The Small Business Sessions
The Small Business Sessions is a weekly podcast from the Powering Local Businesses programme, created by Enterprise Nation and EDF Small Business in collaboration with Square.
This series explores the practical steps small businesses can take to grow and thrive – from improving energy efficiency and embracing sustainability to creating a lasting impact in their local communities.
The Powering Local Businesses hub supports small businesses, wherever they're based and however they sell, to grow sustainably. Access grants, pop-up shop opportunities, energy-saving guidance, expert workshops and a supportive community.
Find out more at enterprisenation.com/poweringlocalbusinesses
The Small Business Sessions
Dee Omole on turning nostalgia-inspired bakes into a thriving confectionery business
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Welcome to Small Business Sessions, brought to you by Enterprise Nation as part of Powering Local Businesses, our collaboration with EDF Small Business and Square.
In this series, we're speaking to founders and entrepreneurs about the real stories behind starting, growing and rebuilding small businesses.
Expect honest conversations, practical lessons and first-hand insight from people who have built businesses with purpose.
In this episode of the series, we're joined by Dee Omole, founder of Dee's Basement, a confectionery studio specialising in nostalgia-inspired cakes and desserts.
Dee shares how a final-year university project at the University of Westminster became the foundation for Dee's Basement.
She turned a pandemic‑lost pastry job into a thriving, community‑driven DIY cookie and dessert brand by leveraging affordable pop‑up spaces, relentless social‑media engagement, and small‑batch creativity to grow sustainably while maintaining personal control over her work.
What began as postal cookies and hand-painted madeleines has grown into a business that counts Pinterest and Liberty London among its brand partners.
Dee talks about building a loyal community on social media, learning to spot brands that want free work in exchange for "exposure," expanding from a home kitchen to a commercial kitchen, and writing her first cookbook with Quadrille, an imprint of Penguin.
Topics discussed in the episode:
- How Dee built an online following, partly through the extra visibility black-owned businesses gained during the Black Lives Matter movement
- Winning brand partnerships with the likes of Pinterest and Liberty London by pitching ideas rather than simply offering catering
- Learning to spot brands offering "exposure" instead of payment while going viral with 12 million TikTok views from a video of her washing a fake display cake
- Running sold-out pop-up cafés in a neighbouring unit borrowed from her sister, and hosting small, intimate cake-decorating workshops
- Writing and publishing her cookbook, A Little of What You Fancy, with Quadrille, which was built around small-batch recipes designed to reduce waste for beginner bakers
- Learning to say no and protecting her wellbeing
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Powering Local Businesses
We're helping small businesses thrive on the high street – through expert support, smart energy advice and practical tools to grow sustainably.
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