Jatee Kearsley, owner of Je T’aime Patisserie in Brooklyn, admitted to never wanting to go viral again, claiming it saved her business but at the expense of her mental health, Business Insider reports.
She reminisced about a time in April 2024 when she didn’t know how her bakery, offering a “Black girl twist” on French pastries in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood, was going to survive with only $2,000 left in her bank account. After making the admission to members of her bible study group, things changed shortly after. Her bakery went viral after being featured on a social media platform called Righteous Eats that celebrates New York City-based restaurants.
With over 600,000 views and likes, her bank
account looked completely different afterwards. But Kearsley said she doesn’t want to experience that again. “Going viral was a blessing. I will never pretend it wasn’t. It changed the trajectory of my business. However, I don’t think people talk enough about what going viral does to your mental health,” the small business owner said.Data from The DO, the effect of social media users hiding behind a screen in an effort to “troll” or harass others has been labeled as a new level of cyberbullying. The trend has led to significant implications for mental health, leading to depression, anxiety, and in some cases, suicide.
“For me, mentally, I don’t want to go viral again. That might sound ungrateful, but it’s honest.”
She touched on how going viral didn’t
make the work any easier and instead brought higher expectations. Kearsley remembered her team of four would make an average of 200 croissants a week. After becoming a viral sensation, the demand increased to roughly 200 croissants every other day. Then, with the demand came overly demanding service and alleged judgmental tones.One of the things that sets Je T’aime Patisserie apart from other bakeries is that it accepts Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT). During the 2025 government shutdown, Kearsley started offering a free breakfast to anyone who presented their EBT card between 7:30 and 10 a.m., as she understood what it meant for working people to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. “I just have family members who are also suffering, so I just want to help in a small way,” the bakery owner told The New York Daily News
back in October.“There really isn’t any benefit from me giving away free food, but I just know the struggles that my friends and family are dealing with. So I just want to make sure that I help them and other people in the community.”
While new customers tried to push her to move her business to Manhattan’s expensive sector, with her offerings including chocolate, almond, ham-and-cheese, blueberry cheesecake, and more types of croissants made from scratch, Kearsley stood her ground, saying her business is never about the money. “I opened in Bed-Stuy on purpose. People told me my bakery “belonged” in Manhattan. I disagreed. I wanted someone who has never tried a fresh croissant or a quiche to walk into my shop and feel like they deserve it,” she said.
“Financially, EBT makes up a small percentage of my revenue. But the support and gratitude from those customers mean more to me than the dollar amount ever could.”
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