Student entrepreneur offers on-campus cupcake delivery

Cupid is not the only one with a sweet tooth, sophomore Gabrielle McBay said about her late-night cupcake delivery service, available throughout the month of February.

McBay, a food management major, started her baking business, Crumbs by Elle, her freshman year of high school when she charged her classmates 50 cents per cookie.
Her business has now flourished. 

“It’s been going great,” McBay said. “I definitely get a lot of support from TCU. They are one of my main clients. I also have a lot of corporate clients, as well. That’s what I mainly focus on, such as catering and special events.”

Cupid’s Sugar Rush is McBay’s second event at the university. It was inspired by the sweet tooth she gets in the evenings, she said. 

“Monday’s and Wednesday’s in February from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., I’ll have a cupcake delivery service for students on campus, and they can either order Purple Velvet, which is a TCU signature cupcake or Pink Sugar, which is a pink vanilla cupcake. It’s two for $3 for students, which is a really great price because usually I charge $2.25 per cupcake, so I am giving a TCU exclusive offer for students.”

She said she would also be doing Cupcake Cupid for students who follow her on Twitter @CrumbsByElle. Students who tweet their locations would be randomly chosen to receive free cupcakes.

McBay said she was excited to share her cupcakes with students. If the late-night delivery goes well, McBay said she may extend the offer longer than February, but she has decided to try the deliveries out this month for Valentine’s Day.

Charme Cone, executive assistant for University Development, said she has ordered cupcakes from McBay every month for staff birthdays.

She has been pleased with the quality of the food and the business, she said.

“Of course, we love the Purple Velvet, and we also get her strawberry flavor each month,” Cone said.

McBay said her mom was her inspiration for baking, and her grandfather helped her become a businesswoman.

“Entrepreneurship is a big thing in my family. My grandfather taught me how to be independent and make sure you can provide for yourself,” she said. “I remember he used to make me open my own Snapple, which I could never do on my own, but he taught me independence by never helping me.”

Brad Hancock, director of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center, said he admired McBay for all she had accomplished.

“She is mature beyond her years. She is so polished and so smart in the ways she goes about her business,” Hancock said. “She’s a great student, a great scholar and also works extremely hard. She is a great representative for TCU, for the entrepreneurship program and for herself and her family.”

McBay also has a passion for motivating other young entrepreneurs. She said she had the chance to speak at the Super Bowl XLV Leadership Forum, the 2011 Black Enterprise Teenpreneur Conference and at “Reality University,” a day-long conference about securing a college education, at Purdue University Calumet.

Visit McBay’s website to order: crumbsbyelle.com