Mikala Everson's Secret Ingredient? Love.

Ron Lyons (00:00): 

What makes you smile?

Mikala Everson (00:03):

Ooh, there's a lot of things. I'm a pretty easy to laugh at everything. I, I love fail videos. If you ask a lot of my friends, <laugh>, if I'm sad, I watch fail videos because I will literally almost make myself pee by watching these videos.

Ron Lyons (00:16):

Welcome to CelinaRadio.com recorded right here in Celina, Texas, a quiet little dusty sleepy town that has absolutely nothing going on. Guys. We know that this is Celina, Texas. And as a we say Celina, Texas has everything going on. So today we've got one of the most amazing people that you could possibly want to sit down with. Her name is Mikala Everson. And if you don't know Mikala, you're gonna know her soon. She's opening up grannies, which is a little shop just off the square that has almost everything from sweets to breads to different wines. And it is just, it's an amazing place. And here's, what's really cool. She's super young. So we sat down with her over at the fire department, admin building, if you can believe that. And we had quite the discussion. I have not had tears in my eyes like that and laughed like that with one person in a long time. So I think you're gonna love this episode and what's maybe even more cool is the fact that we sprung something on her that she didn't see coming. And I'm just not gonna tell you what it is, but you definitely wanna listen all the way through to the very end because it's super, super cool. We also have a giveaway at the end of the show today, and it's related specifically to something about Mikala. So guys it's Celina radio.com Celina rocks rock. And so does Mikala. So let's get into our discussion with Mikala. Ierson Everson.

Ron Lyons (02:13):
All right, guys, I am here with Michael Everson and it, and it is Everson, not Everson. Is that correct?

That's correct. Very good. And how are you today?

Mikala Everson (02:22):
I'm doing so well, thank you for asking. Thanks for having me.

Ron Lyons (02:25):
Yeah, it's it's my pleasure. And we are now in the fire administration building. So explain to me, how did

we get in the fire administration building?

Mikala Everson (02:35):
So my dad is the assistant fire chief in town and you know, their families become like mine. So I just

asked him, I was like, dad, can we please record it here? And he said, absolutely.

Ron Lyons (02:46):

Oh. So it's very nice of them to allow us to have this space. It's nice and quiet. And so that was your dad that we were talking to while ago. Very, very nice guy. And he said, he's a big fan of the show. Yeah. So I know he's gonna love to listen to this episode with you on it. And, and let's, let's just tell everybody who you are. And maybe not everybody knows who you are yet, but I would dare say that if they don't know,

now they're gonna know soon. So you've got some, some great news. You've got something really big coming up. What is it that you've got going on? That everybody is about to just like find out about

Mikala Everson (03:20):

<Laugh>? Well, if you don't know, I am the owner and the head pastry chef of Granny's's and most of you guys know me as Granny's sweeties. So we have a shop opening. We are gonna be the first bakery in Celina. So I can't wait for that. And we operate out of three of the five restaurants right now, and we also take custom orders on the side,

Ron Lyons (03:41):
So, okay. So the, the new place is gonna be called Granny'ss sweeties. Is that correct? Am I saying that

right?

Mikala Everson (03:46):
The whole place is gonna be called

Ron Lyons (03:48): Granny'ss. Okay. Granny'ss

Mikala Everson (03:49):

Yeah. And then we are gonna have little sections in Granny's's that have like their own names. So grainy sweeties will be our sweet side. We'll have Granny's's basket for the bread. We'll have Granny's's barrel for their beer and wine and so fun and so forth. It'll

Ron Lyons (04:04):
Be, yeah, it sounds really, really awesome. So give me an idea. You're you're not anywhere close to my

age, as a matter of fact, I think you're probably half my age. Do you mind telling us how old are you?

Mikala Everson (04:15):
Yes, I'm 23 turning 24 in July.

Ron Lyons (04:17):

Oh my gosh. You're starting so early in this, but here's the thing. And I happen to know from personal experience, just exactly how good your creations are, because you've got the, the cakes over at toasted Walnut. So when you go into toasted Walnut, there's a little board there and there's always a little selection of cakes on it, all of them amazing. And that's yours, correct?

Mikala Everson (04:44):
Correct. Yeah. We get to I try to do different flavors every month. We're now up to 36 flavors, which is

incredible, but yes, they are killing it over there.

Ron Lyons (04:54):

That's awesome. So it's I'm unfortunately, on a special diet right now, I'm trying to like thin down a little bit, so I don't get to go in there and have all of that stuff, but I am definitely going to use some of your

stuff for a cheat meal coming up. So let, let me ask you this. So you've got, I, I believe you've got a location right here. Very close to the square. Tell me all about that.

Mikala Everson (05:17):

Yes. So it's been really cool when I was just working at toasted Walnut. I just got off national geographic cruise lines. C was brand new and I was just looking for a job. So I was serving at toasted Walnut, getting to be back into the community, getting back to seeing all the people that I grew up around. And I was very interested in eventually opening a space here in town. So I asked Dante from tender. I said, Hey, Dante, do you mind taking a meeting with me? I'd love to pick your brain about what it's like to operate a business. And so on may, around that may time, two years ago, I was sat down with him in front of Tinder. And I was, I had a little notebook and I sat down at the patio table in the front. And he was like, have you ever been to the cake bar in Dallas and was like, no, I haven't.

Mikala Everson (06:04):

So he literally drove us over to the cake bar and just to see such a cool model going on there. They just serve cake by the slice. So whole cake. And that's it like, that's what they do. And that that's a staple there. So for me, he was like, after we went back on the way back home, he was like, listen, if you're serious about this, if you really want it, we'll let you use our kitchen. You can test out your cakes. I have a staff, that'll try it. And started with four cakes at toasted Walnut and two cakes at Tinder. We started with red velvet over there and strawberry and li toasted. And now we're doing 40 cakes a week. And I can't look back

Ron Lyons (06:38):

Now. <Laugh> no, you definitely can't go backwards. I think there might be a full protest in town if you were to stop doing that right now. So what when, what, when is this big grand opening? When are we gonna get to actually go in and see this new place

Mikala Everson (06:53):
Right now? We're officially seeing summer in the summertime, but it may be end of July early August.

Ron Lyons (06:59):

Okay. And so it is right here off the square, so that's great. You're gonna have all of this access from the square and everything. And I think all of these businesses compliment each other, but I I'm very interested. How did you ever get started doing this? Like how does a somEversone in their early twenties even get started doing this?

Mikala Everson (07:18):

Well, I was very fortunate from a very young age. I knew that this was my calling. I was six years old when I first pulled up a kitchen stool and I was like, absolutely mom, let me do it, let me do it. And she loves to tell that story <laugh> cuz I always was the one in the kitchen asking to help and growing up, I had my Granny's who just harvest that time. Like our time that was quality time together was in the kitchen. And that was my piece in my time with her, she taught me everything she knew. And so for me it was always just such a big blessing to have that in my life. Well, my sophomore year in high school, unfortunately she passed with cancer and a week later the culinary Institute came to prosper high school, which is where I graduated from. And I knew that was God telling me, this is your calling. This is your dream. Go make this happen for you and

Ron Lyons (08:10):

Granny's. What an amazing story. I absolutely love that. So, so basically that's, that's where the name comes from and you, and, and, and, and she lives on in you and she lives on in everything that you do. And let me just say my compliments to everything she taught you because the cake that I have <laugh> is literally, I know I'm gonna go on about it for a minute here and it's, it's amazing. It's fantastic. So do you have any secrets that you, that you can share? Mm-Hmm <affirmative> you may have some that you're like, I'm not gonna share that, but do you have any secrets that, that makes your stuff so much better than average?

Mikala Everson (08:48):

I think the biggest lesson she taught me and it's something that I carry every day is you have to do everything with love. Like she taught me that that is the way to do it. And so for me, every cake I make, every event I get to be a part of. You'll never see somebody who, a cheerleader more than I will for

Ron Lyons (09:03):

Them. That is absolutely amazing. And I love that about you. No wonder you're in your early twenties and getting started like this, you've got, you have so much motivation from the right places and it's incredible. So let's, let's learn a little bit more about you. You said you went to prosper high school, graduated from there. So you've, you've been in the Celina area. I'm assuming all your life, is that true?

Mikala Everson (09:25): My entire life. Yeah.

Ron Lyons (09:26):
Okay. And, and you've been prosper and Soine and that sort of thing. What's it been like growing up in

this area and watching all of this change go on.

Mikala Everson (09:35):

Absolutely. It's been really cool because you know, you know, everybody's mom and their job and the car they drive and it's just such a family vibe. So I really enjoy seeing that growing up in prosper and having such a small family community, you know, you saw your pastor and your preacher and your teacher all at the same Friday night football game. And that was always super cool. So, you know, growing up and continuing to seeing the growth, when I came back from culinary school, you know, prosper was not the same little prosper that it was, but it's super cool to see so many people care about the same place as we care about. And furthermore, here in Celina, you know, I love this town because so many people care to support their local business. They care about who's coming, they care about what you care about. And so for me, you know, I know the growth is ever changing and it's coming, but I just appreciate everything that it is now. And I hope we get to keep

Ron Lyons (10:29):

It. Yeah. Well, and, and it is in such a, a state of change right now. And I always say, I think everybody wants to come here and get what we have. Yes. And then things happen like you and you open this shot now of course, more people are gonna come. They're gonna come all the way up here to get some of your stuff. I mean, why wouldn't they? Of course, it's, it's just amazing. And Celina's an amazing place and you're gonna be right here in the square. So you get to see all of these things and participate. Do

you do all of the, like, do you come to the events like Cajun Fest and the, all the different things? Do you participate in those? Do you like to attend those?

Mikala Everson (11:01):

I love to come to them. It's interesting to see how many people also come to these. Like we're talking thousands of thousands of people. And for me, it's just so cool because I get to see all the vendors. And I know a lot of these people I serve at a lot of these restaurants start at toast of Walnut. Now I work at little wooden Penguin is one of their managers, you know, it's been so cool. I know they'll and all the Tender, Bongeaus Beaus people. So it's really cool because I get to go into these restaurants and be like, are y'all doing okay? You're surviving. Yep. Us too. And then you just keep going and it's cool to see a community that loves to be in their community.

Ron Lyons (11:34):

Absolutely. And you said that you, you really kind of started, you know, kind of getting a taste if you will, for this at six. Is, did you, have you kind of always known that this is what you were gonna do? Or did you ever have any idea that, Hey, I'm gonna be something else, like maybe a firefighter, like your, your dad or something like that. Was there ever anything else that drew your interest that, that could have competed with what you do today? Or has it always been this?

Mikala Everson (12:00):

I would say for the most part, it's always been this, but there has definitely been some fields that have caught my eye. I loved in high school I took a lot of medical classes cuz I was very interested. That was something my dad was interested in. So I took anatomy and physiology. I took microbiology and I thought those classes were awesome. Like learning just behind the scenes, the things that, how things operate, how things function. And then of course my dad being a firefighter and growing up at the fire station, of course that crossed my mind. I love it. I love the family. So those were definitely to that. I was like, mm, maybe, but I've always loved baking. I've always come back.

Ron Lyons (12:36):

So I'm assuming that you've got all of your social media stuff is out there and you may have a website by now. I'm not sure what all you have out there, but is there anything in particular you wanna share with the people who are listening that you have in place right now?

Mikala Everson (12:50):

We did just start a website. We aren't very active on it yet because we're trying to keep up with all the orders, which I'm so blessed for. You guys have definitely kept me really busy. But I am very active on my Facebook and my Instagram. I like to post where all the new flavors are. I like to post all the cake that I've done. And then of course announcements about the shop.

Ron Lyons (13:12):

So if you <laugh>, if you will indulge me for just a moment, we're gonna, we're gonna try and have a little bit of fun because one of the things that the listeners really love is to get to know more about the actual person behind the behind the name or the face, so to speak. So if you don't mind, I'm, I'm gonna venture off just a little bit and you don't know any of these questions, you haven't been prepared. It's, it's part of what makes it awesome. So I'm, I'm gonna throw some questions at you and let's just kind of

learn a little bit about Mikala Everson Kayla ierson. And the first question that comes to mind is what inspires you?

Mikala Everson (13:49):

I think a lot of people inspire me, but I think my dad inspires me a lot. If you've met him to know him is to love him. And so when I wake up every morning and when I put my head down the pillow at night, my biggest thing is he's just the biggest servant leader there is in this world and he's my biggest cheerleader. And I try every day to be his biggest cheerleader. I just see the way he treats the firefighters, how he treats his community. And I feel like the way he talks about things is the way I want to talk about things. So for me, he inspires me every single day

Ron Lyons (14:21):

And just, I've only known him for a short time, but I agree with you a hundred percent, 100% good people. And you can tell he's obviously a huge fan of yours and, and he should be, I'm sure he is. Absolutely just so proud. So do you, do you make cakes and stuff like for the family? Do you, do you ever, or do you, or you say, no, this is, this is what I do all the time. I don't want to do this anymore.

Mikala Everson (14:46):

No, my mom always jokes. She goes, I've gained 20 pounds because of all the food that's in our house and it's true. My dad bakes for me every Sunday. He, even though he has a full-time job, he bakes for me and I do everybody's birthday cakes, all the events, all the holidays. You'll see my pastries there.

Ron Lyons (15:02):

So that's awesome. So if you could invite three people from history to come and have, I'm gonna say your cakes, okay. To come and have some of your cakes. Let's focus on that. Three people from history. Who would you want to invite? What three people would you want to bring to the table and serve them? Some of your cake.

Mikala Everson (15:24):
Is it too out forward to say my Granny's, I would love for her to

Ron Lyons (15:28):

See that, you know what, let me just tell you something as a side note right here, you've got tears in my eyes like three times already today and it just amazes me. I literally have to just be like, okay, don't get teary eyed. Don't get teary eye. That is amazing. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. 100%. So, and, and I totally get that. That would be incredible. And, and who else with her?

Mikala Everson (15:52):

I think I would really want Julia Childs. Like she created such a name for herself. And so for me, like it's not one thing that she did. It's just the fact that she created such a legacy and such a legend here in the food world. So I would really just would love to sit at the table with her, pick her brain about, you know, what did you do? What did you stay strong on? What was it like being a woman in this field? Like it's a tough place to be, you know, why were you so confident? What, what did you carry? What did you bring to the table? Kind of deal?

Ron Lyons (16:21):

That sounds awesome. And I, I watched like a I guess there's a movie Merrill street maybe played. Yeah. So yeah, I, I really found that very, very interesting. So that'd be fantastic. Who would your third person be?

Mikala Everson (16:33): That's a good question.

Ron Lyons (16:35):
You've got the whole world at your fingertips. Anybody you want to invite? Who do you invite to come

and sample some of your cake?

Mikala Everson (16:44):
Ooh, I don't know who my third person would be. Probably. I know this sounds crazy, but one of my best

friends, she passed when I, we were both 16, you

Ron Lyons (16:52): Do it to

Mikala Everson (16:52):

Me, another person. But she was just so much fun and I feel like, you know, she was always, she asked me to homecoming cuz I wasn't gonna go. And she was like, you have to go Mikala. Like my friend, my obligation is to make you go. She asked me with cupcakes. Like, so you know what I'm saying? Oh my gosh. It's just like would be so full circle. And I know that history, you know, you have so many like smart people and iconic people who would, I would more than be happy to have at my table. But you know, for me, it's always about who has affected my life and who has brought something to me. And you know, two of them are people who are actively in my life every single day. And I just think it's cool to have, you know, all the people who inspire me in the culinary world, a lot of them are still alive. Thank God. So, you know, but you, when you have icons like that, that you hear about all the time, it's pretty cool

Ron Lyons (17:40):

To have. So give me an idea of a favorite movie of yours. You probably have. We all have like many. I, I, I, I could say, well, this is my favorite movie, but then tomorrow I might say, well, that's my favorite movies, but what, what's one of your favorite movies?

Mikala Everson (17:53):
I am a huge movie nerd. Huge. Okay. But the one I've been watching a lot recently is the blind side with

Sandra Bullock. Okay.

Ron Lyons (18:00): I

Mikala Everson (18:01):

Love that

Ron Lyons (18:01):
Movie. So do you love Sandra Bullock?

Mikala Everson (18:05):

I love just the story behind it. Like my family's grown up around sports. So the fact that it's a sports movie, but it's also like, again, the inner workings behind the scenes, like it was just a family that let this guy come in and just the heart behind it is it's called hard work in my eyes. Like there's so much hard work in that video. And those are, those are my kind of people. And just to see that kind of givingness and it makes you appreciate what you have. And so that movie is just such a feel good movie.

Ron Lyons (18:34):
So give me an idea. If not Senator Bullock, who's one of your favorite actors or actresses.

Mikala Everson (18:40):
I love Jim Carey. He is so funny to me. I love Jim Carey. I love co James. He's my man crush and I love

Kristen bell. <Laugh> all of them are super fun. I, you see me watching any movie? I love

Ron Lyons (18:53):
'Em all. Okay. Pick one of those. Pick one for me.

Mikala Everson (18:55): Jim Carey. He's

Ron Lyons (18:56):
Watching name Jim Carey. Yeah. Okay. Jim Carey. You're gonna have to give him a piece of cake. What,

what, what flavor of cake are you gonna make for Jim Carey?

Mikala Everson (19:04):
I want him to have the fruity pebbles cake. I feel like he's so funny and out there and you know, the 2d,

fruity torty would be perfect for him.

Ron Lyons (19:11):

He thought that, oh my gosh. That's awesome though. So, so you would sit down <laugh> that is just greatness. And so you, you have a fruit, I, I don't think that I've seen this or note this. So tell me about this

Mikala Everson (19:22):

Cake. So my best friend Jensen, she is actually a police officer here in town. She wanted a cake named after her and if you know her she's just full life and just the best. So we had to obviously have a cake that represented that too. And so she was like, I want a fruit pebles cake. And so we did recipe development, not too long ago. And that was officially flavor number 36.

Ron Lyons (19:46):
Wow. That's amazing. So, so flavor number 36, that means that you've done so many, assuming that

there's a one through 35 ahead of that. Yeah. So what, what was the very first cake?

Mikala Everson (19:57):
I would have to say it's probably red velvet. That was probably the first one we worked on.

Ron Lyons (20:00):
Is that one of the more popular ones or what would you say is like of the, if you had to say, well, this is

probably the most popular, what would it be?

Mikala Everson (20:08): Chocolate really.

Ron Lyons (20:10):
Okay. No, that's awesome. That's chocolate

Mikala Everson (20:11):
Lemon, strawberry are, and red velvet are my staples. EV anytime somebody asks, those are the four I

say,

Ron Lyons (20:16):

I, I love that. So I I'm, I'm literally gonna walk outta here and I'm, I'm gonna be totally off my diet by the time we're finished today. Just because we're talking about all of this stuff, it's just gonna, it's gonna make me crazy to go and get some of this cake. But if, if you could have a superpower, any superpower in the world, what superpower would you have?

Mikala Everson (20:37):

I would love to read people's minds. I know a lot of people say no, but you to know is to know, like, I would wanna know what people are thinking, even though it's not always the best thing, it would give me an edge up on something,

Ron Lyons (20:49):
Maybe. So, so what would you do if somebody was sitting there? Like, I really don't like this fruity

pebble cake, like, and you're reading their mind. What would you do?

Mikala Everson (20:56):

I can take constructive criticism. I'd hope that it's not, it doesn't end just there. Like, I don't like this cake, hopefully they'll be like, oh, this frosting's too sweet or whatever. Then I'll have a chance to, you know, take that into consideration.

Ron Lyons (21:07):

Right. And, and one of the questions that I've been asking more recently is if you could have a billboard in town and put anything on it, you want, you could use it for advertising. You could put a statement, you can do anything you want to with it. What would your billboard say?

Mikala Everson (21:22):
I'd say just because somebody's caring. Well, doesn't mean it's heavy.

Ron Lyons (21:26): Oh,

Mikala Everson (21:26):
Wow. I think that's such a powerful message and it just shows you that everybody has challenges they

go through. And so for me, I think that's such a powerful message that can resonate with a lot of people.

Ron Lyons (21:36):

I agree. And I love that. That's amazing. And the best part of that is like, you literally don't hesitate. Like you just know, like, that's what you'd wanted to say. Yeah. You could, you could put grannies up there on the, the thing, but you would instead deliver a message and that's, that's awesome. That's that speaks just hugely for you, how you were raised and again, back to your dad. So yeah. So what are you not very good at? What's something that you're just like, you know what? I'm just not good at that. What is it? Ooh. Hmm. Okay. Come on now. Oh,

Mikala Everson (22:07):
There's a lot of things I'm not good at. So it's, I just gotta choose which one

Ron Lyons (22:10):
<Laugh> right. It's not that you're, you're so good at everything. You're like, oh, I don't have anything.

It's just

Mikala Everson (22:15):
That's which one do you wanna know?

Ron Lyons (22:16):
Yeah. Right. That's more like me. So give me gimme something that you're definitely known for not

being great at,

Mikala Everson (22:22):
I'd say professionally sugar cookies are not my thing. I've had to hire somebody pretty early to be a part

of my team to do that because I just can't like, I'm not good at those.

Ron Lyons (22:32):

I don't understand. That seems like if you were gonna do something, a sugar cookie would be kind of like, you know, like baking 1 0 1. So what, why is it so hard?

Mikala Everson (22:42):
It's the decorated sugar cookies with the Royal icing. So the cookies itself is not the problem. It's the,

just having that time, that patience, what it means to flood. Like, that's just not my thing.

Ron Lyons (22:52):

That is unbelievable. Okay. A sugar cookie. I, you know what, I, I can't really speak one way or the other, because I don't guess I've ever made cakes or sugar cookies. So I, I wouldn't know. But what, what is your mission in life?

Mikala Everson (23:05):

My goal in life is just to Le like when I pass away, I hope that people will always say, like, I have just always done everything with the most amount of love. Like I would just put my all in it. I never left anything behind. I just showed you how much you meant to me. I worked my butt off. Like you saw it all happen.

Ron Lyons (23:26):
I, I love that. And it's an amazing response. And what makes you smile?

Mikala Everson (23:32):

Ooh, there's a lot of things. I'm pretty easy to laugh at everything. I, I love fail videos. If you ask a lot of my friends, <laugh>, if I'm sad, I watch fail videos because I will literally almost make myself pee by watching these videos because I'm so clumsy. And so accident prone. So watching other people also be like, that is just, it makes my day.

Ron Lyons (23:52):

So, so I, I only recently realized what the failed videos are. And sometimes they look really painful and stuff like people can really get hurt on those things, but sometimes they're literally hilarious. And you think, oh my gosh, I can't believe that guy was so dumb. <Laugh> but yeah, I can, I can understand that. So, so would you ever have a problem if you were on a fail video or would you think that was pretty, pretty cool.

Mikala Everson (24:14):

Pretty funny. I have been in the hospital so many times because I've broken everything you can think of. So for me, I feel like if anybody has the right to laugh, it's definitely me. I've I've earned my place in there. Sure. For sure.

Ron Lyons (24:26):
Yep. I understand that. If, if you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would that one

meal be?

Mikala Everson (24:34):
Can it count as a like type of cuisine or does it have to be a specific

Ron Lyons (24:37):

Meal? No, it could be, it could be a type of cuisine.

Mikala Everson (24:39):
I'm a Mexican margarita and chips kind of girl.

Ron Lyons (24:43):
Okay. So we're, so we're spending some time at Papa Gaos, I guess, because

Mikala Everson (24:47):
That's, those marks are my favorite.

Ron Lyons (24:48):

There you go. And yes, then can relate to that. <Laugh> so you know, over there, I think they've got like a blue one and they've got like the regular one and they've got like a swirl. So, so like, what's your, what's your favorite? What's your favorite? The blue. Okay. Yeah. All right. So you're, you're a lot like my wife, she's, she's a fan of the blue ones as well. So if you're gonna go over to Papa Gaos and you're gonna order, what are we gonna see on your plate?

Mikala Everson (25:11):

The salsa, I will have a gallon of that salsa. Really? It is, is my favorite salsa of all time. So you'll see the bean soup. I eat that religiously as well. I would you, everybody talking about uprising, I would stop selling cakes. If they stop selling that bean soup, I would cry. Right. So I love their they just reamp their menu. So they have now bacon wrapped jalapenos and bacon wrap shrimp.

Ron Lyons (25:34):

Really so good. Oh my goodness. I'm so you'll see that I'm, I'm all over the jalapenos. I'm not, I'm not a fan of the shrimp, but I could, boy, I could do that bacon. And I think that's actually on my diet since I'm doing like the low carb thing. I think I might even be able to get away with that. So you should, yeah, I think I'll have to check that out, but how often would you say you go over there?

Mikala Everson (25:55):
I'm trying to be better now. Yeah, because margarita shouldn't be in my regular

Ron Lyons (25:59): Diet. <Laugh> right.

Mikala Everson (26:00):

But at least once a week. So now that I manage at little one penguin, we do local Wednesdays like support local Wednesdays. So we always order my staff and I always order from one local restaurants. So if it's not Papa Gaos, it's toasted Walnut or bongos.

Ron Lyons (26:15):

Very, very cool. I had no idea that they were doing that. And that's, that's a fantastic thing. So that kind of brings about a little bit of a question about, so in general, so we, we touched a little bit on that. We

know why everybody's coming here and we know it's changing all that kind of stuff, but what's what is it? That's so amazing about Celina to you?

Mikala Everson (26:32):

To me, it's just everybody fully believes to support local. Like they care about what you care about as a business owner, they care about you know, what ingredients you use, why you do what you do. So to me, you know, I drink the Kool-Aid. So to say mm-hmm <affirmative> because it's just amazing to me to see so many people, like it is very rare that I go into anywhere local in this town. And I don't see somebody, I know it's a really cool experience. And I'm like, oh my gosh, how's, you know, your kids doing, how's your wife, how's your, how's your job. It's just really cool. Cuz people ask me the same thing in return.

Ron Lyons (27:05):

And, and it is it's, it's a fantastic time and a fantastic everything to be here. And, and so I'm gonna ask you a question and it, you could use this any way you want to. Okay. So if you could have three wishes, gosh, don't make me get tears of my eyes again. Okay. If you could have three wishes, a anything you want three wishes, what, what would you wish for

Mikala Everson (27:26): Multiple arms? I would love to

Ron Lyons (27:28):
Be able to do. Oh wow. Okay. That's multiple things.

Mikala Everson (27:31):

Different. Yeah. Multiple things at one time would be awesome. Right. And, or clone myself because I've got plenty to do. So if I could be at work and be doing cakes, that would be awesome. Right. another wish is, Hmm, let me think. I would probably want everybody to have a

Ron Lyons (27:51):
Cake. Oh wow. That would be cool. That would be awesome. You know,

Mikala Everson (27:54):
Life is better with cake and every day's cake day,

Ron Lyons (27:57):

I'm a hundred percent on board for that one. <Laugh> I can share in that wish. I like it. I, I don't know if I want like 10 arms or not, but I'm a hundred percent with you on everyone gets a cake. I like that. So third wish what do you wish for

Mikala Everson (28:09):

Third wish is that everybody knows to celebrate the moments when they're in 'em. I think that would be really cool. Cuz I think this world would be way better off if everybody knew all the good things in life were happening right in front of them.

Ron Lyons (28:23):

So at times in life you run into somebody who may be chronologically young, but who is an old soul mm- hmm <affirmative> I feel like you're an old soul. Like I, I feel like you're wise beyond your years and I, I guess that's just gotta be because of your upbringing, you've had some of the best people helping you get to where you are. Is that what you would attribute that

Mikala Everson (28:45):

To a hundred percent? I feel like, you know, God puts a lot of things in your path for a reason. And from a very young age, I've had to grow up pretty young. And so for me, like I wouldn't change a single one of those things if he put certain people in certain situations in my life. And I think like growing up and being around people who maybe not have the same maturity level as I do, I've got to attest to them. Like there is something else to look forward to outside of this.

Ron Lyons (29:12):

I love that. So I'm gonna ask you some questions and some more of those kind of personal questions, but they're not too personal. So don't worry. It's not gonna be anything too crazy. But if, if I were to go out and get in your vehicle right now, what radio station would be on the, the, the radio.

Mikala Everson (29:27):
I listen to country music when I'm not in the kitchen, but I love country music. I'm a huge country music

girl. But when I'm in the kitchen, hiphop, R and B, like the louder, the better.

Ron Lyons (29:37):
Wow. So we get cakes made with hip hop.

Mikala Everson (29:41):
You do the louder, like so I'm so in my head all the time. So when, if I can turn up that music where I

can't even hear myself think we're doing really good, we're cranking some stuff out.

Ron Lyons (29:50):
Well, I like that. That's fantastic. So <laugh>, I don't, I don't know a whole lot about hip hop and in artists

and stuff, but give me gimme a favorite country artist.

Mikala Everson (30:01):
I love Sam hunt. He's like his voice to me is just so soothing. I love him telling his stories. He's just such a

good storyteller, but I love Miranda Lambert too. She's my girl crush.

Ron Lyons (30:13):

Oh, well you know what? That, that's kind of awesome. When Miranda was first starting out, she was one of the opening acts for George Strait. Yeah. Nobody knew who Miranda Lamber was. And so she's doing her thing up there. Nobody's paying attention. But I remember thinking, gosh, she's really good. I had no idea that, you know, it turned into what it is now. Now she's a superstar and I have a feeling that's, what's gonna happen to you. People out there may not quite, just yet know who you are, but in just a minute, you're gonna be like Miranda Lambert of the, of the baking stuff. So if, if you could, if Sam hunt was pulling into town, tour, bus, pulling into town and they say, oh, he wants some cake.

Mikala Everson (30:52):
I would freak out. You'd see me pass away. <Laugh>

Ron Lyons (30:56):
I, I, I hope not because that means there's no more cake, but what, what? And, and he says, I don't care.

I don't have a favorite. I don't know anything about it, but I want cake. Would he take him?

Mikala Everson (31:07):
I feel like he's a red velvet kind of guy.

Ron Lyons (31:09): Oh, well, yeah.

Mikala Everson (31:10):
Nice. Maybe red velvet. If not, if he feels adventurous for the day, we can give him my banana pudding

cake

Ron Lyons (31:16):

Like that. Oh my goodness. Banana pudding cake. Yeah. Okay. This just keeps getting better and better and better. Why don't you just real quick without, you know, you don't have to name all of them, but give me an idea of some of the different flavors you have. Cuz this is crazy. I've already learned about fruity PS and banana pu. I had no idea.

Mikala Everson (31:32):

Yeah. We've got Tara MASU. We've got cookie butter, pumpkin spice. We've got strawberry lemonade, watermelon, orange. Dreamsicle we've got some real off the wall flavors. So if you want to suggest flavors, I'm always, I'm always ears. Well,

Ron Lyons (31:49):
That is amazing. I had no clear idea. And, and one thing that you don't know about right now.

Mikala Everson (31:55): Oh God

Ron Lyons (31:56):
<Laugh> is that you're actually going to get to make a cake for us today.

Mikala Everson (32:03): Oh really?

Ron Lyons (32:04):

Yes. You're gonna get to make a cake for us today. So you didn't know that you had no idea that that was happening. Yeah. And right now you're probably wondering how is that gonna happen?

Mikala Everson (32:12):
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I'm like, how are we gonna do

Ron Lyons (32:14):
That? Right. So I'm going to pull this little surprise out for you right here. And guess what this is,

Mikala Everson (32:24): But is an easy bake oven,

Ron Lyons (32:26):

An easy bake oven and you're gonna get, yes, you're gonna get to make a cake for us. I've got this and a little bit of supplies and we're gonna plug it in and get to make a cake today. How do you feel about that?

Mikala Everson (32:40):
I'm so in. Okay. I have had one of those since

Ron Lyons (32:43):

I was a kid. <Laugh> I, I kind of wondered earlier if your inspiration may have come from, you know, starting out with an easy bacon now you're like in the real deal, but guess what? And here's the really, really cool deal about this is you, you do have a big fan base and obviously it's growing literally daily. We're gonna take this after you use it today. I'm gonna let you autograph that. And then we are going to give this away to one of our listeners because it will have just barely been used and only used by Mikala Everson. Right?

Mikala Everson (33:15): I love that so

Ron Lyons (33:15):

Much. So we're gonna, yeah, we're gonna actually have you autograph this, we'll put it back in the box and then we're gonna do a drawing and give this away to somebody and hopefully will inspire. You will inspire a child to maybe chase a dream. Just like you have.

Mikala Everson (33:31): That's the goal. That'd be

Ron Lyons (33:33):

Awesome. I think it's gonna be amazing. So, all right, let's get this thing opened up. I'm gonna let you have this and you can kind of set this up. Maybe we can set it up on the table right here. I, I, I do know this from just kinda reading the box. It's gotta warm up for like 20 minutes in order to work. So that's, I think that's like literally the only instruction is it's gotta warm up for like 20 minutes. So we're gonna plug this thing in, let it warm up and then I've got ingredients for you. Obviously it comes with its own little spatula and all that. So this, this is gonna be awesome. So did you see this coming at all? Did you know this is what it was gonna be?

Mikala Everson (34:11):
No idea, but it totally made my day

Ron Lyons (34:13):
<Laugh> okay. So we've, we've got the oven on and it's been pre-heating for just a second and, and tell

us what you're gonna treat us to today. What's our, what are we getting today?

Mikala Everson (34:22):
We're doing some red velvet cake,

Ron Lyons (34:24):

Some red velvet cake. Okay. This obviously it's not probably gonna compete with the, I, I hope it doesn't compete with the, the red velvet cake that you normally make, but and, and it's gonna be made from this little kit. Tell us all the little different things that you've got here to work with.

Mikala Everson (34:41):

Of course. So we've got the easy bake red velvet cake mix with their pink and red heart confetti sprinkles. We've got a ready to go decorating icing bag. We've got a bowl, a spoon, we've got some water and sprinkles <laugh> and we've got the cutest baking pan I've ever seen in my entire life.

Ron Lyons (35:02):

<Laugh> that is gonna be awesome. So this is, yeah. So we are literally about to make a red velvet cake in the, the fire admin office, basically in Celina, Texas with Mikala Everson. So, I mean, tell me how that that's awesome. Isn't that? Isn't that fun. Awesome. So guys right there, we cut away from doing the recorded portion of the podcast on microphones and we jumped over to video. So if you wanna watch the entire process of Mikala Everson, actually making a red velvet cake on an easy bake oven, then you're gonna be able to go to Celina radio.com on the actual episode page, you can watch this video and it was awesome. She's fantastic. You're not gonna believe how amazing this tiny little cake from a toy oven turned out when Mikala Everson put her magic on it. I mean, it was absolutely stunning and beautiful. So we're gonna pick back up where we've already pulled the cake out of the oven. She's already frosted the cake and we're just gonna kind of start from right there. So let's go back to our interview with Mikala Everson and let's see what she thinks about her cake made in the easy bake of it.

Ron Lyons (36:34):

That looks fantastic. I okay. I love it. Look at that. I can't believe what an amazing cake you just made out of an easy bake oven. So there you go. That just goes to prove just exactly how incredible you are, what you do. And I guess part of me doing this show is I want to highlight the person behind and I can tell you right now after just spending, you know, the last two hours with you, what a great and incredible person you are. Are you pretty happy with how it turns out?

Mikala Everson (37:02):
I think so with, you know what we got, I think this is pretty

Ron Lyons (37:05):

Cute. I'm very impressed. So what what'd you think whenever I brought the oven in, were you, were you kind of surprised?

Mikala Everson (37:11):
I think the inner child of me was very excited.

Ron Lyons (37:14):

<Laugh> I like that. I like that. So before I leave today, we're gonna have you sign this, we'll find a Sharpie or something. You're gonna sign it. And then there will be some instructions on how people can actually enter into our little drawing. And then maybe you and I can get together and deliver it to them, to whomever wins. That would be amazing. That would be, that would be super cool. Wouldn't it?

Mikala Everson (37:36): I would love that

Ron Lyons (37:41):

You guys, that is Mikala Everson, she is something special. There's no doubt as to how she got to where she is in life. But the crazy thing is she's just in her early twenties, she's got more wisdom and more heart and more spirit than so many people that I've ever met. It's just amazing. God has completely blessed her and she shares her blessing with everyone else. She's just got so much joy coming out of her. It's incredible. It was an amazing experience to sit down with her. And all I can say is kudos to her. Granny's, kudos to her dad and everyone else who has poured into her and hoped her become who she is. She's a major asset to Celina, Texas, and we're very blessed to have her. We're gonna take the easy bake oven that she made that amazing little cake and she signed it.

Ron Lyons (38:43):

We're gonna go ahead and give that away to somebody. So the way you can get this is to leave a comment under the actual episode of the podcast. So on the podcast page, there's a place where you can leave comments, just leave us a comment and tell us what this story meant to you. Tell us what you loved about it and give us an idea of what you would do with this little easy bake oven. Do you have a daughter or a son who would be inspired one day to go on and become a, a chef or something like that? Somebody that just seems to have that magic? Well, maybe this is just what they need to be inspired. And I'll tell you what Mikala's gonna be famous one day and simply having her autograph on this little easy bake oven is gonna be incredible by itself.

Ron Lyons (39:36):

Now, guys, this is Celina radio and we try very hard to just be the epitome of everything. Celina, all of the magic, all of the uplifting, amazing things going on here. So if you like this, do me a favor, share this with your friends, post it on your social media and help us keep this thing amazing. It's it's never boring. It's never, it's just not your typical dry podcast. And we hope to bring a whole bunch of new people who really never listen to podcast into the mix to start enjoying what we're doing here. So guys help us share it, help us get the word out. And we love you. And thank you for every bit of the support that you give us. And guys, we've got some amazing shows coming up. For example, next week, we've got Holly Farrow, the photographer who has a shop set up right there on the square.

Ron Lyons (40:34):

And she is absolutely hilarious. You're gonna love that show. Following her. We've got Carla Vargas. She is the person who has the donkey rescue right there next to Brookshires. And if you want to talk about a heartwarming story, that's it. You're gonna love our interview with Carla. And then right after that, we've got Sean Terry. Yes, the mayor of Celina, Texas is gonna be on CelinaRadio.com. And let me just say this. We're not doing the typical boring mayor interview that you hear. No, no, no. We took it to a whole different place and I think you're gonna really love this. Sean is a, a pretty funny person. You never really get to see his sense of humor. You're gonna get to see it on this show right after him. We've got chief John Cullison. He is the police chief in Celina, Texas. So we're gonna have a whole lot of fun with him.

Ron Lyons (41:30):

Of course. I mean, what else, when you have the police chief on your show, what do you think you're gonna do? We're not gonna be boring. We're gonna have a blast. And then right after that, we have Cleve and Kim, you know who they are because they've got swirls bakery, home of the amazing cinnamon rolls. So guys, we're gonna call it quits on that note and as always Celina rocks rock, this is Celina radio.com. And I mean this sincerely, when I say, God bless you. And I look forward to seeing you on the next show.

Ron Lyons (42:14):

Are you interested in sponsoring an episode of Celinaradio.com.com? If you are reach out to me@ronatronlyons.com and let's figure out what you can do to become a sponsor of your very own episode of CelinaRadio.com. Also, if you've got comments and feedback that you'd like to share with us, there's a little blue button at the bottom of the website. You can hit that button and leave us up to a two minute voicemail. We'd love to hear from you. We always wanna make the show better. We always want to improve, and we appreciate all of your feedback. So guys, thank you so very much for everything that you do for CelinaRadio.com.