"COLLABORATE"
The Donut Trap
This is a guest column written by Cade Martin, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is the first part of a series of stories coming from the Twin Cities. You’ll learn more about Black entrepreneurs in the area in the coming months.
Minnesota Black and Queer business owner Bradley Taylor developed a bold vision for his donut business, The Donut Trap, but his first foray into entrepreneurship began long before he ever mixed his first batch of dough.
Raised in Los Angeles, California, Taylor attributed his success as an entrepreneur to the values he learned from his family as a child.
“[My] mom was very ambitious,” Taylor said, “and not scared to tackle anything, no matter if she failed or not. Being a single mom for four kids, she really instilled a lot of that work, hustle, and vision in me.”
From collecting pennies on neighborhood drives, to organizing Pokemon card tournaments, to launching his own t-shirt line in high school, Taylor’s early ventures sparked his drive to create something new.
He moved from Los Angeles to Minneapolis in 2011 to study at the University of Minnesota. There, he discovered a community with a different culture and a different business landscape. In LA, independent donut shops were a dime a dozen. In his new home, Taylor said that quality donuts were much harder to find.
“When I [moved] from California to here to go to college, I didn't see any donut shops and people kept referring me to grocery stores or gas stations,” Taylor said. “So when I had some time during my senior year of college, I would just start messing with different recipes.”
Experimentation in the kitchen led Taylor to develop his own recipe. The result was a vegan donut that set The Donut Trap’s offerings apart in the region. His passion for baking soon evolved from a personal experiment into a promising business opportunity.
“[My] mom was very ambitious… she really instilled a lot of that work, hustle, and vision in me.”
Taylor started his venture with donut pop-ups in the University of Minnesota’s “Dinkytown” neighborhood, located right next to campus. He earned enough acclaim and notoriety to convince a retail landlord he was cooking up something special.
“[There were] lines around the corner,” Taylor said. “I was able to take that and then go to a landlord…and I was like, ‘Dude, I got this thing.’”
From there, Taylor developed a different kind of donut company on the foundations of traditional baking, authentic social media engagement, and “hot and poppin” donut flavors and names like the “Uncle Clifford” (Reese's peanut-butter) and the “Thotiana” (churro tres leches)—with new flavors releasing regularly.
Moving from pop-ups to the community-focused Dinkytown retail space was a fulfilling expansion for Taylor, until an international fast-food donut chain moved right next door. Taylor then pivoted to a successful food truck for a few years, even being featured on Food Network’s series Food Truck Nation.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, there was an extreme reduction in foot-traffic for Taylor’s business. That inspired the entrepreneur to think outside the box. He reached out to several vending machine manufacturers before partnering with one to design his own premium vending machine that would preserve the quality and presentation of his donuts.
The Donut Trap now has nine in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, hosted by; Can Can Wonderland, UpDown Arcade Bar, the Rosedale Shopping Center, two of MSP Airport’s terminals, Indeed Brewery, Lush Lounge, the University of Minnesota’s Moos Tower, and Modist Brewing.
Taylor is working to open a new brick-and-mortar location, but this will be a different milestone for him. After The Donut Trap’s many business evolutions, Taylor was determined to never again risk everything he’d built to factors that he couldn’t control. He made himself a promise: instead of renting spaces, he would own his next one.
“My biggest takeaway from the storefront was that I never want to be in a position again where everything I worked hard for could just be taken away,” Taylor said. “...next building I'm gonna’ get, we're going to own it.”
Since buying the property in Saint Paul in May 2023, Taylor has been pouring his heart, soul, and lots of concrete directly into the latest iteration of The Donut Trap. The property will serve as their new headquarters and bakery, and will also provide Taylor with the infrastructure to continue expanding on his mission to uplift other aspiring entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities.
Taylor said he pictures the storefront as not just a bakery, but also as a vibrant community hub where commerce and creativity will collide. He said there are plans in place to host events—from donut and beer flight nights with The Donut Trap’s local brewery partnerships, to expanding on earlier community initiatives like the “Backpack Buffet,” a back-to-school supplies drive that he used to run annually.
“The new space, it'll allow us to expand not only our product line… [but also] turn into a platform where other people can come and vet their business ideas, and come through and host different events themselves.” Taylor said. “We'll also be having our community garden just outside where we'll have a lot of kids of youth who are queer and of color come and be able to work on gardening.”
With these initiatives, The Donut Trap aims to be a launchpad for other local entrepreneurs and a beacon for community collaboration. Taylor credited the Twin Cities’ community culture and the support network it allowed him to build as key ingredients to The Donut Trap’s success and aspirations.
“The biggest difference here is the culture. It's a lot more tight-knit… and a little bit more predictable.” Taylor said. “The LA community is always evolving and changing. Whereas here [we’re] able to have some type of foundation… So I'll be able to really build rapport with good people and really build a network.”
Local sources of support and resources for small businesses led by diverse leadership have been instrumental as well. Organizations like Youthprise provided Taylor with financial support and mentorship. The Saint Paul Mayor’s Office and Saint Paul’s Councilmember Anika Bowie also opened doors and provided critical resources for The Donut Trap.
“One of my first biggest supporters was Youthprise, the people there, Wokie Weah and Marcus Pope have been amazing,” Taylor said. “What they do for the community is so great. They're the first people who were like, we have this [financial support] program to do what you need to do. That just opened my mind to whole new things.”
Community collaboration is critical for local Black-owned businesses to thrive, said Taylor.
“Our biggest thing is collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. It makes everything so much better across the board.”
Taylor hopes his story can serve as a beacon for other Black entrepreneurs aspiring to start their own business. Taylor also said that the journey of entrepreneurship demands constant self-improvement.
“The thing about entrepreneurship that I always tell people is that the one thing it will do is expose who you are. ...If you're not good with yourself and centered and have worked on yourself, everything will implode because this whole thing that you built around yourself is literally like held up by you. And if you can't hold yourself together, then what are we built on?”
The new space Taylor has built will be a place of innovation and collaboration, and as he puts it, the door is open for those willing to take a chance on local flavor and community spirit.
“Our biggest thing is collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. It makes everything so much better across the board.”
The grand opening of the new Saint Paul storefront is slated for summer 2025. Taylor said it will shake up the way people think about donuts and community spaces.
“This new shop, I'm really stoked for it. Because as much as it’s going to be a donut shop, it's also going to be a huge spot for commerce and community.”
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This is such an inspiring story! Thank you for sharing it with us.