Amy was initiated by Alpha Chapter.
Amy S. Hilliard is the founder, president and CEO of The ComfortCake Company LLC, makers of "pound cake so good it feels like a hug."In 2001, the former senior marketing executive with Gillette, Pillsbury and L'Oreal stepped into the legacy of her grandfather, an executive chef, to launch ComfortCake® from her own pound cake recipe with a small but dedicated team.
ComfortCake's first customer was United Airlines, who ordered 500,000 slices. Current customers include the Chicago Public Schools, Jewel Stores, Walgreen's (with 2000 stores nationally), and Compass. Now a national trademark, ComfortCake® has been featured on The Food Network's "Recipe for Success", and the cakes are available through the company's website,
www.comfortcake.com.
The product line consists of frozen batters, loaf cakes, slices, bundt cakes and Sugarless Sweetness® No-Sugar Added cakes, launched in honor of Amy's parents who are diabetic, and made with an exclusive, trade secret sugar replacement formula.
A portion of the profits from Sugarless Sweetness® products will be donated to the American Diabetes Association.
After just two years in business, The ComfortCake Company was selected as the 2003 Emerging Minority Enterprise of the Year by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Ms. Hilliard is the first African-American elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of the Specialty Food Trade, and sits on both the African-American Advisory Board of PepsiCo and the Premier Auto Group's Diversity Council. Additionally, she is a member of the Rainbow/Push International Trade Bureau and a board member of the Women's Business Development Center in Chicago.
Ms. Hilliard owns The Hilliard Group, a consulting firm, and was formerly an adjunct professor of marketing at DePaul University. The recipient of numerous business and civic awards, Ms. Hilliard has been profiled in many national publications, and is featured in the ESSENCE hardcover book, Making It Happen.
Ms. Hilliard has lectured at Harvard, The University of Chicago, Northwestern, Duke and UCLA and speaks worldwide on marketing, entrepreneurship and personal development. Excerpts from her first book, TAP INTO YOUR JUICE-Find Your Gifts, Lose Your Fears, and Build Your Dreams,will be released shortly.
A Detroit native, Ms. Hilliard graduated with honors from both Howard University and the Harvard Business School. She is the proud mother of two teenagers, Angelica Jones, who wrote the company slogan and Nicholas Jones, the chief taste tester since day one.