Skip Navigation
left arrowGo back to In the News Page

Video: Cortex Square One Alum Puddin Puddin Featured on HEC-TV

December 09, 2025

DSSKIDLVL6NDDO2AKTLBMFHT.png
From a small hustle to a growing enterprise, Puddin Puddin has success in St. Louis

by HEC-TV

Ismael Wayne is the owner of Puddin Puddin. When Wayne lost his job, he said he had to make money somehow.

“I had gotten laid off from my job a month before I got married,” he explained.

So, he turned to his very own recipe of homemade banana pudding! Wayne decided to use his talents to solve a temporary financial situation and is amazed at how it turned into a growing business that he named, Puddin Puddin.

Wayne said he was always hustling products or services while growing up, starting in grade school through his college years.

“I knew how to hustle since 2nd grade, selling (store bought) Oatmeal Creme Pies to students.”

He said he’s always been good at hustling, but hustling his banana pudding and many flavors of specialized pudding cheesecakes are quickly having a level of success he never imagined.

“It was definitely something I was never expecting to hustle, because I came from IT,” he said.

More Articles

32d0d98fd271f37bef1e6427b024da71.jpg

Cortex District Member BioGenerator Listed as One...

As the startup arm of BioSTL, BioGenerator creates, grows, and invests in promising St. Louis startups and entrepreneurs.

arrow pointing right
BioSTL-Pairidex-1024x683.png

Cortex-Based Startup Pairidex Closes Seed Round to...

This funding advances Pairidex's mission to reduce uncertainty in leukemia care through highly sensitive, personalized MRD testing.

arrow pointing right
FFBB26-5258_(1).jpg

Blooming Business Workshop at Cortex Prepares...

The session connected vendors with business resources and practical guidance ahead of the annual festival on Sept. 19 at Tower Grove Park.

arrow pointing right
fancy footer design