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ORAL HISTORY

Jennifer Hill-Green and Ashanti Parker

Daisy Pastry Shoppe

Based out of North Little Rock, Daisy Pastry Shoppe is run by the mother-daughter team of Jennifer Hill-Green and Ashanti Parker. Although Hill-Green has been baking for friends and family for roughly 15 years—inspired by the wildly popular baking show Ace of Cakes—it wasn’t until COVID, when Ashanti enrolled in a online pastry course through Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, that the idea of a business began to take root. After Ashanti convinced her mother to join her in the program, the duo began sharing their baked goods with their communities, and rave reviews—notably, from the gym where Ashanti worked as a content creator—further solidified the notion that they could make a living doing this work. Although both women held onto their day jobs, they decided to go all-in on the bakery.

In May 2023, however, the months of long hours and double-booked days eventually took their toll when Ashanti experienced a medical episode while working at a farmers market on an especially hot summer day. As a result, she and Jennifer decided it was best to limit her involvement in Daisy Pastry until her health improved. Even still, despite this setback, both women are enthusiastic about the future of their business.