July 12, 2023 • 42 mins
You don't have to sell your baked goods to have a successful baking business and today's guest is proof of that. Today on the Baking For Business podcast we spoke one on one with Chelsey White, the owner behind the popular blog Chelsweets.
A journey that began with just baking for co-workers overtime evolved and led her to marking her presence firmly in the blogging industry as a top dessert blogger. On today's episode she talks about her courageous decision to quit her corporate job and fully embrace her passion for baking, as well as what benchmarks she set for herself to make the transition possible.
This episode is brimming with practical advice and actionable tips for anyone dreaming of turning their passion into a profitable venture.
In this episode we cover:
- The importance of knowing your numbers in business
- Why it's so important to have multiple streams of income as a business owner
- Building a business using social media and so much more.
Need more Chelsweets in your life? Click here to read more about her story on the blog.
Want Chelsey's tips on pricing? Check out her popular blog post by clicking here
Considering this business model for yourself? Read Chelsey's blog post here with her tips on how to do so.
Loved this episode? Be sure to tag me at @bakingforbusiness and Chelsey @chelsweets as you listen and share the love!
Two ways I help my students earn $2-10k monthly👇?
1.) Grow your home bakery business inside The Entrepreneur Community by clicking here
2.) Learn to sell digital products inside Digital Product Community by clicking here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg.
I started my baking businesswith the bottle of DeCerono and
one Bundt Cake Pan.
Fast forward to today, fromnews to magazines, speaking on
national stages and more.
I can truly say that baking haschanged my life.
So now, as a bakery businesscoach, I get to help others have
the same success.
I've helped hundreds of mystudents across the world in my
(00:24):
global membership program createsix-figure businesses, mainly
from home.
The Baking for Business podcastis an extension of that, from
actionable tips to valuabletools and resources that can
impact you as a business owner.
I truly believe y'all.
We would never have been givena gift if we couldn't profit and
prosper from it.
So come on, darling.
What are you waiting for?
(00:45):
Hey?
What is going on?
You guys?
And welcome back to the Bakingfor Business podcast.
I'm super excited to be herewith you guys today, because
it's very seldom that weactually have a guest that's
someone who I follow, so this isreally, really cool today.
(01:06):
And so, for starters, shout outto Baking for Blondie, because
she recommended this amazingguest.
And you know, that's what thispodcast is all about women
sharing and helping to empowerother men and women, and today's
guest, I bet, has probablyempowered you in one way.
Whether you've tried one of herrecipes, be it her cookies,
maybe you've taken her signaturecontent creation style and
(01:29):
redid a cake over and over.
You cannot help but to be inlove with Chelsweets and her
amazing blog.
But it didn't start out thatway, and today we're going to
hear the full story of how herbusiness and one of the most
popular blogs, I'm willing tobet actually got started.
So, chels, welcome to thepodcast.
(01:50):
It's so nice to have you,chelsweets, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Thank you.
You can call me Chels, it'sokay.
Both work great.
Thank you so much for having meand so glad Mandy recommended
me.
She is just like a ray ofsunshine, as I'm sure you know
from having had her as a guest,but I'm honored that she
recommended me, so that's great.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yes, I love it.
And so to get into your story,because I actually read before
we get into the baking part, youwere a now bakers, don't come
at her, but you actually want itto be a CPA.
You went to the University ofWashington, so tell us about
that.
After high school, how did thatgo?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Okay.
So I always wanted to be a CPAmight which I think is a creepy
thing to say, because a lot ofpeople, I think, have broader
ambitions when they're a kid.
But my dad's a tax accountant.
It runs in my blood, as I liketo say.
So I had always wanted to be aCPA.
I took accounting classes inhigh school.
I liked them.
I got like early admitt to thebusiness school at University of
(02:46):
Washington.
I was always on that path, likethat's where I saw myself.
I graduated, I did take a CPA.
I became a CPA and I worked inpublic accounting and corporate
finance for six years before Istarted baking full time.
The whole time, though, I waslike building up my business.
So that makes it seem like it'slike a light switch transition,
which it absolutely was not.
But yeah, I actually reallyenjoyed being an accountant.
(03:09):
It's kind of interesting havinghad two careers now, but I
enjoyed both.
I obviously think I like what Ido now a little bit more, but I
really enjoyed my previouscorporate world as well.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
So wow, so accounting you guys?
Yeah, a lot of times peoplehear numbers and either they're
a spirit or afraid, but so itseems like, like we said,
numbers ran in your blood.
You love numbers, so that'sawesome.
So what inspired you because Ialso read you sold for a little
while your baked goods beforeyou actually had a blog.
So what inspired you to go fromCPA to start baking?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yes.
So I had never baked before.
I think a lot of people thatbake now grew up doing it with
their parents or like theirgrandparents, but I never really
baked as a kid.
I'd maybe make like a box mixfor a friend for their birthday
or something when I was ateenager, but really didn't bake
it all growing up.
And then when I started working,my hours were super long.
I was working until like 10 atnight.
(04:06):
It was just like really intenseand super boring, like
accounting, especially auditingis not for the faint of heart.
It's just like spreadsheets onspreadsheets on spreadsheets.
And I would get home and I wasjust feeling really like
unfulfilled and kind of stressed.
And so I think I like made abatch of cookies my first month
of working and I just reallyloved it and that sounds silly,
but it just was like reallytherapeutic and I brought them
(04:27):
into the office.
Everybody loved them and it wasjust like a really fun thing to
do and look forward to.
And so I started baking moreand more.
Eventually I started likedabbling in cakes and then I
started making cakes for all thebirthdays on my team.
I was on a really big team atwork, and that's kind of how I
started making cakes andeventually, a lot of my friends
(04:48):
were started pushing me to sellmy cakes because they're like
people want to buy them.
I really didn't want to,because I just didn't want it to
take away the fun and, like asI think many people listen to
this podcast know like sellingcakes is stressful.
It's like a lot of coordination, a lot of communication and
just like the timelines can bedifficult, especially if you
(05:09):
have a full-time job.
So eventually, though, I did,and I started selling cakes and
it was fun because I got to makea lot of different things, I
got to try different techniques,and it's fun kind of having
your hobby paid for.
However, when I first started, Idid not know how to price a
cake and I just didn't knowanything about the cake world at
all.
So I really was learningeverything as I went, and I
think I share it every year,usually on my Chelsweet
(05:32):
anniversary of when I wentfull-time.
But if you look back at myfirst cakes, they're like
terrifying, but everybody startssomewhere.
So I really learned as I wentand started pricing my cakes.
Eventually, all my friends andeven customers were like you
need to be charging more.
And that's never a good sign ifa customer tells you you should
be charging more and I had alot of demand.
(05:54):
So I did venture star raisingprices and like tried to get
things kind of back in alignmentbetween demand and price.
Huge hit be100.
It was really interesting.
Yeah, that's how I got intoselling cakes.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well, so that's really cool.
And so now you said you werebringing them to work, which I
think is awesome because itsounds like you were using your
employees kind of like a focusgroup to get your flavors and
and Feedback and stuff.
When you were doing this as abusiness, what was the name of
your business?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
It was, it was still Chelsuit, so what's funny is
that name.
Like I didn't come up with that, I'm not that creative.
A friend of mine who was on myaudit team we were all throwing
around at we used to work inthese windowless conference
rooms.
Don't ever become an auditorand.
We're all like chatting andworking and we were trying to
think of a name for like what Ishould call it and we were
(06:46):
throwing around a lot of likereally silly suggestions.
But that co-worker is the onethat came up with Chelsuit, so,
um, it came up.
He came up with it pretty earlyon, so I think that's kind of
what I went by for the most partMajority of the time.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
What a blessing, and so when you're operating
Chelsuit selling, what were someof the things that you
specialized?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
and then I think I mostly did layer.
I think I almost exclusivelydid layer cakes.
I hardly ever did cupcakes oranything like that, just because
I don't think I was even.
Also, it was just like adifferent time.
That was like 2015, like I Wasonly posting videos, weren't
even really a thing on likeInstagram yet, which is wild but
I was just posting pictures ofcakes and so people were mostly
(07:25):
contacting me just for cakes forparties and things.
So it was really just a varietyof cakes, but I really focused
on buttercream cakes.
I didn't do much with fondant,mostly just because I it's not
my favorite medium to work withand I also had never worked with
it before, so I just wasn'tgood at it either, you know.
So I really focused onbuttercream cakes, yeah, yeah, I
was.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Um, I feel you as a chubby girl I'm not a friend of,
for I always sell people.
I know it's a bad joke, butFondant is just like being with
a man that's not circumcised.
No one wants to have to pullback a layer of anything to get
to what it is that they reallywant.
Just give me the damn cake.
That's how I've always felt.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Never heard that analogy before, but that is
actually so so, so, so accurate.
That's what?
Yeah, but no one.
If you make homemade fondantwith marshmallows like it's not
like it tastes bad, but if youalready have frosting you
probably don't need like another.
And what kills me when I seepeople is like people like
smooth their buttercreamperfectly and then they put
fondant on and I want to be likeit already was so smooth.
(08:27):
Exactly, some techniques youneed to, though I get it, and
some people like working withfondant, so I totally get that.
But that's very funny, that'shilarious.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
So you go from selling to blogging.
How is that early Journey, likewhat were you putting out there
Initially?
Or what made you say, hey, youknow what?
I think I want to changedirections, because you actually
have a post that's on your blogand of course you guys listen
and we'll link to the chillsweets blog.
It's going to be in the shownotes, which I think is a really
great post.
(08:57):
You talk about the differentways that people can get paid,
because sometimes people onlyassume, well, if I want to
generate money with this, but no, there's like food photographer
, there's bloggers like you.
So where did the switch come to, where you say, hey, I think I
want to go the blogging route?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Great question.
So Initially when I startedbaking, like I said, I didn't
know what I was doing.
I was trying out differentrecipes and I wanted to keep
track of what I was makingbefore I even started selling
cakes.
So I started at my blog in like2013 or something, but I didn't
think anyone would ever look atit.
I didn't know anything aboutSEO strategy.
I was just doing it Mostly formyself, so that I could keep
(09:36):
track of all the recipes I wasmaking and things that I was
playing around with.
So that's why it started.
It wasn't like I had some grandscheme of where any of this
would ever go.
I didn't plan on any of this,but I started I don't even know
how.
So I was sharing cakes, I wasselling cakes, I was sharing
them on social media and somehow, like, food Network found me on
(09:57):
social media and they shared asnap of me on social media and
they shared a snapchat articleabout me, which was weird and I
didn't know.
They didn't like tell me theywere gonna do it.
My friends sent it to me and Iwas like, oh my gosh, this is
crazy.
This is so cool.
Funny story my handle used tobe chel sweets NYC because chel
sweets was taken and in thearticle they misquoted my handle
(10:17):
and just put chel sweets, notchel sweets, nyc.
And I was like that's such abummer.
But like, whatever, it's coolthat they know who I am, and
still a cool thing.
And then I was like I bet thataccount got a lot of followers
today I'm gonna go check it andsomehow that person had like
given up their handle or didn'thave that handle anymore.
So because Food Networkmisquoted my handle in that
snapchat article, I was able toget chel sweets the handle
(10:39):
without the NYC.
So that was cool.
But so I didn't even.
I have no idea how they found meto this day, but they, they
wrote the article and then a fewweeks later they emailed me and
were like, do you want to comein and do a shoot with us and
make some cakes and videos forsocial media?
And I was like, of course,that's so cool.
So I did that.
It was like the best day ever.
And then after that, theyContacted me and were like we,
(11:03):
it was at a time in start of2017 when Facebook was super
pushing live streams.
So they're like hey, we'retrying to get a lot more live
streams going on Do you want todo a weekly live stream for the
Food Network?
And I was like sure I wassaying yes to literally
everything.
And then I that was my firstlike a ha moment of realizing
how much content creation canpay.
Because the amount they weregoing to pay me for my weekly
(11:25):
live stream was like more than Iwould make making cakes all
week.
And it was a different type ofcommitment of having a set time,
having to like be presentable,and live streaming is terrifying
, especially when it's not yourfollowers.
But I realized like oh wow,this is a really good
opportunity and I startedsharing my recipes more
seriously than because on thelive streams weekly People be
like where can I get the recipe?
(11:47):
And it was a great way to likedrive traffic and help people.
So I was like that's when Istarted more seriously blogging
and then I didn't learn aboutactual blogging of like strategy
, keyword research.
I don't even like SEO to makesure everything's all friendly
and yes, until 2019, when I quitmy job full time.
(12:10):
But in the process between 2017and 2019, I started doing
partnerships and things.
A lot of opportunities startedpresenting themselves that made
me realize that I really couldmake this a full time job.
So that's.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
That is amazing and what a blessing.
I mean, we all would love toget called by food network, you
know people ask me all the timelike how did that happen?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
and I'm like I don't even know, I don't know, I don't
know.
It's not like I.
I just not like I knew somebody, it just was fortuitous.
I will say I was in New York atthe time and I think that
really helped because going inand getting to work film in
their studios, I think thathelped make connections that did
lead to the opportunities downthe road.
But I just think I was reallylucky and I'm grateful for that.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, and you mentioned between 2017 and 2019.
You feel like you were blogging, but you didn't really know
what you were doing.
And it's weird because I'm afirm believer and I have a
saying those who listen do thebest you can with what you have.
And one of the things I love iswhen following you is too often
we see now all of these peoplewho have, like these marble
(13:20):
countertops and beautiful whitespaces and so we feel well,
until I have that, you know likea million dollar home or so I
can't show up.
But what I remember is that youshow up and you had.
You would always say I'm inthis tiny little apartment and
so talk to us about.
Did you ever have thosefeelings of like how some people
(13:43):
have imposter syndrome or Ican't do this, I don't have a
marble kitchen top and all that?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I think that.
Well, number one, our apartmentwas 554 square feet and I live
there with my now husband, so itwas cozy.
It was very cozy, but luckilywe did have this island.
The island, though.
Like it was super narrow, itwas like maybe 18 inches wide so
like I could film on it, but itwas not ideal.
But it was actually reallyperfect for filming in terms of
(14:11):
like it was a nice set ups forlive streams and things.
So I was, and when we moved in Iwasn't even making cake videos.
So it was really, but I didwant a nice or like an
acceptable kitchen to bacon.
So that part was really nicebecause I would be up late
baking and like it would be nicemy husband like be on the couch
, I'd be baking and we couldlike chat and watch TV, and it
just didn't feel like I was in acompletely separate room, which
(14:31):
is why we wanted that layout.
So, in my eyes, I mean, from myfirst apartment, I shared a
room with my physical room withmy best friend.
My second apartment I live withtwo of my best friends and we
had like a little kitchen thatwas super small, like a hallway
kitchen, and there are three ofus.
So I started baking therereally, but it was like super
(14:55):
challenging because like wedidn't even have like a proper,
we had like a small table.
But the whole thing was wasjust what sometimes my kitchen I
would be like on the ground,like it was a struggle.
So, even though my kitchen thatI moved into Was by no means
glamorous at all, to me Gettingto live like with my, with my
husband, and like not havingroommates and having control
(15:17):
over the kitchen fully andhaving a kitchen that I could
really move around in like waslike the top echelon.
So, even though I didn't havelike a perfect kitchen by any
means the cabinets were so dark,I hated that but even though it
wasn't necessarily perfect, itworked so well and I was so
grateful for what I had.
So I don't I like have moreimposter syndrome now than I did
(15:38):
back then.
I think back then I was justlike having so much fun and
enjoying myself.
I didn't really I didn't reallydoubt myself as much.
I just like loved what I wasdoing and was so busy I did not
have time to think even becauseI was still working full-time,
so Lotta, late nights, but no,yeah, I do think anyone who is
scared to start.
You do just have to start.
Like my first video, my firstYouTube video is literally out
(16:00):
of focus.
Just, you just got to do it,you just got to put it up there
and you learn as you go.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Absolutely learn as you go.
I love that, and so did videowith learning, did video in
itself, because some people theysay that public speaking more
people are actually afraid ofpublic speaking than dying,
which I think is crazy.
But so did you know, scared you?
Did you always kind of, youknow, say I want to be this type
of personality, or did you justcut on the camera, be yourself?
(16:28):
You were never afraid.
I.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Am an intro.
I've never been like I Want toperform anything.
No, by public speak.
My cheeks heard bright red.
Like I, I zero percent enjoypublic speaking at all.
But something that's reallyinteresting is that when you are
like recording yourself orrecording a live stream, it's
kind of cringy, but it's justyou in your kitchen, like you
(16:51):
know.
People are watching you, butyou don't get like or at least I
don't get like the same stage.
I still feel pressure and Iwant to do a good job, but you
don't have people staring backat you.
So that's kind of freeing to me.
I'm not as afraid to fillmyself in those situations, but
like if I were to decorate acake in front of like 10,000
people, I would like.
I would not want to it lie inperson I would, I could do it,
(17:13):
but I would hate it.
It would not be my favoritething.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
So and so you're, you're baking, you're cutting on
the camera, you're uploading toYouTube a lot more.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So what was the turning point when you decided
Okay, you know, because you werestill on the job doing this
that you were going to actuallygo all out so I like really
tried to do both for as long asI could because I Was starting
to make a lot of money withChelsweets, because, like I was
doing partner my firstpartnership, I was, like you,
(17:45):
shocked I was.
I felt like people are justthrowing money at me, was like
it was just unreal and I thatreally opened my eyes.
But I really want to hold outfor as long as I could because
there's so much uncertainty withbeing self-employed that, like
you To me, I really wanted tomake a lot of money to make up
for that, and not just that likepaying your taxes.
(18:05):
Tax situation is different.
You don't have health insuranceanymore.
You have to manage your ownretirement.
I have to like do payrollliterally for myself, based on
how my business is set up.
There's like a lot of thingsinvolved that are stressful and
expensive too.
So it's like I really wanted tomake sure I was making.
I wanted to make Twice.
I had benchmarks before I put myjob.
(18:26):
One of them was I want to maketwice myself my corporate salary
with Chelsweets, which I did,which I was shocked when I did,
but I did.
I wanted.
I had bought like a reallysmall condo.
I was living in New York.
At the time, after college, Ithought I was gonna move home to
back to Seattle and I bought acondo and I wanted to pay it off
before I quit my job because,also, it was much cheaper
(18:47):
housing prices are crazy rightnow, but back that one about it
was a lot cheaper, but I wantedto pay it off because I just
didn't want a mortgage.
I already had like my own rentto pay in New York, but I didn't
want like a mortgage hangingover my head.
And Then I also wanted, I think, to have like multiple streams
of revenue, just because it'slike it's scary.
You don't want to put all youreggs in one basket when you are
(19:09):
self-employed, because,especially in social media,
because things change so rapidlylike One one platform has a
creator funds, they take it away.
One platform starts paying youto do longer videos, they take
that away.
And I had already seen thatbecause Facebook in 2018 or 2019
, I got into a program wherethey paid a bunch of money for
us to basically upload YouTubevideos to Facebook Because they
(19:32):
were trying to compete withFacebook and it was a lot of
money, but the program lastedfor three months and then it
ended, which I think I knew was.
I think I knew that when Isigned up for it but just
basically, you're gonna be doingthis, so you need to have ways
to kind of level that out asIncome streams, very so that was
another goal of mine and thereal moment where I realized it.
I wasn't planning to, but I tooka deal of work and a friend of
(19:55):
mine who used to work or a finer29, lucy think.
We filmed a day in the lifewhere she was like basically a
cake maker, I think, and shecame over and made a cake with
me and she was planning to puther job the next year to become
a content creator full-time.
And she just was askingquestions like are you planning
to do that?
And I was like no.
And then she did ask, like howmuch did you make last year?
Like what are you?
Like what's holding you back?
(20:17):
And then it kind of was a lightbulb moment where I was like wow
, I'm like actually really readyto do this and I'm the type of
person where when I make up mymind, I want to just immediately
go.
So I tried to use all of myself-control.
I waited until January to quit,because year end is complicated
for finance.
You need to close the year outand I wanted to wait till after
(20:39):
the holidays.
But that moment I knew I wasgonna quit.
And then I did in January.
So it was pretty wild, but Iknew in my gut it just felt
right.
So I was nervous a little bit,but mostly excited.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
So yeah, what a blessing.
Well, that it definitely paidoff and it's wonderful that you
did believe in yourself to takethat leap.
And so you mentioned earlieryou said you felt you didn't
know much about SEO.
And so once you did take theleap after 2019, what was it?
Did you invest in a class, acourse or book?
(21:14):
What was it to where you fullybuckled down and said, okay, I
want to make sure I'm doing thiscorrectly so that it is
generating.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Number one.
I had no idea how much money itcould actually generate.
When I started, my friendactually Courtney of Cake by
Courtney told me about she wasvisiting New York, she lives in
Utah and she was like, ask, Idon't know, we're talking about
blogging.
And she was like, yeah, I'm onMediavine.
What do you use for your blog?
And I was like, oh, I don'thave a real ad provider.
(21:43):
And she was like what?
Then she asked me about mytraffic and was like Chelsea,
you need to apply to Mediavine.
So her pushing me was huge.
I didn't know it at the time.
I applied.
I got in because I did have adecent amount of traffic by that
point.
And then when I quit my job, Ihad some things change where I
had like a contract with FoodNetwork that was basically kind
of like a year long salary of meproviding certain deliverables
(22:05):
each month and it was not huge,but it was a nice chunk of
change that I was like this isgreat, stable income.
And pretty much right after Iquit my job, they got bought out
by Discovery and they canceledthat contract, which they're
totally allowed to do.
But I was like, wow, okay.
So I was like I need to reallyfocus on other things, which was
absolutely blessing in disguise.
(22:26):
I was stressed at the time, butit was blessing in disguise
because it made me absolutely,100% hunkered down on blogging
and all I did was listen toevery single podcast, every
single episode of the Mediavinepodcast, where they talk about
everything.
I got in the Facebook group.
I was reading everything that Icould and that's how I taught
(22:46):
myself.
They have so many greatresources out there and it's
free.
I think anyone can listen tothe podcast.
So that's what I did and itsucks that I made so many posts
before I learned what I wasdoing.
But I never looked back fromthat point and I only got better
at blogging.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
So yeah, we had to go .
That's our self.
Education is the best way weall have to get into personal
development one way or another.
So at least you found theresources that was needed, and
kudos for having a friend totell you hey, you can really be
doing this.
And so how do you manage now?
(23:25):
Because, also within this timeperiod, you're no longer a
girlfriend.
You became a wife and made yourown wedding cake.
Yep, tell us about the weddingcake.
What were the flavors?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
It was literally just all fun, fetty.
It was just for okay.
So I had made practice weddingcakes and I had made wedding
cakes earlier that year.
I had never done wedding cakesbefore before the year before.
So I made one of my bestfriends wedding cake and she had
four different flavors, whichwas great.
I loved that for her, but I waslike whoa, that is so much work
.
So for our wedding cake I waslike absolutely not, we will be
(23:59):
having one flavor.
So it was just fun, fetty,through the whole thing.
I made it a few days in advanceso I was able to like film the
whole thing and enjoy it.
And then we had all of ourfamily and friends coming in
from out of town, so I did thatand then I was able to like
enjoy our time.
Delivering.
It was like the most stressfulthing ever the morning of and
adding fresh flowers, but it'sokay, it was good.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I got it there.
Did you take the Uber?
Cause I've seen you deliversometimes I'm like it took an
Uber and then we basically wehad like a very low key wedding.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
We got married like in Central Park and then we
rented out the basement of oneof our favorite bars.
It's like a nice bar that haslike really fancy cocktails.
It's not like a smelly beer bar.
I had to walk.
It was like a big room but itwas downstairs.
I had to walk down these stairsoutside that somebody had
thrown an ice bucket down thenight before or the morning
before, as they were clear, Idon't know.
(24:50):
But I had walked on like icysteps with it and I was like I'm
gonna drop this, but I didn'tit was okay, but it was very.
once I got that, once I likedropped it off, I felt so much
better.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So oh my gosh, I don't.
Most of us already have a lotof pressures with just doing
wedding cakes in general, so Iguess, doing wedding cakes on
your own wedding day, but it waskind of nice though, cause,
like say, something goes wrong,no one's gonna get mad at you
for, like, messing up your ownwedding cake.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
It's way more pressure for other people, and I
kind of reminded myself of thatas I made it, so that helped.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
That's true.
You didn't have a bride's illof an answer to it, so yeah.
So now, how do you balanceblogging, being a wife and a pup
mom?
How do you balance all of that?
Speaker 2 (25:42):
I think I've always been like very work focused and
I'm lucky I had like a verysupportive husband.
There were lots of trials andtribulations.
When I first quit my job and Idid not have very good work-life
balance, I was like superstressed, I was learning a lot
and like I finally had time todo everything that I had never
had time to do.
So I felt like I wanted to justdo everything but like you
can't.
You can't just like work 24seven, especially in like a
(26:04):
creative field.
A lot of what I do is notnecessarily creative, like it's
back-end work or like strategicwork, but to actually bake and
decorate things, you do have tolike channel some creativity.
And so I kind of quicklylearned you cannot force
everything to happen all at once.
I've gotten so much better withwork-life balance over time, but
(26:26):
I also had no work-life balancebefore I quit.
So I think I felt like I had tokeep working that hard, even
though I had one job instead oftwo now.
But it was just like a bigadjustment and my business has
changed so much over the yearstoo, like I make more money now
than I did back then, which isamazing and wonderful, and I
just partnerships have evolved alot Like TikTok came along.
(26:47):
The whole landscape has changed.
In a way, like short form videois, I used to make a lot of
long form videos for YouTube.
I don't really do that anymorebecause it's just like the
amount of work to create thatand YouTube isn't my primary
platform.
It's not worth it to me.
So I just mostly do short formvideos now and that has helped
me get a lot more like balancein my life and it's worth
(27:09):
prioritizing because so manyplatforms are prioritizing
vertical videos.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
So that's all.
I love that.
So many people struggle withthat.
They're trying to do all thethings and now I meet so many
people who are trying to be, Iguess, content creators.
But you mentioned somethingreally important, which is
delegating, because we can't,you will burn out.
(27:34):
So I'm a big person intosystems.
Even I tell people who are new,who are just getting started,
I'm like, hey, even if you can'tafford to hire someone, there
has to be some system, somethinglike Instacart, where you can
get the groceries deliveredversus you being in the store
for an hour.
So do you have any particularsystems that you use, maybe like
(27:55):
a later scheduling or even mealprep or groceries?
Do you cook for anything thathelps you to save time as an
entrepreneur?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I order all of my groceries.
I think that is one of the bestthings ever.
Sometimes people live in areaswhere, like you can't do it, but
if you can't it is like you paya fee.
But to me, like the amount oftime to like go there and I
don't really fun facts about meI don't really drive a car I
love, I hate driving.
I didn't drive in New York, somoved here to Seattle and I live
(28:25):
in walking distance of a lot ofthings, but I don't want to
carry 25 pounds of flour,however many blocks, to my
apartment, which I did have todo in New York, which was really
hard because I did not dogrocery delivery there.
Anyways, so like yes, that Ibelieve being organized also
just like helps a tons.
Like I always have my days laidout in a nice flow in Google
(28:48):
Calendar.
I always am planning ahead.
I do use I use tailwind forPinterest scheduling and things
like that, and I have somecontractors that help me with
like my newsletter or help memake Pinterest pins and help me
proofread blog posts, because nomatter how many times I read
something over, if it's like along, especially cake recipes,
(29:09):
because there's like so manycomponents, it is inevitable
that I will like miss something.
So it's really nice to haveanother set of eyes on it, to
just sense, check and make sureeverything looks OK.
So I definitely believe in.
I tried delegating more thingslike video editing in the past,
but there are some things that Ireally do like doing.
I enjoy doing myself.
I don't like going back andforth and it was just like
(29:32):
faster and better for me to domyself.
So it is like a balance of whatyou can delegate and what you
can't, but the things I candelegate or just to make my life
easier.
Also, I don't cook at all.
I do not cook ever.
I like eat a lot of frozenmeals.
I eat like a lot of yogurt andcottage cheese and I eat out a
lot, but I do not cook ever.
I make myself like ramen, topramen, that's it.
(29:57):
It's like it's slightly fancierramen, but yeah, it's ramen and
.
I add like, I add like a sevenminute egg and I do stuff, but
it's not.
I don't like touching raw meat.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Ok, hey that's you know what.
Right now it's summertime, so Ifeel you.
I've actually been having likeyogurt that I just throw some
chia seeds and walnut Someone,because I don't even know the
stove one.
So I feel you.
I feel you, who are some of thepeople along the way that have
inspired you?
Are there other bloggers?
(30:31):
Or maybe just teachers orspeakers?
Or where do you find motivationfrom?
Speaker 2 (30:37):
My biggest baking like idol, for lack of a better
way to put it is Sally ofSally's baking addiction.
Like she, her recipes were likethe first ones I ever tried,
first ones I ever read like herI have her cookbooks.
I always looked up to her.
I did not realize, like how,what her blog really meant at
the time when I startedfollowing her and seeing what
(30:59):
she was doing, but she's likehad a huge impact on me and,
other than that, a lot of it'sjust like my friends, I would
say, who are content creatorsand bakers who just love what
they're doing and make reallygood quality content.
I really enjoy like beinginspired by them and it's fun to
see other people who love whatthey do and who feel the same
(31:20):
way about it as you do.
So a lot of it is like my on aday to day basis, are like my
friends who I just admire theirwork.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
That's amazing, and that's what friends are for.
For anyone who's thinking oftaking this route that you've
done, maybe they're like youknow I no longer want to sell or
I just want to put my recipesout there and I just want to
share.
What are some of the beginningsteps or advice that she would
(31:48):
have for new content creatorswho want to do this?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
It's like such a different space nowadays than it
was when I first started, but II do think that I think one of
the things a lot of peoplestruggle with is finding
customers to start, because ifyou're making good cakes, once
you get a decent customer baseyou can really like keep going
for a long time, because a lotof times you get repeat
customers and people talkfriends of friends, people go to
(32:15):
parties that your cakes are at.
It grows pretty organically aslong as you can have that
initial group of small group ofcustomers.
But it is hard and, like Ithink that just almost every
small business owner now lamentsabout, is you basically have to
be a content creator to somedegree If you're going to have a
small business of any sort.
So I do think that sharing onsocial media helps a lot,
(32:39):
especially like tick-lock, whichis location-based not primarily
, but they're not solely but alot of times it feeds it to
people near you.
So if you're making a video andpeople are seeing it near you,
that can be a good way to findpeople.
But other than that, friends andfamily are usually a great
place to start with for yourfirst customers.
I don't know.
My other advice would just beto not be afraid to try new
(33:00):
things and just to dive right in, because there's no time for
hesitation.
You just gotta jump in.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
That's so true.
I love that advice that yougave.
And for all those or anyone whomay not be familiar with your
blog, where can we read moreabout you, see your recipes and
get into your world?
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Yes, so you can find me on just about every social
media platform and luckily I'vehad the same handle on everyone.
So I share a lot of my personaljourney and my story on my blog
, chelsweetscom, and then Ishare lots of fun cakes and
things on TikTok, Instagram,YouTube and Facebook.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
So Awesome, before I let you go, Chels, are you ready
for Lightning Round?
I am, I am All right.
What is your favorite color?
Purple and what is yourfavorite book, or?
Speaker 2 (33:58):
a book that you like.
My favorite book, my favoritebook, is part of a series.
It's like a fantasy series andit's called A Court of Thorns
and Roses.
That's the series.
And then my favorite book inthat series is the second one
and it's called A Court of Mistand Fury.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
A Court of Thorns, and is that like romance or is
that?
Speaker 2 (34:15):
It's like a fey fantasy of like magic and things
, but it's so good.
It's so good.
Just take my word for it.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
I don't know.
My favorite series is FiftyShades of Grey, so you would
probably like it.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
So there's not that much spice in the beginning, but
there's like spice later in theseries.
It's excellent, it's so wellwritten Okay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
And what is your favorite kitchen utensil?
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Utencil, probably just a really good rubber
spatula the amount of thingsthat a good spatula can do.
You know, like you always haveyour favorite.
I have like 20 differentcolored spatulas, but I have one
that's my favorite and it isblack and it's just the best.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2 (34:58):
So it's not really like a crush, but Guy Fieri,
it's not like I like think he'sthe hottest man on earth, but I
just think he's like.
I know everyone always has thisreaction, but he was like so
nice and he's like you only everhear good things about him and
people that have worked with himand like I have been obsessed
with diners and drives, diners,dives and drive triple D.
(35:20):
I can't think of anything Sinceit came out like I've always
just like been a big fan of his,so I like Adam, the one who
does Adam's good too, Adam isgood.
I don't know.
I like Guy like 20 times betterthan Adam.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
But Adam is good too.
All right, and lastly, what isa dessert you cannot live
without?
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Macarons just like any flavored macaron.
I love them.
You can just like snack on them.
They're in the fridge.
They last for forever.
They're just great.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Well, from the bottom of my heart, you did throw me
off with the guy one, but youknow what he's.
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
I knew when you said that earlier, we were like with
the lightning round.
I was like you're not ready,you're not ready for this.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
I'm not ready.
I was looking for like a chinand Tatum, or like a John
Travolta, maybe even I don'tknow, but it's, we'll take it.
But from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for coming
on and for sharing your storywith us, as well as your blog.
I really do appreciate it and Iknow that everyone listening
has appreciated it as well.
(36:23):
And just lastly, before you go,what is just any general advice
that you would give to just abusiness owner, because you did
stay with knowing numbers,especially in our industry, how
so many people are either afraidto charge their worth, they
don't want to charge.
What advice would you give tosomeone who wants to jump, who
(36:46):
wants to do this full time, asfar as pricing and knowing your
numbers and just being anentrepreneur in general?
Speaker 2 (36:53):
It's like.
Number one like I said earlier,I'm obsessed with spreadsheets,
100%.
Some people really hate numbersand spreadsheets, though, and I
totally get that.
I think one of a reallyeye-opening thing to do even if
you don't do it for every cake,for your most popular recipes,
or even one recipe just to fullyprice it out from ingredients
to boxes, even technically,amortization of, like your
(37:13):
KitchenAid, whatever other bigequipment you have, and see how
much it costs.
And just make sure, number one,that you're at least charging
how much it truly costs you tomake, Because I think a lot of
times, people underestimate howexpensive things are and that
you also should be adding inlike extra because you're
spending hours making a cake,right.
So, number one, making sure thatyou're truly covering your
costs and accounting for yourown time.
(37:34):
And then, number two, if you'renot super into numbers, you
don't wanna do that, like mygeneral rule of thumb, because I
think almost every baker Ithink very rarely does a baker
charge more than they should.
So I think my main advice isalways charge more than you
think you should, and I, evenwith like partnerships and
things like that like sometimesI'm throwing spaghetti at the
(37:55):
wall and seeing what sticks andwhat rates people take.
But, like a lot of times,you'll be surprised if you
charge more.
People are generally absolutelyokay with it, so and if they're
not, they'll tell you.
You'll learn, you'll figure outwhere the right sweet spot is.
I'm not saying charge like anexorbitant, insane amount of
money, that's impractical.
But almost so many home bakersare charging a lot less than
(38:17):
they probably should.
So that would be my generalrule of thumb or like piece of
advice.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
I love that, and Chelsea also has a blog post
which actually goes over herthoughts on pricing, which is
pricing and percentage and stuff.
So we'll link that as well inthe show notes If anyone
listening will like to go readthat blog post, read any post on
her blog and support the blogas well.
Chelsea, thank you so much forcoming on the show.
It was an amazing pleasure andI really appreciate it having
(38:45):
you here today.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me, man.
This was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
How amazing was Chelsea?
You guys, the Chelsweets blogis really awesome and I love
just her fun and funky spiritwhenever she cuts on the camera
and shares content.
There are so many differentways for us to follow our
passion in this industry and I'mreally grateful that she came
(39:10):
on today and shared her storybecause hopefully it will
inspire someone else.
We don't always have to sellour bakes in order to be home
bakers.
You can still bake for businessin a different way, and Chelsea
really displayed that.
A few of the things she touchedon that I really hope you guys
(39:31):
did not miss over Number one dothe best you can with what you
have.
What I love was that she didn'tallow her cozy New York space
or anything to set her back.
Oftentimes I speak to you guysand you put such harsh lines
over yourself, like these bigglass ceilings that you're
(39:52):
trying to break through, and I'mlike yo just get started.
And so she shared how that shelearned along the way and that
is the best way to do it Do itafraid, do it not knowing, do it
scared, but just do it anyways,and learning as you go is one
of the key ways for you tofollow your passion and do that
(40:13):
if it's what you choose.
Another thing I love is thatshe mentioned when she baked
with her friend and when shespoke to Kate by Courtney.
It is so amazing, as women, forus to have other positive women
in our corners.
You know, chelsea wasrecommended by Mandy of Baking
with Blondie, whose book youguys should have already had.
(40:33):
And you see Baking with Blondie.
You see Chelsea, you see Kateby Courtney.
All of them do the same thing,but yet they're all okay,
they're all buddies.
So let's always remember thatit is community over competition
when it comes to anything.
You never know how you canbless another woman or another
(40:54):
man just by putting a positiveseed in their ear, because there
is more than enough room forall of us, and the sky is the
limit when you follow yourpassion, and Chelsea is a
perfect example of followingyour passion but also doing it
the right way.
She shared how she set thosebenchmarks.
You know, I know it's always adream I want to just quit my job
(41:16):
and bake, but in between that,like Chelsea mentioned, there is
a healthcare, there'sretirement, there's savings,
there's things like that thatyou want to keep in mind if you
are choosing to switch over.
So make the transition slowly,just pace yourself for when
you're ready to do it, put inthe work and continue to show up
(41:37):
and follow your passion so thatyou can fulfill the dream of
whatever it is that you want todo in your baking business.
Again, special thanks toChelsea so much for sharing her
story.
I know that it's really gonnabless somebody.
Thank you guys so much forlistening to this week's podcast
episode.
Take care and bye for now.
Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg.
I started my baking businesswith the bottle of DeCerono and
one Bundt Cake Pan.
Fast forward to today, fromnews to magazines, speaking on
national stages and more.
I can truly say that baking haschanged my life.
So now, as a bakery businesscoach, I get to help others have
the same success.
I've helped hundreds of mystudents across the world in my
(00:24):
global membership program createsix-figure businesses, mainly
from home.
The Baking for Business podcastis an extension of that, from
actionable tips to valuabletools and resources that can
impact you as a business owner.
I truly believe y'all.
We would never have been givena gift if we couldn't profit and
prosper from it.
So come on, darling.
What are you waiting for?
(00:45):
Hey?
What is going on?
You guys?
And welcome back to the Bakingfor Business podcast.
I'm super excited to be herewith you guys today, because
it's very seldom that weactually have a guest that's
someone who I follow, so this isreally, really cool today.
(01:06):
And so, for starters, shout outto Baking for Blondie, because
she recommended this amazingguest.
And you know, that's what thispodcast is all about women
sharing and helping to empowerother men and women, and today's
guest, I bet, has probablyempowered you in one way.
Whether you've tried one of herrecipes, be it her cookies,
maybe you've taken her signaturecontent creation style and
(01:29):
redid a cake over and over.
You cannot help but to be inlove with Chelsweets and her
amazing blog.
But it didn't start out thatway, and today we're going to
hear the full story of how herbusiness and one of the most
popular blogs, I'm willing tobet actually got started.
So, chels, welcome to thepodcast.
(01:50):
It's so nice to have you,chelsweets, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Thank you.
You can call me Chels, it'sokay.
Both work great.
Thank you so much for having meand so glad Mandy recommended
me.
She is just like a ray ofsunshine, as I'm sure you know
from having had her as a guest,but I'm honored that she
recommended me, so that's great.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yes, I love it.
And so to get into your story,because I actually read before
we get into the baking part, youwere a now bakers, don't come
at her, but you actually want itto be a CPA.
You went to the University ofWashington, so tell us about
that.
After high school, how did thatgo?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Okay.
So I always wanted to be a CPAmight which I think is a creepy
thing to say, because a lot ofpeople, I think, have broader
ambitions when they're a kid.
But my dad's a tax accountant.
It runs in my blood, as I liketo say.
So I had always wanted to be aCPA.
I took accounting classes inhigh school.
I liked them.
I got like early admitt to thebusiness school at University of
(02:46):
Washington.
I was always on that path, likethat's where I saw myself.
I graduated, I did take a CPA.
I became a CPA and I worked inpublic accounting and corporate
finance for six years before Istarted baking full time.
The whole time, though, I waslike building up my business.
So that makes it seem like it'slike a light switch transition,
which it absolutely was not.
But yeah, I actually reallyenjoyed being an accountant.
(03:09):
It's kind of interesting havinghad two careers now, but I
enjoyed both.
I obviously think I like what Ido now a little bit more, but I
really enjoyed my previouscorporate world as well.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
So wow, so accounting you guys?
Yeah, a lot of times peoplehear numbers and either they're
a spirit or afraid, but so itseems like, like we said,
numbers ran in your blood.
You love numbers, so that'sawesome.
So what inspired you because Ialso read you sold for a little
while your baked goods beforeyou actually had a blog.
So what inspired you to go fromCPA to start baking?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yes.
So I had never baked before.
I think a lot of people thatbake now grew up doing it with
their parents or like theirgrandparents, but I never really
baked as a kid.
I'd maybe make like a box mixfor a friend for their birthday
or something when I was ateenager, but really didn't bake
it all growing up.
And then when I started working,my hours were super long.
I was working until like 10 atnight.
(04:06):
It was just like really intenseand super boring, like
accounting, especially auditingis not for the faint of heart.
It's just like spreadsheets onspreadsheets on spreadsheets.
And I would get home and I wasjust feeling really like
unfulfilled and kind of stressed.
And so I think I like made abatch of cookies my first month
of working and I just reallyloved it and that sounds silly,
but it just was like reallytherapeutic and I brought them
(04:27):
into the office.
Everybody loved them and it wasjust like a really fun thing to
do and look forward to.
And so I started baking moreand more.
Eventually I started likedabbling in cakes and then I
started making cakes for all thebirthdays on my team.
I was on a really big team atwork, and that's kind of how I
started making cakes andeventually, a lot of my friends
(04:48):
were started pushing me to sellmy cakes because they're like
people want to buy them.
I really didn't want to,because I just didn't want it to
take away the fun and, like asI think many people listen to
this podcast know like sellingcakes is stressful.
It's like a lot of coordination, a lot of communication and
just like the timelines can bedifficult, especially if you
(05:09):
have a full-time job.
So eventually, though, I did,and I started selling cakes and
it was fun because I got to makea lot of different things, I
got to try different techniques,and it's fun kind of having
your hobby paid for.
However, when I first started, Idid not know how to price a
cake and I just didn't knowanything about the cake world at
all.
So I really was learningeverything as I went, and I
think I share it every year,usually on my Chelsweet
(05:32):
anniversary of when I wentfull-time.
But if you look back at myfirst cakes, they're like
terrifying, but everybody startssomewhere.
So I really learned as I wentand started pricing my cakes.
Eventually, all my friends andeven customers were like you
need to be charging more.
And that's never a good sign ifa customer tells you you should
be charging more and I had alot of demand.
(05:54):
So I did venture star raisingprices and like tried to get
things kind of back in alignmentbetween demand and price.
Huge hit be100.
It was really interesting.
Yeah, that's how I got intoselling cakes.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Well, so that's really cool.
And so now you said you werebringing them to work, which I
think is awesome because itsounds like you were using your
employees kind of like a focusgroup to get your flavors and
and Feedback and stuff.
When you were doing this as abusiness, what was the name of
your business?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
It was, it was still Chelsuit, so what's funny is
that name.
Like I didn't come up with that, I'm not that creative.
A friend of mine who was on myaudit team we were all throwing
around at we used to work inthese windowless conference
rooms.
Don't ever become an auditorand.
We're all like chatting andworking and we were trying to
think of a name for like what Ishould call it and we were
(06:46):
throwing around a lot of likereally silly suggestions.
But that co-worker is the onethat came up with Chelsuit, so,
um, it came up.
He came up with it pretty earlyon, so I think that's kind of
what I went by for the most partMajority of the time.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
What a blessing, and so when you're operating
Chelsuit selling, what were someof the things that you
specialized?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
and then I think I mostly did layer.
I think I almost exclusivelydid layer cakes.
I hardly ever did cupcakes oranything like that, just because
I don't think I was even.
Also, it was just like adifferent time.
That was like 2015, like I Wasonly posting videos, weren't
even really a thing on likeInstagram yet, which is wild but
I was just posting pictures ofcakes and so people were mostly
(07:25):
contacting me just for cakes forparties and things.
So it was really just a varietyof cakes, but I really focused
on buttercream cakes.
I didn't do much with fondant,mostly just because I it's not
my favorite medium to work withand I also had never worked with
it before, so I just wasn'tgood at it either, you know.
So I really focused onbuttercream cakes, yeah, yeah, I
was.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Um, I feel you as a chubby girl I'm not a friend of,
for I always sell people.
I know it's a bad joke, butFondant is just like being with
a man that's not circumcised.
No one wants to have to pullback a layer of anything to get
to what it is that they reallywant.
Just give me the damn cake.
That's how I've always felt.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Never heard that analogy before, but that is
actually so so, so, so accurate.
That's what?
Yeah, but no one.
If you make homemade fondantwith marshmallows like it's not
like it tastes bad, but if youalready have frosting you
probably don't need like another.
And what kills me when I seepeople is like people like
smooth their buttercreamperfectly and then they put
fondant on and I want to be likeit already was so smooth.
(08:27):
Exactly, some techniques youneed to, though I get it, and
some people like working withfondant, so I totally get that.
But that's very funny, that'shilarious.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
So you go from selling to blogging.
How is that early Journey, likewhat were you putting out there
Initially?
Or what made you say, hey, youknow what?
I think I want to changedirections, because you actually
have a post that's on your blogand of course you guys listen
and we'll link to the chillsweets blog.
It's going to be in the shownotes, which I think is a really
great post.
(08:57):
You talk about the differentways that people can get paid,
because sometimes people onlyassume, well, if I want to
generate money with this, but no, there's like food photographer
, there's bloggers like you.
So where did the switch come to, where you say, hey, I think I
want to go the blogging route?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Great question.
So Initially when I startedbaking, like I said, I didn't
know what I was doing.
I was trying out differentrecipes and I wanted to keep
track of what I was makingbefore I even started selling
cakes.
So I started at my blog in like2013 or something, but I didn't
think anyone would ever look atit.
I didn't know anything aboutSEO strategy.
I was just doing it Mostly formyself, so that I could keep
(09:36):
track of all the recipes I wasmaking and things that I was
playing around with.
So that's why it started.
It wasn't like I had some grandscheme of where any of this
would ever go.
I didn't plan on any of this,but I started I don't even know
how.
So I was sharing cakes, I wasselling cakes, I was sharing
them on social media and somehow, like, food Network found me on
(09:57):
social media and they shared asnap of me on social media and
they shared a snapchat articleabout me, which was weird and I
didn't know.
They didn't like tell me theywere gonna do it.
My friends sent it to me and Iwas like, oh my gosh, this is
crazy.
This is so cool.
Funny story my handle used tobe chel sweets NYC because chel
sweets was taken and in thearticle they misquoted my handle
(10:17):
and just put chel sweets, notchel sweets, nyc.
And I was like that's such abummer.
But like, whatever, it's coolthat they know who I am, and
still a cool thing.
And then I was like I bet thataccount got a lot of followers
today I'm gonna go check it andsomehow that person had like
given up their handle or didn'thave that handle anymore.
So because Food Networkmisquoted my handle in that
snapchat article, I was able toget chel sweets the handle
(10:39):
without the NYC.
So that was cool.
But so I didn't even.
I have no idea how they found meto this day, but they, they
wrote the article and then a fewweeks later they emailed me and
were like, do you want to comein and do a shoot with us and
make some cakes and videos forsocial media?
And I was like, of course,that's so cool.
So I did that.
It was like the best day ever.
And then after that, theyContacted me and were like we,
(11:03):
it was at a time in start of2017 when Facebook was super
pushing live streams.
So they're like hey, we'retrying to get a lot more live
streams going on Do you want todo a weekly live stream for the
Food Network?
And I was like sure I wassaying yes to literally
everything.
And then I that was my firstlike a ha moment of realizing
how much content creation canpay.
Because the amount they weregoing to pay me for my weekly
(11:25):
live stream was like more than Iwould make making cakes all
week.
And it was a different type ofcommitment of having a set time,
having to like be presentable,and live streaming is terrifying
, especially when it's not yourfollowers.
But I realized like oh wow,this is a really good
opportunity and I startedsharing my recipes more
seriously than because on thelive streams weekly People be
like where can I get the recipe?
(11:47):
And it was a great way to likedrive traffic and help people.
So I was like that's when Istarted more seriously blogging
and then I didn't learn aboutactual blogging of like strategy
, keyword research.
I don't even like SEO to makesure everything's all friendly
and yes, until 2019, when I quitmy job full time.
(12:10):
But in the process between 2017and 2019, I started doing
partnerships and things.
A lot of opportunities startedpresenting themselves that made
me realize that I really couldmake this a full time job.
So that's.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
That is amazing and what a blessing.
I mean, we all would love toget called by food network, you
know people ask me all the timelike how did that happen?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
and I'm like I don't even know, I don't know, I don't
know.
It's not like I.
I just not like I knew somebody, it just was fortuitous.
I will say I was in New York atthe time and I think that
really helped because going inand getting to work film in
their studios, I think thathelped make connections that did
lead to the opportunities downthe road.
But I just think I was reallylucky and I'm grateful for that.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, and you mentioned between 2017 and 2019.
You feel like you were blogging, but you didn't really know
what you were doing.
And it's weird because I'm afirm believer and I have a
saying those who listen do thebest you can with what you have.
And one of the things I love iswhen following you is too often
we see now all of these peoplewho have, like these marble
(13:20):
countertops and beautiful whitespaces and so we feel well,
until I have that, you know likea million dollar home or so I
can't show up.
But what I remember is that youshow up and you had.
You would always say I'm inthis tiny little apartment and
so talk to us about.
Did you ever have thosefeelings of like how some people
(13:43):
have imposter syndrome or Ican't do this, I don't have a
marble kitchen top and all that?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I think that.
Well, number one, our apartmentwas 554 square feet and I live
there with my now husband, so itwas cozy.
It was very cozy, but luckilywe did have this island.
The island, though.
Like it was super narrow, itwas like maybe 18 inches wide so
like I could film on it, but itwas not ideal.
But it was actually reallyperfect for filming in terms of
(14:11):
like it was a nice set ups forlive streams and things.
So I was, and when we moved in Iwasn't even making cake videos.
So it was really, but I didwant a nice or like an
acceptable kitchen to bacon.
So that part was really nicebecause I would be up late
baking and like it would be nicemy husband like be on the couch
, I'd be baking and we couldlike chat and watch TV, and it
just didn't feel like I was in acompletely separate room, which
(14:31):
is why we wanted that layout.
So, in my eyes, I mean, from myfirst apartment, I shared a
room with my physical room withmy best friend.
My second apartment I live withtwo of my best friends and we
had like a little kitchen thatwas super small, like a hallway
kitchen, and there are three ofus.
So I started baking therereally, but it was like super
(14:55):
challenging because like wedidn't even have like a proper,
we had like a small table.
But the whole thing was wasjust what sometimes my kitchen I
would be like on the ground,like it was a struggle.
So, even though my kitchen thatI moved into Was by no means
glamorous at all, to me Gettingto live like with my, with my
husband, and like not havingroommates and having control
(15:17):
over the kitchen fully andhaving a kitchen that I could
really move around in like waslike the top echelon.
So, even though I didn't havelike a perfect kitchen by any
means the cabinets were so dark,I hated that but even though it
wasn't necessarily perfect, itworked so well and I was so
grateful for what I had.
So I don't I like have moreimposter syndrome now than I did
(15:38):
back then.
I think back then I was justlike having so much fun and
enjoying myself.
I didn't really I didn't reallydoubt myself as much.
I just like loved what I wasdoing and was so busy I did not
have time to think even becauseI was still working full-time,
so Lotta, late nights, but no,yeah, I do think anyone who is
scared to start.
You do just have to start.
Like my first video, my firstYouTube video is literally out
(16:00):
of focus.
Just, you just got to do it,you just got to put it up there
and you learn as you go.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Absolutely learn as you go.
I love that, and so did videowith learning, did video in
itself, because some people theysay that public speaking more
people are actually afraid ofpublic speaking than dying,
which I think is crazy.
But so did you know, scared you?
Did you always kind of, youknow, say I want to be this type
of personality, or did you justcut on the camera, be yourself?
(16:28):
You were never afraid.
I.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Am an intro.
I've never been like I Want toperform anything.
No, by public speak.
My cheeks heard bright red.
Like I, I zero percent enjoypublic speaking at all.
But something that's reallyinteresting is that when you are
like recording yourself orrecording a live stream, it's
kind of cringy, but it's justyou in your kitchen, like you
(16:51):
know.
People are watching you, butyou don't get like or at least I
don't get like the same stage.
I still feel pressure and Iwant to do a good job, but you
don't have people staring backat you.
So that's kind of freeing to me.
I'm not as afraid to fillmyself in those situations, but
like if I were to decorate acake in front of like 10,000
people, I would like.
I would not want to it lie inperson I would, I could do it,
(17:13):
but I would hate it.
It would not be my favoritething.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
So and so you're, you're baking, you're cutting on
the camera, you're uploading toYouTube a lot more.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So what was the turning point when you decided
Okay, you know, because you werestill on the job doing this
that you were going to actuallygo all out so I like really
tried to do both for as long asI could because I Was starting
to make a lot of money withChelsweets, because, like I was
doing partner my firstpartnership, I was, like you,
(17:45):
shocked I was.
I felt like people are justthrowing money at me, was like
it was just unreal and I thatreally opened my eyes.
But I really want to hold outfor as long as I could because
there's so much uncertainty withbeing self-employed that, like
you To me, I really wanted tomake a lot of money to make up
for that, and not just that likepaying your taxes.
(18:05):
Tax situation is different.
You don't have health insuranceanymore.
You have to manage your ownretirement.
I have to like do payrollliterally for myself, based on
how my business is set up.
There's like a lot of thingsinvolved that are stressful and
expensive too.
So it's like I really wanted tomake sure I was making.
I wanted to make Twice.
I had benchmarks before I put myjob.
(18:26):
One of them was I want to maketwice myself my corporate salary
with Chelsweets, which I did,which I was shocked when I did,
but I did.
I wanted.
I had bought like a reallysmall condo.
I was living in New York.
At the time, after college, Ithought I was gonna move home to
back to Seattle and I bought acondo and I wanted to pay it off
before I quit my job because,also, it was much cheaper
(18:47):
housing prices are crazy rightnow, but back that one about it
was a lot cheaper, but I wantedto pay it off because I just
didn't want a mortgage.
I already had like my own rentto pay in New York, but I didn't
want like a mortgage hangingover my head.
And Then I also wanted, I think, to have like multiple streams
of revenue, just because it'slike it's scary.
You don't want to put all youreggs in one basket when you are
(19:09):
self-employed, because,especially in social media,
because things change so rapidlylike One one platform has a
creator funds, they take it away.
One platform starts paying youto do longer videos, they take
that away.
And I had already seen thatbecause Facebook in 2018 or 2019
, I got into a program wherethey paid a bunch of money for
us to basically upload YouTubevideos to Facebook Because they
(19:32):
were trying to compete withFacebook and it was a lot of
money, but the program lastedfor three months and then it
ended, which I think I knew was.
I think I knew that when Isigned up for it but just
basically, you're gonna be doingthis, so you need to have ways
to kind of level that out asIncome streams, very so that was
another goal of mine and thereal moment where I realized it.
I wasn't planning to, but I tooka deal of work and a friend of
(19:55):
mine who used to work or a finer29, lucy think.
We filmed a day in the lifewhere she was like basically a
cake maker, I think, and shecame over and made a cake with
me and she was planning to puther job the next year to become
a content creator full-time.
And she just was askingquestions like are you planning
to do that?
And I was like no.
And then she did ask, like howmuch did you make last year?
Like what are you?
Like what's holding you back?
(20:17):
And then it kind of was a lightbulb moment where I was like wow
, I'm like actually really readyto do this and I'm the type of
person where when I make up mymind, I want to just immediately
go.
So I tried to use all of myself-control.
I waited until January to quit,because year end is complicated
for finance.
You need to close the year outand I wanted to wait till after
(20:39):
the holidays.
But that moment I knew I wasgonna quit.
And then I did in January.
So it was pretty wild, but Iknew in my gut it just felt
right.
So I was nervous a little bit,but mostly excited.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
So yeah, what a blessing.
Well, that it definitely paidoff and it's wonderful that you
did believe in yourself to takethat leap.
And so you mentioned earlieryou said you felt you didn't
know much about SEO.
And so once you did take theleap after 2019, what was it?
Did you invest in a class, acourse or book?
(21:14):
What was it to where you fullybuckled down and said, okay, I
want to make sure I'm doing thiscorrectly so that it is
generating.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Number one.
I had no idea how much money itcould actually generate.
When I started, my friendactually Courtney of Cake by
Courtney told me about she wasvisiting New York, she lives in
Utah and she was like, ask, Idon't know, we're talking about
blogging.
And she was like, yeah, I'm onMediavine.
What do you use for your blog?
And I was like, oh, I don'thave a real ad provider.
(21:43):
And she was like what?
Then she asked me about mytraffic and was like Chelsea,
you need to apply to Mediavine.
So her pushing me was huge.
I didn't know it at the time.
I applied.
I got in because I did have adecent amount of traffic by that
point.
And then when I quit my job, Ihad some things change where I
had like a contract with FoodNetwork that was basically kind
of like a year long salary of meproviding certain deliverables
(22:05):
each month and it was not huge,but it was a nice chunk of
change that I was like this isgreat, stable income.
And pretty much right after Iquit my job, they got bought out
by Discovery and they canceledthat contract, which they're
totally allowed to do.
But I was like, wow, okay.
So I was like I need to reallyfocus on other things, which was
absolutely blessing in disguise.
(22:26):
I was stressed at the time, butit was blessing in disguise
because it made me absolutely,100% hunkered down on blogging
and all I did was listen toevery single podcast, every
single episode of the Mediavinepodcast, where they talk about
everything.
I got in the Facebook group.
I was reading everything that Icould and that's how I taught
(22:46):
myself.
They have so many greatresources out there and it's
free.
I think anyone can listen tothe podcast.
So that's what I did and itsucks that I made so many posts
before I learned what I wasdoing.
But I never looked back fromthat point and I only got better
at blogging.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
So yeah, we had to go .
That's our self.
Education is the best way weall have to get into personal
development one way or another.
So at least you found theresources that was needed, and
kudos for having a friend totell you hey, you can really be
doing this.
And so how do you manage now?
(23:25):
Because, also within this timeperiod, you're no longer a
girlfriend.
You became a wife and made yourown wedding cake.
Yep, tell us about the weddingcake.
What were the flavors?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
It was literally just all fun, fetty.
It was just for okay.
So I had made practice weddingcakes and I had made wedding
cakes earlier that year.
I had never done wedding cakesbefore before the year before.
So I made one of my bestfriends wedding cake and she had
four different flavors, whichwas great.
I loved that for her, but I waslike whoa, that is so much work
.
So for our wedding cake I waslike absolutely not, we will be
(23:59):
having one flavor.
So it was just fun, fetty,through the whole thing.
I made it a few days in advanceso I was able to like film the
whole thing and enjoy it.
And then we had all of ourfamily and friends coming in
from out of town, so I did thatand then I was able to like
enjoy our time.
Delivering.
It was like the most stressfulthing ever the morning of and
adding fresh flowers, but it'sokay, it was good.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I got it there.
Did you take the Uber?
Cause I've seen you deliversometimes I'm like it took an
Uber and then we basically wehad like a very low key wedding.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
We got married like in Central Park and then we
rented out the basement of oneof our favorite bars.
It's like a nice bar that haslike really fancy cocktails.
It's not like a smelly beer bar.
I had to walk.
It was like a big room but itwas downstairs.
I had to walk down these stairsoutside that somebody had
thrown an ice bucket down thenight before or the morning
before, as they were clear, Idon't know.
(24:50):
But I had walked on like icysteps with it and I was like I'm
gonna drop this, but I didn'tit was okay, but it was very.
once I got that, once I likedropped it off, I felt so much
better.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So oh my gosh, I don't.
Most of us already have a lotof pressures with just doing
wedding cakes in general, so Iguess, doing wedding cakes on
your own wedding day, but it waskind of nice though, cause,
like say, something goes wrong,no one's gonna get mad at you
for, like, messing up your ownwedding cake.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
It's way more pressure for other people, and I
kind of reminded myself of thatas I made it, so that helped.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
That's true.
You didn't have a bride's illof an answer to it, so yeah.
So now, how do you balanceblogging, being a wife and a pup
mom?
How do you balance all of that?
Speaker 2 (25:42):
I think I've always been like very work focused and
I'm lucky I had like a verysupportive husband.
There were lots of trials andtribulations.
When I first quit my job and Idid not have very good work-life
balance, I was like superstressed, I was learning a lot
and like I finally had time todo everything that I had never
had time to do.
So I felt like I wanted to justdo everything but like you
can't.
You can't just like work 24seven, especially in like a
(26:04):
creative field.
A lot of what I do is notnecessarily creative, like it's
back-end work or like strategicwork, but to actually bake and
decorate things, you do have tolike channel some creativity.
And so I kind of quicklylearned you cannot force
everything to happen all at once.
I've gotten so much better withwork-life balance over time, but
(26:26):
I also had no work-life balancebefore I quit.
So I think I felt like I had tokeep working that hard, even
though I had one job instead oftwo now.
But it was just like a bigadjustment and my business has
changed so much over the yearstoo, like I make more money now
than I did back then, which isamazing and wonderful, and I
just partnerships have evolved alot Like TikTok came along.
(26:47):
The whole landscape has changed.
In a way, like short form videois, I used to make a lot of
long form videos for YouTube.
I don't really do that anymorebecause it's just like the
amount of work to create thatand YouTube isn't my primary
platform.
It's not worth it to me.
So I just mostly do short formvideos now and that has helped
me get a lot more like balancein my life and it's worth
(27:09):
prioritizing because so manyplatforms are prioritizing
vertical videos.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
So that's all.
I love that.
So many people struggle withthat.
They're trying to do all thethings and now I meet so many
people who are trying to be, Iguess, content creators.
But you mentioned somethingreally important, which is
delegating, because we can't,you will burn out.
(27:34):
So I'm a big person intosystems.
Even I tell people who are new,who are just getting started,
I'm like, hey, even if you can'tafford to hire someone, there
has to be some system, somethinglike Instacart, where you can
get the groceries deliveredversus you being in the store
for an hour.
So do you have any particularsystems that you use, maybe like
(27:55):
a later scheduling or even mealprep or groceries?
Do you cook for anything thathelps you to save time as an
entrepreneur?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I order all of my groceries.
I think that is one of the bestthings ever.
Sometimes people live in areaswhere, like you can't do it, but
if you can't it is like you paya fee.
But to me, like the amount oftime to like go there and I
don't really fun facts about meI don't really drive a car I
love, I hate driving.
I didn't drive in New York, somoved here to Seattle and I live
(28:25):
in walking distance of a lot ofthings, but I don't want to
carry 25 pounds of flour,however many blocks, to my
apartment, which I did have todo in New York, which was really
hard because I did not dogrocery delivery there.
Anyways, so like yes, that Ibelieve being organized also
just like helps a tons.
Like I always have my days laidout in a nice flow in Google
(28:48):
Calendar.
I always am planning ahead.
I do use I use tailwind forPinterest scheduling and things
like that, and I have somecontractors that help me with
like my newsletter or help memake Pinterest pins and help me
proofread blog posts, because nomatter how many times I read
something over, if it's like along, especially cake recipes,
(29:09):
because there's like so manycomponents, it is inevitable
that I will like miss something.
So it's really nice to haveanother set of eyes on it, to
just sense, check and make sureeverything looks OK.
So I definitely believe in.
I tried delegating more thingslike video editing in the past,
but there are some things that Ireally do like doing.
I enjoy doing myself.
I don't like going back andforth and it was just like
(29:32):
faster and better for me to domyself.
So it is like a balance of whatyou can delegate and what you
can't, but the things I candelegate or just to make my life
easier.
Also, I don't cook at all.
I do not cook ever.
I like eat a lot of frozenmeals.
I eat like a lot of yogurt andcottage cheese and I eat out a
lot, but I do not cook ever.
I make myself like ramen, topramen, that's it.
(29:57):
It's like it's slightly fancierramen, but yeah, it's ramen and
.
I add like, I add like a sevenminute egg and I do stuff, but
it's not.
I don't like touching raw meat.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
Ok, hey that's you know what.
Right now it's summertime, so Ifeel you.
I've actually been having likeyogurt that I just throw some
chia seeds and walnut Someone,because I don't even know the
stove one.
So I feel you.
I feel you, who are some of thepeople along the way that have
inspired you?
Are there other bloggers?
(30:31):
Or maybe just teachers orspeakers?
Or where do you find motivationfrom?
Speaker 2 (30:37):
My biggest baking like idol, for lack of a better
way to put it is Sally ofSally's baking addiction.
Like she, her recipes were likethe first ones I ever tried,
first ones I ever read like herI have her cookbooks.
I always looked up to her.
I did not realize, like how,what her blog really meant at
the time when I startedfollowing her and seeing what
(30:59):
she was doing, but she's likehad a huge impact on me and,
other than that, a lot of it'sjust like my friends, I would
say, who are content creatorsand bakers who just love what
they're doing and make reallygood quality content.
I really enjoy like beinginspired by them and it's fun to
see other people who love whatthey do and who feel the same
(31:20):
way about it as you do.
So a lot of it is like my on aday to day basis, are like my
friends who I just admire theirwork.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
That's amazing, and that's what friends are for.
For anyone who's thinking oftaking this route that you've
done, maybe they're like youknow I no longer want to sell or
I just want to put my recipesout there and I just want to
share.
What are some of the beginningsteps or advice that she would
(31:48):
have for new content creatorswho want to do this?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
It's like such a different space nowadays than it
was when I first started, but II do think that I think one of
the things a lot of peoplestruggle with is finding
customers to start, because ifyou're making good cakes, once
you get a decent customer baseyou can really like keep going
for a long time, because a lotof times you get repeat
customers and people talkfriends of friends, people go to
(32:15):
parties that your cakes are at.
It grows pretty organically aslong as you can have that
initial group of small group ofcustomers.
But it is hard and, like Ithink that just almost every
small business owner now lamentsabout, is you basically have to
be a content creator to somedegree If you're going to have a
small business of any sort.
So I do think that sharing onsocial media helps a lot,
(32:39):
especially like tick-lock, whichis location-based not primarily
, but they're not solely but alot of times it feeds it to
people near you.
So if you're making a video andpeople are seeing it near you,
that can be a good way to findpeople.
But other than that, friends andfamily are usually a great
place to start with for yourfirst customers.
I don't know.
My other advice would just beto not be afraid to try new
(33:00):
things and just to dive right in, because there's no time for
hesitation.
You just gotta jump in.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
That's so true.
I love that advice that yougave.
And for all those or anyone whomay not be familiar with your
blog, where can we read moreabout you, see your recipes and
get into your world?
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Yes, so you can find me on just about every social
media platform and luckily I'vehad the same handle on everyone.
So I share a lot of my personaljourney and my story on my blog
, chelsweetscom, and then Ishare lots of fun cakes and
things on TikTok, Instagram,YouTube and Facebook.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
So Awesome, before I let you go, Chels, are you ready
for Lightning Round?
I am, I am All right.
What is your favorite color?
Purple and what is yourfavorite book, or?
Speaker 2 (33:58):
a book that you like.
My favorite book, my favoritebook, is part of a series.
It's like a fantasy series andit's called A Court of Thorns
and Roses.
That's the series.
And then my favorite book inthat series is the second one
and it's called A Court of Mistand Fury.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
A Court of Thorns, and is that like romance or is
that?
Speaker 2 (34:15):
It's like a fey fantasy of like magic and things
, but it's so good.
It's so good.
Just take my word for it.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
I don't know.
My favorite series is FiftyShades of Grey, so you would
probably like it.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
So there's not that much spice in the beginning, but
there's like spice later in theseries.
It's excellent, it's so wellwritten Okay, awesome.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
And what is your favorite kitchen utensil?
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Utencil, probably just a really good rubber
spatula the amount of thingsthat a good spatula can do.
You know, like you always haveyour favorite.
I have like 20 differentcolored spatulas, but I have one
that's my favorite and it isblack and it's just the best.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2 (34:58):
So it's not really like a crush, but Guy Fieri,
it's not like I like think he'sthe hottest man on earth, but I
just think he's like.
I know everyone always has thisreaction, but he was like so
nice and he's like you only everhear good things about him and
people that have worked with himand like I have been obsessed
with diners and drives, diners,dives and drive triple D.
(35:20):
I can't think of anything Sinceit came out like I've always
just like been a big fan of his,so I like Adam, the one who
does Adam's good too, Adam isgood.
I don't know.
I like Guy like 20 times betterthan Adam.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
But Adam is good too.
All right, and lastly, what isa dessert you cannot live
without?
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Macarons just like any flavored macaron.
I love them.
You can just like snack on them.
They're in the fridge.
They last for forever.
They're just great.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Well, from the bottom of my heart, you did throw me
off with the guy one, but youknow what he's.
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
I knew when you said that earlier, we were like with
the lightning round.
I was like you're not ready,you're not ready for this.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
I'm not ready.
I was looking for like a chinand Tatum, or like a John
Travolta, maybe even I don'tknow, but it's, we'll take it.
But from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for coming
on and for sharing your storywith us, as well as your blog.
I really do appreciate it and Iknow that everyone listening
has appreciated it as well.
(36:23):
And just lastly, before you go,what is just any general advice
that you would give to just abusiness owner, because you did
stay with knowing numbers,especially in our industry, how
so many people are either afraidto charge their worth, they
don't want to charge.
What advice would you give tosomeone who wants to jump, who
(36:46):
wants to do this full time, asfar as pricing and knowing your
numbers and just being anentrepreneur in general?
Speaker 2 (36:53):
It's like.
Number one like I said earlier,I'm obsessed with spreadsheets,
100%.
Some people really hate numbersand spreadsheets, though, and I
totally get that.
I think one of a reallyeye-opening thing to do even if
you don't do it for every cake,for your most popular recipes,
or even one recipe just to fullyprice it out from ingredients
to boxes, even technically,amortization of, like your
(37:13):
KitchenAid, whatever other bigequipment you have, and see how
much it costs.
And just make sure, number one,that you're at least charging
how much it truly costs you tomake, Because I think a lot of
times, people underestimate howexpensive things are and that
you also should be adding inlike extra because you're
spending hours making a cake,right.
So, number one, making sure thatyou're truly covering your
costs and accounting for yourown time.
(37:34):
And then, number two, if you'renot super into numbers, you
don't wanna do that, like mygeneral rule of thumb, because I
think almost every baker Ithink very rarely does a baker
charge more than they should.
So I think my main advice isalways charge more than you
think you should, and I, evenwith like partnerships and
things like that like sometimesI'm throwing spaghetti at the
(37:55):
wall and seeing what sticks andwhat rates people take.
But, like a lot of times,you'll be surprised if you
charge more.
People are generally absolutelyokay with it, so and if they're
not, they'll tell you.
You'll learn, you'll figure outwhere the right sweet spot is.
I'm not saying charge like anexorbitant, insane amount of
money, that's impractical.
But almost so many home bakersare charging a lot less than
(38:17):
they probably should.
So that would be my generalrule of thumb or like piece of
advice.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
I love that, and Chelsea also has a blog post
which actually goes over herthoughts on pricing, which is
pricing and percentage and stuff.
So we'll link that as well inthe show notes If anyone
listening will like to go readthat blog post, read any post on
her blog and support the blogas well.
Chelsea, thank you so much forcoming on the show.
It was an amazing pleasure andI really appreciate it having
(38:45):
you here today.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me, man.
This was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
How amazing was Chelsea?
You guys, the Chelsweets blogis really awesome and I love
just her fun and funky spiritwhenever she cuts on the camera
and shares content.
There are so many differentways for us to follow our
passion in this industry and I'mreally grateful that she came
(39:10):
on today and shared her storybecause hopefully it will
inspire someone else.
We don't always have to sellour bakes in order to be home
bakers.
You can still bake for businessin a different way, and Chelsea
really displayed that.
A few of the things she touchedon that I really hope you guys
(39:31):
did not miss over Number one dothe best you can with what you
have.
What I love was that she didn'tallow her cozy New York space
or anything to set her back.
Oftentimes I speak to you guysand you put such harsh lines
over yourself, like these bigglass ceilings that you're
(39:52):
trying to break through, and I'mlike yo just get started.
And so she shared how that shelearned along the way and that
is the best way to do it Do itafraid, do it not knowing, do it
scared, but just do it anyways,and learning as you go is one
of the key ways for you tofollow your passion and do that
(40:13):
if it's what you choose.
Another thing I love is thatshe mentioned when she baked
with her friend and when shespoke to Kate by Courtney.
It is so amazing, as women, forus to have other positive women
in our corners.
You know, chelsea wasrecommended by Mandy of Baking
with Blondie, whose book youguys should have already had.
(40:33):
And you see Baking with Blondie.
You see Chelsea, you see Kateby Courtney.
All of them do the same thing,but yet they're all okay,
they're all buddies.
So let's always remember thatit is community over competition
when it comes to anything.
You never know how you canbless another woman or another
(40:54):
man just by putting a positiveseed in their ear, because there
is more than enough room forall of us, and the sky is the
limit when you follow yourpassion, and Chelsea is a
perfect example of followingyour passion but also doing it
the right way.
She shared how she set thosebenchmarks.
You know, I know it's always adream I want to just quit my job
(41:16):
and bake, but in between that,like Chelsea mentioned, there is
a healthcare, there'sretirement, there's savings,
there's things like that thatyou want to keep in mind if you
are choosing to switch over.
So make the transition slowly,just pace yourself for when
you're ready to do it, put inthe work and continue to show up
(41:37):
and follow your passion so thatyou can fulfill the dream of
whatever it is that you want todo in your baking business.
Again, special thanks toChelsea so much for sharing her
story.
I know that it's really gonnabless somebody.
Thank you guys so much forlistening to this week's podcast
episode.
Take care and bye for now.
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