From HIV Survivor to Sweet Potato Pie Empire
About this episode
Empress Edwards-El shares her journey from HIV survivor to building a family-driven dessert brand, Yummy Treats, emphasizing resilience and community empowerment.
Empress Edwards-El turns pain into purpose as she shares the extraordinary journey behind Yummy Treats, a family-driven dessert brand built from resilience, faith, and survival. After growing up surrounded by poverty, addiction, incarceration, and eventually being diagnosed with HIV at just 19 years old, Empress refuses to become another statistic. Instead, she builds a decades-long career in public health advocacy, works with major networks like BET, MTV, VH1, and Lifetime, and empowers communities facing trauma and chronic illness. When layoffs, caregiving, and personal loss threaten everything she built, she returns to the one vision she never abandoned: creating soulful comfort food with her daughters. In this emotional episode of Living Your Legacy, Empress reveals how entrepreneurship, family, faith, public health advocacy, and Sweet Potato Pie become the foundation for generational legacy. Key Takeaways Turning personal adversity into purpose-driven entrepreneurship Building a family business centered on culture, joy, and community Overcoming stigma, poverty, and chronic illness through resilience Why authenticity creates stronger brands and loyal customers Using public…
People in this episode
Host: Rudy Mawer
Guest: Empress Edwards-El
Topics covered
- entrepreneurship
- resilience
- public health advocacy
- family business
- overcoming adversity
- community empowerment
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Yummy Treats, BET, MTV, VH1, Lifetime
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