By Ava Collier

“On my show, I think I have more fun than my guests,” Kelli Fair says. “It’s not like I’m Wendy Williams, Mo’Nique or Oprah, but on my show I can be perfect.” Kelli is the host of Konversations With Kelli, a local Atlanta talk show. Kelli features everyone from business owners, celebrities and panel discussions on relevant topics of interest. In addition to talk show host, Kelli is also the owner of Kheesekakes By Kelli. Let me tell you all now, I have personally sampled Kelli’s “kheesekakes” and they are wonderful!

I asked Kelli how she got into this business. “I prayed to God for a talent…something that I could do better than anyone else and I promise you, when I was praying to God, I did not mention food. I’d never made a cheesecake. This is why you have to be really sure when you’re praying; you have to specify. I asked Him for a talent.” She said that she loves jewelry and thought God was going give her something like jewelry making. “I had no idea God was going to give me food because I’m a big-boned woman and I did not want to be in the kitchen!” Kelli laughs. She says she was a book club member and it was her turn to host. She wanted to bring something special and decided to make a cheesecake for the first time. “I wanted to make mine different and made my first cheesecake. They probably were lying, but they said it good!”

Kelli shared that she was married at the time with a child and worked full time and started baking on her weekends when she was off. “I would come home in the evenings and started making more cheesecakes. I started thinking that maybe I could put a twist on the cakes.” She says her husband at the time and her son had no faith in her baking abilities. After attending a family event and brining her new found hobby to the cookout, they loved it. “It was a sweet potato cheesecake,” she recalls. “And everyone loved it and would say ‘Man, this is restaurant quality! You ought to sell this!’ ” She says the first cheesecake she ever sold was to the husband of the dean of Georgia Perimeter College. She remembered and jokes about how unprepared she was for this cake sale. “I didn’t know where to buy a cake round from. I didn’t know where to buy a cake box…it was so ghetto! I met him in the parking lot, wrapped it up in a Wal-Mart bag…it felt like a drug deal!” By now were both laughing so hard. Kelli continues, “I will never forget it. Afterwards, my son said to me that out of all the things I did, cheesecakes were my ticket!”

This “kheesekake” creator shared that it has now been six years since she’s been in business. After that first sale, she got a website, business cards and decided to start her own cheesecake company. “My very first big order came from the Ritz Carlton in Buckhead. They ordered 100 peach cobbler cheesecakes.” She says she hadn’t done any marketing at all and she thinks the Ritz Carlton must have “googled” her and they called her to place an order for a convention. “I didn’t even have 100 pans. I had nothing! As I was headed to the Ritz Carlton to deliver these cakes, I passed by Justin’s Restaurant. I told my niece, who was helping me, that one day I would have the courage to stop by Justin’s and call on them.” Kelli says that’s exactly what she did.

“ I called Justin’s Restaurant and asked to speak with the Executive Chef, Joe Rickerson, at that time. I said ‘hi, my name is Kelli and I own a cheesecake company. Can I bring you by some samples?’ ” He said yes and Kelli says she couldn’t believe it. She brought him some samples and he told her to come back in an hour. The next thing she knew, she was on the menu at Justin’s! “Soon afterwards, I was on the menu of twenty of the top restaurants in Atlanta!” She admits that the failing economy has changed that status a bit, but it has not dampened her spirit nor has it impeded her desire to continue her “kheesekake” journey.

“It’s evolved. I don’t talk about my kheesecakes. I like to watch people taste them without them knowing whose product it is. You can’t pretend taste. It is what it is. When you like something, it’s all over your face. I don’t want you to have to fake it. It’s like when I finally have love, I want the for real love…like my kheesekakes when you take the first bite.”

Visit Kelli and her “Kheesekakes” at www.kheesekakesbykelli.com

You can catch Konversations with Kelli on Comast 24, Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m.