Matt Gade

Doodlebug baked another cake.
It&#8217;s how Madison Southern High School senior Meghan Smith showed her creative side, mixed it with baking and turned herself into a small-business woman running her bakery called Doodlebug Cakes. Meghan, 17, has become so successful she&#8217;s been able to buy a Toyota Corolla and pay for car insurance and a trip to Disney World.
Her passion to be creative started at age 12, when she asked her mother, Cristi Simmons, for baking supplies as her Christmas present. Her mother said she never imagined purchasing those used pans and trays for Meghan would lead to a busy business.
Meghan figures she&#8217;s baked more than 1,000 cakes since she started.
It&#8217;s been a juggling act as she tries balancing the Berea business with her school work, friends and fun.
&#8220;Wednesday through Saturday morning she&#8217;s pretty much out of commission,&#8221; Meghan&#8217;s mom says of cake baking&#8217;s impact on her daughter&#8217;s social life.
The business that started out in mom&#8217;s oven expanded in the first year into a fully licensed kitchen built in the garage by her grandfather, &#8220;Papaw&#8221; James Simmons. Mom had to park in the driveway, and Papaw supplied the company name.
Meghan&#8217;s bakery provided the treats for career day at her brother&#8217;s elementary school, but family members aren&#8217;t propping up the business.
&#8220;No one really likes cake in my house,&#8221; Meghan says.
As her senior year winds down, Meghan plans to continue her business through college but not much beyond that. She hopes to find a new outlet for her creative side. Until then, if she isn&#8217;t busy with schoolwork or out with friends, odds are that Doodlebug&#8217;s in the kitchen.

A company cakewalk