August 16, 2023 • 38 mins
Today's guest went from bringing in the bad guys to bringing in the sales. Ashley is the owner of Ashley's Sweets And Treats in Canada. Today she shares how she left her career and started from ground zero with just YouTube tutorials and a strong will to learn. From her first cake for her son's birthday to clients asking for more, Ashley's tale is one of determination and pure love for the craft.
During today's podcast we take a closer look at Ashley's life as a home entrepreneur, revealing how her love for baking blossomed into a thriving business. Hear about her grass roots methods of fostering community and product innovation that propelled her brand to heights she never imagined.
In this episode we will cover:
- How she used her maternity leave to kick start her business
- How she used her current home to her benefit to build her foundation
- Which services are helping her bring in more income for her home bakery
- How she used her local community to grow her brand
- Tips for other women business owners to increase their pricing and so much more
Ashley's business journey is a testament to what is achievable with passion and perseverance. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking for a dose of entrepreneurial inspiration, whether your passion lies in baking or beyond.
Resources mentioned
5 AM Club https://amzn.to/3E0bGfE
The Sporty One https://amzn.to/3YSQZvX
The Entrepreneur Community https://www.bakingforbusiness.com/enroll
Loved Ashley's story? Follow her business here https://www.instagram.com/ashleyssweetsbinbrook/
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 a bottle of DeCerono and
one Bundt Cake man.
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):
So if you have ever thoughtabout leaving your career, you
are not alone.
In fact, a lot of people that wehave on the Baking for Business
podcast have decided to have acareer change, and today's guest
is no different.
Only thing was she was actuallya police officer how cool is
(01:08):
that?
For over 12 years, but now sheis a full-time baker.
So what encouraged her to takethe jump?
What did that even look like,and how does she even start this
journey to begin with.
Well, today we're talking liveto one of my students who is
very much a sweetheart and areally, really awesome beam of
light and support within ourcommunity.
(01:29):
Ashley lives in Ontario, canada, so she's just across the river
, the other way, and we're soexcited to have her here today.
Ashley, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Thank you so much.
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Oh, I'm happy to have you darling, and so just to
kind of kick off your journey.
So how did you get started withbaking first?
How did you get into that?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Well, here in Ontario we're really lucky that we have
paid maternity leave when wehave babies.
So I was actually on.
I had an 18 month maternityleave with my daughter, which is
a nice long time.
You don't get paid very well.
So I wanted to have a nice cake, though, for my son for his
birthday and I just thoughtmaybe I can watch a couple of
(02:17):
YouTube videos and figuresomething out.
And one night, while I was upnursing my daughter, I just
watched the first video and Inever stopped from there.
I don't know what it was, Ijust fell in love.
I watched a whole bunch ofdifferent channels on YouTube
and took different pieces fromeach one, and I went on Amazon
(02:39):
and ordered my first cakedecorating kit.
I spent $80.
I was like, how am I spending$80 on a cake decorating kit?
And then I just startedpracticing and I think about a
week or a week and a half laterI made my first cake a two tier
cake with my first cake a littlebit crazy and I just it just
went from there.
It was all to make my son'sbirthday cake.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So a determined mom, determination always wins.
Does anyone in your family bakeor did?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
you just Nobody does anything like this.
You know my mom will bakecookies and pies and stuff.
My grandma was a good baker.
But you know, prior to this,like I decorated cupcakes with
the back of a spoon, I had zeroexperience.
I didn't grow up baking withanybody.
It just somehow, it was justinnately inside of me, I guess,
(03:31):
waiting to come out.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Absolutely.
And so what made you decidecareer?
Wise, because for over a decadeyou were a police officer.
So how?
How did you get started withthat particular profession?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
On a whim and I we should tell people not to become
police officers on a whim.
I graduated university in 2008,which was when the economy
wasn't really doing so well.
Right, everything was kind ofbad at that time.
I always wanted to be a teacher, but there were going to be no
job prospects for years andyears and years.
So I I didn't apply to go toteachers college and at the time
(04:09):
somebody had suggested to me,like why don't you try policing?
Because there's all thesedifferent things you could do
within policing.
And I thought, sure, why not?
So, based on that, I applied tobe a police officer and I got
hired pretty quickly and, whenyou know, I was a patrol officer
for five years.
I worked undercover in a plainclothes unit.
I had my son when I went backfrom that, I was a detective in
(04:32):
the sexual assault unit, andthen I went off with my daughter
and I never went back after Ihad my daughter.
What made me want to leave wasmy kids.
I didn't want to put my life atrisk anymore, knowing that I
had these, you know, two perfectbabies at home that I just
wanted to be able to come hometo every day or not have to
leave.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
It's crazy how life changed.
You shared, you finishedcollege and then you got into it
, but then, all of a sudden, thebabies came and the total
perspective and I hear that froma lot of moms you see things
differently.
Light bulbs go off, and so yourbabies were blessed because
their first cake was made bymama.
So, what videos in particular?
(05:14):
What was your style when youfirst started baking?
Did you know?
For sure, because you do thethings you do, you do them
pretty amazing.
You love chocolate, you lovecakes and your work is very neat
and beautiful.
So, when you first got started,what were your thoughts then?
Did you have a particular stylewhere you're like I'm going to
go for this, or how did youdecide what each was?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Well, the very first cake that I did, like I said,
was two tier.
The bottom tier was covered infondant and the top tier was
buttercream.
And right away I was like Ihate working with fondant.
I don't know how people covertheir cakes.
I've tried the paneling method,everything.
It's just not my thing.
So right from the start,buttercream cakes have been my
thing.
It's just what I prefer to workwith.
I love a smooth buttercreamcake.
(05:59):
There's just something sotherapeutic, I think, about
smoothing buttercream on a cakeand when you get it that nice
texture and you can stand backand it's just so nice.
But it's just like I don'treally know that there's
anything particular about itother than as little fondant
work as possible and buttercream.
(06:19):
That's just what I love to workwith.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Sounds delicious, and so for we have a huge listening
over in Canada.
Well, we have a lot of peoplethat listen all over, which I'm
totally grateful for, but forthose who are in Canada, tell us
what's the actual name of yourbusiness and what are some of
the other options that you haveto offer as well.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
So my business is Ashley sweets and treats and I
offer buttercream cakes.
Some of my more popular itemsare my scones.
I love a good scone.
I don't like a dry scone.
It took me a while to bake itand get it just right.
I make cheesecake waffle cones.
Those are super, super popular.
(07:03):
Those were one of the firstthings I started to do.
Macarons I can't keep macaronsin my kitchen.
When I bake them and post them,they're always gone.
And then, yeah, lots ofchocolate dip treats.
I sell things in two differentstores so I sell like chocolate
dip pretzels, sour keys,chocolate covered Oreos,
chocolate dip pretzels and Imake the breakable items.
(07:26):
So the small, small and big,whether they're individual size
or full cakes that are thechocolate shells filled with
candy that you smash open.
So great for, like my, my sondoesn't actually really like
cake and my husband is allergicto eggs so he doesn't eat cake.
But they both love candy andchocolate.
So I started making them as anoption for my husband and my son
(07:48):
.
And they're also great becausethey're gluten free.
Right, it's candy and chocolateand it just gives that other
option for people.
And you know it's fun becausewhen my son gets invited to a
birthday party.
That's what I bring as the giftis I make them their own
individual breakable cake and itgoes over so well and it's just
.
It's a unique thing and thekids love it.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Definitely For those who are listening.
So you call them breakablecakes.
I know over here in the US somepeople call them breakable
hearts or, but mainly the, the,the chocolate, like the
individual chocolate shakes thatpeople get to break.
So how did you build yourbusiness?
You said you got started whileyou are maternity leave.
(08:29):
But what activities was it foryou?
Was a social media just gettingout into the community, because
so many people struggle withjust building their business and
getting it to grow so that theycan actually have that
clientele.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So what I did was I, because I was just learning.
It was just on my own personalFacebook page at first, as I
would make a cake or I'd beworking on something and I would
just post and say this is whatI'm doing.
And there were lots of peopleinterested and this was February
2020, so just pre pandemic.
And then I decided to create aFacebook group because I was
like I'm not going to flood mypersonal Facebook with just me
(09:03):
decorating cakes out of time.
I said, if you want to see whatI'm doing, come over here.
And that's when I created myname, which wasn't a business at
that time, it was just the nameof my group, and people in the
group slowly just startedshowing interest.
And what I did in the beginningis I would just make a cake I
wanted to make and I wouldauction it off and, you know,
sell it for $20, $30, whateverit was.
(09:25):
It didn't matter to me, and Iwas ecstatic that I was like, oh
my gosh, I just sold a cakethat I made for $30, like I was
so excited at that point.
And then after that, aftercakes, I did cakesicles, and
when I made cakesicles they blewup.
So again, this was.
I want to say this was rightaround when the pandemic hit
(09:47):
that I made cakesicles for thefirst time and the very first
night I made them.
I made about a dozen and Idrove around to people I know in
town and I dropped them ontheir porch and I left everybody
one or two or three and I justsaid, hey, this is on your porch
I believe it had startedbecause I think everybody was in
at that point and I said I justleft you a little something on
your porch and people wereecstatic over that and I must
(10:10):
have taken orders for three or400 cakes was probably over the
next few weeks, becauseeverybody just loved the idea.
The people were doing paradebirthday parties I'm not sure if
that was a thing around therelike where everybody would drive
their cars by, so they werehanding out cakesicles right,
because you couldn't cut cakeand serve it, and so really,
like, the cakes were great, butcakesicles are what?
(10:31):
Like boomed my business and itwas just like again watching a
video and I was like, oh, I feellike I could make those, you
know, and I tried them out andmy thing has always been when
I've introduced something new tomy menu, I give it away for
free to people in the community.
So now that my group is alittle bit bigger, I haven't
(10:52):
made introduced something new tomy menu for a long time because
I have a lot of things on there.
But if I do, say a new macaronflavor or a new hot chocolate
bomb flavor, I'll say like hey,you know, I've got this new
flavor, would love to get yourfeedback, and people always want
to try free stuff.
So people love, they will comeand get it and everybody always
gives me really good feedback,you know, and they're honest to
(11:14):
they would say like oh, I thinkit needs a little more of this,
or or I think it's perfect, orwhatever.
So I've done that.
The cheesecake, waffle cones,the macarons, like every single
thing I've ever introduced, I'vedone that and I think that that
has been a big part of what'shelped my business to grow to,
because it it got word outwithin the community and it was
my community that's built thisbusiness like.
(11:35):
I never intended for this to bea business.
It was my community coming inand then saying, like you know,
we love what you're doing andcan you do more of that?
And when the pandemic hit,nobody wanted to go to the
stores anymore.
So people just started beinglike, hey, can you do this, can
you do that?
And it blew my mind.
I couldn't even believe it.
I was like I've been doing thisfor a month and a half.
What do you mean?
You want me to take your kidsbirthday cake?
(11:57):
But it was just the communitysupport and you know me giving
back to the community.
Every time I added something tomy menu, we say like here, come
and take this.
I want you to try it.
If it's not good, I'm not goingto put it on the menu.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
You tell me power to the people.
I love that so many people areafraid.
Number one, they're actuallyafraid to get genuine feedback.
And number two, I hear Bakersay all the time well, I don't
want to make a cake just forcontent, or well, what do I do
when I don't have orders and Itell people, well, give, like,
why aren't you giving?
(12:30):
But they can't see the endpicture in their mind.
They're always assuming well,if I'm giving, I'm trying to
make money.
And I'm always telling peopleyou can make money by giving, by
just investing money.
And so I love the fact that youhave that mindset.
When did you decide okay, I'mgonna go all in, like, I'm gonna
make this into a business, I'mgonna follow suit.
(12:54):
What did that decision looklike?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, so here in Ontario we have different rules,
so you guys have a lot ofcottage laws.
In the States we have somethingthat's kind of come in like
that since then.
But when I first started thatwasn't a thing.
So to do it legally you had tohave a full second kitchen.
When you know, it wasn't abusiness in the beginning for me
(13:20):
.
So I started with all my thingsin a little Tupperware container
and then quickly, you know,there wasn't enough room in that
Tupperware container and justin front of me I have what is
now my children's toy room,which was a scrapbooking room
that I took over and became mybake room.
So we put cabinets in there anda fridge and it had everything
other than a stove.
And then I quickly outgrew thatspace and it was, believe it or
(13:43):
not, 11 months after I firststarted that I said I think we
need to put a second kitchen in.
I just put a lot of faith in mycommunity and in myself and I
just thought I know what I cando with this.
This is my basement that I'msitting in now and it was fully
finished at the time when weused to have our office was over
there in a small bathroom and Isaid to my husband I need to
(14:07):
take that space over and I needto put a kitchen in.
And he's always been incrediblysupportive of me and we did
that.
We tore those out, we built awall.
We have a full second kitchenover there.
Now it's got, you know, doubleoven, multiple mixers, big sinks
, everything, and it finished inMarch of 2021.
(14:27):
So when the kitchen opened, itwas 13 months since I watched my
first YouTube video and it's,you know, inspected by our local
public health and licensedthrough my city and I at that
point I was like I'm gonna seenow what I can do over the next
few months, because my maternityleave was to be ending in, I
(14:47):
think, june of that year and Iwas like what can I do over the
next few months so that I'mgoing to be able to leave
policing?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
That's amazing because I'm a firm believer on
building on your own land.
I think too often in Americathat's what people don't do.
They don't really use thecottage law to the max and I'm
like take over a room, changeout a room Like it's your land.
It's always so much moreaffordable than just going to a
storefront or leasing astorefront, and so was a
(15:20):
storefront ever an option foryou?
How do you feel?
I know you shared with mebefore, but you've impressed
report the price of a storefront, so I would love for you to
share that when you outweigh thepros and the cons.
I know you're happy with yourkitchen now, but was the
storefront ever a choice for you?
Speaker 2 (15:38):
So I had obviously contemplated that.
I didn't know whether I wasdreaming too big at that point
or not.
But yeah, in my small town totry and lease a storefront space
, you're looking at about $6,000a month and that's just your
rent, right, like that doesn'tcover anything else.
So we'd be in the $10,000 amonth range minimum, I would
(16:02):
think, just to have the doorsopening every single day, and to
me that was especially with thepandemic kind of just being
behind us or we were kind of inthe middle of it.
I guess still at that point itwas just not something I was
willing to take on.
Plus, running a storefrontyou're out of your house every
day at 3.34 am to get in thereto bake your cupcakes fresh for
(16:24):
your display cases right, it's alot of time away and in 2021,
my kids would have been four andone and a half at that point
when we did this kitchen.
And this just allows me to usethe space that we already have
with the bills that we alreadypay, right, oh, adding a little
bit onto those bills everysingle month not $10,000, but to
(16:46):
be present for my kids too, soI can get up and bake super
early in the morning if I needto, then I can stop and take my
son to school, right, or stopand take my daughter to daycare
or go on a school trip Like itjust allows for so much
flexibility in my life that astorefront would have never done
that.
So for me I don't see astorefront ever happening.
(17:07):
Maybe in the distant future ifprices ever came down and my
kids were older, but certainlynot anytime soon, because my
kids are young still, like nowthey're.
Oh gosh, how old are they?
Six and three and a half.
My daughter starts school nextmonth and I wanna be here for
their trips and to take them toand from school every day.
(17:27):
That's why I left policing andwhy I'm doing what I'm doing, so
I can be present for them.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I hear that from so many moms.
To be present is just like agift that is so priceless, and
so you're in the home with themwhile you're doing your thing
and still providing for them atthe same time.
So I know that definitely hasto be an amazing feeling.
At what point in time did youcome across baking for business?
(17:53):
Because you're actually amember of our entrepreneurial
community and you do well.
You're always diving in, you'realways doing great things.
So a lot of people listen tothe podcast and I know you told
me you said I've never missed anepisode.
What point made you invest?
Like why not just YouTube howto be better at business or
(18:17):
watch business videos?
Like what made you decide Ithink I'm gonna invest in this?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I had done that for a long time and my first
introduction to you was thefirst bake fest and I had
watched your class there.
And then I started followingyou on Instagram and it was on
Instagram that I then sawteaching your passion, cause I
still wasn't a member ofentrepreneur community at this
point.
I took teaching your passionand I just I loved your teaching
(18:47):
style, the openness.
This is who I am.
Take it or leave it, becausethat's how I run my business.
I don't put on a front when I'mon social media.
I don't pretend that I'm aperfect mom or a perfect baker.
My house is perfectly clean allthe time.
It's just.
This is who I am.
And then it was after teachingyour passion that I joined
entrepreneur community and Iloved that.
(19:12):
And your podcast started justover a year ago I wanna say 15,
16 months ago maybe and Iremember the very first episode
listening to your podcast.
They said I'm gonna be on thatpodcast one day.
And I listen every single week,pretty much the day of release
or the next day.
I learned so much from it everyweek.
But every single week when Ilisten to the podcast, I say I'm
(19:32):
gonna be on that podcast oneday and then, when you asked me
to be on the podcast, I said, ohmy gosh, I manifested this
because I said it every singleweek when I listened to the
podcast.
So I you don't know howthrilled I was when you asked me
, because every week that wouldgo through my mind as I listened
to it and I just I love being apart of the entrepreneur
(19:52):
community.
Everybody in there is so helpful.
The classes have been amazing.
I just finished more dough aswell and I feel like all those
things are implementing so manychanges that, yeah, you can find
some of this stuff on YouTube,but nobody really deep dives
into it.
Right?
You need somebody who's reallygonna deep dive into it, and you
can watch a thousand videos tomaybe capture all the little
(20:13):
points.
Or you can take one class andget it all in one class, and for
me, you know, it's about makingthe best use of my time.
So you know now, like my kidsare busy, my business is busy,
so I would rather put in themoney, invest in myself, invest
in my business, get thatinformation as succinctly as
possible and then be able toinstantly put that into my
(20:35):
business instead of trying tofind it from all these different
little sources, maybe hopefullyright on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Definitely, and you do so great with the resources.
In fact, one of the things I'mreally big on is people
diversifying their income, andso I know inside of the
entrepreneur community.
I shared a class on classes, onteaching local classes in your
community, and you have reallybeen killing it with classes in
(21:04):
Ontario.
So tell us how did the classthing come about and how are you
enjoying that, because so manyother bakers would be like I'm
scared, I'm afraid you know totalk in front of people, or so
how have the classes beenbeneficial to your business?
Speaker 2 (21:22):
So I think that they go back to me having wanted to
be a teacher all those years agoand I've just kind of come full
circle to now teaching insomething I used to know nothing
about, and it's just like Ithink it's such a fun, different
activity for people to do right, like there's nobody offering,
like the you know Michael's 25minutes away from me used to
offer cake decorating classes.
(21:43):
They don't, there's nobodyaround that I know that offers
classes and I just thought, well, I taught myself like I'm
pretty confident in my ability,I'm confident in my abilities, I
think I can teach other peopleright.
So I kind of practiced like inmy head and in my kitchen one
day and this is how I think Iwould do a class, and I took
your course and that was hugefor helping me.
(22:03):
And just you know, I've done.
I've done a handful of cakeclasses, cupcake classes,
cupcake decorating, birthdayparties.
I've got a whole bunch lined upnow for the fall as well, for
both of those, and it's just adifferent afternoon out of the
afternoon people to sit thereand watch the fact that I taught
(22:23):
myself this and now I'mteaching other people and to
watch them at the end of theclass.
When they step back and they'relike, oh my gosh, I made this,
like it's just so fulfilling toget to be a part of that
experience with people and theyare nervous in the class,
they're not judging you standingin front of them, teaching them
, because you're the expert tothem.
(22:44):
So even if you don't feel likeyou're an expert, to the people
taking your class you are theexpert.
So they're not sitting therethinking like, oh my gosh, she
doesn't know what she's talkingabout.
They're like how did she justsmooth that cake in three
minutes and I can't smooth minein 30 minutes, right?
So you know, nobody is lookingdown on you teaching a class.
(23:04):
I think that you won't knowuntil you give it a chance and
as long as you're prepared andyou have your tools and you go
over it ahead of time, you know,okay, I'm gonna start by doing
this and after we talk aboutbuttercream, we're gonna talk
about this and just know howyour class is gonna go.
Don't do it on a whim, right,plan it out.
People really, really love it.
(23:25):
They're always looking forsomething different to do
activity-wise, and then you getto eat the cake or cupcakes
afterwards.
So who doesn't love that?
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Absolutely Looking back over, since you built your
business and it's growing sofast and you're doing so many
wonderful things, what so farhas been your biggest
accomplishment?
I know from our group I knowyou've had a one K day, which is
awesome, and I know you alsotaught a huge class where, like
(23:54):
you, took over a schoolauditorium, which was like
amazing.
But what has been one of yourbiggest accomplishments, or was
that one of them that I shared?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
So the cupcake glass at my son's school.
I did that, and this is anotherthing is I did that as a
fundraiser for my son's school,so I took a portion of every
ticket and donated it back tothe school to go to their food,
their nutrition program, whichis another amazing thing to be
able to do, and I plan to dothat, hopefully, two times
during the school year next year.
So there was 44 people, I think, registered in that class,
(24:29):
which was incredible.
I've won a couple local awardsin our newspapers.
The coolest thing to me is I'vedone a couple of styled shoots
and the photographers areamazing and those pictures have
been published in onlinemagazines and that's just been
really incredible.
But maybe the most amazingthing that I like about it and
it's not even necessarily justmy little business is we don't
(24:52):
have a ton of markets in ourtown and I decided, well, that I
started doing popups in mydriveway.
I was like, well, I'm justgonna do a popup in my driveway
and I started inviting otherlocal businesses.
I was like, hey, I'm gonna beout here selling my baked goods
in my driveway.
Do you just want to come withme?
I didn't charge anybodyanything, right?
So once we got to about fourbusinesses in the driveway,
(25:12):
though there wasn't enough space.
So I ended up a local balloonstore and I started talking and
she was like you know, would youdo it here?
She's got a really niceproperty up front.
And I said yeah.
So now I organize this markettwice a year.
We do it at night.
There's no night markets aroundhere, so we call it the spring
night market or the fall nightmarket, and you know it's me
(25:34):
supporting other localbusinesses.
I still don't charge anybodyfor it.
We have about 12 or so 14businesses that can fit now on
this front property.
That we're all a part of it.
And the most amazing thing isthat I have a lineup at my table
every single time before themarket even starts.
And to me, when I just look outand I see all of these other
(25:55):
businesses and I think thisstarted as just me in my
driveway trying to, you know,put a couple of things out there
, and then it grew to have allof these businesses together, to
see all the support that we allhave for one another and then
to have a lineup of you know,the very first one we did.
(26:15):
It was probably minus 30degrees Celsius.
Here it was in the winter, thefirst one we did and I had a
lineup of about 45 people at mytable and there were people that
waited in that line for 30, 40minutes, a certain series
talking to me for 30, 40 minutesbefore getting to the table, in
that cold, and I was just likewow, like I can't believe that
people are here waiting for methis long in this cold weather,
(26:39):
and just I just love the wholeevent though.
Everything about it I love.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
I would have cried, probably.
It reminds me of a parable,though.
There's a scripture in theBible that says I will make you
the head and not the tail,meaning that I'll put you on top
and not below.
And one of the things I'mgetting from you, because I know
too often bakers will say well,the market is booked in my
community, so I can't do amarket.
(27:05):
Or well, we don't have anythinglike that.
And I always tell people that,as a business owner, you provide
value when you give people whatthe market doesn't have, and so
, rather than using those as anexcuse to start and to create
your own like listen to what yousaid 14 business owners
(27:26):
participate.
That's 14 businesses thatyou've given light to, that
you've given brand awareness toso many bakers always wanna bake
and they say, well, I wannamake money, but you're making
more than money, ashley.
You're making a difference, andnot just your kids' lives, but
in other people's lives, and soI just think that is so amazing.
So, to anyone who is on theirjob or who's thinking about
(27:50):
doing this full time, whatadvice would you have to anyone
else who's thinking about acareer change?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
So I think that obviously you gotta know your
numbers, and this is the bigthing too, right Is?
I think the biggest thing inthe baking world and it might be
, in my opinion, because it'spredominantly a female based
profession is people don'tcharge enough for their items.
So from the very get go, youhave to know what are your costs
(28:19):
, what are you going to payyourself, and is it a viable
option for you?
Because if you're not payingyourself, then it's just an
expensive hobby.
So you have to make sure thatyou have those numbers set from
the start, and it's what would Ineed, right, to be able to make
in my business so that I canleave my job.
There are some people who wantto completely replace their
(28:39):
income.
There's people who want todouble their income before they
leave.
I think that a couple of weeksago on the podcast, I think she
wanted to double her incomeright Before she left.
I want to say that that was thething, but not everybody needs
to do that, right.
So you have to know what yournumbers are, what can let you
leave your job and then figureout okay, how do I get there?
Right, you always talk abouthow many cupcakes you have to
(29:02):
sell in a day to make so muchmoney in a day, to be able to
make $100,000 in a year.
So figure out what that meansfor you, right?
What are your bills, what's yourmortgage, All these different
costs that you have?
How many orders do you need tohave?
And then work backwards fromthere?
And maybe you're building it upover a period of time.
And it doesn't have to be allor nothing, it doesn't have to
be well, I either do thebusiness or I do my job.
(29:25):
Start slow, right, Manage whatyou can manage and then, when it
starts to get to the pointwhere you're like I think I can
do this, that's when you kind ofhave to make that decision
right.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Absolutely, and I'm sure you're not doing cakes
anymore for $20 or $30.
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
And I think back on doing a $30 cake.
I'm just like I loved it at thetime.
But especially not withinflation.
There's no way.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
For those who are afraid to charge their worth as
moms, as women, because we havea lot of moms who started out
just like you wanted to do fortheir kids.
What advice will you tell tothat person who needs to raise
their prices?
Speaker 2 (30:04):
So the advice and I think I said it to somebody,
maybe an entrepreneur communitythe other day is if it was your
friend that you were givingadvice to, what advice would you
give them?
So would you tell them hey,it's okay that you're only going
to pay yourself $5 for that,you'll figure out another way to
pay your gas bill?
Or would you say no, girl, likeyou need to be charging
yourself, charging at leastminimum wage to be able to pay
(30:27):
yourself, you know, a reasonableamount of money.
So we often want to devaluewhat our work is and I again, I
think that that is predominantlya female thing and it's just
whatever.
I think the easiest place tostart is whatever your local
minimum wages, you should never,ever, ever pay yourself less
(30:48):
than that.
So here, our local minimum wageis $15 an hour.
I would never fathom payingmyself less than $15 an hour.
If you're going to do that, youmight as well just go and, you
know, continue working a jobuntil you can get that.
But I think the biggest thingis and the biggest thing for me
is personal growth.
Read books, listen to podcasts,watch YouTube videos.
(31:11):
You have to build up thatconfidence in yourself.
In the beginning I was scared Iwould send somebody a number
and be like, oh, this cake'sgoing to be $60.
And I was like, oh, they'regoing to say no, right, and
nobody ever said no.
And now I'm like, oh, that wasreally cheap.
Of course they didn't say no,but you have to.
If you're not growingpersonally, you can't grow your
business.
(31:31):
So like I read books nonstop, Ilisten to podcasts like crazy,
like you have to be buildingyourself, your knowledge, your
confidence all the time and thenyou won't have those issues.
I don't ever question nowsending prices to people Did I
in the beginning, all the time.
But you get that confidence asyou go and as you grow and I
(31:52):
just think that putting the workin personal growth is a huge
part of being able to grow yourbusiness.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
I love watching you grow over this past year, so,
and I think those are wonderfulwords of advice.
So, speaking of growth, whatare your plans for the future?
What do you have coming up inthe fall?
Because I believe you'reworking on classes not just for
your community, but other peopleas well, right?
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Yeah, so I have filmed the class for breakable
cakes and it is going to getedited in September and
hopefully be launched in Octoberand that is for other bakers.
I really liked doing the classand it's just obviously, you
know, the time of making thathappen.
And then in the fall is, yeah,all my classes are going to come
(32:42):
back, starting in October cakeclasses, cupcake classes.
I look forward to doing that.
We have our fall night marketat the end of September.
So fall is where everythingreally really gets busy, right
October and then it doesn'treally stop until Easter.
So there's a lot going on.
Christmas is always crazy, soI'm trying to make the best use
(33:02):
of the you know, the next monthor so to get all of my fall menu
set right, because I put outset menus for Halloween,
thanksgiving, christmas and, youknow, try to get ahead of the
game as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Investing in personal growth, staying ahead of the
game.
You've dropped and shared somany nuggets, and your story is
just so beautiful, so thank youso much, really, for just coming
on the podcast and sharing allof that.
Before I let you go, though,are you ready for lightning?
Speaker 2 (33:29):
round.
Well, I am ready.
I've been going over this in myhead.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Well, I'm sure you know all the questions, but
we'll start off with what isyour favorite color it's purple,
purple and what is yourfavorite kitchen utensil?
Speaker 2 (33:46):
It's got to be my stand mixer.
Saves so much time, awesomesauce.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
What is a book that you would recommend?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Business book or like personal growth wise.
I just finished the 5am at 5amclub by Robin Sharma and I loved
it.
Personally, I also justfinished the autobiography of
Melanie see, who was sportyspice, and it was sad and
amazing at the same time.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Cool two books, so I definitely list those below in
the show notes.
And lastly, what is a dessertyou can't live without?
Speaker 2 (34:21):
I would have to say a good macaron.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
That sounds delicious , and, oops, I missed one.
Who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2 (34:29):
That would be Idris Elba.
Oh girl, okay, just finishedhis new show.
It's so good.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Oh, I wasn't expecting that.
Do you watch Luther?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
I have not watched Luther.
His new show was called hijack.
It was very good.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Okay, cool, all right , well, we'll definitely check
it out.
Well, ashley, thank you so muchfor coming on the podcast and
hanging out with me.
I love hearing your story and Ireally appreciate you being
here.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Thank you so, so much for having me.
It's really been such apleasure.
I'm so honored to be asked todo this.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
You guys.
I truly hope that you enjoyhearing Ashley's story.
You know, sharing successstories on this podcast is
really something I am trulypassionate about because I
believe as bakers but shout outto all the ladies, especially as
women we learn so much fromothers.
And just a couple takeawaysthat I want you guys to get from
(35:28):
this episode, if nothing else,especially for people when they
plan on doing this full time.
As someone who has done thisfull time for over seven years,
I cannot stress to you theimportance of diversifying your
income.
If you've been around wheneverI host the Mordeaux class,
(35:51):
whether you have taken the classor not doesn't matter.
That is just one thing I am bigon and so one of the things I
love.
When Ashley joined our community, not only how supportive and
awesome she was and shout out toeveryone in the entrepreneurial
community, we're always sograteful to have her but she
does so well with the classes,and so not only is she baking,
(36:14):
is she feeding her community,just teaching.
And, like she stated, you'rethe expert.
No matter how advanced, howlittle or how much you think you
know, or that you don't know,you can teach your community
something.
You can always find another wayto share your gifts and your
(36:34):
talents with those who are inyour neighborhood, with those
who are near you and with thosewho can benefit from it, and so
that's one of the things I loveabout hearing Ashley's a story.
As she explained it is thatshe's doing the classes, she's
doing the baked goods, she'scompletely transformed her home
(36:57):
so that she can have a fullyoperating kitchen and she's
really making use of all thethings that she can as a
home-based business owner, whichI think is something that we
should all strive to do as well.
I hope hearing today's storyinspires you.
Thank you guys so much forlistening, and do me a favor.
If you are not following me onInstagram, like, what are you
(37:19):
waiting for?
That's where I share all thetips, all the goodies, and I
love more than anything, though,hearing from you guys.
I love when you screenshot me,I love when you write me.
I answer every single personback, person by person, and so
if you have any questions abouttoday's episode or anything I
can help you with, please neverhesitate to reach out and ask.
(37:39):
You can always tag me at Bakingfor Business.
Take a screenshot of thisepisode while you are listening.
I love it when you guys tag meand I will have all of the
details mentioned in today'spodcast episode below as well.
Special thanks to Ashley forcoming on.
Shout out to everyone out therein Canada and all over the
(38:00):
world, all over the globe,especially the US, wherever you
guys are listening from.
I appreciate you all.
I truly hope that this episodeinspired you.
Thanks so much for listening.
Take care and bye for now.
Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg.
I started my baking businesswith a bottle of DeCerono and
one Bundt Cake man.
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):
So if you have ever thoughtabout leaving your career, you
are not alone.
In fact, a lot of people that wehave on the Baking for Business
podcast have decided to have acareer change, and today's guest
is no different.
Only thing was she was actuallya police officer how cool is
(01:08):
that?
For over 12 years, but now sheis a full-time baker.
So what encouraged her to takethe jump?
What did that even look like,and how does she even start this
journey to begin with.
Well, today we're talking liveto one of my students who is
very much a sweetheart and areally, really awesome beam of
light and support within ourcommunity.
(01:29):
Ashley lives in Ontario, canada, so she's just across the river
, the other way, and we're soexcited to have her here today.
Ashley, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Thank you so much.
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Oh, I'm happy to have you darling, and so just to
kind of kick off your journey.
So how did you get started withbaking first?
How did you get into that?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Well, here in Ontario we're really lucky that we have
paid maternity leave when wehave babies.
So I was actually on.
I had an 18 month maternityleave with my daughter, which is
a nice long time.
You don't get paid very well.
So I wanted to have a nice cake, though, for my son for his
birthday and I just thoughtmaybe I can watch a couple of
(02:17):
YouTube videos and figuresomething out.
And one night, while I was upnursing my daughter, I just
watched the first video and Inever stopped from there.
I don't know what it was, Ijust fell in love.
I watched a whole bunch ofdifferent channels on YouTube
and took different pieces fromeach one, and I went on Amazon
(02:39):
and ordered my first cakedecorating kit.
I spent $80.
I was like, how am I spending$80 on a cake decorating kit?
And then I just startedpracticing and I think about a
week or a week and a half laterI made my first cake a two tier
cake with my first cake a littlebit crazy and I just it just
went from there.
It was all to make my son'sbirthday cake.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So a determined mom, determination always wins.
Does anyone in your family bakeor did?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
you just Nobody does anything like this.
You know my mom will bakecookies and pies and stuff.
My grandma was a good baker.
But you know, prior to this,like I decorated cupcakes with
the back of a spoon, I had zeroexperience.
I didn't grow up baking withanybody.
It just somehow, it was justinnately inside of me, I guess,
(03:31):
waiting to come out.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Absolutely.
And so what made you decidecareer?
Wise, because for over a decadeyou were a police officer.
So how?
How did you get started withthat particular profession?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
On a whim and I we should tell people not to become
police officers on a whim.
I graduated university in 2008,which was when the economy
wasn't really doing so well.
Right, everything was kind ofbad at that time.
I always wanted to be a teacher, but there were going to be no
job prospects for years andyears and years.
So I I didn't apply to go toteachers college and at the time
(04:09):
somebody had suggested to me,like why don't you try policing?
Because there's all thesedifferent things you could do
within policing.
And I thought, sure, why not?
So, based on that, I applied tobe a police officer and I got
hired pretty quickly and, whenyou know, I was a patrol officer
for five years.
I worked undercover in a plainclothes unit.
I had my son when I went backfrom that, I was a detective in
(04:32):
the sexual assault unit, andthen I went off with my daughter
and I never went back after Ihad my daughter.
What made me want to leave wasmy kids.
I didn't want to put my life atrisk anymore, knowing that I
had these, you know, two perfectbabies at home that I just
wanted to be able to come hometo every day or not have to
leave.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
It's crazy how life changed.
You shared, you finishedcollege and then you got into it
, but then, all of a sudden, thebabies came and the total
perspective and I hear that froma lot of moms you see things
differently.
Light bulbs go off, and so yourbabies were blessed because
their first cake was made bymama.
So, what videos in particular?
(05:14):
What was your style when youfirst started baking?
Did you know?
For sure, because you do thethings you do, you do them
pretty amazing.
You love chocolate, you lovecakes and your work is very neat
and beautiful.
So, when you first got started,what were your thoughts then?
Did you have a particular stylewhere you're like I'm going to
go for this, or how did youdecide what each was?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Well, the very first cake that I did, like I said,
was two tier.
The bottom tier was covered infondant and the top tier was
buttercream.
And right away I was like Ihate working with fondant.
I don't know how people covertheir cakes.
I've tried the paneling method,everything.
It's just not my thing.
So right from the start,buttercream cakes have been my
thing.
It's just what I prefer to workwith.
I love a smooth buttercreamcake.
(05:59):
There's just something sotherapeutic, I think, about
smoothing buttercream on a cakeand when you get it that nice
texture and you can stand backand it's just so nice.
But it's just like I don'treally know that there's
anything particular about itother than as little fondant
work as possible and buttercream.
(06:19):
That's just what I love to workwith.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Sounds delicious, and so for we have a huge listening
over in Canada.
Well, we have a lot of peoplethat listen all over, which I'm
totally grateful for, but forthose who are in Canada, tell us
what's the actual name of yourbusiness and what are some of
the other options that you haveto offer as well.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
So my business is Ashley sweets and treats and I
offer buttercream cakes.
Some of my more popular itemsare my scones.
I love a good scone.
I don't like a dry scone.
It took me a while to bake itand get it just right.
I make cheesecake waffle cones.
Those are super, super popular.
(07:03):
Those were one of the firstthings I started to do.
Macarons I can't keep macaronsin my kitchen.
When I bake them and post them,they're always gone.
And then, yeah, lots ofchocolate dip treats.
I sell things in two differentstores so I sell like chocolate
dip pretzels, sour keys,chocolate covered Oreos,
chocolate dip pretzels and Imake the breakable items.
(07:26):
So the small, small and big,whether they're individual size
or full cakes that are thechocolate shells filled with
candy that you smash open.
So great for, like my, my sondoesn't actually really like
cake and my husband is allergicto eggs so he doesn't eat cake.
But they both love candy andchocolate.
So I started making them as anoption for my husband and my son
(07:48):
.
And they're also great becausethey're gluten free.
Right, it's candy and chocolateand it just gives that other
option for people.
And you know it's fun becausewhen my son gets invited to a
birthday party.
That's what I bring as the giftis I make them their own
individual breakable cake and itgoes over so well and it's just
.
It's a unique thing and thekids love it.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Definitely For those who are listening.
So you call them breakablecakes.
I know over here in the US somepeople call them breakable
hearts or, but mainly the, the,the chocolate, like the
individual chocolate shakes thatpeople get to break.
So how did you build yourbusiness?
You said you got started whileyou are maternity leave.
(08:29):
But what activities was it foryou?
Was a social media just gettingout into the community, because
so many people struggle withjust building their business and
getting it to grow so that theycan actually have that
clientele.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So what I did was I, because I was just learning.
It was just on my own personalFacebook page at first, as I
would make a cake or I'd beworking on something and I would
just post and say this is whatI'm doing.
And there were lots of peopleinterested and this was February
2020, so just pre pandemic.
And then I decided to create aFacebook group because I was
like I'm not going to flood mypersonal Facebook with just me
(09:03):
decorating cakes out of time.
I said, if you want to see whatI'm doing, come over here.
And that's when I created myname, which wasn't a business at
that time, it was just the nameof my group, and people in the
group slowly just startedshowing interest.
And what I did in the beginningis I would just make a cake I
wanted to make and I wouldauction it off and, you know,
sell it for $20, $30, whateverit was.
(09:25):
It didn't matter to me, and Iwas ecstatic that I was like, oh
my gosh, I just sold a cakethat I made for $30, like I was
so excited at that point.
And then after that, aftercakes, I did cakesicles, and
when I made cakesicles they blewup.
So again, this was.
I want to say this was rightaround when the pandemic hit
(09:47):
that I made cakesicles for thefirst time and the very first
night I made them.
I made about a dozen and Idrove around to people I know in
town and I dropped them ontheir porch and I left everybody
one or two or three and I justsaid, hey, this is on your porch
I believe it had startedbecause I think everybody was in
at that point and I said I justleft you a little something on
your porch and people wereecstatic over that and I must
(10:10):
have taken orders for three or400 cakes was probably over the
next few weeks, becauseeverybody just loved the idea.
The people were doing paradebirthday parties I'm not sure if
that was a thing around therelike where everybody would drive
their cars by, so they werehanding out cakesicles right,
because you couldn't cut cakeand serve it, and so really,
like, the cakes were great, butcakesicles are what?
(10:31):
Like boomed my business and itwas just like again watching a
video and I was like, oh, I feellike I could make those, you
know, and I tried them out andmy thing has always been when
I've introduced something new tomy menu, I give it away for
free to people in the community.
So now that my group is alittle bit bigger, I haven't
(10:52):
made introduced something new tomy menu for a long time because
I have a lot of things on there.
But if I do, say a new macaronflavor or a new hot chocolate
bomb flavor, I'll say like hey,you know, I've got this new
flavor, would love to get yourfeedback, and people always want
to try free stuff.
So people love, they will comeand get it and everybody always
gives me really good feedback,you know, and they're honest to
(11:14):
they would say like oh, I thinkit needs a little more of this,
or or I think it's perfect, orwhatever.
So I've done that.
The cheesecake, waffle cones,the macarons, like every single
thing I've ever introduced, I'vedone that and I think that that
has been a big part of what'shelped my business to grow to,
because it it got word outwithin the community and it was
my community that's built thisbusiness like.
(11:35):
I never intended for this to bea business.
It was my community coming inand then saying, like you know,
we love what you're doing andcan you do more of that?
And when the pandemic hit,nobody wanted to go to the
stores anymore.
So people just started beinglike, hey, can you do this, can
you do that?
And it blew my mind.
I couldn't even believe it.
I was like I've been doing thisfor a month and a half.
What do you mean?
You want me to take your kidsbirthday cake?
(11:57):
But it was just the communitysupport and you know me giving
back to the community.
Every time I added something tomy menu, we say like here, come
and take this.
I want you to try it.
If it's not good, I'm not goingto put it on the menu.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
You tell me power to the people.
I love that so many people areafraid.
Number one, they're actuallyafraid to get genuine feedback.
And number two, I hear Bakersay all the time well, I don't
want to make a cake just forcontent, or well, what do I do
when I don't have orders and Itell people, well, give, like,
why aren't you giving?
(12:30):
But they can't see the endpicture in their mind.
They're always assuming well,if I'm giving, I'm trying to
make money.
And I'm always telling peopleyou can make money by giving, by
just investing money.
And so I love the fact that youhave that mindset.
When did you decide okay, I'mgonna go all in, like, I'm gonna
make this into a business, I'mgonna follow suit.
(12:54):
What did that decision looklike?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, so here in Ontario we have different rules,
so you guys have a lot ofcottage laws.
In the States we have somethingthat's kind of come in like
that since then.
But when I first started thatwasn't a thing.
So to do it legally you had tohave a full second kitchen.
When you know, it wasn't abusiness in the beginning for me
(13:20):
.
So I started with all my thingsin a little Tupperware container
and then quickly, you know,there wasn't enough room in that
Tupperware container and justin front of me I have what is
now my children's toy room,which was a scrapbooking room
that I took over and became mybake room.
So we put cabinets in there anda fridge and it had everything
other than a stove.
And then I quickly outgrew thatspace and it was, believe it or
(13:43):
not, 11 months after I firststarted that I said I think we
need to put a second kitchen in.
I just put a lot of faith in mycommunity and in myself and I
just thought I know what I cando with this.
This is my basement that I'msitting in now and it was fully
finished at the time when weused to have our office was over
there in a small bathroom and Isaid to my husband I need to
(14:07):
take that space over and I needto put a kitchen in.
And he's always been incrediblysupportive of me and we did
that.
We tore those out, we built awall.
We have a full second kitchenover there.
Now it's got, you know, doubleoven, multiple mixers, big sinks
, everything, and it finished inMarch of 2021.
(14:27):
So when the kitchen opened, itwas 13 months since I watched my
first YouTube video and it's,you know, inspected by our local
public health and licensedthrough my city and I at that
point I was like I'm gonna seenow what I can do over the next
few months, because my maternityleave was to be ending in, I
(14:47):
think, june of that year and Iwas like what can I do over the
next few months so that I'mgoing to be able to leave
policing?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
That's amazing because I'm a firm believer on
building on your own land.
I think too often in Americathat's what people don't do.
They don't really use thecottage law to the max and I'm
like take over a room, changeout a room Like it's your land.
It's always so much moreaffordable than just going to a
storefront or leasing astorefront, and so was a
(15:20):
storefront ever an option foryou?
How do you feel?
I know you shared with mebefore, but you've impressed
report the price of a storefront, so I would love for you to
share that when you outweigh thepros and the cons.
I know you're happy with yourkitchen now, but was the
storefront ever a choice for you?
Speaker 2 (15:38):
So I had obviously contemplated that.
I didn't know whether I wasdreaming too big at that point
or not.
But yeah, in my small town totry and lease a storefront space
, you're looking at about $6,000a month and that's just your
rent, right, like that doesn'tcover anything else.
So we'd be in the $10,000 amonth range minimum, I would
(16:02):
think, just to have the doorsopening every single day, and to
me that was especially with thepandemic kind of just being
behind us or we were kind of inthe middle of it.
I guess still at that point itwas just not something I was
willing to take on.
Plus, running a storefrontyou're out of your house every
day at 3.34 am to get in thereto bake your cupcakes fresh for
(16:24):
your display cases right, it's alot of time away and in 2021,
my kids would have been four andone and a half at that point
when we did this kitchen.
And this just allows me to usethe space that we already have
with the bills that we alreadypay, right, oh, adding a little
bit onto those bills everysingle month not $10,000, but to
(16:46):
be present for my kids too, soI can get up and bake super
early in the morning if I needto, then I can stop and take my
son to school, right, or stopand take my daughter to daycare
or go on a school trip Like itjust allows for so much
flexibility in my life that astorefront would have never done
that.
So for me I don't see astorefront ever happening.
(17:07):
Maybe in the distant future ifprices ever came down and my
kids were older, but certainlynot anytime soon, because my
kids are young still, like nowthey're.
Oh gosh, how old are they?
Six and three and a half.
My daughter starts school nextmonth and I wanna be here for
their trips and to take them toand from school every day.
(17:27):
That's why I left policing andwhy I'm doing what I'm doing, so
I can be present for them.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
I hear that from so many moms.
To be present is just like agift that is so priceless, and
so you're in the home with themwhile you're doing your thing
and still providing for them atthe same time.
So I know that definitely hasto be an amazing feeling.
At what point in time did youcome across baking for business?
(17:53):
Because you're actually amember of our entrepreneurial
community and you do well.
You're always diving in, you'realways doing great things.
So a lot of people listen tothe podcast and I know you told
me you said I've never missed anepisode.
What point made you invest?
Like why not just YouTube howto be better at business or
(18:17):
watch business videos?
Like what made you decide Ithink I'm gonna invest in this?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
I had done that for a long time and my first
introduction to you was thefirst bake fest and I had
watched your class there.
And then I started followingyou on Instagram and it was on
Instagram that I then sawteaching your passion, cause I
still wasn't a member ofentrepreneur community at this
point.
I took teaching your passionand I just I loved your teaching
(18:47):
style, the openness.
This is who I am.
Take it or leave it, becausethat's how I run my business.
I don't put on a front when I'mon social media.
I don't pretend that I'm aperfect mom or a perfect baker.
My house is perfectly clean allthe time.
It's just.
This is who I am.
And then it was after teachingyour passion that I joined
entrepreneur community and Iloved that.
(19:12):
And your podcast started justover a year ago I wanna say 15,
16 months ago maybe and Iremember the very first episode
listening to your podcast.
They said I'm gonna be on thatpodcast one day.
And I listen every single week,pretty much the day of release
or the next day.
I learned so much from it everyweek.
But every single week when Ilisten to the podcast, I say I'm
(19:32):
gonna be on that podcast oneday and then, when you asked me
to be on the podcast, I said, ohmy gosh, I manifested this
because I said it every singleweek when I listened to the
podcast.
So I you don't know howthrilled I was when you asked me
, because every week that wouldgo through my mind as I listened
to it and I just I love being apart of the entrepreneur
(19:52):
community.
Everybody in there is so helpful.
The classes have been amazing.
I just finished more dough aswell and I feel like all those
things are implementing so manychanges that, yeah, you can find
some of this stuff on YouTube,but nobody really deep dives
into it.
Right?
You need somebody who's reallygonna deep dive into it, and you
can watch a thousand videos tomaybe capture all the little
(20:13):
points.
Or you can take one class andget it all in one class, and for
me, you know, it's about makingthe best use of my time.
So you know now, like my kidsare busy, my business is busy,
so I would rather put in themoney, invest in myself, invest
in my business, get thatinformation as succinctly as
possible and then be able toinstantly put that into my
(20:35):
business instead of trying tofind it from all these different
little sources, maybe hopefullyright on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Definitely, and you do so great with the resources.
In fact, one of the things I'mreally big on is people
diversifying their income, andso I know inside of the
entrepreneur community.
I shared a class on classes, onteaching local classes in your
community, and you have reallybeen killing it with classes in
(21:04):
Ontario.
So tell us how did the classthing come about and how are you
enjoying that, because so manyother bakers would be like I'm
scared, I'm afraid you know totalk in front of people, or so
how have the classes beenbeneficial to your business?
Speaker 2 (21:22):
So I think that they go back to me having wanted to
be a teacher all those years agoand I've just kind of come full
circle to now teaching insomething I used to know nothing
about, and it's just like Ithink it's such a fun, different
activity for people to do right, like there's nobody offering,
like the you know Michael's 25minutes away from me used to
offer cake decorating classes.
(21:43):
They don't, there's nobodyaround that I know that offers
classes and I just thought, well, I taught myself like I'm
pretty confident in my ability,I'm confident in my abilities, I
think I can teach other peopleright.
So I kind of practiced like inmy head and in my kitchen one
day and this is how I think Iwould do a class, and I took
your course and that was hugefor helping me.
(22:03):
And just you know, I've done.
I've done a handful of cakeclasses, cupcake classes,
cupcake decorating, birthdayparties.
I've got a whole bunch lined upnow for the fall as well, for
both of those, and it's just adifferent afternoon out of the
afternoon people to sit thereand watch the fact that I taught
(22:23):
myself this and now I'mteaching other people and to
watch them at the end of theclass.
When they step back and they'relike, oh my gosh, I made this,
like it's just so fulfilling toget to be a part of that
experience with people and theyare nervous in the class,
they're not judging you standingin front of them, teaching them
, because you're the expert tothem.
(22:44):
So even if you don't feel likeyou're an expert, to the people
taking your class you are theexpert.
So they're not sitting therethinking like, oh my gosh, she
doesn't know what she's talkingabout.
They're like how did she justsmooth that cake in three
minutes and I can't smooth minein 30 minutes, right?
So you know, nobody is lookingdown on you teaching a class.
(23:04):
I think that you won't knowuntil you give it a chance and
as long as you're prepared andyou have your tools and you go
over it ahead of time, you know,okay, I'm gonna start by doing
this and after we talk aboutbuttercream, we're gonna talk
about this and just know howyour class is gonna go.
Don't do it on a whim, right,plan it out.
People really, really love it.
(23:25):
They're always looking forsomething different to do
activity-wise, and then you getto eat the cake or cupcakes
afterwards.
So who doesn't love that?
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Absolutely Looking back over, since you built your
business and it's growing sofast and you're doing so many
wonderful things, what so farhas been your biggest
accomplishment?
I know from our group I knowyou've had a one K day, which is
awesome, and I know you alsotaught a huge class where, like
(23:54):
you, took over a schoolauditorium, which was like
amazing.
But what has been one of yourbiggest accomplishments, or was
that one of them that I shared?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
So the cupcake glass at my son's school.
I did that, and this is anotherthing is I did that as a
fundraiser for my son's school,so I took a portion of every
ticket and donated it back tothe school to go to their food,
their nutrition program, whichis another amazing thing to be
able to do, and I plan to dothat, hopefully, two times
during the school year next year.
So there was 44 people, I think, registered in that class,
(24:29):
which was incredible.
I've won a couple local awardsin our newspapers.
The coolest thing to me is I'vedone a couple of styled shoots
and the photographers areamazing and those pictures have
been published in onlinemagazines and that's just been
really incredible.
But maybe the most amazingthing that I like about it and
it's not even necessarily justmy little business is we don't
(24:52):
have a ton of markets in ourtown and I decided, well, that I
started doing popups in mydriveway.
I was like, well, I'm justgonna do a popup in my driveway
and I started inviting otherlocal businesses.
I was like, hey, I'm gonna beout here selling my baked goods
in my driveway.
Do you just want to come withme?
I didn't charge anybodyanything, right?
So once we got to about fourbusinesses in the driveway,
(25:12):
though there wasn't enough space.
So I ended up a local balloonstore and I started talking and
she was like you know, would youdo it here?
She's got a really niceproperty up front.
And I said yeah.
So now I organize this markettwice a year.
We do it at night.
There's no night markets aroundhere, so we call it the spring
night market or the fall nightmarket, and you know it's me
(25:34):
supporting other localbusinesses.
I still don't charge anybodyfor it.
We have about 12 or so 14businesses that can fit now on
this front property.
That we're all a part of it.
And the most amazing thing isthat I have a lineup at my table
every single time before themarket even starts.
And to me, when I just look outand I see all of these other
(25:55):
businesses and I think thisstarted as just me in my
driveway trying to, you know,put a couple of things out there
, and then it grew to have allof these businesses together, to
see all the support that we allhave for one another and then
to have a lineup of you know,the very first one we did.
(26:15):
It was probably minus 30degrees Celsius.
Here it was in the winter, thefirst one we did and I had a
lineup of about 45 people at mytable and there were people that
waited in that line for 30, 40minutes, a certain series
talking to me for 30, 40 minutesbefore getting to the table, in
that cold, and I was just likewow, like I can't believe that
people are here waiting for methis long in this cold weather,
(26:39):
and just I just love the wholeevent though.
Everything about it I love.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
I would have cried, probably.
It reminds me of a parable,though.
There's a scripture in theBible that says I will make you
the head and not the tail,meaning that I'll put you on top
and not below.
And one of the things I'mgetting from you, because I know
too often bakers will say well,the market is booked in my
community, so I can't do amarket.
(27:05):
Or well, we don't have anythinglike that.
And I always tell people that,as a business owner, you provide
value when you give people whatthe market doesn't have, and so
, rather than using those as anexcuse to start and to create
your own like listen to what yousaid 14 business owners
(27:26):
participate.
That's 14 businesses thatyou've given light to, that
you've given brand awareness toso many bakers always wanna bake
and they say, well, I wannamake money, but you're making
more than money, ashley.
You're making a difference, andnot just your kids' lives, but
in other people's lives, and soI just think that is so amazing.
So, to anyone who is on theirjob or who's thinking about
(27:50):
doing this full time, whatadvice would you have to anyone
else who's thinking about acareer change?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
So I think that obviously you gotta know your
numbers, and this is the bigthing too, right Is?
I think the biggest thing inthe baking world and it might be
, in my opinion, because it'spredominantly a female based
profession is people don'tcharge enough for their items.
So from the very get go, youhave to know what are your costs
(28:19):
, what are you going to payyourself, and is it a viable
option for you?
Because if you're not payingyourself, then it's just an
expensive hobby.
So you have to make sure thatyou have those numbers set from
the start, and it's what would Ineed, right, to be able to make
in my business so that I canleave my job.
There are some people who wantto completely replace their
(28:39):
income.
There's people who want todouble their income before they
leave.
I think that a couple of weeksago on the podcast, I think she
wanted to double her incomeright Before she left.
I want to say that that was thething, but not everybody needs
to do that, right.
So you have to know what yournumbers are, what can let you
leave your job and then figureout okay, how do I get there?
Right, you always talk abouthow many cupcakes you have to
(29:02):
sell in a day to make so muchmoney in a day, to be able to
make $100,000 in a year.
So figure out what that meansfor you, right?
What are your bills, what's yourmortgage, All these different
costs that you have?
How many orders do you need tohave?
And then work backwards fromthere?
And maybe you're building it upover a period of time.
And it doesn't have to be allor nothing, it doesn't have to
be well, I either do thebusiness or I do my job.
(29:25):
Start slow, right, Manage whatyou can manage and then, when it
starts to get to the pointwhere you're like I think I can
do this, that's when you kind ofhave to make that decision
right.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Absolutely, and I'm sure you're not doing cakes
anymore for $20 or $30.
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
And I think back on doing a $30 cake.
I'm just like I loved it at thetime.
But especially not withinflation.
There's no way.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
For those who are afraid to charge their worth as
moms, as women, because we havea lot of moms who started out
just like you wanted to do fortheir kids.
What advice will you tell tothat person who needs to raise
their prices?
Speaker 2 (30:04):
So the advice and I think I said it to somebody,
maybe an entrepreneur communitythe other day is if it was your
friend that you were givingadvice to, what advice would you
give them?
So would you tell them hey,it's okay that you're only going
to pay yourself $5 for that,you'll figure out another way to
pay your gas bill?
Or would you say no, girl, likeyou need to be charging
yourself, charging at leastminimum wage to be able to pay
(30:27):
yourself, you know, a reasonableamount of money.
So we often want to devaluewhat our work is and I again, I
think that that is predominantlya female thing and it's just
whatever.
I think the easiest place tostart is whatever your local
minimum wages, you should never,ever, ever pay yourself less
(30:48):
than that.
So here, our local minimum wageis $15 an hour.
I would never fathom payingmyself less than $15 an hour.
If you're going to do that, youmight as well just go and, you
know, continue working a jobuntil you can get that.
But I think the biggest thingis and the biggest thing for me
is personal growth.
Read books, listen to podcasts,watch YouTube videos.
(31:11):
You have to build up thatconfidence in yourself.
In the beginning I was scared Iwould send somebody a number
and be like, oh, this cake'sgoing to be $60.
And I was like, oh, they'regoing to say no, right, and
nobody ever said no.
And now I'm like, oh, that wasreally cheap.
Of course they didn't say no,but you have to.
If you're not growingpersonally, you can't grow your
business.
(31:31):
So like I read books nonstop, Ilisten to podcasts like crazy,
like you have to be buildingyourself, your knowledge, your
confidence all the time and thenyou won't have those issues.
I don't ever question nowsending prices to people Did I
in the beginning, all the time.
But you get that confidence asyou go and as you grow and I
(31:52):
just think that putting the workin personal growth is a huge
part of being able to grow yourbusiness.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
I love watching you grow over this past year, so,
and I think those are wonderfulwords of advice.
So, speaking of growth, whatare your plans for the future?
What do you have coming up inthe fall?
Because I believe you'reworking on classes not just for
your community, but other peopleas well, right?
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Yeah, so I have filmed the class for breakable
cakes and it is going to getedited in September and
hopefully be launched in Octoberand that is for other bakers.
I really liked doing the classand it's just obviously, you
know, the time of making thathappen.
And then in the fall is, yeah,all my classes are going to come
(32:42):
back, starting in October cakeclasses, cupcake classes.
I look forward to doing that.
We have our fall night marketat the end of September.
So fall is where everythingreally really gets busy, right
October and then it doesn'treally stop until Easter.
So there's a lot going on.
Christmas is always crazy, soI'm trying to make the best use
(33:02):
of the you know, the next monthor so to get all of my fall menu
set right, because I put outset menus for Halloween,
thanksgiving, christmas and, youknow, try to get ahead of the
game as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Investing in personal growth, staying ahead of the
game.
You've dropped and shared somany nuggets, and your story is
just so beautiful, so thank youso much, really, for just coming
on the podcast and sharing allof that.
Before I let you go, though,are you ready for lightning?
Speaker 2 (33:29):
round.
Well, I am ready.
I've been going over this in myhead.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Well, I'm sure you know all the questions, but
we'll start off with what isyour favorite color it's purple,
purple and what is yourfavorite kitchen utensil?
Speaker 2 (33:46):
It's got to be my stand mixer.
Saves so much time, awesomesauce.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
What is a book that you would recommend?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Business book or like personal growth wise.
I just finished the 5am at 5amclub by Robin Sharma and I loved
it.
Personally, I also justfinished the autobiography of
Melanie see, who was sportyspice, and it was sad and
amazing at the same time.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Cool two books, so I definitely list those below in
the show notes.
And lastly, what is a dessertyou can't live without?
Speaker 2 (34:21):
I would have to say a good macaron.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
That sounds delicious , and, oops, I missed one.
Who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2 (34:29):
That would be Idris Elba.
Oh girl, okay, just finishedhis new show.
It's so good.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
Oh, I wasn't expecting that.
Do you watch Luther?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
I have not watched Luther.
His new show was called hijack.
It was very good.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Okay, cool, all right , well, we'll definitely check
it out.
Well, ashley, thank you so muchfor coming on the podcast and
hanging out with me.
I love hearing your story and Ireally appreciate you being
here.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Thank you so, so much for having me.
It's really been such apleasure.
I'm so honored to be asked todo this.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
You guys.
I truly hope that you enjoyhearing Ashley's story.
You know, sharing successstories on this podcast is
really something I am trulypassionate about because I
believe as bakers but shout outto all the ladies, especially as
women we learn so much fromothers.
And just a couple takeawaysthat I want you guys to get from
(35:28):
this episode, if nothing else,especially for people when they
plan on doing this full time.
As someone who has done thisfull time for over seven years,
I cannot stress to you theimportance of diversifying your
income.
If you've been around wheneverI host the Mordeaux class,
(35:51):
whether you have taken the classor not doesn't matter.
That is just one thing I am bigon and so one of the things I
love.
When Ashley joined our community, not only how supportive and
awesome she was and shout out toeveryone in the entrepreneurial
community, we're always sograteful to have her but she
does so well with the classes,and so not only is she baking,
(36:14):
is she feeding her community,just teaching.
And, like she stated, you'rethe expert.
No matter how advanced, howlittle or how much you think you
know, or that you don't know,you can teach your community
something.
You can always find another wayto share your gifts and your
(36:34):
talents with those who are inyour neighborhood, with those
who are near you and with thosewho can benefit from it, and so
that's one of the things I loveabout hearing Ashley's a story.
As she explained it is thatshe's doing the classes, she's
doing the baked goods, she'scompletely transformed her home
(36:57):
so that she can have a fullyoperating kitchen and she's
really making use of all thethings that she can as a
home-based business owner, whichI think is something that we
should all strive to do as well.
I hope hearing today's storyinspires you.
Thank you guys so much forlistening, and do me a favor.
If you are not following me onInstagram, like, what are you
(37:19):
waiting for?
That's where I share all thetips, all the goodies, and I
love more than anything, though,hearing from you guys.
I love when you screenshot me,I love when you write me.
I answer every single personback, person by person, and so
if you have any questions abouttoday's episode or anything I
can help you with, please neverhesitate to reach out and ask.
(37:39):
You can always tag me at Bakingfor Business.
Take a screenshot of thisepisode while you are listening.
I love it when you guys tag meand I will have all of the
details mentioned in today'spodcast episode below as well.
Special thanks to Ashley forcoming on.
Shout out to everyone out therein Canada and all over the
(38:00):
world, all over the globe,especially the US, wherever you
guys are listening from.
I appreciate you all.
I truly hope that this episodeinspired you.
Thanks so much for listening.
Take care and bye for now.
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