According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 4.7 million new businesses are opened every year; and this year, The Sweet Impact opened its doors to the Statesboro community.
The Sweet Impact has humble origins, the owner, Robert Lucas, began decorating cakes as a simple hobby. But once he began posting his work on social media, to accounts that now have over millions of followers, he knew he had to expand.
“This physical storefront started as a studio just for me to make my content that I do for social media,” explained Lucas. “People would come by all the time, asking if they could buy something, so then I decided to turn it into an actual storefront and turn it into a bakery.”
But Lucas didn’t end with social media; in 2021 he appeared on Hulu’s Baker’s Dozen, and in 2023 he appeared on Netflix’s The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge.
“I got on the shows because of what I built from my social media, so I didn’t have to audition or anything. They just reached out and said they liked what they saw, so I was able to just join the cast of these different TV shows and got to be myself and bring what I already knew onto a TV show. And I did also take something away from there as well” said Lucas.
Lucas took all the experience he gathered from baking and running his multiple social media profiles and finally opened his storefront. Not only is he a self-taught baker, but a businessman, too.
“Running a business is not easy,” admitted Lucas. “I thought it would be a lot easier than it is, but it’s a lot of hours that has to go into it, especially with staffing, keeping everything fresh ingredients. Also just trying to maintain my social media outside of just the business storefront here. It’s a really big balancing act, but it’s a lot of learning and it gets better with time, so I don’t complain. And the goal is to do even more, so I’m going to be even busier.”
Lucas, a Georgia Southern graduate himself, was excited to return to Statesboro and be as active in the community as he could.
“I try and do my best and reach out into the community for everything. So anytime Georgia Southern has anything, anytime the YMCA, or any type of elementary schools, I always just — actually I just give them different things. I like to give cookies and cupcakes to different teachers from different schools because my mom was one and I just like to show that appreciation,” explained Lucas.
Lucas hopes to continue his television career and open more stores in the state of Georgia.