Charles E. Hill 
A woman from Pennsauken was a successful financial business executive who had been named by a local magazine as one of the rising women of South Jersey when it all suddenly came to a halt.
Shortly after the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Joccola Thomas’ position as financial banker and vice president of business development for a credit union was abolished along with the department she headed, la leaving him in a dilemma as to his future.
Fortunately, she had developed an online bakery that she called Kreamies LLC the previous year, selling her homemade baked goods via Facebook from her Pennsauken home and renting a commercial kitchen space in Cherry Hill for baking.
Instead of looking for a job in her field, she decided to give up her career in finance after more than two decades and develop her love of baking by opening a Kreamies bakery in a Bellmawr mall – all in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are a boutique bakery offering cupcakes, cakes and other delicious delicacies, focused on flavor and pure delight and prepared with love,” said Thomas, 48, known to his family, friends and family. friends and some long time customers. as a “bank baker”.
Thomas grew up in Camden, where she dabbled in soulful food and dessert for about a year at a pop-up cafe she started on the town’s waterfront.
She was willing to take the risk of opening a bakery because her online business was booming.
“I decided to quit the finance industry after 20 years or more and here I am less than three years later with a brick and mortar location. It has all been a dream like a gift from God.”
The reason for its bakery name is simple.
“I like the cream inside of everything. All of my products have some sort of creamy filling and my buttercream frostings look more like ice cream than the typical buttercream. “
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Its cakes and cupcakes are filled with its cream fillings and soft, whipped frostings, which sets its candies apart from many other bakeries.
She also offers unique creations like her dessert cones rolled in a crumble and Dessert Jarz, mason-type glass jars filled with layers of cake, creams and toppings such as fruit, cookies and cream. “Jarz” are similar to a layered English trifle.
How do you eat the swirled creations? Hold the glass handle and scoop out its soft contents with a spoon.
Thomas also offers maple bacon cupcakes, pound cake (including sugar free), rum cake, cobbler-turnover combo, cakes with banana pudding and more.
She bakes and bakes cakes for weddings and other parties, cooks just about anything a customer wants to order, and posts daily and weekly specials on her Facebook page.
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When she bakes her maple and bacon cupcakes, the aroma lingers in the shop around Browning and Bell’s corner for the rest of the day. These cupcakes are presented in a chocolate or yellow cake with a drizzle of salted caramel over fried bacon on top of a mountain of maple infused frosting and a cheesecake topping.
Thomas said she was convinced she could get into baking online after her son’s community basketball team raved about the cupcakes she brought them and his friends and her family members cheered her on for a long time after tasting her baked goods.
“When I first went online in the summer of 2019 I only had five flavors of cupcakes and on Friday every week I had orders for 300 cupcakes,” which she made on Saturday, said. she recalled from her first commercial baking adventure three years ago.
She was also encouraged by her father James “Jimmy” Williams. His father was a bassist who played for 40 years with the longtime O ‘Jays, a group of rhythm and blues singers with several gold and platinum records as their signature song, “Love Train,” and others including “Backstabbers”. “
The group became a major influence in the Philadelphia soul music movement in the late 1960s and into the 1970s.
“My father supported my efforts and was proud of the growth of my business and the creativity he saw until his death last year,” his daughter said, adding that his favorite dessert was his pudding. the banana she now uses in cakes.
Her advice to her? “Study your craft, perfect it and let God do the rest,” which is exactly what she has done with her baking creations.
Many of her clients love to be “Kreamed” so much, they keep coming back for more.
Atco’s Lovell Bassett, a customer since May of last year, is won over by Kreamies.
“Mutual friends told me about it and I first ordered her pound cake, rum cake, and lollipop cakes online for my son’s 21st birthday. She gave me some baked goods not like the others and they were the culmination of his celebration. “
New customer Rico Gonzales, who works for the Borough of Bellmawr, said he was very impressed with both the owner and her multitude of artisanal treats, and spread the word to his friends and colleagues.
“Her mason (cake) jars are so addicting and I love all the flavors, but the cookies and cream are to die for! And her cupcakes are not ordinary Jane’s but gourmet with different flavors and toppings like the ‘pineapple,’ said Gonzales, who has become an almost daily customer since the launch last month.
He said he had never known a bakery owner as genuine as Thomas, calling her a “human person who welcomes you like family” and easily initiates a conversation.
“She shared her story on the bakery wall about empowering women, and she’s very inspiring as an African American woman and has an amazing story.”
Go: Kreamies, 367 W. Browning Road, Bellmawr. 865 308-1375. Visit Kreamies at facebook.com/kreamies
Carol Comegno loves to tell stories about the life, history and veterans of South Jersey for the Courier Post, the Burlington County Times and the Daily Journal. If you have a story to share, call them at 856-486-2473 or email [email protected].
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