Photo courtesy of Warren Brown

Warren Brown was headed for the court, not the kitchen. But a 1999 New Year’s resolution set him on a different path.

Three years later he opened the first branch of CakeLove. His resolve is now measured in sugar (29,000 pounds every year) and eggs (331,000—the last year they counted). Perhaps you have seen him on Oprah, the Food Network, or in a commercial for American Express®. You might even have picked up his cookbook.

You completed your BA in history at Brown, and then a joint degree in law and public health at George Washington University. You weren’t planning to bake.

After college, I taught sex ed for 2 years, but the materials didn’t answer the kids’ questions. I wanted credentials so I could argue for what was needed in reproductive health education, but when I got out of law school in 1998, no one was ready for that discussion. I became a litigator at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

But that wasn’t what you really wanted to do.

It wasn’t the thing I’d gone to law school for, and it wasn’t engaging. It didn’t energize me. I wanted to create something three-dimensional, and there I was producing briefs and oral presentations before the court.

What else was going on in your life?

After law school was the first chance I’d had to take a breather and ask myself how I was doing…and it wasn’t working. I’d recently cut my locks off—which I soon regretted—and I’d recently broken up with someone, and all my friends from law school had left town.

That’s where the resolution came in.

Yeah, I knew that I could do something different with my life, and I made it my 1999 New Year’s resolution to figure it out. I was doing yoga in my room and 3 things came to me: direct yourself to greatness, answer your call, and answer to yourself. Some people might think that’s kooky or hokey, but for me, it struck a chord. That mantra became a measuring stick for how I was doing.

What did you start doing differently?

I already considered myself a foodie—you know, someone who loves food—but that was the year I learned to bake. I made some muffins, cakes, pies, tarts, cookies…and then went back to cakes because I liked them best. I missed the cakes I’d had as a kid, and so baking became a hobby.

I’m picturing a kitchen piled high with cakes. Who ate them?

I’d always hosted dinner parties, but I switched to dessert parties because my apartment was so small. And you know, it was a totally different vibe. People would bring champagne, the music would get loud, and they’d dance and jump all over the place like a real party.

Everyone loved them.

If I brought a cake to work, everybody smiled and nodded and commented whenever they saw just the box. I didn’t know cakes were so special, but as soon as they’d leave my apartment, they’d get this huge response. When you bake from scratch, it’s going to be better than what you get in stores, even if you flub it up. People went crazy for them.

Eight months after you made your resolution to figure out what you were supposed to do with your life, you’d found it.

That mantra allowed me to stay centered and focused, and suddenly it was so obvious: dude, this is it. I just had to keep doing what I’d been doing all year, what I liked, what was fun, what was bringing me to parties, what was entertaining me and my friends. I had to just keep doing it. I had loved cooking since I was a kid, and when I was in the kitchen, I loved who I was. I had to keep making these cakes.

You opened CakeLove in 2002. Was starting your own business scary?

I’d always thought the idea was cool and daunting, and I’d been slightly jealous—in a good way—of a caterer friend who ran his own business. My hesitations were about insecurity: fear of failure, fear of financial problems. But once it made sense on paper, I told myself I had to check my fear at the door. I think for all entrepreneurs there’s a very legitimate, long-lasting fear of the unknown. Things are always in flux, and as an entrepreneur you absorb all the risk. That’s going to keep you up at night, give you some heart palpitations.

But the payoff?

Liberty. Freedom of time. When you work for yourself, your boss is everybody: every customer, staff person, and vendor. But in moments of calm, you realize that you are creating a schedule based on what you desire, and that’s real liberty.

Not to mention, your career has had so many high points.

The high points are ahead of me. I’ve been very blessed, and I’m so appreciative of all the attention; it’s brought a lot of validation to the whole effort. But the future is the chance for me to do more of what I like to do.

What is your resolution for 2010?

Hmm, I don’t know if I have one yet! I definitely have stuff to work on. Well, actually my wife and I are having a baby in the beginning of January. My resolution is to give all of my love to my baby and all of my support to my wife.

This is slightly off topic, but is there something going on in the background?

Sorry if I’m mashing in your ear. I’m eating breakfast, an oatmeal raisin scone. I like baking scones. They’re easy and they keep well. If I’m making something at home, then it’s usually not cookies, and it’s certainly not cake. It’s complicated to make cake! People should outsource that.