Tracey D. Hughes
The Rum Cake Fairy Dessert Company LLC
Tracey Hughes, founder and CEO of The Rum Cake Fairy Dessert Company LLC , is winning devotees across the country one rum cake at a time. Her rum cake is a "melt in your mouth" dessert made with the finest Caribbean rum, freshest butter, whole eggs and imported spices. Ms. Hughes uses only the freshest ingredients to create a cake with unparalleled moistness and character. Each cake is lovingly finished with a rum-laced gossamer glaze giving every bite a delicate rum-infused flavor.
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Ms. Hughes is a marketing expert with 14 years of brand and ethnic marketing expertise. She spent much of her career working with the Colgate Palmolive company in Chicago and New York. In 2005, Ms. Hughes took charge of her own destiny and launched the Rum Cake Fairy Dessert Company LLC. "I decided to heed my inner voice and take control of my life. I wanted to follow a dream I've had for a long time and the timing was right."
A self-taught baker, Ms. Hughes has been baking rum cakes for twelve years but her love of baking reaches back to her childhood. "My passion for baking comes from my Nana," says Ms. Hughes, "As a child I remember licking the beaters from Nana's homemade cakes. And I tried to recapture that spirit in my rum cakes." Ms. Hughes' secret rum cake recipe emerged after experimenting in her kitchen late at night after work. She regularly started taking her rum cakes to family affairs and corporate functions where they were wildly popular. Soon co-workers started asking her to make cakes for special occasions. In 2000 Ms. Hughes began selling rum cakes for the holidays and was soon filling as many as 40 cake orders during the Christmas holiday season, baking as many as 10 cakes a night in her New York apartment.
Ms. Hughes comes from a long line of entrepreneurs and hopes to use the experience she gained marketing leading consumer brands to put her rum cake in restaurants, fine food grocers and neighborhood coffee and tea houses. Her corporate roster includes clients with the Sodexho, Smith Barney, Citigroup and Deustche Bank companies. Rum Cake Fairy™ cakes are available via phone 888-488-8RUM (888-488-8786) or online here.
Ms. Hughes received her undergraduate degree from Spelman College and her M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Chicago Association of Black Journalist's Award of Excellence. She was elected to Colgate-Palmolive Company's Sales Hall of Fame in 1998 and was also a three-time recipient of the Chairman's "You Can Make a Difference" award. Most recently, she was honored with a 2005 Spelman College Alumnae Achievement award for Business Excellence and Community Work.
Adding to her talents as a baker, Tracey Hughes is a former model. She has appeared in layouts for Ebony and Essence Magazine. In 1997 she was selected from among 2,500 entrants as the Revlon and Essence Magazine Woman of Style. Ms. Hughes lives and works in New York.
Patricia Lawrence Kolaras Esq.
Patricia Lawrence Kolaras Esq. is President and Founder of the PLK Law Group, P.C. She specializes in intellectual property law including trademark, copyright, unfair competition, trade secrets, trademark dilution and domain name disputes. In addition, she focuses on all aspects of transactional law in the area of entertainment and sports law; small business and corporate law as well as contract law including drafting, negotiating and transacting and enforcing contract deals.
In 2007, Kolaras was named Senior Partner and General Counsel to the Rum Cake Fairy Dessert Company, LLC. In less than a year, she secured the company's intellectual property assets and negotiated Million Dollar contracts which grew the company to a nationally recognized company. In light of this partnership, Kolaras was recognized by Count Me In, an organization featured on the NBC's Today Show for their commitment in identifying successful companies.
Under Kolaras' direction, the PLK Law Group is recognized for transacting business related deals including, partnership operating and joint venture agreements; artist's recording contracts, production deals, TV, movie and radio station deals; publishing agreements, NBA Basketball Player's agency, merchandising and marketing agreements along with managing/procuring and otherwise protecting its clients' Intellectual Property rights.
Over the years, the expertise in Transactional and Intellectual Property Law has resulted in the PLK law Group representing clients ranging from record and sports companies, to radio personalities, authors, executives, a Beverly Hills celebrity cosmetic dental practice, communications experts and other businesses specializing in athletic apparel and specialty goods including The Rum Cake Fairy Dessert Company™, LLC; Selona™ luxury skin care line featured in the 2006 Grammy Gift Bags, and Divine Diamonds Inc., the originator of the famed "Ah Ring®," the right hand pinky ring worn by Terry Hatcher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyra Banks, Eve, Anne Hathaway and other celebrities.
While pursuing a Juris Doctorate (JD) from Seton Hall University School of Law, Kolaras interned in the legal department at "The RCA Records Label," a Unit of BMG Entertainment in New York. She soon thereafter joined BMG Entertainment Corporate, Business & Legal Affairs and the Copyright Department. During the 8 years of working at a major record company, she honed her transactional skills in both contracts and Intellectual Property matters as related to the exploitation of recording and other creative performances.
In 2005, Kolaras left the corporate entertainment industry to start her own full-service law practice. The PLK Law Group's primary focus is to protect, educate and ultimately grow its clients' business. Kolaras practice style places a strong emphasis on educating clients' about the legal impact of their business practices. Additionally, Kolaras' unique combination of legal expertise and entrepreneurial savvy led to her closing Million Dollar client deals. Kolaras is a natural at the "art of deal making."
Kolaras, a Chicago native, is a graduate of Spelman College and Seton Hall University School of Law. She is admitted to practice in the State of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Supreme Court and the United States District Court of New Jersey, and is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, American ATLTA... While in law school, Kolaras authored a legal article addressing Trademark Registration for Voice Sounds: Inadequate Protection for Singers' Distinct Voices in Sound Recordings.
Kolaras is the recipient of several awards and a popular legal expert, having appeared on several television and radio programs such as MSNBC's "your business" segment which featured Kolaras' involvement in protecting the future of the Rum Cake Fairy Dessert Company. Kolaras resides in New Jersey with her husband and two children.