Thaddeus Pinckney knows who the muffin man is, and he doesn’t live on Drury Lane.
Armed with a bachelor’s degree in food science from Rutgers University and an master’s degree in marketing from the University of Albany, the Schenectady man has only one goal in mind: spreading goodwill with a bag of baked goods.
Originally, I was a food scientist. Kool Aid was my thing, said Pinckney.
Pinckney said he was the first undergrad at Rutgers to receive a patent, and he worked to create new drink flavors. After graduating in 1999, Pinckney attendrf the University at Albany and graduated with a marketing degree to help continue his goal of creating his own brand of baked goods.
Working in malls, delivering to local coffee shops and turning to the Internet, Pinckney created Luvins Muffins in May of 2001.
`The whole game plan was how to make profits off this one thing,` said Pinckney. `If you don’t have the volume, you’re in trouble.`
The peppy Pinckney became successful in bringing his brand to local and online markets and began to share his love for muffins with those in need.
`People weren’t buying the products because they were muffins, but because they were doing good for others,` said Pinckney.
Using his Web site, luvinsmuffins.com, and his own personal blog, `The Muffin Man Gives,` Pinckney is spreading his joy for food and giving across the area.
`No one knows exactly what other people are going through,` he said. `We’re all so needy it’s almost a taboo to talk about. It’s sad really.`
In helping people through tough times, Pinckney has seen both the good and bad parts of the emotional spectrum.
`You see the rawest of emotions. It makes you do a lot of soul searching,` he said.
Through his Web site, Pinckney has been able to bring about goodwill to people in the region by brightening the day of the underprivileged and forgotten. In recent blog posts, the Muffin Man talks about delivering baked goods to toll booth operators, office cleaning ladies and mourning families at wakes.
`Attending the wake was a sorrowful ideal,` he said in a recent blog post, `but I’m so glad I was there. I can only imagine how sorrowful the family felt as well.`
Pinckney has also worked with the Schenectady Damien Center and the local branch of the Salvation Army. For Thanksgiving, Pinckney plans on a promotion that will donate pies to local shelters when a pie is ordered through the Luvins Muffins Web site. The pie program has been promoted locally, as well as in Maine, Syracuse, Rhode Island and Boston. Pinckney also hopes to advertise the program through shows on up to 50 public access stations across the country.
` I don’t know if we’ll be able to do 10,000 pies, but that’s the hope,` he said. `People are really responding to it. They hear about it and go, ‘Wow.’`
As his mission grows, Pinckney said he cares less about profit margins and more about the satisfaction of helping others in need. Luvins Muffins gains online orders daily, but the most important goal is helping others.
`It’s more about conviction than profit margins,` he said. `You don’t need a big desk to be successful. I’m finding my calling; the true idea of the Muffin Man is that he is giving. Business will happen as the Muffin Man gets known for what he does.` “