Born and raised in Charlotte, Benson attended Agnes Scott, a women's college in Decatur, Georgia, before teaching kindergarten and first grade at a private school in Atlanta for three years. Benson became a nanny for students at the same school and through that position was able to see the world.
"The family I worked for took me on trips with them and we traveled because we all had the same vacations. They owned a home in the Loire Valley in France and we lived there for four months -- it was fabulous," said Benson.
For the next year Benson lived in Paris and was a nanny for another family; it was after spending time in Europe that Benson truly began to understand the impact of food on culture, community, and in a family.
Upon her return from Europe, Benson worked at NewMarket in Belk at SouthPark (presently the location of Arthur's).
"It was one of the first places where Charlotte had fresh baguettes and croissants and truffles. Harris Teeter ran it and Belk provided the space and we just did fabulous stuff. It was something that began the whole fresh food quality in food production."
After Benson spent four years with Harris Teeter, which included some time working in their corporate buying office, she finally decided to go to culinary school. In 1991, she enrolled at Peter Kump's New York cooking school (which now operates as the New York Culinary Institute) and received a professional pastry degree.
When the year-long program ended, Benson spent another year in New York to complete an internship with Umanoff & Parsons.
"They invented the Chocolate Mud Cake, which is just this yummy thing that has no description -- it's just luscious. I worked in the city in a building that had no heat and no air-conditioning for a year, so it taught me you can do anything with anything."
Tiz moved back to Charlotte where she believed she could be the most successful.
"I knew that I wanted to start Tizzerts and I knew if I was going to start a business I needed to do it in a city that I was from so that I could have the support and the finances. I knew that I couldn't do it in Manhattan -- too much of a big sea."
On average, Tizzerts makes 300 to 400 cakes a week, ranging from carrot cakes, to brownies, to wedding cakes, and she adopts the same philosophy with each cake.
"We like for any of our cakes to look as pleasing on the outside as it is on the inside. We use softer colors. The Tizzerts look is a little bit more of a muted palette, more natural looking. We do things more naturally and it has a very special look and we try to keep things simple."
Tiz was inspired by her mother Natalie Faison and Julia Child, but attributes much of her success to the help of Anita Stack, Tizzerts Cake Designer and manager, whom Tiz met while working at NewMarket.
She suggests that those interested in not only baking, but opening up a business should keep in mind that "it's not just about the food. It's all about everything else; the staffing, the real estate, paying your taxes. Management is the hardest thing about any sort of business."
When Tiz isn't at Tizzerts, she spends time with her husband Ben Benson, an architect, and her twin three-year-olds, Zack and Natalie.
Tizzerts cakes are available at Reid's at 7th Street Station, Dean & Deluca, and Harris Teeter Express at 1015 Providence Rd. Direct sales from Tizzerts are by custom-order only (allow 4-7 days). Pre-ordered cakes can be picked up from 8:30am to 5:30pm on Monday through Friday, and on Saturday from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Visit www.tizzerts.com or call 704-375-7400 for more info.