 1940's--women entrepreneurs way ahead of their time. Here is Aunt Blanche with Amy's great-grandmother, Eliza Smith, and her sister, great Auntie Noble.

Aunt Noble, Great-Grandmother Smith, and Aunt Blanche

Amy is the designated cook for her family's annual Thanksgiving gathering of over 30 relatives and friends. In 1999, after she made seven cakes in three days that were all devoured in minutes, she made the decision to share her prized dessert with poundcake lovers everywhere!

Amy's proud parents, Gwendolyn and Stratford Hilliard.

Nicky at 6 yrs.		"Jelli" at 4 yrs.

	Now, we offer our customers premium poundcakes made from Amy's homemade recipe. No more spending hours in the kitchen to enjoy fresh, flavorful poundcakes - they are just a few clicks away. And just as you would at home, we use only the finest ingredients in our cakes. ComfortCake® ... the perfect gift from our team to you.
Amy ,Angelica, Nick & Jewel (the company mascot)

Amy Hilliard with her daughter and Office Manager, Angelica Jones