Denver Phenom Cupcake Entrepreneur Wins Today Show Contest
13-year old Lyla Padden to fly to New York, appear on Today March 15
DENVER (Mar. 5, 2012)
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Look out, Giada, Emeril and Nigella. There‟s a new kid
–
literally
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in town
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and she‟s about to
make her baking debut on the Today Show.
Denver‟
s own thirteen-year old cupcake entrepreneur, Lyla Padden, has won the Today
Show‟s “Today's Future Stars of Tomorrow”
contest and will appear live on the TodayShow on Friday morning, March 15.Lyla, whose Denver
baked goods business is known as “Flour Gal”(
www.flourgal.com),began selling cupcakes at just ten years old. With the help of her family and a wide
variety of fans, Lyla‟s business thrived over the next thr
ee years, winning a number of awards for the junior entrepreneur.
“I started baking cupcakes to make other people happy,” said Lyla. “
But starting andrunning Flour Gal has made me happier than I ever could have imagined. And now,going on national television
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it‟s the frosting on the cupcake.”
Lyla‟s vision, hard work and delectable baking
have won her the 2012 Colorado YoungEntrepeneurs Award (from the Young Americans Center for Financial Education), the2012 Rockies Venture Club Colorado Capital Conference Youth Entrepreneurship Award and the 2012 Million Dollar Butterflies Top Entrepreneur Award.
“I marvel most days at how I ended up with this talented, generous, ambitious,
incredibly good-
hearted young lady as my daughter,” said Monica Padden, Lyla‟smother and biggest supporter. “The last two years of watching her blossom as „Flour Gal‟ have been amazing.”
Lyla has had some help along the way in building her business. The Young AmericansCenter for Financial Education connected Lyla with two mentors
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Kent Thiry, co-chairman and CEO of DaVita HealthCare Partners (a Fortune 500® kidney carecompany); Rob Lanphier, CEO of Pour Kids, a Denver-area restaurant group; and GaryGaessler, @ggaessler vice president of sales for Cloud Elements(www.cloud-elements.com)
