Gigi Butler on Faith, Failure & Cupcakes | The Untold Story of Gigi’s Cupcakes Founder

In this special NRB 2025 edition of the Covenant Eyes Podcast, we sit down with Gigi Butler, the powerhouse entrepreneur behind Gigi’s Cupcakes. From cleaning Taylor Swift’s toilet to building a $40 million cupcake empire with just $33 and a dream, Gigi shares her deeply moving journey of faith, failure, grit, and grace.

🎯 Hear how she pivoted from country music to cupcakes
🧁 Discover the power of food, home, and hospitality
👩‍👧 Learn how she balances single motherhood with purpose
✝️ Explore how faith fuels her business and life
📚 Get a preview of her new book and upcoming TV show!

Whether you're an entrepreneur, parent, dreamer, or believer—this episode will inspire you to pursue your calling with courage and conviction.

🔗 Connect with Gigi: https://www.gigibutler.com
📕 Book: The Secret Ingredient by Gigi Butler
📸 Instagram: @OfficialGigiButler
📺 Upcoming faith-based cooking TV show — stay tuned!

💡 LIKE if this inspired you
💬 COMMENT: What’s your “secret ingredient” in life?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more real conversations with faith-filled leaders
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#gigibutler #gigiscupcakes #faithandentrepreneurship #christianbusinesswoman

CHAPTERS:
0:00 – Welcome to NRB 2025 with Gigi Butler
0:53 – From Honky Tonks to Cupcakes: Gigi's Journey
2:18 – Cleaning Taylor Swift’s Toilet: The Turning Point
3:05 – Starting Gigi’s Cupcakes with $33
4:10 – The Power of Food & Smell to Trigger Memories
5:11 – Restoring the Family Dinner Table
6:10 – Balancing Business, Faith & Single Motherhood
8:00 – Writing Goals & Building Daily Habits
8:32 – About Gigi’s Book: *The Secret Ingredient*
9:14 – New TV Show Announcement: Love, Food, and Devotion
9:55 – Does Gigi Still Sing?
10:12 – Final Words of Encouragement

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Episode Transcript

(00:06):
Hey everybody, welcome backto The Covenant Eyes Podcast.
We are at NRB 2025and again meeting some amazing
people here. Rob oh it.
Is good time, but.
I gotta start.
I gotta say,I was promised cupcakes.
Oh no.
To do this interview.
I don't see any cupcakes.
I know, I'm very sorry.
Next time I will have bakedgoods in here for you tonight.

(00:28):
Traveling with them.
And then, you know, it's been alittle difficult.
Yeah. Okay.
We'll let that slide.
Yeah. Let melet me introduce you.
Our guesttoday is a Gigi Butler.
Yes.
And, she is thefounder of Gigi’s Cupcakes.
Okay, well, welcome to theThe Covenant Eyes Podcast.
Could you start just tell usa little bit about yourself

(00:49):
in how you got into this worldof cupcakes? And.
Well, it's an interesting path.
It's amazing how God leads usin different things.
And we think that we'regoing to do one thing
and this is it. God.
And then God's like, well, yes,but you're going
to use those giftsand then you're going
to bring himinto a different path.
So I was I wanted to be acountry music singer songwriter.

(01:12):
And at seven, I decidedI was going to move to Nashville
as soon as I could.
And my parents werea little shocked.
I was an entrepreneur at heart,so I started a cleaning business
at the age of 15,and then started a band at 16,
and then toured the countryand with the band, and then I
moved to Nashvillewhen I was right
out of high school.

(01:32):
And.
Toured all across the countryand all parts of the world,
and sang it every honky tonkyou could ever imagine.
If you've been to Nashville.
Yeah, I was down there in thein the pits.
And then it came to a pointto where I was cleaning
Taylor Swift's toilet,and she was 15. Oh, wow.
And she was practicingon her bed and practicing a song

(01:53):
she'd written.
And I looked at her.
I'm like,did you write that song?
She's like, it's going to be onmy first album.
I'm like, I'm done with music.
You have all the moneyin the world and you're a savant
and I'm cleaning your toiletat almost 30. I'm done.
So I expandedmy cleaning business and then
two years later, my brotherstood in line at a cupcake shop

(02:15):
and he's like, you shouldopen a cupcake
shop in Nashville.
And he was in New York City.
And that's when cupcakesweren't popular and all.
2008. Yeah.
And so I thought, why not?
You know, I've already failedat one thing.
I might as well just.
I love to bake,but I've never been
a cupcake baker.
I just so I put all the familyrecipes together
and I went to four banksand they laughed in my face.

(02:38):
And so I ended uptaking a $100,000 cash
advances on my creditcards, and I went for it. Wow.
And with with $33.
After I built thefirst store out
in Nashville, Tennessee,I had $33 left in my name,
opened my doors,and in five years,
that one store, one dream,that's all I wanted.

(03:00):
And one storeturned into 125 stores
in 24 states.
Wow.
That's amazing. $33.
It has been aninteresting journey.
That is crazy, I bet.
Wow.
So yeah, I mean, to start offwith a dream and a passion
to be in the music industryand then pivot
into cupcakes. Wow.
So talk to usa little bit about,
you know, cupcakes.

(03:21):
You know, how does foodbring people together?
Because, I mean,I think it's something
we can all share inand enjoy together.
And some of our best memoriesare over. Cupcakes at.
A table. Yeah, exactly.
And my next book, it'sabout love, food and devotion,
and it's all aboutJesus was the king
of hospitality.
He brought people together,then he fed them.

(03:44):
Then they were more openup to know about his word.
So that was mywhole concept of my.
My new book is about love, foodand devotion.
And then I just wanted peopleto know that hospitality
and food and homeand so many people
don't cook anymore,have that right.
They're business peopleand they're out
and they're doing their thing.

(04:05):
So bringing back the conceptof being a homemaker and home
and being a CEO and beinga business person, but
you can also have thatthing that our grandparents had
and have that homebaked feeling.
So that's what the that's wherethe cupcakes came from.
And becausefood takes people back.

(04:26):
And I remember one timeand I knew
I had something specialwhen a guy about 30
something cameinto my first store
and I had just openedand he smelled.
And he's like, this reminds meof my grandma's house.
And I thought.
Yeah.
I got something that's amazing.
And so I knew, if somethingtakes you back, which food
and smell does.

(04:47):
Yes, I had something special.
Love that.
Yeah.
And you know, the thingthat we love at covenant is, is
really strengtheningfamilies, you know, and we know
that pornography obviouslyis impacting families
like crazy.
But one of the thingsthat when we're doing
parent presentationswe always talk about
is the importanceof sitting down
for family meals.
And I think,I think this is right

(05:09):
in your alley, but completely.
Yeah, I mean, there'sso much value in
just putting thetechnology aside
and sitting downand sharing a meal
and the memories and the smellsand the experiences
and the laughterand even sometimes
the arguments.
I mean, all of those thingsare part of the experience,
right? Yeah.
The family unit and I'm Italian,half Italian.
And so we were raised

we sit down at 6 (05:28):
00, wherever you're at,
you come to the tableand I think now all of the
traveling sportsand I'm going to say
this, people are probably goingto be upset, but all
they're running here,they're running,
they're running here,they're ready.
No one sits down and sharesa meal together anymore.
And they're grabbingsomething on the go and they're
doing something.
Where is the family unit?

(05:49):
It's it's brokenbecause of our busyness
and because, oh,I got to get my kid to
the fourth travelingbaseball team.
Really?
Is he going to be a proballplayer?
Is she really going to be like,what's important, them
playing ball, which I'mnot saying that sports
aren't important to her.
I'm not saying that it's the.

(06:10):
The it's the. Balance.
And where is your familyunit at 6 p.m.
or 7 p.m.?
They're not there.
Someone's on their computer,someone's playing a Game Boy,
someone's doing their someone'srunning to the track
or the field and we've lostthat family unit
and bringing people home againand food and making it

(06:32):
popular again.
And that's what the newbook is about, like hospitality,
bringing people together,feeding their basic need
and then talking about Jesus.
Yeah. That's amazing.
Well, you I mean,do you talk a lot about balance?
With a busy businessthat you have, how do you manage
or balance that faith inthe business and family life

(06:54):
and all of those things?
That is a great question.
I didn't I balances my keyto where I have to be,
and I'm a single mom,I have a 13 year old
and I've always wanted to bea stay at home mom.
But being the sole provider,I've had to be creative.
So for the firstfive years of her life,
she was our home,was maybe in a bus or on a plane

(07:17):
or in a hotel roomor in the back of a kitchen.
But we were home.
So the balance for meis I've got to keep
her balanced.
I need to keep goodfood in front of her.
I need to keep her off her phoneas much as I can.
And I mean, and sheI'm the most horrible
mom in the worldbecause I only limit

(07:38):
to her to an hour a day.
How do you know it?
Oh. You're horrible.
No other moms do that.
Well, I'm a planner.
I'm a counter culture mom.
So, yeah, you're right, I don't.
So it's the balanceis just keeping her
and keeping my my peace.
And I write a lot.
I write, I'll writedown my goals.
I think that's very important.

(07:59):
I balance my food and exerciseand I try not to get overloaded.
I'm sure you all are veryhigh energy.
And you've got go, go, go,but you have to
take a breath and feedyourself, feed your body,
feed your soul with God's Word.
Get rest.
And it's all about.
Let me just write downmy goals for the day.

(08:20):
What do I need to accomplish?
Let me check it off.
Oh yeah, I've got a workout.
I've got to go workout or yep,I didn't drink
my glasses of water.
So if I see it on paper,that's usually gives me
more of a balance.
Yeah, I think that's so good.
And I thinkfor all of us, finding
that balance is really key.
I mean, and everybody's balancewill look a little different.
But you have to find thatbecause it's so important.

(08:42):
Well how do peopleget connected.
You've got a book.
Let's see herethe secret ingredient.
Yes, yes.
And then you've got a new bookcoming out as well.
How did theyget connected with you
and your your books?
Well, GigiButler.comis the best way
to get ahold of me or all.
My Instagramis OfficialGigiButler
and Facebook and all of that.
And the new book is about love,food, and devotion.

(09:05):
I haven't pickedI haven't picked a perfect name
for it yet, but there's beenso much interest that we are
going to do a TV show about it.
Oh, that's amazing.
And have that space.
Have you a hot mess of RachaelRay and, you know,
Paula Deen and Martha Stewartand Kelly Clarkson,
but in a faith space?

(09:25):
No, actually, I'm really excitedabout it. Yes.
And the book's gottenso much excitement
that it's going to be a TV showin the next class.
That's amazing.
Yeah, I'm looking.
At one last question for you.
Do you still sing?
I do, I sing in my churchand I sing for my daughter.
And now I used to singall the time for my daughter.
But of course, I, you know, mom,you're embarrassing me.

(09:47):
But I still sing at my church.
I do, I help with the worshipleading at church, and
and I don't singat bars anymore.
That's really not my thing.
Yeah, but it was agreat experience.
That's awesome.
Well, thank you so muchfor joining us today.
Thank you very much.
You know, authoringthese great books
and really just teaching peopleabout the balance and the love
and joy of foodand how we can use that

(10:08):
to really strengthenour families.
So thank you.
Thank you for joining you.
All right.
To all ofour listeners out there,
thanks for tuning into this episode
of The Covenant Eyes Podcast.
We'll see you next time.
God bless. Take care.