BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, Brooklyn — A childhood activity turned into a lifelong passion, and he uses his food to give a different taste to the people around him.

Je T’aime Patisserie It is located at 471 Marcus Garvey Boulevard in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

“I’m the first girl. So my mom’s at work and I like to bake and stuff, and the kids like hot things. So I’d take the box cake and put my own spin on it. That’s right. It’s going to fail And I hated baking but I’m not a failure so let this cake beat me to it.” I can’t let it,” said Jatee Kearsley, the owner of the cake.

He said those failures led to something great.

“I think in the process of failing, then you literally learn more about yourself. You learn, you know, how strong you are, how far you’re willing to go, not just like overcoming this thing, but overcoming your fear, like giving up.” said Kearsley.

Her love of food and baking took her to the School of Culinary Arts in upstate New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialization in culinary arts.

But she got most of her cooking knowledge from YouTube!

“I learned from YouTube. That’s where everyone knows everything from YouTube and basically fails a lot,” Kearsley said. “I used to be called Je T’aime Macarons, and I would just sell different flavors of pasta. I would go to farmers markets, open shops. And I was getting a lot of attention.”

Kearsley’s main goal is to give back to his neighborhood and make his delicious treats accessible to everyone.

“We’re not ashamed to say we accept food stamps here, and we don’t want anyone to be embarrassed for using food stamps here because it’s a safe place,” he said. “It’s so important to ensure that not only can everyone eat my food, but that everyone can access my food, regardless of payment options.”

She loves seeing kids happy with their purchase and leaving with their families knowing they have something special on their hands.

“It’s like moms and dads coming here with their kids and knowing they have the opportunity to use their food stamps to get this fancy meal,” he said. “Fancy food. It’s really in the nature of my heart. Like I really try not to cry and it makes me happy, you know, knowing that I can help people, you know, help them have an experience.” food brings some happiness and, you know, they don’t have to be limited in their options.”

Making people happy is the main thing.

“It makes me happy to know that I’m making someone else happy. It makes me happy to know that I can provide something for people who are like my mom with food stamps. And that kid was me,” Kearsley said. “You know, asking my mom for something that unfortunately she couldn’t afford at the time,” Kearsley said. “But now, you know , they might come in here and see a big old pile of cookies and say, ‘mom, I want chocolate chip cookies.’ And, you know, their mothers might say yes, too, because, you know, they can afford it.”

The bakery also gives away many things for free and gives them to the community.

“From the moment I opened the doors, we donated to schools, we donated to churches, we donated to a lot of programs for young people,” he said. “I say, ‘God blessed me with this oven.’ So who am I to not bless others?”

He hopes his business can open people up to trying something new.

“I like to offer a variety of pastries for people to experience new, new things every day, you know? That’s the nice thing about my bakery, I guess. We change the menu every three months. So every three months Someone can come here and have a brand new bakery experience,” she said.

Customers can grab their treats and dine in or to go.

“It’s very important to me to make sure that I’m not only providing quality stuff to the community, but that the community is also experiencing quality in the space overall,” he said. “Just sitting here eating, drinking coffee, interacting with other customers, it’s like the bakery’s name was Je T’aime and it literally means I love you.”

It all stems from his love for his community.

“My motto is ‘made of love’ because everything I do is from love. I’m a lovely person who loves, loves, loves like it’s made with love. I would sprinkle little sprinkles on love, but it’s not like that. “It really comes from my heart, it’s the same thing I do every day,” Kearsley said. “It’s in my heart to let you do it,” he said.

See more of Kearsley’s bakery menu items at: instagram.