About Chef Maria

A New Chapter: Beyond Decadence

Two years into her successful venture, Chef Maria’s mother suffered a stroke. Without hesitation, she closed the bakery and promised her mother that she wouldn’t abandon her during what would become four nursing home transitions. Five years later, she quietly reintroduced her business under a new name: Beyond Decadence while keeping her promise and visiting her mother regularly, offering love and support through every challenge. She kept that promise for six years, seven months, and one day — until 'Little Mama' earned her wings on the ninth anniversary of Chef Maria’s graduation from pastry school.

After relocating to North Carolina, Chef Maria introduced Beyond Decadence as a pop-up bakery now serving Lake Norman and Charlotte clientele.  Adapting through the pandemic, the business morphed away from dessert catering and nationwide shipping to DEI dessert experiences, team-building experiences, and speaking engagements, combining her passion for pastry and diversity. 

Twice A Caregiver: It Changed Everything

Six years later, she honored a similar promise to her father when he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and late-stage Alzheimer’s. Affectionately known as “Papa Kemp,” he became a beloved figure on Chef Maria’s social media as she shared heartwarming moments from their caregiving journey. Papa Kemp graduated to be with Jesus on July 4, 2023.

These sacred caregiving experiences weren’t just personal — they were transformational. They inspired Chef Maria to reimagine her business, giving rise to Beyond Decadence as a platform that now merges culinary creativity with diversity, inclusion, and caregiver advocacy.