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Do you smell that? Sharp cinnamon, sweet brown butter, subtle banana: mouth-watering cookies layered in a ribbon-tied box. This is , a brand-new business started by 91���� senior Noor Musa. With a lifelong love of baking and dual majors in and from the , Musa is tackling small business ownership and her education with a cup of creativity, a dash of determination, and a whole helping of heart.

Baking is a family affair. Taught by her mom, Musa found passion and serenity in measuring, stirring, and decorating. “If I have a stressful day, I bake. If I have a good day, I bake. Everything comes back to baking,” she said. Turning her hobby into a business was something she’d considered for a few years before taking the plunge.

“I went back and forth about it. ‘I shouldn’t start this, I don’t have enough time,’” she said. “But I realized you’re never going to have enough time. You just start it and see where it goes.”

Mama’s Table sells original, homemade baked goods, all made by Musa and her mother, Soraya Amra. They’re selling their tasty treats at local farmers markets and pop-ups around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region.

In many ways, baking and marketing are extensions of one another: disciplines where creativity exists within exactness and precision. “If you’re following brand guidelines, you can’t stray from that. The words you choose have to be exact,” she said. The same is true of her minor in business analytics. “You have to be specific.”

But between those exact measurements and precise temperatures, magic happens for someone like Musa. Her three cookie flavors for fall—salted brown butter chocolate chunk, double chocolate chunk banana bread, and cinnamon swirl espresso—are original creations. And, according to Musa, they’re flying off the shelves.  

“Being a student at George Mason during this time while I build my business has really helped,” she said. “You have access to this wide community of people who are going to advocate for you.” The , of which Musa is the vice president of administration, provided feedback when she soft-launched Mama’s Table. And her coursework has helped her hone the required skills for a small business owner.

An underlying thread in all Musa’s work is the dedication and patience required. Every recipe starts as trial and error; that banana bread cookie was a long, arduous experiment until she found the right ratios to make it a bestseller.

Developing her skills in marketing and business analytics is no different. Self-described as “anxious and very shy” speaker when she first arrived at George Mason, Musa embraced being forced out of her comfort zone in order to grow into a successful communicator.

“All my classes were public speaking and group work on real-world projects with real businesses,” she said.

MKTG 335 Strategic Brand Management included a brand audit, where she and her team are meeting with senior executives to better understand the branding choices made and offer suggestions for how to improve.

“I think most people think that public speaking just comes naturally,” she said. “That’s so not true. I think it’s a taught skill, whether you teach it to yourself or learn it in a class.” And her coursework at George Mason has given her the opportunities to learn, practice, and improve; so much so that Musa became a consultant for the university’s until recently leaving the position for an internship.

“It all really helped my personal development, which led to me building the courage to launch my business,” she said. “Three years ago, I could not have imagined myself here. You’re constantly growing at George Mason, and that’s really prepared me for the real world.”