Mignon Francois: Planting Seeds of Faith

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About the Episode

Entrepreneur and founder of The Cupcake Collection Mignon Francois joins Belmont University President Greg Jones on The Hope People Podcast to discuss how faith, perseverance and purpose transformed a $5 dream into a multimillion-dollar business — and a new mission to “make hope obvious.”

Mixing Purpose with a Plan. Finding Faith in Failure. Making Hope Obvious.

What began as a prayer for provision became a movement of faith, joy and sweet success. Mignon Francois shares the story of how she turned her last couple of dollars into The Cupcake Collection, one of Nashville’s most beloved bakeries. 

Guided by faith and a belief that “failure can become favor,” she reveals how her journey from scarcity to abundance became a testimony of God’s promises — and a model of what it means to live with hope.

“On the inside of every apple is an orchard if we will plant the seed,” Mignon shares. “That $5 turned into $60, turned into millions — bore the fruit of its kind — because I planted the seed.”

This episode covers…

• How Mignon Francois turned perseverance into profit with a thriving business
• Why she lets nothing go to waste, letting failure fuel her faith to succees
• Her mission to plant seeds of hope for future generations

A Recipe for Faith Restored: How The Cupcake Collection Began

When Mignon Francois heard God say “make cupcakes,” she was living in a home without electricity and barely enough money for groceries. Still, she obeyed the call — taking her last $5 to buy ingredients and bake for a neighbor who promised to pay her. 

That tiny “seed” money multiplied into 60 dollars by nightfall, then hundreds by week’s end. 

“When God orders the meal, He’s responsible for the bill.”

Over time, that initial bet on herself grew into a thriving business selling millions of cupcakes and touching countless lives. But as Mignon explains, success isn’t about money; it’s about trusting God’s plan and planting seeds of faith for others to harvest.

Before she was a baker, Mignon was a pre-med student struggling in science classes. Years later, those same lessons became the key to her recipes. She learned to see God’s hand even in setbacks.

“God used what looked like failure and allowed it to be favor. So it wasn't wasted,” she explains. “I needed it in order to inform my future.”

Her grandmother’s recipes, passed down without measurements — and her scientific curiosity — combined to produce unique flavors that would one day make her bakery a Nashville icon. 

At first though, Mignon admits the results were disappointing. “After I made the first one and it came out horrible, I stared at the recipe and said, ‘How did my grandmother make a successful cake out of this?’” 

Her “aha moment” came when she started treating her recipe recreations like science experiments. 

“The ingredients were elements that exist in the earth that I could manipulate, just like you do in science,” she says. “I realized that the failure in that science class came back to serve me again as favor, 17 years later, as I had enough understanding of chemical reactions to rewrite my entire recipes.”

Mignon believes no experience is wasted when it’s used for a greater purpose.

How Mignon Francois Builds Community Through The Cupcake Collection

Every morning at The Cupcake Collection, employees gather for “Circle Time” — a moment of prayer and reflection before the day begins. Mignon believes that joy and community flow from this time of connection.

“That joy you feel when you experience The Cupcake Collection has nothing to actually do with the cupcakes,” she suggests. “Even though they are amazing, it has everything to do with the prayer we’ve prayed for you.” 

For Mignon, business is not just a calling — it’s her ministry. “The pillars of our company are celebration, integrity, respect, community, leadership and excellence. Those all lead out to be our circle.”

As Mignon points out, “even the roundness of our cupcake in the way that we put the icing on is done in a circle.”

When a tornado and then the pandemic threatened to close her doors, Mignon chose to give rather than retreat. She used social media to rally help for neighbors in need and opened her hands to share resources freely. That generosity sparked unexpected partnerships, new pop-up shops and a 166% increase in business.

“It goes to show that when you keep your hand open –– yes, you lose things as you give them away –– but it also leaves your hand open to receive from God.”

Mignon’s story of resilience and renewal is proof that faith can have the power to transform crisis into a creative breakthrough.

Making Hope Obvious: Mignon Francois on Legacy and Purpose

Through her book Made from Scratch, Mignon reflects on how she built wealth and legacy in the same industry where her ancestors once labored without freedom. Her success is deeply rooted in gratitude and service.

“I am the daughter of a man born on a sugar cane plantation — and now I have built wealth and opportunity and legacy in that same industry,” she reflects. “That’s not lost on me.”

“From nothing with nothing, having no prospect, I was able to build something that could change the trajectory of my whole family and the people who are connected to it.” 

And for Mignon, it’s her next mission to pass that legacy onto others.

She now mentors young entrepreneurs and teaches them to believe in what God has placed within them. Her grandchildren bake beside her, learning that faith, discipline and joy are the true ingredients of success.

“Someone gave me the most beautiful compliment a few years ago,” she says. “He said my problem was that I believe hope is obvious — it’s not obvious to everyone — so I made that my personal mission in life to ‘make hope obvious.’”

Mignon continues to live out that mission every day — through her cupcakes, her mentorship and her message that every idea, no matter how small, is a seed of divine purpose waiting to be planted.

Her closing words capture the essence of her faith: “God requires obedience out of us. The ideas you have are not yours — they were whispered to you. You were offered an opportunity to go on a journey to watch it come to fruition.” 

“And if we go forward with reckless abandon,” Mignon suggests, “we would find that He was waiting on us all along.”

Today, Mignon Francois stands as a testament to what can happen when faith is put into action. Her story reminds us that what seems like scarcity may often be the seed of something miraculous when planted in hope and nurtured with perseverance.