Practicing attorney Cassandra Burnett never imagined launching a business. After suffering the loss of her mom and dad, the 42-year-old Norristown, Pennsylvania, native found healing in baking and legacy building.
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Burnett has been booked and busy.
A mother’s memory lives on in Lizzie’s Love Cakes
Launched in November 2020, Lizzie’s Love Cakes is dedicated to Burnett’s mother, Elizabeth Rhodes, who passed away suddenly in 2012, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. The pain of the loss, coupled with her father’s passing in 2014, found Burnett buried in work and dealing with a ministroke at age 34.
The mother and wife have since channeled healing and created reality from her ancestor’s dreams.
Hailing from a long line of baking women, Burnett’s idea to sell cakes was fueled by her mother’s resistance to charge others for her infamous 7UP pound cake with lemon zest. In honor of her mother’s memory, $1 of every cake sold is donated to nonprofit organizations prioritizing children.
“It comes from my roots of my parents giving back to the community,” Burnett told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Lizzie’s Love Cakes has held pop-ups in Philadelphia and South Jersey and will be at East Norriton ShopRite this Saturday, Oct. 8.
“Time is not forever and tomorrow’s not promised, so let’s do it. Start dreaming out loud,” Burnett added.
Hey Girl! Conference provides a safe space
In 2021, Burnett created the Hey Girl! Conference where women of color could gather together in a safe space and share their authentic stories and experiences. The next conference will kick off in May 2023.
“The need for the Hey Girl! Conference was born out of the void of spaces where women who looked like me with similar experiences could just be their authentic selves,” Burnett told Front Runner New Jersey.
“A space where we could be vulnerable, yet safe.”
She continued: “I recognized, we as women, craved environments where we could share our stories and dreams and in sharing our stories, we heal ourselves and others.”
Lawyer and educator by day
A graduate of Thomas Cooley Law School, Burnett has spent 17 years practicing law and has taught as an adjunct professor at Camden County College in the Paralegal Studies Department since 2013.
She currently serves as the assistant section chief for the New Jersey Attorney General’s office supervising a team of 12 lawyers. Since November 2008, she has been a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey practicing child welfare law.