Kat's Hot Cakes now found in three states

Eating vegan changed Kat Barry’s life. Now she wants to share her lifestyle, optimal health and amazing food with others.

She’s been doing just that since March 2011 when she started Kat’s Hot Cakes, selling certified vegan snack food -- that’s 100 percent plant based. She sells primarily salads, dressings, dips, and desserts.

The business also recently started doing more vegan catering and boxed meals. “Basically, if you want a healthy, plant based meal or snack we can provide that,” Barry says.

Starting at home on her own, over the past 16 months the business has added 5 employees and her food can be found in 12 locations in three states. She now caters weddings and shoots cooking demos for eHow.com. She catered her first all vegan wedding last week and has four more scheduled this year.

“With all the different events and types of products we're making this summer, I had to bump it (her staff) up for the busy season,” Barry says. “I have an amazing crew of people right now.”

Barry left a successful career in selling real estate to start selling people on the benefits of vegan food. “It inspires me to turn people on to vegan food,” Barry says.

She had worked in cafes and restaurants when she was younger, but had to learn everything about distributing packaged foods to get Kat’s Hot Cakes on the shelves. And lest you think she sells pancakes, the name of her business is not to be taken literally.

“Hot Cakes is a play on words,” Barry says. “It's easy to maintain a healthy weight on a plant based diet so the name Kat's Hot Cakes means you can stay sexy and trim but still have a small piece of cake now and then. It's about ingredients and portion control.”

In a business where many chefs jealously guard their recipes, Barry offers a number of them on her website. “Believe me, no one will ever know my Vixen's Vegan Ranch Dressing or Kat's Killer Carrot Cakes recipes, but I'm happy to share as much of my journey as I possibly can.”

The business is more than tasty baked goods, however: “I can feed you if you don't want to cook or teach you to cook if you just need help.” She offers regular classes and can also teach cooking lessons in your home.

And she believes it is her mission in life to demystify vegan eating and cooking by showing it is easy so it’s crucial that she share tips. “I started this company because I felt it was my duty to share my experience of how powerful plants are with the masses,” Barry says.

“Every time I do a cooking class or give a talk I am moved by my students,” Barry says.  “It reaffirms to me that there is a need for what I'm doing and that all the hard work and sacrifices are worth it.  Knowing that I am helping people to make a positive change in their lives and take their health into their own hands is the definition of success to me.”

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Kat Barry, Kat's Hot Cakes