With a love for cooking and baking at a young age, 26 year old KyAnna Maychelle of Sikeston, Missouri is making her way through the culinary industry.
“I’ve had a love for cooking since I was younger, my interest peaked when I’d watch my grandmother(s) cook things from her garden, make homemade bread & my other grandmother, my fathers mom always made sure to make a big meals for her children and grand kids when we visited.”
How long have you been in business?
2025 will be 3 years for me in the culinary industry but I’ve had a business for 2 years.
Any college education in culinary? How did you learn? Parents? YouTube? Self taught?
I’ve got a few months of Pastry Arts under my belt from Escoffier, I’ll be returning to get my degree soon. I’m mainly self taught, my grandmother, Ruth Bonds would walk me through her own recipes when I was a child & now as an adult I come up with my own recipes or I use recipes to inspire my own.
What inspired your business name?
Ruth G Bonds is the reason for the business name. I was fairly young when she passed, I had no knowledge of her final resting place & weirdly no one spoke of her after her death. It was as if she only existed in my world. I was going through a rough patch in life and within myself and she kept crossing my mind. After years of asking people to tell me where she’s resting , I made the choice of finding her myself & I did with no issue. I found her and so much weight fell off my shoulders. I knew then I had to keep her name and love alive and I do that through telling the story of why she was such an important piece of my life as a child and now as an adult.
Are you mainly focused on baking, the savory side of culinary, or both ?
I’m definitely more set on the baking side though I absolutely love putting a meal together but baking brings a different level of peace to me. Baking is hard behind scenes due to recipe mistakes or recipes you’ve done forever deciding not to come together like it always does. With my choice of sweets to make, it’s a bit easier to serve my community, young and old. Cookies make the world a better place.
Will there be an online store or physical location in the future?
I hope within the next year or so I’m building an online store or have it up and running. My dream is to have a food truck so that I’m able to travel and cure sweet tooth’s around the country, one cookie at a time.
What’s something that you’d like all of your supporters to know?
If it weren’t for those that supported me in the very beginning when I knew nothing but the basics of baking and decorating I probably wouldn’t be where I am. I’m more than grateful for the supports I have, they’re honest with me & they don’t give me a hard time when I make mistakes. This is my journey they’re a part of it with me, their support doesn’t have to be buying from me but spreading the word of my work is just as great. Tell a friend to tell a friend to come shop or look at my creations.
What do you love most about what you do?
All together I love all of the learning that comes with cooking and baking, you can never learn too much in this industry. I love how versatile I’m able to be, I love that it brings joy to those that shop with me. Most of all I love that this business is built by the love I have for Ruth G Bonds cause the love she had for me runs through my veins because it was so pure. I’ll never forget her and the fact that she saw me before I stepped into my full potential. I just hope she’s proud of me.
The Hip-Hop Foodie 