Meet Shawn Brown of Cheesecaked

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Brown.

Hi Shawn, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in Inglewood, California, and moved to Georgia in 2011 with a dream of building something meaningful for my family and my community.

My journey has been anything but traditional. In 1994, I survived a devastating car accident that took the life of my 10-week-old son and left me pronounced dead twice. Years later, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that changed the way I see and experience the world. Then in 2019, just weeks after opening a new Cheesecaked location, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer.

Most people would understand if I had given up. Instead, I kept going.

What started as a love for creating desserts grew into Cheesecaked®, a dessert brand built on creativity, resilience, and joy. Over the years, Cheesecaked has been featured by national media outlets including Good Morning America, Food Network, Cooking Channel, BET Her, People Magazine, and Walmart Business. I’ve served customers from a small home kitchen, retail storefronts, festivals, corporate events, and everywhere in between.

But the real story isn’t about cheesecake.

It’s about rebuilding your life over and over again when circumstances tell you not to.

Today, I am a cancer survivor, entrepreneur, real estate professional, and college student pursuing a degree in Construction Management at Kennesaw State University. I’m working toward expanding Cheesecaked while also pursuing a future in development, community building, and public service.

My mission is simple: to show people that your setbacks do not get the final say. Whether I’m creating desserts, mentoring others, speaking about entrepreneurship, or sharing my journey, I want people to know that it’s possible to start over, reinvent yourself, and keep moving forward.

Cheesecaked was built from bare walls, hard lessons, faith, persistence, and a refusal to quit. That’s the story I’m most proud of.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it definitely has not been a smooth road.

One of my earliest and most life-changing challenges came in 1994 when I survived a devastating car accident that took the life of my 10-week-old son and left me pronounced dead twice. That experience changed the way I view life and taught me that tomorrow is never guaranteed.

Years later, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that created additional obstacles, including visual and cognitive challenges that still affect me today. Learning how to adapt and continue building a career and business despite those limitations required persistence and faith.

As an entrepreneur, I have faced many of the same challenges small business owners experience, including limited funding, economic downturns, staffing issues, rising costs, and the pressure of wearing every hat in the business. There were times when I was responsible for marketing, production, customer service, accounting, deliveries, and operations all at once.

Perhaps the biggest challenge came in 2019. After years of building Cheesecaked and opening a new location, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer. Almost overnight, my focus shifted from growing a business to fighting for my life. Like many small businesses, Cheesecaked was also impacted by the pandemic that followed.

Since then, I’ve had to rebuild more than once. I’ve opened locations, closed locations, reinvented products, adjusted business models, and learned how to keep moving forward even when things didn’t go according to plan.

The lesson in all of it is that resilience is a choice. Challenges will come, but I’ve learned that setbacks don’t have to define your future. Every obstacle I’ve faced has made me stronger, more creative, and more determined to build a life and business that reflects what’s possible when you refuse to quit.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Cheesecaked® is an Atlanta-based dessert brand known for turning cheesecake into an experience.

Founded in 2011, Cheesecaked was created to bring creativity, fun, and a little bit of nostalgia back to dessert. Over the years, we’ve become known for taking traditional desserts and reinventing them through products like our signature cheesecake nachos, over-the-top dessert creations, specialty cheesecakes, and immersive dessert experiences.

What sets Cheesecaked apart is that we’re not just selling dessert, we’re creating moments. Whether it’s a birthday celebration, a family gathering, a corporate event, or someone simply treating themselves after a long week, we want every product to feel special and memorable.

Throughout our journey, Cheesecaked has been featured by Good Morning America, Food Network, Cooking Channel, BET Her, People Magazine, Walmart Business, and numerous local and national media outlets. While those accomplishments are exciting, what makes me most proud is the community we’ve built and the customers who have supported us throughout the years.

As a Black woman-owned business, I’ve had the opportunity to build Cheesecaked through some of the most challenging seasons of my life, including surviving breast cancer, navigating the pandemic, and rebuilding the business multiple times. Those experiences shaped not only the company but also the values behind it: resilience, creativity, and perseverance.

Today, Cheesecaked continues to evolve with innovative offerings such as our Dip Happens™ dessert experiences, specialty snack products, corporate gifting options, event catering, and limited-edition collections inspired by Atlanta culture.

If there’s one thing I want readers to know, it’s that Cheesecaked has always been about more than dessert. It’s proof that big dreams can grow from humble beginnings, and that even after setbacks, it’s possible to reinvent yourself and create something people genuinely love.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I’ve learned that risk is unavoidable. The bigger question is whether the opportunity is worth the possibility of failure.

Some of the biggest risks I’ve taken involved betting on myself when there were no guarantees. Leaving what was familiar, moving to Georgia, building Cheesecaked from the ground up, signing commercial leases, opening retail locations, investing money I wasn’t sure I’d get back, and continuing to pursue entrepreneurship despite setbacks all required faith and a willingness to step into the unknown.

One of the biggest risks I ever took was opening a new Cheesecaked location in 2019. Shortly after opening, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer. Not long after that, the pandemic changed the business landscape for everyone. What looked like a promising business expansion suddenly became a fight to survive both personally and professionally.

I’ve also taken risks by reinventing myself multiple times. Going back to college in my fifties to pursue a degree in Construction Management is a risk. Continuing to invest in new products, new ideas, and new opportunities for Cheesecaked is a risk. Sharing my story publicly is a risk.

But I’ve discovered that growth rarely happens inside your comfort zone.

That doesn’t mean I take reckless risks. I believe in doing my homework, asking questions, studying the numbers, and preparing as much as possible. At the same time, I recognize that there will never be a perfect moment when all uncertainty disappears.

My philosophy is simple: I’d rather take a calculated risk pursuing something meaningful than spend my life wondering “what if.” Some risks have worked out exactly as planned, and some have taught difficult lessons. Both have helped shape who I am today.

Every major opportunity in my life has started with a decision to move forward before I had all the answers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cheesecaked.com
• Instagram: Cheesecaked
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getcheesecaked
• Twitter: @getcheesecaked