HONOLULU (KHON2) — It’s summer break for many students which is a time to relax and take it easy.

But one 17-year-old is dedicating her summer to baking cupcakes and decided to open her own bakery in Ala Moana Center.

“You know running a small business at any age is really difficult,” said 17-year-old Beri Maeda. 

Beri said since she couldn’t take AP courses during the summer, she decided to open her own Bakery. 

Beri has been baking since she was a young girl. But how she got interested in this hobby is not what you would think. 


“I got a cookbook for my 7th birthday, and I was really unhappy with it actually because when you are a kid you only want toys. You don’t want clothes or anything,” said Beri. 

Beri says that birthday gift changed her life because at the age of nine she opened that cookbook and never looked back. 

With school being out for the summer and Beri having more free time to bake she was on the hunt to open her own bakery. But that was easier said than done. 

“I think I contacted like 25 realtors, and I got a response back from like seven, and a majority of the responses I got back were no’s,” said Beri. 

However, Beri never gave up and finally landed her pop-up bakery spot in Ala Moana Center.

Beri said she is passionate about giving back to her community and helping other small businesses thrive. She even has shelves in her bakery dedicated to start up small businesses where they can display their work for people to buy.

When asked if Beri is taking a portion of the money spent in her store from people buying items from other small businesses, she said no. 

Instead, she is mainly focused on just breaking even from the cupcake sales each week. 

So, for the next few weeks before her senior year, she will be baking cupcakes at her first pop-up bakery with her incredible team of friends, family, and classmates. 

Beri said throughout the week they tend to switch out their flavors. But one of her favorite flavors to make and taste is the classic vanilla cupcake. 

“My personal favorite, one I know it is boring, but it’s the vanilla and after that I think it is the strawberry because I think it is quite unique.”