Spotlight on a Local: India Matlock, Owner, Asia's Cakes

Each month, we feature a local person of interest who contributes to the community in unique and interesting ways.

Holly Springs, NC, Feb. 25, 2025—This month’s spotlight shines on India Matlock, owner of Asia’s Cakes (link) on Main Street in downtown Holly Springs. The bakery aims to blend a love for community with a passion for sweets. We sat down with India for a Q&A to learn more about the business and her love for baking.

Ten questions for India Matlock

What first ignited your passion for baking?
What first ignited my passion for baking is my dad! Baking was his passion. He would spend hours baking and perfecting his recipes and I would be in the kitchen right with him. I gained a love for baking at a very young age. My dad had a regular 9-5 and worked very long hours to support his large family of 11 children but he always found his way into the kitchen to bake his family or his friends some delicious desserts. I, too, have had other jobs, but somehow, I always found my way back to baking!

Can you share what you love most about owning Asia Cakes?
What I love most about Asia’s Cakes is being able to create whatever I feel and to see the reactions of the people I touch through baking. There is nothing more exciting to see than a child so excited about trying a cupcake or an adult who’s had a rough day at work stopping in for a sweet treat. My goal for Asia’s Cakes was to create a safe space for our community where each and every person that steps in our door comes in as a friend and leaves as family.

How did Asia Cakes get its name?
Asia’s Cakes got its name from my daughter Asia! She also has an extreme love for baking and you will often see her in the bakery baking up some yummy desserts. The goal is to give her a head start and hopefully, she will take over the business one day.

What item is your best seller?
If you stop into Asia’s Cakes, it’s impossible to leave without having our honey bun cake or banana pudding cheesecake in your hand. You really can’t go wrong with anything in our case, but those two items are our top sellers.

What is your favorite item on your menu, and why?
My favorite items on the menu are our cheesecakes. They are so versatile I love creating the different flavors and mixing and matching to see what we come up with.

How has the Holly Springs community supported your business?
Holly Springs has definitely been supporting our business. From those that stop in almost daily to those that shout us out on Facebook and leave reviews, we are so appreciative of the support we have been receiving.

How did you choose your current location?
Originally, I saw the building and thought it would be a perfect fit for my husband’s detail shop. Unfortunately, the town did not want anything automotive located downtown. My family frequently visits Florida, where open-air restaurants are a big deal down there. Once we saw the space, we knew that we had to bring Florida to Holly Springs.

What has been the biggest challenge in starting a bakery?
The biggest challenge in starting the bakery was the buildout. It is very hard to secure funding so using our own personal savings was the only choice we had to get the bakery up and running. We also ran into some dishonest contractors, which set us back a bit, but despite all that we went through, we were able to come out on top at the end.

What advice would you give to someone considering opening their own small business?
Trust the process and believe in what you bring to the table. There were many times where I didn’t see how we were going to make it to the end, but a way was always present that we didn’t see. Trusting and believing in ourselves, our product, and our visions, as well as the consistent support from our customers, got us to where we are today.

How do you spend your free time when you are not working?
When not working, which is very seldom, I spend my time sleeping and vacationing. I believe if you work hard you should play hard too and that you have to take care of yourself in order to give to others.

Location:
Asia’s Cakes
113 N Main St
Holly Springs, NC 27540

Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday
9am - 8pm
Sunday
10am-6pm

Phone: 919-285-3588