Soul Belly Bake Shop is a purpose-driven bakery brand crafting pastries with all-natural, plant-based ingredients. No artificial fillers, no gelatin, just fruits, spices, and flavors rooted in culture. Every recipe is inspired by Afro-centric traditions and flavors, making each bite both nostalgic and nourishing. Soul Belly isn’t just a bakery, it’s a celebration of heritage, health, and handmade goodness.
ABOUT:
FROM BEING IGNORED TO IRRESISTIBLE
A powerful product that kept getting overlooked and a brand that was ready for a transformation
THE RESULT?
LACK OF CONNECTION:
With her ideal customers, people didn’t fully understand the value or story behind the product.
MESSAGING THAT MISSED THE MARK:
She struggled to communicate her brand’s personality and mission clearly.
LOW VISIBILITY:
Her brand wasn’t standing out online or in person, despite having a product that turned heads.
NO CUSTOM PACKAGING:
She relied on business cards and stickers, which made the experience feel more temporary than memorable.
NO REAL STRATEGY:
There was no roadmap for how to turn scrolls into sales or grow a loyal customer base.
SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES SHE FACED WERE:
The reason Soul Belly was blending in and missing connection wasn’t because the product lacked quality. It was because the brand lacked strategy.
Her visuals didn’t speak to her target audience, and the branding (originally created in Canva) felt generic, making her look like just another bakeshop instead of the standout she actually was.
To fix that, we didn’t just design something “pretty.” We built a strategic brand identity that went beyond surface-level. Rooted in her story, culture, and customer psychology. The goal? A brand that not only looked elevated but sparked instant connection and became the foundation for a powerful marketing strategy.
BRANDING THAT SPEAKS TO THE SOUL
At the time, Soul Belly didn’t have a website Customers had to DM her on Instagram to place orders. Not only did this make ordering feel clunky and inconsistent, but it also hurt her credibility.
For a food-based business, especially one focused on natural ingredients, trust is everything. So after locking in her strategy driven branding, the next step was building a high-converting website that looked beautiful and made customers feel confident hitting “buy.”
WEBSITE THAT BUILDS TRUST AND DRIVES SALES
One of the biggest challenges Soul Belly faced was not knowing how to market her business. But the real root of that problem? She didn’t have a clear brand strategy to guide her messaging and her visuals weren’t doing her any favors either.
We needed to build a brand that could market for her: a strategy that spoke to her audience’s values, visuals that stopped the scroll, and messaging that made customers crave her products before they even placed an order.
MARKETING THAT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF
THE SOLUTION?
THE DREAM STRATEGY THAT HELPED SOUL BELLY BAKE UP REAL RESULTS
Soul Belly Bake Shop offers handcrafted pastries made from scratch with high-quality, all-natural ingredients. Each product blends traditional baking with Afro-centric flavors and modern flair. Free of artificial additives, they’re made with real fruits, spices, and intention. Giving customers a nostalgic yet elevated indulgence they can feel good about.
PRODUCTS
Feminine, soft, and powerful. Soul Belly is nostalgic yet modern, luxurious yet intimate. It feels like a warm hug from your favorite auntie… with a pastry box in hand.
PERSONALITY
Soul Belly is a one-woman operation. Allowing for safe, intentional baking rooted in professional training. With fewer, cleaner ingredients and no artificial additives, the brand creates deeply flavorful pastries using Afro-centric ingredients and classic techniques that honor tradition while pushing boundaries.
USP
Where Passion Meets Pastry.
TAGLINE
To craft soulful pastries made from scratch with high-quality ingredients and genuine passion. Creating joy through intention in every batch.
MISSION
The voice is uplifting and empowering, like a proud grandmother offering you seconds without asking. It’s friendly and informative, guiding you through ingredients and offerings with care. And it’s always indulgent and intimate. Inviting you into an experience that’s made to be savored.
TONE OF VOICE
“You deserve this.” That’s the heart of Soul Belly’s message. It’s about more than pastries. It’s about celebrating yourself with every bite. The brand invites its audience to slow down, indulge, and embrace something made with love, culture, and intention.
MESSAGING
At Soul Belly’s core is honesty and integrity. No shortcuts, no hidden additives. Just real, intentional care baked into every experience.
MORALS
The brand is also built on a foundation of values that shape both the product and the customer journey:
QUALITY:
Nothing artificial, ever. Just pure, elevated indulgence.
TRUST:
A transparent, honest brand experience that customers can rely on
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INNOVATION:
Pastries reimagined with Afro-centric, plant-based ingredients that push tradition forward.
PASSION:
A business born from love and it shows in every bite.
COMMUNITY:
Soul Belly is made for and inspired by, the community it serves.
SELF LOVE:
Treating yourself isn’t optional. It’s essential. Every pastry is a celebration of joy and nourishment.
These values shaped a brand strategy that didn’t just look good, it felt like home for the very women it was created for.
VALUES
Soul Belly’s target audience is ambitious Black women ages 20–40 earning $60k–$100k annually. They’re educated, wellness-driven, and value joy, quality, and self-expression.
They prioritize self-care, enjoy indulgent yet intentional experiences, and love sharing time with friends, traveling, and trying new things. They’re not just buying pastries. They’re investing in a brand that mirrors their lifestyle and nourishes their joy.
TARGET AUDIENCE
From a young age, Kiara was immersed in the world of baking, lovingly guided by her grandmother the spark behind her culinary passion. The kitchen became her sanctuary, where she discovered creativity, joy, and purpose through pastry.
But it wasn’t until college that she realized baking was more than a hobby, it was her calling. During the pandemic, she left her Human Resources job to pursue baking full-time, choosing a path filled with purpose, legacy, and love.
BRAND STORY
EFINE HER BRAND (AKA THE STRATEGY)
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We researched what colors, fonts, and styles would connect with Soul Belly’s values and speak directly to her audience
Many competitors leaned heavily on browns, creams, and soft pinks. While these colors evoke warmth and familiarity, they lacked the boldness or distinctiveness needed to command attention.
We leaned into color psychology to change that. Purple, for example, is tied to creativity and luxury, while familiar tones kept things grounded. (Fun fact: color can boost brand recognition by up to 80%.)
We also looked at typography. Rounded, nostalgic fonts are proven to create trust and warmth. Perfect for a brand inspired by family, comfort, and heart.
Lastly, instead of stock baking symbols, we explored cultural ingredients and sensory visuals to reflect Soul Belly’s real values and give the brand depth.
RESEARCH ON PSYCHOLOGICAL AUDIENCE INSIGHTS
Before diving into visuals, we studied the competitive landscape. Most bakeshop brands used the same overdone palette: pinks, browns, and neutral cremes. Their logos often featured the same uninspired icons (whisks, cupcakes, chef hats) with no depth or story behind them. Fonts were either too playful or lacked sophistication, making the brands feel amateur or forgettable.
We saw an opportunity to differentiate Soul Belly by avoiding these surface-level clichés. Our goal was to develop a visual identity that felt elevated, soulful, and rooted in meaning, just like the brand itself.
RESEARCH THAT REVEALED THE GAP
ESEARCH (ON TARGET AUDIENCE AND COMPETITORS)
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AFTER
BEFORE
XECUTE THE DESIGN
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With the research complete, it was finally time to bring Soul Belly to life. Armed with deep insights about her audience, competitors, and the emotional impact her brand needed to deliver, we were ready to design with intention. Every color, font, icon, and layout was now rooted in strategy, not guesswork. This is where the visuals stopped being “just cute” and started becoming powerful tools to attract, connect, and convert.
THE LOGO:
The passion fruit in the logo symbolizes Kiara’s love for what she does, while the purple makes the brand stand out in a space full of neutrals.
THE FONTS:
The fonts were chosen to feel nostalgic, comforting, and rooted. Evoking memories of home, warmth, and tradition.
THE ICONS
Her icons don’t rely on overused baking clichés. Instead, we used textured illustrations of fruits and botanicals to speak to the brand’s authenticity and all-natural ingredients. Swirls in her brand elements were inspired by taste and scent tapping into the sensory nature of food. And the Black woman mascot anchors the visual identity in self-care, luxury, and relatability for her audience.
THE OVERALL BRAND:
Every element wasn’t just aesthetically pleasing. it was strategically designed based on psychology-backed principles that influence buying behavior and emotional connection. We assessed its effectiveness by ensuring it aligned with the brand’s goals and delivered on what her audience needed to see and feel to trust her and buy.
VISUALS THAT CONNECT, CONVERT, AND LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION
SSESS THE NEW STRATEGY
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With her brand foundation in place, we shifted focus to building visibility and driving sales. Using the brand strategy as our guide, we plugged it directly into her marketing. Crafting content that would resonate, convert, and clearly communicate her value. I coached her through sales psychology and taught her how to position her products in a way that speaks to her audience’s desires and buying triggers.
Together, we created a launch plan to confidently introduce her new branding to the world, helping her show up online with intention, clarity, and authority
But then came the moment of truth... Would all of this strategy, design, and preparation finally get her results she dreamed of? Or would her audience keep scrolling past?
M-OMENTUM WITH STRATEGY BACKED MARKETING
MORE CASE STUDIES!
YES I AM!
If that kind of leap is possible for her, it’s absolutely possible for you. You don’t have to stay where you are. You just have to decide to stop doing it alone and start building a brand that actually does the heavy lifting.
ARE YOU READY FOR THESE RESULTS?
This transformation was only possible because she got honest with herself. She recognized she had a problem, was tired of struggling in silence, and finally chose to make a change. She didn’t wait to feel “ready.” She stared fear in the face and invested in the right strategic designer.
What’s even more powerful? She wasn’t trying to scale from $5K to $15K months, she was making ZERO sales. That kind of growth is even harder to achieve, and yet she did it with the right brand foundation, strategy, and positioning.
