Maddie made her very first wedding cake for Rachel Medina and Dalton Crabtree’s wedding in July 2020 at Garrison Gardens. Although she was unsure about making wedding cakes at the time, she didn’t want to let her dear friend, Rachel, down so she gave it a try, and it turned out beautifully.

Three dozen eggs, two pounds of butter, always more flour and sugar, please! This is probably not the grocery store request list you would expect from a 14-year-old, but Maddie Livingston has been running her own homemade baked goods business since she was 9 years old, and honestly the number of eggs she has cracked is probably only surpassed by the numbers of “oohs and ahhhs, and mmmmmms’’ that her creations have elicited. With the support of her family and the community, Maddie has been able to hone her craft and turn one of her passions into a productive and purposeful venture.

Like many young and ambitious kids, Maddie needed a way to make some money. She needed to make some money because she desperately wanted to adopt two poodles and add them into the already busy Livingston family. “At the time, our family was living in Arkadelphia, and my parents were still running the pizza restaurant, and my dad was also traveling to Texarkana for work, and my parents were starting to build Tacos 4 Life, and we already had three dogs …” Maddie explained. “Knowing how much I love dogs, my dad let us foster the two miniature poodles, but I could only keep them under one condition – I had to help pay for their vet and grooming bills.”

*One of Maddie’s favorite creations was this two-tiered Minnie Mouse-themed birthday cake she made for a local customer this past December.*

This was 2016 and just the beginning for Maddie Cakes. “I was 9 at the time, and I decided to try to make some money doing something I already loved – baking cupcakes.” Maddie would bake cupcakes to sell at the pizza restaurant on Friday nights. “Before long, I was selling out before we even made it to the restaurant. My very first order was for cookies-n-cream cupcakes. When we finally moved back to Texarkana, I had so much great support from old and new friends that I was able to start baking cakes as well!”

These days, the Livingston family is happy to be settled back in Texarkana, where they seem to stay just as busy with all of the things they love. In addition to homeschooling Maddie and her older brother, Gabe, and keeping up with activities for two teenagers, Toney and Sandy Livingston own and manage Tacos 4 Life, Toney is president at Bank OZK, and they are active church and community members. In their extra spare time, Toney and Sandy may be picking up the extra butter or helping Maddie deliver treats around town.

While the Livingstons all agree that Maddie Cakes has grown beyond anything they ever could have imagined, Toney and Sandy can’t be too surprised by their daughter’s ambition and determination. They have modeled a strong work ethic and shared their passion for giving back for as long as their kids can remember. “My parents have had a restaurant since I was 7,” Maddie said, and she and Gabe are no strangers to jumping in and doing whatever needed to be done. “My mom has helped me from day one – teaching me how to measure, how to pipe frosting … My dad has always encouraged my brother and me to be independent and to do what we love.”

And Maddie has always loved being in the kitchen. “She started out helping me, and then a couple of her close friends also loved to bake, so they would have fun doing that occasionally. As she has gotten older, she truly does all of it on her own. I’m basically just clean-up-crew now,” Sandy laughed. “There have definitely been times that I’ve asked her if she wants to take a break – to just be a kid – but Maddie is such a go-getter, and she truly loves what she is doing. She just keeps going and going.”

Over the years, Maddie’s skills have evolved, and Maddie Cakes has grown exponentially. She now offers everything from cupcakes to beautifully decorated three-tiered wedding cakes. “It really seemed like overnight that we went from letting her take any order requested, to all of a sudden staying up until one or two in the morning,” Sandy said. “That’s when we had to get a calendar and start making a schedule.”

*Best friends since 2015, Rachael Womack, Maddie, and Jaci Jones got together for Jaci’s birthday in June 2020.*

Currently, Maddie tries to limit herself to two or three orders a week and is usually booked solid for months. “One of my favorite things about homeschool is that I get to be at home and don’t have all of the rushing around everyday, and I have the flexibility to bake during the day,” Maddie said. “Since I started competitive dance, I don’t have quite as much time, but during the summer I like to bake almost every day!”

*The 2020 Livingston family Christmas photo featured the crew in their Grinch-themed shirts. From back are: Sandy holding Rayna, Toney, Gabe holding Chewy, and in front, Maddie holding Bella.*

Maddie’s online galleries (maddiecakescreations.com and Maddie Cakes on Facebook and maddie_cakes13 on Instagram) are a treasure trove of beautiful cakes and smiling customers. “I really love looking at Instagram and Pinterest to get new ideas, and I love trying to learn new techniques,” Maddie said. “My favorite cakes I have ever made are the Minnie Mouse inspired birthday cake, and, well, I love all of the wedding cakes I have ever made. I love being able to make a cake for someone’s special day.”

Recently, Maddie received the surprise of a lifetime when she was contacted by a recruiter and invited to be on the television baking competition, “Disney’s Magic Bake Off.” “As of now, the logistics just didn’t work out for us,” Sandy explained, “but it brought her a ton of joy just to have someone reach out.” For now, Maddie is happy to keep making her own magic around town. “During the pandemic, one of our family friends donated money so that I could buy supplies and bake treats for essential workers around town,” Maddie said. “Even though it was a small thing, I kept doing it even after I used all of the money because I really enjoyed being able to do that.”

At a very young age, Maddie Livingston has discovered that the right mix of passion and purpose can be very fulfilling and that bringing joy to others is a pretty good way to bring joy back to yourself. And the sweetest part of all is having Bella and Rayna, her two rescued miniature poodles, curled up at her feet at the end of a long day.

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The Right Mix of Passion & Purpose