About Me

I was born in a small town in South Carolina, and when I was 12 years old, my passion for baking began. Ever since then, I have had a love for baking, and have been pursing my dream of owning my own bakery since then. I attended college at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, and I majored in International Baking and Pastry Arts and Food and Beverage Entrepreneurship. Throughout college, I worked in many different areas of the food and beverage industry, learning everything from the front of house management to the back of house and everything in between. I dabbled in large scale production, bread baking, cake decorating, and ice cream scooping until I founded a place of my own, Lolly's! 

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The idea behind Lolly's was cultivated when I was in 6th grade; I always knew I wanted to own my own business, and probably a bakery of some sort. I founded a small business named Lolly's Lunch Box and I used this name for many years for my bakery business. I baked on the side for family, friends, and teachers at school for much of my high school career. I always walked around school on Friday's with goodies for my friends, always trying out new recipes and making my classmates guinea pigs to try my creations. 

After going through my entrepreneurship classes, I felt as though Lolly's Lunch Box wasn't the right fit for my business. We went through a couple changes of names, but the business plan always stayed the same: a bakery and cafe combo.  

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I finally landed on Lolly's after all the changes. Lolly is my childhood nickname given by my cousin. She could not pronounce Carlyle, and instead it came out as "Car-Lolly" and thus the nickname ensued. Many people knew me by Lolly for years throughout middle school, but I then went back to being called Carlyle, and the name Lolly's was for the "baker" side of Carlyle.