Hours:
Monday 12:00pm to 6:00pm
Wednesday 12:00pm to 6:00pm
Thursday 12:00pm to 6:00pm
Saturday OKEMOS FARMERS MARKET 8:00am to 2:00pm

What is your business? How did you come up with the concept?

My business is Mr. Leslie’s Cheesecake. The concept, I guess, is kinda simple: I like cheesecake, people love cheesecake, so I figured I’d do something that I like, that other people like, and it just kind of flows. I took something that I enjoy doing and found a way to monetize it.

What are the values you use to define your business?

My values really, I’d say, are just simple: I love people; I love to see people smile and enjoy life, right?  So when you think about food in itself, in the biggest aspect, it’s usually connected to some type of memory. Like, you know, Christmas, the family gatherings, Thanksgiving. So when people bite into Mr.Leslie’s Cheesecake, what I want them to think about is that favorite memory of the first time they had experienced it, the flavor palettes they had.  Was it at their mom’s house?  Was it with their cousin’s? The culture is just merging great food, with great experiences and family.

What is your goal for the next three years of business?

Well that changes, it seems like, daily. Right now the next year to three years, what it looks like for me, we’re gearing to move from direct customer sale model to wholesaling; where you can find Mr. Leslie’s Cheesecakes in any store that you go to, just about. Currently, we’re in the Meijer Capital City Market and a couple of other stores, and so where we see ourselves going is to span out to 200+ supermarkets and stores locally and abroad. It’s a big dream, a big vision, but we see ourselves expanding beyond where we’re at right now.

Why did you choose to start at Allen Neighborhood Center?

Allen Neighborhood Center was a big draw for me because it was right in the community, and so I’m the person who stated; I love family, I love people, I’m an extreme extrovert. 

One, I get to be around people that love to do, kind of like the same thing I like to do: cook and help people. 

Secondly, it provided an opportunity for me that I had no ability to do on my own. It had a commercial kitchen that was affordable, that I was able to get a license out of and really just grow in here. I learned a lot since being here, since last year.

What offerings or items do you hope to expand on by taking your business into the Accelerator Kitchen Program?

Going into the Accelerator, I’m excited about that and it’s pretty phenomenal.  Of course, we offer cheesecake, right, so we want to expand the different flavors that we have. We do have a menu of over 20 different flavors, but moving into the accelerator gives us that opportunity to actually have more available regularly. And then to start diving into selling other things like our toppings, expand to selling bigger cakes, cakes for occasions, and catering.

Our homemade strawberry syrup, one of the things our customers love the most, so we can actually sell that for our customers.  And we have some other treats we plan to emerge. I don’t want to give any secrets away, but we plan to emerge with our cheesecakes in the next year.

What’s your personal favourite dish that you offer?

My personal favorite, believe it or not, I do a myriad of different flavors, but the Lemon Drop is my favorite. I think customers think I’m trying to give them a sales pitch, but it’s literally my favorite. I’m kind of a purist when it comes to cheesecake. So it’s just lemon based cheesecake with fresh squeezed lemon juice and perfect lemon curd on top, that I could eat all day by myself. So if you come in and we have it on the menu I promise you won’t be disappointed.

What’s been the biggest hurdle to overcome getting to this point?

The biggest hurdle I had to overcome, believe it or not, and I think many people experience it, is just getting over yourself, right– the personal fears or reservations that you might have. I thought it would be a lot harder. Not saying that it’s easy; there are a lot of long days, early mornings, late nights, but, it’s not as hard as I thought. There’s a community in Lansing. So you have Allen Neighborhood Center, who’s phenomenal, I’ve learned things and made connections with people that I never would have, had I not been in here, from just how to store properly to how to label properly, and so with that, you have LEAP and different organizations in our community that can help you move to this. So that is the biggest hurdle I had to get over was talking myself out of why I shouldn’t do something because it’s going to be too hard.

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

About myself: listen, I love what I do and to get the opportunity to actually bake cheesecakes for a living– never thought I’d have that opportunity and it’s fun. Outside of that, I’m a big kid. I’m a family guy. I’m a husband. I’m a father to two beautiful kids and they’re my life, they drive what I do, so the fact that I come here and do what I love and I can kind of dictate my time schedule and you know get cakes out to people and keep you guys happy and keep you smiling and know that I do this because I want to make you smile and your belly smile as well!

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