Ep. #62 From Mental Health to Mouthwatering Treats: Byron Coley's Sweet Success with Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

Imagine stumbling upon a cinnamon bun business so unique and delicious that it changes your career path forever. That's precisely what happened to Byron Coley, our guest on this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. We sit down with Byron, the owner of Cinnaholic in Ballantyne, who shares his inspiring transition from a mental health professional to a proud franchise owner. Byron takes us on his flavorful journey, revealing how a social media post introduced him to Cinnaholic and ignited his passion for opening a vegan cinnamon roll franchise. Located in the Earth Fare shopping center, Byron’s shop offers a delectable array of options including brownies, cookies, baby buns, cookie cakes, and cinna cakes, all 100% vegan and irresistibly tasty.

Get ready to have your assumptions challenged as Byron dispels common myths about vegan products lacking flavor. He opens up about his own initial skepticism and how Cinnaholic's plant-based delights surpassed his expectations. Tune in as we explore the innovative range of toppings and frostings that elevate these cinnamon rolls to new heights of deliciousness. With his story and insights, Byron invites you to experience the mouthwatering world of Cinnaholic, where each bite promises to be as satisfying as it is worry-free. Whether you're a vegan enthusiast or a curious first-timer, this episode is sure to whet your appetite for a visit to Byron's delightful cinnamon creation haven.

Cinnaholic - Charlotte - Ballantyne
Bryon Coley
3419 Toringdon Way Suite 108
Charlotte, NC 28277
[phone]
[e-mail]
cinnaholic.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Regina Lee.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Well, hello everybody and welcome to the Good
Neighbor Podcast.
I'm excited today to introduceByron Coley, who I've had the
pleasure of meeting.
He is the owner of Cinnholic,which is a fabulous cinnamon bun
business here in the Ballantynearea.
Welcome, byron.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yeah, thank you for having me, Regina.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, I got to meet you at your ribbon cutting with
the Charlotte Area Chamber ofCommerce.
The smell is heavenly when youwalk in.
Oh my God, I would weigh 200pounds, I think, if I was there
every day.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
I'm not sure.
I'm sure you'd get tired of itquickly, oh I don't know.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
So, Byron, tell us a little bit about yourself and
what led you to wanting to openthis business.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah, absolutely Well , I am a North Carolina native,
born and raised in RaleighDurham, north Carolina.
My wife and I relocated here toCharlotte in 2018.
And since then we have hadthree beautiful girls.
Wow, yeah, so we stay quitebusy.
We are both mental healthprofessionals in the local
Charlotte area and right beforeCOVID found Cineholic through, I

(01:27):
think, a social media ad andhad a chance to taste it, buy
the product and fell in love,and that's kind of what led us
to opening up our own franchisemodel here in Ballantyne.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Well, you are very, very convenient.
You're right in that Earth Fairshopping center off of Johnston
, and was that Community House?

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yes, Community House.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Okay, definitely.
Well, talk us through your menu.
Obviously, I have bought one,and then many of your cinnamon
buns to take to meetings, but Ithink what struck me is all
those incredible toppings.
It's like overwhelming theoptions you have.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
Yeah Well, I think overwhelming is a good word.
I think a lot of people thatare coming in for the first time
are kind of thrown about a backby the amount of options they
have to build their roles.
One of the things that wealways advise people who've
never tried cinnamon holly is tocome in and perhaps just try an
old school and that isessentially a classic cinnamon

(02:32):
roll, and then if they want tocome in again, then they can be
a little bit more adventurous.
But aside from the cinnamonrolls and all the many toppings
that we have, we also havedifferent frostings that they
can put on the cinnamon rollbefore topping it with the
toppings.
We also have a variety of otheroptions brownies, cookies, we

(02:54):
have baby buns, which aresmaller cinnamon rolls which are
good for kids, or, if you wantto try multiple types of
frostings, cookie doughs.
We have cookie cakes and wehave cinnamon roll cakes, which
we call a cinna cake.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
I think the other thing that I was so surprised
about is that the cinnamon rollsare 100% vegan.
So talk to us a little bitabout that.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Right, yeah.
So the founders of this companyfound a need of having more
vegan options, and so everythingin our store is 100%
plant-based.
So that means no dairy.
That means everything, ofcourse, is lactose-free,
egg-free and it's alsocholesterol-free.
So a lot of people ask us howwe make our rolls, like what

(03:46):
makes them vegan?
Do we use bananas and do we useapples as the base?
We use all vegan products forour toppings, so we have to
order from specific vendors, andthat means that those who have,
like these, egg allergies andperhaps like a dairy allergy,
are able to eat our cinnamonrolls worry free.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
That's amazing and you know I would say a
misconception that people mayhave when they hear vegan is
that you know you're missingsomething in flavor, but I can
vouch, that is just not trueyou're missing something in
flavor.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
but I can vouch that is just not true.
No, it's not true and I canattest to that.
I was one of those people thatwere pretty skeptical when they
heard something was vegan orsomething was low fat or
something.
But I don't even usually startoff the conversation about
Cinnaholic with is vegan becauseI know for many people it's
going to turn their nose.
But once they taste it againbecause I know for many people
it's going to turn their nose,but once they taste it, like you
, they can attest that it doesnot meet the expectation they

(04:49):
originally had.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
That's amazing.
With your journey through allof this, transitioning with your
career, were there anyhardships along the way your
career?
Were there any?

Speaker 3 (05:05):
hardships along the way.
I mean, I think one of thehardships just and this just
comes with being a businessowner is just finding the right
location for us, and we lookedkind of tried to stay within
this South Charlotte area, butBallantyne was always kind of
the spot that we kind of keptcoming back to and it was just a

(05:36):
matter of finding a shoppingcenter that we felt was located
where we wanted it to near thehighway, near a growing area,
which I think we accomplished.
Much of our business iscatering, so we knew that we
wanted to be near a businesspark.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Oh, wow, okay.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, so that was perhaps the biggest obstacle
that we had in this journey sofar.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
So with catering, take us a little deeper.
How many cinnamon buns andvarieties?
I mean, how does that wholething work?

Speaker 3 (06:05):
And how much?

Speaker 2 (06:05):
time.
Do you need to make 100 or 200cinnamon buns?

Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, that's a lot of cinnamon buns, yeah, yeah, but
we can.
So traditionally people havebeen getting you know a few
dozen, and so those can eitherbe baby buns and those can
either be the regular sizecinnamon rolls.
I'd say roughly three baby bunswould equate to a size of a

(06:32):
cinnamon roll.
That's a rough estimate.
As far as time, the making ofthe rolls actually don't take
long.
It is the process of lettingthem cool to the touch and then
frosting them and decoratingthem with whatever flavors and
toppings that the individualmight choose.
But we request at least 24hours and that just gives us

(06:57):
time, mostly again, just to letthose rolls cool completely and
then frost them.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, that's amazing.
And do you offer delivery tothese local businesses?

Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, no, that's a great question.
So, personally, we can getsomething delivered within a
reasonable mile range I'd sayfive, 10 miles, but we also have
options.
We're linked on DoorDash, uber,eats and for more catering
events.
We are linked to the platformEasy Cater, which a lot of
businesses are already attachedto, and so you can find us on

(07:31):
any of those platforms.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
So now you have three little girls.
I think you said a brand newbusiness.
Your wife, I know, is in mentalhealth.
With all of this going on inyour life, what are you most
proud of right now?

Speaker 3 (07:50):
That's a good question.
What am I most proud of?
You know I really try to, witheverything going on and my wife
and family they always kind ofpick at me that I always have
something going on.
So I'd say I am proud of ourgirls always and them being

(08:11):
flexible with mom and dad'scrazy schedules.
And I'm also proud of my and myfamily's ability to, while we
have all of these things kind ofhappening around us, while we
have all of these things kind ofhappening around us, to still
find time to just enjoy the now,which can be really tough.
And I know perhaps I'm speakingto many people with that, but

(08:35):
that's something that we do,Maybe not as often as we would
like, but we try to be prettyintentional about that.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
Well, at least you're aware, and that's the biggest
piece of living in the moment.
And now, what kind of stuff doyou guys like doing as a family?

Speaker 3 (08:49):
Yeah, so we're, of course, always busy with the
girls, so our girls play, theydo gymnastics, they do soccer
Some of the stuff that perhaps alot of kids do now, just with
school activities and afterschool activities.
We also, when we're not busywith that, we also enjoy
traveling and we during COVID,because of social distancing, we

(09:11):
actually got into RVing and sowhen we travel we'll often take
the RV and go to I don't know,visit family, or we've gone to
Florida in it, and that's one ofthe things that we enjoy doing,
just sightseeing and wheneverwe're able to like get on the
road a little further.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
You know those are going to be great memories for
your children when they grow up.
Something that sticks, I think,with kids.
That get that growing up.
And what's your favorite placeyou've gone?
Do you camp or do you get tostay in your RV?

Speaker 3 (09:47):
No, we stay in the RV .
We haven't gotten thatadventurous yet.
Yeah, we usually go to some ofthe same places and because our
smallest is just one, we don'tusually we haven't gone far in a
while.
So we'll usually go to theCarowinds Campground, which is
really nice.
We're able to camp out theresomething different for the
girls, and then go to CarowindsCampground, which is really nice
.
We're able to camp out theresomething different for the
girls and then go to Carowinds.

(10:08):
We also do the variouscampgrounds for the
Raleigh-Durham area, so that'swhere our family is and again,
it just allows us a chance to dosomething different while also
visiting family.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Well, I think it sounds like you guys are very,
very well-rounded, and I canvouch for how delicious the
cinnamon buns are at Cinnaholic.
So tell our listeners how tofind you and how to reach you.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yes, absolutely Well.
As Regina mentioned, we arelocated in the Earth Fair
Shopping Center, so right inToringdon, the Toringdon
Shopping Center.
We also, of course, as Imentioned earlier, can be found
on DoorDash, uber Eats and EasyCater and social media platforms
, cineholic Balantine, or if youjust Google Cinnaholic

(10:59):
Balantine, we'll pop up.
And, of course, if you guysever need anything as it relates
to catering or just orders,feel free to give us a call or
visit our website online to findout our email address and
content information.
I also will put this out there.
I know that we've been receivingfeedback that it would be great

(11:21):
if we opened up earlier.
Right now that's not reallyfeasible just because of our
staffing, but if anybody needsan order, big or small, any
earlier than what we open up,which is at 10 right now, we can
accommodate that with, ofcourse, enough notice.
But hopefully we'll be able tomeet the needs of the community

(11:44):
in the future by opening upearlier.
But we'd love to hear from youguys.
For those that have not triedCinnaholic, please come in and
try it.
As Regina mentioned, it'sabsolutely delicious and, yeah,
we're here for a long timehopefully.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, and you have walk-in traffic.
You've got little tables.
You can sit and eat right thereor you can take it to go.
Well, Byron, congratulations onyour grand opening and so
excited to have you here in thecommunity.
I know I'll see you again soon.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
I appreciate it.
Thanks, Regina.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go toGNPSouthCharlotte.
com.
That's GNPSouthcharlotte.
com.
That's gnpsouthcharlottecom, orcall 980-351-5719.