"Tell your mom to bring the cake balls!"

This was a familiar request for Robin Ankeny, at home in southeast Texas as a girl.

Whenever there was a big event, or even a small get-together, her family's recipe was always in demand.

"People from down around Houston are really familiar with cake balls," offers Robin, during a recent visit to the Cake Ball Company's new Lake Highlands location on Northwest Highway.

"Honestly, they've been popular for years, but no one had ever tried taking them to market," she continues. "Until us!"

The "us" she's referring to includes herself and her two business partners and friends, Charlotte Lyon and Debra Corley. All three Lake Highlands residents, these ladies have varied backgrounds yet common interests.

After meeting at their children's pre-school, Robin and Charlotte began discussing that all-to-familiar topic among moms: how to balance home life and professional endeavors.

In fact, it was professional backgrounds in art and graphic design that brought Debra, Cake Ball Company's third partner, into the endeavor.

From its beginnings in Robin's home - specifically her kitchen and dining room - the group made their way to Lake Highlands Baptist Church, where for 18 months the ladies provided the congregation with Wednesday night dinners in exchange for use of the church's kitchen.

"The church was really integral in helping grow our business to the next level," says Robin. "We are extremely grateful to them for the flexibility and support they showed our small business."

When the search began in 2008 for a bigger production facility, the trio naturally gravitated towards a Lake Highlands address.

"One of our goals was to always maintain a community feel," offers Debra. "After all, Lake Highlands truly is a small town in a big city."

"We all live here, are raising our families here," continues Charlotte. "It is important to us to support our community. We looked at other locations, but we love this neighborhood. It's where we want to be."

The original expectation for the Northwest Highway location was that it would serve solely as a production facility. The possibility of offering pick-up for local orders was an option, as well.

But the ladies quickly realized that what LH residents wanted was a store-front. A place to drop by and shop, in addition to placing phone and Internet orders.

Between the Neiman Marcus catalog business (be sure to watch for Cake Balls in Neiman's Christmas Catalog) and local customer traffic, their Lake Highlands location is definitely filling a niche here in our community.