April 3, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode, we hear from Dani, the founder of DaniCakesAZ, as she shares her journey from starting her home bakery to digital product success.🎉
Ready to get started w/ digital products? CLICK HERE to join us inside of The Digital Product Community.
Want to add cake sandwiches to your business? CLICK HERE to check out Dani's work and her course.
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 DeSorono 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's going on, you guys?
And welcome back to the Bakingfor Business podcast.
Today I have a special guestwith me.
I am joined by Dani, who is theowner of Dani Cakes, and Dani
Cakes is the queen of cakesandwiches.
(01:05):
You've probably seen her allover your feed, and so today
we're going to talk to her abouthow she built her cake sandwich
business, as well as how shebecame a cake sandwich
instructor and all the coolthings that's been happening in
her life lately.
So, danny, welcome to thepodcast.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Thanks so much for having me on.
I used to listen to you all thetime when I was first getting
started, so this feels like areally big full circle moment
for me.
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I'm so happy to have you here, and so, dani, for
those who may not follow yourpage how did you get started?
What made you initially start,or want to start, your own
baking business in Arizona?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, so I actually decorated my first cake for my
son's first birthday.
I had just quit my job to stayhome and we were adjusting to
living on a single income, so wedidn't have a cake budget at
all and I was like you know what?
I think I can learn how to dothis.
I watched a bunch of YouTubevideos and I started following
(02:08):
some bakers on Instagram and Imade my first cake, which I was
very proud of reading and I justfell in love with it.
(02:30):
Um, and I spent the next fouryears making cakes and
practicing, um, giving them awayfor free, basically, um, just
messaging everybody I knew can Imake you a cake for your
birthday?
Like I saw your son's birthdayscoming up, can I make him a
cake for free?
And then, um, for my, I had mythird baby and on her first
birthday I made her a cake anddessert, whole setup.
It was really beautiful, um,and after her birthday, my
(02:52):
husband was like you've got toopen your business.
It's time.
Four years has been long enough.
Um, you're good, we can startselling these.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Oh, that's awesome, and so it's always a blessing to
have someone to push you, youknow, to believe in you.
Like you said, it was yourhusband.
However, opening a businesssometimes can seem scary.
So what were your initialthoughts?
What was the turning point thatsaid, okay, I should do this, I
should start a cottage bakingbusiness okay, I should do this,
(03:25):
I should start a cottage bakingbusiness.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, I was.
I was very, very nervous.
I think I was scared ofrejection more than actually
starting the business, startingall the paperwork and everything
Like I felt I did all of thatand then I doing that first post
to say I'm here, this is mybusiness, I'm selling cakes.
I was very, very nervous to dothat, but I had a lot of support
from all the people I've beengiving cakes to for free all
(03:51):
these years and I felt verysupported by my family and my
community and, yeah, I just kindof went for it at the end of
the day.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
That's really a blessing.
And so, in the early days, whatwas your menu?
What did your menu consist of?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So my very first menu I posted and it's kind of funny
looking back.
I think I did a little bit ofeverything.
I did not offer cake sandwiches.
At first I was really excitedto do birthday cakes and
celebration cakes, and then Ialso offered cake pops, cupcakes
and sugar cookies.
A couple months in I realizedI'd made a mistake and I scaled
(04:32):
back and I just was offeringcakes.
I wasn't a fully booked bakeryright away either, so I had some
time to kind of make thoseadjustments.
I had maybe like one cake aweek to kind of make those
adjustments.
I had maybe like one cake aweek.
Um, and when things reallystarted to change for me and I
really updated my menu was whenI started making the cake
sandwiches and they quickly wentviral and I realized I I'm onto
(04:56):
something here and I've kind ofum, I think I opened my bakery
in August of 2023.
And by December I started tojust do cake sandwiches.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Was that a tough turning point?
Because sometimes bakers, theydo start off like you.
They start off doing all thethings because they think, well,
if I offer more, I'll attractmore as far as just diving in.
And so what was it that madeyou say, or that made you
comfortable with, no, I'm justgoing to go in with cake
sandwiches.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
So I think what happened was I actually burned
myself out that Baker burnout, Ithink we've all kind of
probably gotten there a time ortwo.
I was really excited to startthis new business and like
reenter the workforce afterbeing home with my kids, and
this was such a greatopportunity right Cause I got to
stay home with my kids while Idid this.
(05:48):
But I basically started outadvertising I'm doing cakes, I'm
doing cookies, um, and thenwhen I started cake sandwiches I
think it was in September Iopened in August.
September, I think October waswhen I started doing farmer's
markets with my cake sandwiches.
So during the week I was doingcakes and then on the weekends I
was doing farmer's markets.
(06:11):
And by Christmas time was when Iwas doing three things I was
doing custom cakes, cakesandwich, farmer's markets and I
opened my little cake sandwichstand in the mall markets.
And I opened my little cakesandwich stand in the mall and I
remember it was like rightbefore Christmas I worked a 22
hour day just to keep up withall the orders that I hadn't
(06:33):
said no to any orders.
You know what I mean.
I took everything.
And so I worked a 22 hour day,I slept for three hours and then
I went to go refill my mallshelf and on the drive to the
mall shelf I remember calling myhusband and I was like we might
have to close the business downand he was like we don't need
to close.
We were, you know, we don't needto quit, we just need to scale
(06:54):
back.
Let's take something off yourplate, because in the beginning
it was really exciting, like Ifelt, so like honored, that
people were choosing me to maketheir cakes and I didn't know
how to say no, I guess, andappropriately schedule my time.
So it was kind of a learningcurve.
You get burned out and yourealize I need to change how I'm
(07:16):
scheduling everything formyself.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah, and kudos to you for admitting that, because
you're not the only one, becausea lot of times as bakers, I
hate to say the word peoplepleaser, but I'd rather say big
hearted, because sometimes wehave a big heart and we don't
want to tell someone no, yes.
And so, looking back, do youregret not being as firm or
(07:40):
setting back?
Because working 22 hours onlyoff of three hours of sleep,
that's cutting it really close.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Um, I think my biggest regret was I mean, I
kind of have the personalitywhere I think I can do it all.
You tell me I have this andthis and this and this do in one
day and I think in my head Ican do that.
You know what I mean?
Um, I think my biggest regretwas that it was around the
holidays so I did miss out onsome of those holiday activities
(08:08):
with my kids, and that's when Irealized I need to change this
so it's sustainable for my life.
But you know, I don'tnecessarily regret taking those
orders on.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I have one order that still haunts me to this day,
but everything else so how wasit diving deep into the cake
sandwiches, cutting the otherthings off and just dive it in
and go on with cake sandwiches?
How did that start to look foryou?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, so, um, it was actually really, it was really
amazing.
So I was doing the farmer'smarkets.
Um, selling cake sandwiches andit's farmer's markets can be
very hit or miss, right, evenwhen you have great advertising
and videos go viral.
Um, sometimes you're going tosell out and sometimes you're
going to sell like 10, you justdon't know.
Um, and then at one of mymarkets that I did, I was
(09:06):
approached by a woman who owneda boutique in the mall that
hosts small businesses and shesaid you know, I would love for
you to come sell out of my store.
And when I started to sell outof the store, I was able to.
At first it was kind of crazy,right, I was dropping off cakes
at random times, but slowly Irealized the benefit of getting
(09:28):
into a schedule and I was reallyable to schedule out my days
like almost like a regular job.
So, like my days would beshopping for all the ingredients
, tuesdays would be prep,wednesdays would be I would bake
sample cakes and do videos andpictures, thursday is my baking
and packaging day, and thenFriday I could drop it off.
(09:50):
And then getting on thatschedule also made my sales
really predictable to mycustomers too, and they were
able to start.
They knew, okay, every Fridayshe's restocking her fridge and
it just started to flow verynaturally, like it all just kind
of happened very organically.
Yeah, it was great.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I love that you have a schedule, because you would be
shocked how many bakersactually don't.
And I love that actualbreakdown of shop prep produce
you know, then promote andactually push the products out
there.
So that's pretty awesome.
With having your cakesandwiches in a store location,
(10:34):
did you find that easier thanjust having to market them
yourself?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, yeah, in a lot of ways, especially around the
holidays, people are just goingto stores more, and so you're
getting that foot traffic ofpeople stumbling across your
fridge.
And I did paint it like hotpink so it was very eye-catching
and people were, you know,finding me that way, so that was
very beneficial and, yeah, Ithink it's more convenient for
(11:04):
my customers too than having togo to a bunch of little random
farmer's markets, to just stayin one spot, and I think that
really helped with my sales.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I love that I have an earlier episode I'll link to it
but where I talk aboutalternatives to a storefront,
and being in a mall is one ofthem, and a lot of people don't
realize it, but you can actuallyrent out space at a kiosk or,
you know, you can be in the mall, a place that already has that
foot traffic, and the expensesand the overhead are so much
(11:35):
less than just you know, havingto get your own storefront or do
something else.
I love the fact that youthought outside the box with
where to actually put your cakesandwiches and so, after doing
cake sandwiches for a while, youstarted offering classes,
correct?
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah.
So that's yes.
It's been very, very exciting.
I think the most common messageI was getting on Instagram,
Facebook, TikTok was notactually from customers asking
me where are you located.
It was other bakers who weresaying, hey, I want to do this
too, and over time I realizedthere's a really big market for
(12:13):
other bakers that want to dothis, and it did take me a while
.
I definitely had some fear aboutsharing my recipe with other
bakers because I did not go toculinary school very much
self-taught.
But once I got over that, thenI realized like this could be
beneficial for a lot of peopleand I can only serve so many
(12:37):
people in my community and Ithink it took me a while to get
my guide out there to startselling my cake classes, because
in the beginning I was likewhere is this gonna go?
Am I gonna start shipping?
Am I gonna open a storefront?
And then I realized that's notwhy I started this.
I started this so I could havethe flexibility to be with my
(12:57):
kids and do this from my home,and so I can only serve you know
my town in Arizona, so I'mgoing to share the recipe out
and, yeah, it's been so great.
I have been blown away by allmy new cake friends I've made
through sharing my classes.
It's been so fun.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I think it's empowering.
A lot of times people don'trealize how empowering it is
when you can look and you canactually see like I've helped
another individual to have askill set that has allowed them
to make money in their familyand in their home.
And it's like you said, you canonly service your town so much.
So I love the fact that youactually decided to put your
(13:41):
classes out there.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
And so tell us about.
For those who are unfamiliar,tell us about your, your course.
Yes, so I have a couple ofthings going in my course.
I share all because cakesandwiches are this new trend
and I've kind of found all thedifferent resources they have
out there, the best materials touse, the pans and the piping
bottles.
So I start off with all thetips and tricks, the materials
(14:10):
you would need and where you canpurchase them, and then I also
have video tutorials for everysingle step, which I thought
would be very helpful.
I know a lot of my little cakefriends who have purchased the
course are beginner bakers orjust hobby bakers doing it for
fun.
So I want to make sure there'sthe videos for beginners.
And then I also share myrecipes.
(14:32):
There's a template to get youstarted, just everything you
would need to be able to dostart your own making your own
cake sandwiches and besuccessful.
I've included everything intothe guide.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I love that you mentioned at first, because it's
nice to see you light up whenyou talk about your guide and
your class and all the thingsthat you do share.
I also know that you're alsoinside of digital product
community and so you mentionedearlier just having that fear of
(15:07):
wondering.
You know, should I share thesethings with people?
And that's one thing that I'malways teaching bakers is that
you should scale, you shouldoffer digital products.
You know you should put yourthings out there.
So are there any particulartools that have helped you?
Is there any resource oranything that has really helped
you to actually push your guideout there.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yeah, definitely your class.
I am very, very obsessed.
I listened to your courses.
At every night when I do thedishes, I listen.
I re-listened to one of yourcourses just for the reminders
of everything that you teach init.
I definitely very much.
When I came to you to ask forhelp and I got into your course,
(15:49):
I had no idea.
No idea what to do.
I was just going to put a linkin my bio and call it good and
definitely just everything thatyou've taught us in your digital
product course about gettingyour products out there and
marketing and advertising stuffthat I had never learned about
before was so, so valuable to me.
(16:11):
Honestly, a gold mine.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
You're so sweet and I remember you remind me of a lot
of people because I know whenwe first met and you talked
about your guide, you were likeyou know, I'm going to price the
guide at 15.
And I was like, whoa, this is alot of knowledge Because, like
you said, you have you guys,I've been blessed to actually
see her course.
I'm definitely going torecommend you check it out if
you want to add it to yourbaking repertoire, because she
(16:35):
has step by step videos, she hastemplates and there's so many
things.
But you initially wanted toprice it at like 15 bucks, right
, and I was like, no, that's waytoo low, that's awesome.
So you launched your course andyour first week you ended up
selling over 700.
(16:56):
Yes, that is amazing.
So how did that?
How did that feel?
First of all, trusting astranger on the internet to tell
you no, raise the price, you'regoing to do five figures, I
know it.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Um, I remember you told me you were like, I think
if you, if we do this and youprice it this way, you're going
to make you know X amount ofmoney.
And I was sitting there yousaid, how does that sound?
And in my head I was sittingthere you said, how does that
sound?
And in my head I was goingthat's not going to happen.
There's no way I'm making thatmuch money, like.
And I was like, sounds good.
(17:30):
But in my head I was like, oh,I'm not making that much money,
you know, um.
And then when it startedhappening, I remember um, we, I
think we Instagram messaged umand I told you how it was going
that first morning and, oh mygosh, yeah, I shed a lot of
tears over the success of thecourse.
(17:50):
It still doesn't feel real atall.
I was an elementary schoolteacher before this, so I'm not
used to making a lot of moneyand I feel very, very, very
blessed and grateful toeverybody who's trusted me in
purchasing my course.
I just feel so, so grateful tothem for trusting me to help
(18:14):
them along their cake journey.
It's been a wild ride, that'sawesome.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
That's such a blessing, right?
That's awesome, that's such ablessing.
And without getting into it,because your numbers are
personal, but just to share, Iknow you messaged me that you
made more in one week than youdid in a full year of teaching.
How did that feel?
Because I know my course is acouple hundred dollars and
(18:38):
sometimes people are like Idon't know if I should invest
that, but you literally spentthousands going to college and
made more in one week than afull year of teaching.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yes, it doesn't feel real.
I gotta be honest with you.
I have not touched the moneyyet.
I'm a little bit scared.
I don't think I've shared thiswith you yet, but um, and I hope
I can share this withoutgetting too emotional.
But my husband has alwayssupported me through my
classroom when I was teaching.
He funded all my classroomprojects and my books and my
(19:14):
shelves.
You know, teachers have tobring all their own supplies to
their classroom.
And then I said I really wantto stay home with the kids.
And again he's like we're goingto make it work.
I'm going to work overtime soyou can do this.
You can stay home with the kids.
And then I said I now want toopen a home bakery, and he
supported me in that.
This entire time, since he was19 years old, he's been driving
(19:37):
the same beat up pickup truck,and when I tell you it's beat up
, it's falling apart, he's gluedthings in himself back together
, it's got a window down, and soone of my, I guess, like secret
goals was if I can, if I can dothis and I can make money, I
want to buy him a new truck, andso that's something that I'm
(20:01):
looking forward to doing.
I think it's going to happenand I'm really, really excited
because he's always provided forus and I just want to give back
to him.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Absolutely, girl.
It's a blessing, it's mindblowing.
And how you feel?
When I first started, there wasno one to help me.
There was no one to say, hey,do this in your digital course
or do that in your digitalcourse.
So when I decided to teach, Iwas like, okay, if I could help
(20:33):
other people have the samefinancial freedom that I've had
with digital products.
It literally is life-changing,because I mean you can go buy a
car right off the lot right nowif you want to, but if not, you
know it's up to you to justgenerate that type of income.
It really does change lives,and not just with the course,
but you also sell your templatesseparate, which is pretty cool
as well, yes, yes, that's beenso fun and that's going to be
(20:59):
really exciting.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I've always been very creative, like maybe not so
much a businesswoman, but acreative spirit, and I like
creating and making things, andso the fun thing about the
templates is I can always comeup with new themes or new
designs or new holiday packs.
It's something that can keepgoing.
It's a great creative outletfor me, but it's also super
(21:23):
helpful for people who want tomake cake sandwiches or make the
same cake sandwiches I'm making, because it takes away the
guesswork for them, um, and wecan all benefit from it,
basically.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Absolutely, and one of your templates or one of your
designs.
You did a Lisa Frank design andshe actually reshared it.
How cool did that feel?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Oh my gosh, I have always loved, loved, lisa Frank.
I growing up I had all thefolders and everything, so that
was an amazing feeling.
Um, I just love the Lisa Frankartwork and it was really fun to
be able to make that cake andsee her repost that.
It felt like just amazing,that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
All of your sales and all of your support has come
off of social media, andsometimes we get upset with
social media.
We blame the algorithm, but Ialways tell people social media
is a gift, because it canliterally put you in front of
thousands of people in the worldthat you may not have ever met
before.
And so how important of a roledoes social media play in your
(22:30):
business?
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah.
So I would say when I firststarted out, I had about 200
followers pretty steadily atthat 200 follower mark, at that
200 follower mark, um and Iswitched to making videos of my
products, um, instead of thosestatic posts, just the photo
post, and I started posting onTik TOK and I I was amazed by um
(22:56):
, the views and the positivefeedback and the followers that
came from putting yourself outthere with your video post and,
and once that started happening,I kind of committed now, I'm
not perfect at this, but Icommitted I want to post every
single day at least one post,and so social media is a pretty
(23:16):
big part of my business and it'sactually been something that I
have really, really learned tolove, even even more than the
baking.
I actually really loveproducing and coming up with and
making these videos.
It is just so fun, it reallycalls to me something about it,
and so I really enjoy doing it.
Um, and I think, if, if there'sany other bakers that can do
(23:41):
this, I would.
I had a specific day when I wasbaking every thing, when I had
my cake sandwiches.
I was baking every single day.
Every Wednesday was video dayand I would try to film my
videos enough videos to get methrough a whole week of content,
because if you're filming everysingle day, you're going to get
burned out of it.
(24:01):
You know what I mean.
If you're filming every singleday, you're going to get burned
out of it.
You know what I mean.
So that's kind of what I stilltry to do is try to film all my
little cake videos andeverything in one day and then
that gives me content to postfor the rest of the week.
Um and I, I just love it and Ilove the community I found on
social media, um, I started aFacebook group, um, for people
who purchased my cake guide.
We have a Facebook communitynow and we're just getting
(24:23):
started.
We're already up to 500 membersand it's been very, very
rewarding to get to see, um,everybody's cakes that they're
sharing.
Yeah, I, I really love socialmedia.
It's been a huge, huge, hugeblessing, um, and I can still
remember, I think, the firstvideo that ever went viral.
I made a hello kitty cake, um,and it it shot off.
(24:44):
It went viral across allplatforms, and now I love Hello
Kitty too.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Hello Kitty is my favorite girl.
Hello Kitty is adorable.
And now what a blessing because, like you said, you have your
own private community for thosewho buy your cake sandwich
masterclass.
And how awesome is that to seeall of your.
You have hundreds of studentsnow sharing their pictures of
what they have been able to makefrom taking your course.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, I feel like a proud mom Every time I open it
and I see the pictures.
It is so, so, so fun and Ithink, um, before I launched my
course and my guide and all ofthis, I had a lot of fear
associated with.
Like this is kind of scary.
It's a new thing and I neverreally thought about how
(25:36):
rewarding it was going to feelto see everybody's success, like
now I have.
There's nothing I want morethan to see everybody who buys
my guide find that success andbe successful and get to make,
have fun making these cakesandwiches.
It's like it's the best feelingto see all their pictures and
things.
Like I, I couldn't have thoughtthat I was going to love it as
much as I did as I do.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
You're going to make me cry.
Now you know how I feelwatching you.
That's exactly right.
I was like I can't believeshe's my student.
She's doing so amazeballs.
And when you told me that firstweek you sold over 700 courses,
I was like get out of town.
I just wanted to scream.
I told my husband and here'sthe crazy thing that when I
(26:20):
first started, you know like Imade great money.
But to see you guys make goodmoney, that's what it's all
about, because you get to skipall of those years of mistakes
and things that I didn't know.
You just go straight to havingsuccess and I love that.
For anyone else who's on thefence about should I create my
own digital products?
(26:41):
Should I create a course?
What advice would you give tosomeone else who's thinking
about creating their own digitalproducts for their brand?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Yeah, I think you know, initially, before I'd
really gotten serious aboutcreating the guide, people would
message me for my recipe,things like that, and at the
very first I kind of had thosefeelings of oh, like if you get
my recipes, you know you'regoing to outsell me or you know
(27:11):
that kind of thing.
But um, it really is sorewarding to see other people
find the success that you haveum with your recipes and your
tips and tricks, like I just Ithink it's been so rewarding and
I've enjoyed it so much to stepinto the role as more of a
teacher and I think it's totallyworth it and it can be
(27:35):
life-changing.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
I love that.
Would you recommend anyone tojoin digital product community?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Oh my gosh, you already know how I feel.
I love you, I'm obsessed withyou.
I'm obsessed with your course.
Um, I think I might've alreadysaid this I listened to a class
every night when I do the dishes, when I go to the gym, I'm
walking on the treadmill, I pullup a class.
I'm currently learning um fromyou, the pro, how to do um
affiliate marketing, and I, I,just, I, a hundred percent
(28:05):
recommend I couldn't have doneit without the support of your
class.
It's just, it has beenlife-changing, life-changing.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
You're amazing and I look forward to seeing the lives
that you change with your newcourse.
You guys, I'm going to link hersocial media page in the show
notes so that you can check outher course, check out her stand
store Of course she's on standand grab her templates.
She puts out new templatesevery single month and, danny,
before I let you go, I just wantto say thank you so much for
(28:35):
sharing your story and yourgrowth and your journey, but I
can't let you go without playinga game of lightning round.
So are you ready?
Okay, I'm ready, let's do it,danny.
What is your favorite color?
Pink, awesome.
What is a dessert you cannotlive without?
Brownies with frosting, amen.
(28:55):
Who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Oh my gosh, that is a very hard one, probably the
Rock.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Oh wow, that's a good one.
That is a good one.
What is your favorite book?
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Oh gosh, I am a huge book nerd, so that is a hard
question.
Probably a book I read back inhigh school pillars of the earth
but I got to tell you I'm stilla huge twilight stand.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, I love that whole series too.
What is your favorite kitchenutensil?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Oh gosh, it's gotta be my pink spatula.
I have a favorite pink spatulaI can't live without.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Okay, I love that All right From the bottom of my
little Southern heart.
Dani, thank you so much forcoming on the Baking for
Business podcast and hanging outwith me today.
It is truly appreciated.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
This has been so fun.
Wow, you guys, how awesome wasit hearing Danny's story.
Special thanks to Danny forjust coming on, for being
authentic and transparent andamazing, and also I definitely
want to thank her for just beinga really wonderful student,
because she was open to gettingfeedback, to allowing me to just
(30:13):
share the ideas I had with herand then watching her own ideas,
her magic, the work that sheput in y'all and she put in
really really great work, likeit was obvious that she's a
teacher and that same detail iswhat she shares in her course.
So if anyone wants to add cakesandwiches to their business,
(30:34):
like I stated, I'm going to puta link in the show notes.
But more than anything, danny'sstory is really just proof that
when you step out in faith,when you face your fears and you
share your knowledge, therewards can be life changing.
In just one week and you heardher say it herself she earned
(30:54):
more than she had in an entireyear of teaching.
So many of my students actuallywent to college.
They're college educated andthey're no longer doing what
they went to school for, becausethey're finding joy and love in
baking and they're taking thatup a notch and now they're
finding joy and love and moreincome in just creating a line
(31:17):
of digital products.
And the truth is she didn'tjust make money.
I mean, although she madeamazing money, she created
impact.
That is what is better thananything.
And then you'll even see sheshares her students.
Now those are people who are.
They're making change in theirbusiness, they're making change
(31:38):
in their communities.
They now have a moneymaker justbecause she decided to open up
and share.
All of us have a tip, a tool,something that we can share,
even if it's something as simpleas a chocolate chip cookie
recipe, or it doesn't even haveto be a recipe.
Maybe it's a template, maybeit's a technique, maybe it's a
style that you do with weddingcakes or that you do with
sourdough.
(31:58):
And in your mind you'rethinking, yeah, but it's so
simple.
It's only simple to you.
It's not simple to the nextperson who needs it and who is
struggling with it.
I know some of you listeners arestill holding on to doubt.
You worry that if you shareyour recipes, well, maybe
they'll take it and they'll runoff and they'll do better than
me.
But y'all please stop thinkinglike that.
(32:19):
It's not going to happen.
And also, it says a lot aboutso many people's thought
processes, because there'snothing wrong with there being
someone on earth who's betterthan you Nine out of 10, you
probably know someone right nowwho's better than you, and
multiple things.
Don't rate yourself like that.
You were amazing.
You were fearfully andwonderfully made.
(32:40):
You are good enough.
It is a wonderful thing to knowof other people who are doing
well, because iron sharpens iron.
You never really want to be thesmartest person in the room, and
then there's other people thatjust feel that they're not
qualified enough to teach.
That's the cool thing aboutdigital products.
You don't have to go to school.
(33:00):
You don't have to be fancy.
All you have to have is twothings.
Number one, a passion andwillingness to help others.
And number two, you just got tohave hands because somebody's
got to type this stuff up andput it out there.
I can give you all the game inthe world, but it's up to you to
take that chance.
And let me just remind you oftwo parables that come to mind,
(33:22):
because I know a lot of people,like I said, that Dani was
really transparent and sharing.
You know she had those thoughts, she felt those things, but
again, she was booked.
She was busy.
There comes a point in timewhere either you're booked and
you cannot take on anymore as asolopreneur, or it's the
opposite.
Maybe you have slow seasons andyou just need something else to
(33:43):
fill in those gaps so that youcan earn extra income.
And one of my favorite parablesis from Matthew 25, verses 14
through 30.
God blesses those who investand multiply what he has given
them.
Hiding your gifts doesn'tprotect you, it limits you.
And then the second line talksabout the parable of the lamp,
(34:05):
meaning that we are to light theworld, and no one lights a lamp
just to hide it under a basket.
That's crazy.
Like God has given you anamazing talent, you're really
good at something.
You have this light that'sshining.
Why limit yourself to justlocal when you could be global?
That is the entire part ofputting your knowledge out there
(34:27):
and getting started withdigital products.
Your knowledge and experiencesare meant to shine and they're
meant to bless others, and youcan't hoard your gifts.
Y'all and y'all know thisbecause y'all know how I feel
about faith you would have neverbeen given a gift if you
couldn't profit and prosper fromit.
And so here's what I want youto take away from this.
(34:48):
The sun is really big enoughfor us all.
Success isn't a pie with limitedslices.
You can sell digital productsand you can still run a thriving
baking business.
In fact, no one's ever sayingto pick.
I think that's one thing peopleget mixed up to, like I have to
drop one to do the other.
No, you do them all.
When you go to the baking forbusiness website, that is the
(35:11):
first sentence that you see onmy website.
It says I'm committed tohelping you create multiple
streams of income.
Multiple streams of income,just like the parable says I can
do all things through Christ,who strengthens me, and then
eventually you can step awayfrom one peel back from another.
But you'll never know how goodyou can be at stepping into the
(35:33):
role of being a digital productseller.
You'll never know how good itcan be on the other side, when
you do start sharing yourrecipes, your templates, your
eBooks or whatever it is thatyou decide if you don't get
started.
And so just think about that,because it's not an either or
choice.
It's an expansion of what'spossible for you.
(35:54):
Why would you put limits onyourself when I know for a fact
God has not put any limits onyou whatsoever.
If this conversation resonatedwith you and you're ready to
start leveraging your expertiseto create passive income, my
digital product community iswhere you need to be Inside.
You'll learn step-by-step howto package your knowledge, build
(36:15):
your confidence, start sellingwith strategy.
You'll get all the tools fromnot just me, but from other five
and six figure bakingentrepreneurs.
You don't have to figure thisout alone.
There is a community of bakersjust like you who are making it
happen.
So if you're tired of watchingfrom the sidelines and you're
ready to make your knowledgework for you, then join us today
(36:37):
.
You can find the link in theshow notes or you can simply DM
me on Instagram at baking forbusiness and just say chef, can
I have the link to join digitalproduct community and I would
love to send it your way.
I pray this story inspires youand motivated you.
I look forward to helping youearn money with your baking gift
(37:00):
, not just digitally, but in anyparticular way that we can do
it legally, y'all, because wewant to shake our cakes legally.
I pray you guys have a blessedday.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
I love you guys all to the moonand back.
Take care.
Bye for now.
And also, if you enjoyed thisepisode, tag me on social media
(37:20):
at bakingforbusiness as well.
I would love to give you ashout out and know that you're
listening and share it with afriend.
Right now, send this episode toa friend and share so that you
can encourage and inspiresomeone else.
All right, you guys.
Bye for now.
Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg.
I started my baking businesswith a bottle of DeSorono 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's going on, you guys?
And welcome back to the Bakingfor Business podcast.
Today I have a special guestwith me.
I am joined by Dani, who is theowner of Dani Cakes, and Dani
Cakes is the queen of cakesandwiches.
(01:05):
You've probably seen her allover your feed, and so today
we're going to talk to her abouthow she built her cake sandwich
business, as well as how shebecame a cake sandwich
instructor and all the coolthings that's been happening in
her life lately.
So, danny, welcome to thepodcast.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Thanks so much for having me on.
I used to listen to you all thetime when I was first getting
started, so this feels like areally big full circle moment
for me.
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I'm so happy to have you here, and so, dani, for
those who may not follow yourpage how did you get started?
What made you initially start,or want to start, your own
baking business in Arizona?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, so I actually decorated my first cake for my
son's first birthday.
I had just quit my job to stayhome and we were adjusting to
living on a single income, so wedidn't have a cake budget at
all and I was like you know what?
I think I can learn how to dothis.
I watched a bunch of YouTubevideos and I started following
(02:08):
some bakers on Instagram and Imade my first cake, which I was
very proud of reading and I justfell in love with it.
(02:30):
Um, and I spent the next fouryears making cakes and
practicing, um, giving them awayfor free, basically, um, just
messaging everybody I knew can Imake you a cake for your
birthday?
Like I saw your son's birthdayscoming up, can I make him a
cake for free?
And then, um, for my, I had mythird baby and on her first
birthday I made her a cake anddessert, whole setup.
It was really beautiful, um,and after her birthday, my
(02:52):
husband was like you've got toopen your business.
It's time.
Four years has been long enough.
Um, you're good, we can startselling these.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Oh, that's awesome, and so it's always a blessing to
have someone to push you, youknow, to believe in you.
Like you said, it was yourhusband.
However, opening a businesssometimes can seem scary.
So what were your initialthoughts?
What was the turning point thatsaid, okay, I should do this, I
should start a cottage bakingbusiness okay, I should do this,
(03:25):
I should start a cottage bakingbusiness.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, I was.
I was very, very nervous.
I think I was scared ofrejection more than actually
starting the business, startingall the paperwork and everything
Like I felt I did all of thatand then I doing that first post
to say I'm here, this is mybusiness, I'm selling cakes.
I was very, very nervous to dothat, but I had a lot of support
from all the people I've beengiving cakes to for free all
(03:51):
these years and I felt verysupported by my family and my
community and, yeah, I just kindof went for it at the end of
the day.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
That's really a blessing.
And so, in the early days, whatwas your menu?
What did your menu consist of?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So my very first menu I posted and it's kind of funny
looking back.
I think I did a little bit ofeverything.
I did not offer cake sandwiches.
At first I was really excitedto do birthday cakes and
celebration cakes, and then Ialso offered cake pops, cupcakes
and sugar cookies.
A couple months in I realizedI'd made a mistake and I scaled
(04:32):
back and I just was offeringcakes.
I wasn't a fully booked bakeryright away either, so I had some
time to kind of make thoseadjustments.
I had maybe like one cake aweek to kind of make those
adjustments.
I had maybe like one cake aweek.
Um, and when things reallystarted to change for me and I
really updated my menu was whenI started making the cake
sandwiches and they quickly wentviral and I realized I I'm onto
(04:56):
something here and I've kind ofum, I think I opened my bakery
in August of 2023.
And by December I started tojust do cake sandwiches.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Was that a tough turning point?
Because sometimes bakers, theydo start off like you.
They start off doing all thethings because they think, well,
if I offer more, I'll attractmore as far as just diving in.
And so what was it that madeyou say, or that made you
comfortable with, no, I'm justgoing to go in with cake
sandwiches.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
So I think what happened was I actually burned
myself out that Baker burnout, Ithink we've all kind of
probably gotten there a time ortwo.
I was really excited to startthis new business and like
reenter the workforce afterbeing home with my kids, and
this was such a greatopportunity right Cause I got to
stay home with my kids while Idid this.
(05:48):
But I basically started outadvertising I'm doing cakes, I'm
doing cookies, um, and thenwhen I started cake sandwiches I
think it was in September Iopened in August.
September, I think October waswhen I started doing farmer's
markets with my cake sandwiches.
So during the week I was doingcakes and then on the weekends I
was doing farmer's markets.
(06:11):
And by Christmas time was when Iwas doing three things I was
doing custom cakes, cakesandwich, farmer's markets and I
opened my little cake sandwichstand in the mall markets.
And I opened my little cakesandwich stand in the mall and I
remember it was like rightbefore Christmas I worked a 22
hour day just to keep up withall the orders that I hadn't
(06:33):
said no to any orders.
You know what I mean.
I took everything.
And so I worked a 22 hour day,I slept for three hours and then
I went to go refill my mallshelf and on the drive to the
mall shelf I remember calling myhusband and I was like we might
have to close the business downand he was like we don't need
to close.
We were, you know, we don't needto quit, we just need to scale
(06:54):
back.
Let's take something off yourplate, because in the beginning
it was really exciting, like Ifelt, so like honored, that
people were choosing me to maketheir cakes and I didn't know
how to say no, I guess, andappropriately schedule my time.
So it was kind of a learningcurve.
You get burned out and yourealize I need to change how I'm
(07:16):
scheduling everything formyself.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah, and kudos to you for admitting that, because
you're not the only one, becausea lot of times as bakers, I
hate to say the word peoplepleaser, but I'd rather say big
hearted, because sometimes wehave a big heart and we don't
want to tell someone no, yes.
And so, looking back, do youregret not being as firm or
(07:40):
setting back?
Because working 22 hours onlyoff of three hours of sleep,
that's cutting it really close.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Um, I think my biggest regret was I mean, I
kind of have the personalitywhere I think I can do it all.
You tell me I have this andthis and this and this do in one
day and I think in my head Ican do that.
You know what I mean?
Um, I think my biggest regretwas that it was around the
holidays so I did miss out onsome of those holiday activities
(08:08):
with my kids, and that's when Irealized I need to change this
so it's sustainable for my life.
But you know, I don'tnecessarily regret taking those
orders on.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I have one order that still haunts me to this day,
but everything else so how wasit diving deep into the cake
sandwiches, cutting the otherthings off and just dive it in
and go on with cake sandwiches?
How did that start to look foryou?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, so, um, it was actually really, it was really
amazing.
So I was doing the farmer'smarkets.
Um, selling cake sandwiches andit's farmer's markets can be
very hit or miss, right, evenwhen you have great advertising
and videos go viral.
Um, sometimes you're going tosell out and sometimes you're
going to sell like 10, you justdon't know.
Um, and then at one of mymarkets that I did, I was
(09:06):
approached by a woman who owneda boutique in the mall that
hosts small businesses and shesaid you know, I would love for
you to come sell out of my store.
And when I started to sell outof the store, I was able to.
At first it was kind of crazy,right, I was dropping off cakes
at random times, but slowly Irealized the benefit of getting
(09:28):
into a schedule and I was reallyable to schedule out my days
like almost like a regular job.
So, like my days would beshopping for all the ingredients
, tuesdays would be prep,wednesdays would be I would bake
sample cakes and do videos andpictures, thursday is my baking
and packaging day, and thenFriday I could drop it off.
(09:50):
And then getting on thatschedule also made my sales
really predictable to mycustomers too, and they were
able to start.
They knew, okay, every Fridayshe's restocking her fridge and
it just started to flow verynaturally, like it all just kind
of happened very organically.
Yeah, it was great.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I love that you have a schedule, because you would be
shocked how many bakersactually don't.
And I love that actualbreakdown of shop prep produce
you know, then promote andactually push the products out
there.
So that's pretty awesome.
With having your cakesandwiches in a store location,
(10:34):
did you find that easier thanjust having to market them
yourself?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, yeah, in a lot of ways, especially around the
holidays, people are just goingto stores more, and so you're
getting that foot traffic ofpeople stumbling across your
fridge.
And I did paint it like hotpink so it was very eye-catching
and people were, you know,finding me that way, so that was
very beneficial and, yeah, Ithink it's more convenient for
(11:04):
my customers too than having togo to a bunch of little random
farmer's markets, to just stayin one spot, and I think that
really helped with my sales.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
I love that I have an earlier episode I'll link to it
but where I talk aboutalternatives to a storefront,
and being in a mall is one ofthem, and a lot of people don't
realize it, but you can actuallyrent out space at a kiosk or,
you know, you can be in the mall, a place that already has that
foot traffic, and the expensesand the overhead are so much
(11:35):
less than just you know, havingto get your own storefront or do
something else.
I love the fact that youthought outside the box with
where to actually put your cakesandwiches and so, after doing
cake sandwiches for a while, youstarted offering classes,
correct?
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah.
So that's yes.
It's been very, very exciting.
I think the most common messageI was getting on Instagram,
Facebook, TikTok was notactually from customers asking
me where are you located.
It was other bakers who weresaying, hey, I want to do this
too, and over time I realizedthere's a really big market for
(12:13):
other bakers that want to dothis, and it did take me a while
.
I definitely had some fear aboutsharing my recipe with other
bakers because I did not go toculinary school very much
self-taught.
But once I got over that, thenI realized like this could be
beneficial for a lot of peopleand I can only serve so many
(12:37):
people in my community and Ithink it took me a while to get
my guide out there to startselling my cake classes, because
in the beginning I was likewhere is this gonna go?
Am I gonna start shipping?
Am I gonna open a storefront?
And then I realized that's notwhy I started this.
I started this so I could havethe flexibility to be with my
(12:57):
kids and do this from my home,and so I can only serve you know
my town in Arizona, so I'mgoing to share the recipe out
and, yeah, it's been so great.
I have been blown away by allmy new cake friends I've made
through sharing my classes.
It's been so fun.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I think it's empowering.
A lot of times people don'trealize how empowering it is
when you can look and you canactually see like I've helped
another individual to have askill set that has allowed them
to make money in their familyand in their home.
And it's like you said, you canonly service your town so much.
So I love the fact that youactually decided to put your
(13:41):
classes out there.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
And so tell us about.
For those who are unfamiliar,tell us about your, your course.
Yes, so I have a couple ofthings going in my course.
I share all because cakesandwiches are this new trend
and I've kind of found all thedifferent resources they have
out there, the best materials touse, the pans and the piping
bottles.
So I start off with all thetips and tricks, the materials
(14:10):
you would need and where you canpurchase them, and then I also
have video tutorials for everysingle step, which I thought
would be very helpful.
I know a lot of my little cakefriends who have purchased the
course are beginner bakers orjust hobby bakers doing it for
fun.
So I want to make sure there'sthe videos for beginners.
And then I also share myrecipes.
(14:32):
There's a template to get youstarted, just everything you
would need to be able to dostart your own making your own
cake sandwiches and besuccessful.
I've included everything intothe guide.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I love that you mentioned at first, because it's
nice to see you light up whenyou talk about your guide and
your class and all the thingsthat you do share.
I also know that you're alsoinside of digital product
community and so you mentionedearlier just having that fear of
(15:07):
wondering.
You know, should I share thesethings with people?
And that's one thing that I'malways teaching bakers is that
you should scale, you shouldoffer digital products.
You know you should put yourthings out there.
So are there any particulartools that have helped you?
Is there any resource oranything that has really helped
you to actually push your guideout there.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yeah, definitely your class.
I am very, very obsessed.
I listened to your courses.
At every night when I do thedishes, I listen.
I re-listened to one of yourcourses just for the reminders
of everything that you teach init.
I definitely very much.
When I came to you to ask forhelp and I got into your course,
(15:49):
I had no idea.
No idea what to do.
I was just going to put a linkin my bio and call it good and
definitely just everything thatyou've taught us in your digital
product course about gettingyour products out there and
marketing and advertising stuffthat I had never learned about
before was so, so valuable to me.
(16:11):
Honestly, a gold mine.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
You're so sweet and I remember you remind me of a lot
of people because I know whenwe first met and you talked
about your guide, you were likeyou know, I'm going to price the
guide at 15.
And I was like, whoa, this is alot of knowledge Because, like
you said, you have you guys,I've been blessed to actually
see her course.
I'm definitely going torecommend you check it out if
you want to add it to yourbaking repertoire, because she
(16:35):
has step by step videos, she hastemplates and there's so many
things.
But you initially wanted toprice it at like 15 bucks, right
, and I was like, no, that's waytoo low, that's awesome.
So you launched your course andyour first week you ended up
selling over 700.
(16:56):
Yes, that is amazing.
So how did that?
How did that feel?
First of all, trusting astranger on the internet to tell
you no, raise the price, you'regoing to do five figures, I
know it.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Um, I remember you told me you were like, I think
if you, if we do this and youprice it this way, you're going
to make you know X amount ofmoney.
And I was sitting there yousaid, how does that sound?
And in my head I was sittingthere you said, how does that
sound?
And in my head I was goingthat's not going to happen.
There's no way I'm making thatmuch money, like.
And I was like, sounds good.
(17:30):
But in my head I was like, oh,I'm not making that much money,
you know, um.
And then when it startedhappening, I remember um, we, I
think we Instagram messaged umand I told you how it was going
that first morning and, oh mygosh, yeah, I shed a lot of
tears over the success of thecourse.
(17:50):
It still doesn't feel real atall.
I was an elementary schoolteacher before this, so I'm not
used to making a lot of moneyand I feel very, very, very
blessed and grateful toeverybody who's trusted me in
purchasing my course.
I just feel so, so grateful tothem for trusting me to help
(18:14):
them along their cake journey.
It's been a wild ride, that'sawesome.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
That's such a blessing, right?
That's awesome, that's such ablessing.
And without getting into it,because your numbers are
personal, but just to share, Iknow you messaged me that you
made more in one week than youdid in a full year of teaching.
How did that feel?
Because I know my course is acouple hundred dollars and
(18:38):
sometimes people are like Idon't know if I should invest
that, but you literally spentthousands going to college and
made more in one week than afull year of teaching.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yes, it doesn't feel real.
I gotta be honest with you.
I have not touched the moneyyet.
I'm a little bit scared.
I don't think I've shared thiswith you yet, but um, and I hope
I can share this withoutgetting too emotional.
But my husband has alwayssupported me through my
classroom when I was teaching.
He funded all my classroomprojects and my books and my
(19:14):
shelves.
You know, teachers have tobring all their own supplies to
their classroom.
And then I said I really wantto stay home with the kids.
And again he's like we're goingto make it work.
I'm going to work overtime soyou can do this.
You can stay home with the kids.
And then I said I now want toopen a home bakery, and he
supported me in that.
This entire time, since he was19 years old, he's been driving
(19:37):
the same beat up pickup truck,and when I tell you it's beat up
, it's falling apart, he's gluedthings in himself back together
, it's got a window down, and soone of my, I guess, like secret
goals was if I can, if I can dothis and I can make money, I
want to buy him a new truck, andso that's something that I'm
(20:01):
looking forward to doing.
I think it's going to happenand I'm really, really excited
because he's always provided forus and I just want to give back
to him.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Absolutely, girl.
It's a blessing, it's mindblowing.
And how you feel?
When I first started, there wasno one to help me.
There was no one to say, hey,do this in your digital course
or do that in your digitalcourse.
So when I decided to teach, Iwas like, okay, if I could help
(20:33):
other people have the samefinancial freedom that I've had
with digital products.
It literally is life-changing,because I mean you can go buy a
car right off the lot right nowif you want to, but if not, you
know it's up to you to justgenerate that type of income.
It really does change lives,and not just with the course,
but you also sell your templatesseparate, which is pretty cool
as well, yes, yes, that's beenso fun and that's going to be
(20:59):
really exciting.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I've always been very creative, like maybe not so
much a businesswoman, but acreative spirit, and I like
creating and making things, andso the fun thing about the
templates is I can always comeup with new themes or new
designs or new holiday packs.
It's something that can keepgoing.
It's a great creative outletfor me, but it's also super
(21:23):
helpful for people who want tomake cake sandwiches or make the
same cake sandwiches I'm making, because it takes away the
guesswork for them, um, and wecan all benefit from it,
basically.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Absolutely, and one of your templates or one of your
designs.
You did a Lisa Frank design andshe actually reshared it.
How cool did that feel?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Oh my gosh, I have always loved, loved, lisa Frank.
I growing up I had all thefolders and everything, so that
was an amazing feeling.
Um, I just love the Lisa Frankartwork and it was really fun to
be able to make that cake andsee her repost that.
It felt like just amazing,that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
All of your sales and all of your support has come
off of social media, andsometimes we get upset with
social media.
We blame the algorithm, but Ialways tell people social media
is a gift, because it canliterally put you in front of
thousands of people in the worldthat you may not have ever met
before.
And so how important of a roledoes social media play in your
(22:30):
business?
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Yeah.
So I would say when I firststarted out, I had about 200
followers pretty steadily atthat 200 follower mark, at that
200 follower mark, um and Iswitched to making videos of my
products, um, instead of thosestatic posts, just the photo
post, and I started posting onTik TOK and I I was amazed by um
(22:56):
, the views and the positivefeedback and the followers that
came from putting yourself outthere with your video post and,
and once that started happening,I kind of committed now, I'm
not perfect at this, but Icommitted I want to post every
single day at least one post,and so social media is a pretty
(23:16):
big part of my business and it'sactually been something that I
have really, really learned tolove, even even more than the
baking.
I actually really loveproducing and coming up with and
making these videos.
It is just so fun, it reallycalls to me something about it,
and so I really enjoy doing it.
Um, and I think, if, if there'sany other bakers that can do
(23:41):
this, I would.
I had a specific day when I wasbaking every thing, when I had
my cake sandwiches.
I was baking every single day.
Every Wednesday was video dayand I would try to film my
videos enough videos to get methrough a whole week of content,
because if you're filming everysingle day, you're going to get
burned out of it.
(24:01):
You know what I mean.
If you're filming every singleday, you're going to get burned
out of it.
You know what I mean.
So that's kind of what I stilltry to do is try to film all my
little cake videos andeverything in one day and then
that gives me content to postfor the rest of the week.
Um and I, I just love it and Ilove the community I found on
social media, um, I started aFacebook group, um, for people
who purchased my cake guide.
We have a Facebook communitynow and we're just getting
(24:23):
started.
We're already up to 500 membersand it's been very, very
rewarding to get to see, um,everybody's cakes that they're
sharing.
Yeah, I, I really love socialmedia.
It's been a huge, huge, hugeblessing, um, and I can still
remember, I think, the firstvideo that ever went viral.
I made a hello kitty cake, um,and it it shot off.
(24:44):
It went viral across allplatforms, and now I love Hello
Kitty too.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Hello Kitty is my favorite girl.
Hello Kitty is adorable.
And now what a blessing because, like you said, you have your
own private community for thosewho buy your cake sandwich
masterclass.
And how awesome is that to seeall of your.
You have hundreds of studentsnow sharing their pictures of
what they have been able to makefrom taking your course.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, I feel like a proud mom Every time I open it
and I see the pictures.
It is so, so, so fun and Ithink, um, before I launched my
course and my guide and all ofthis, I had a lot of fear
associated with.
Like this is kind of scary.
It's a new thing and I neverreally thought about how
(25:36):
rewarding it was going to feelto see everybody's success, like
now I have.
There's nothing I want morethan to see everybody who buys
my guide find that success andbe successful and get to make,
have fun making these cakesandwiches.
It's like it's the best feelingto see all their pictures and
things.
Like I, I couldn't have thoughtthat I was going to love it as
much as I did as I do.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
You're going to make me cry.
Now you know how I feelwatching you.
That's exactly right.
I was like I can't believeshe's my student.
She's doing so amazeballs.
And when you told me that firstweek you sold over 700 courses,
I was like get out of town.
I just wanted to scream.
I told my husband and here'sthe crazy thing that when I
(26:20):
first started, you know like Imade great money.
But to see you guys make goodmoney, that's what it's all
about, because you get to skipall of those years of mistakes
and things that I didn't know.
You just go straight to havingsuccess and I love that.
For anyone else who's on thefence about should I create my
own digital products?
(26:41):
Should I create a course?
What advice would you give tosomeone else who's thinking
about creating their own digitalproducts for their brand?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Yeah, I think you know, initially, before I'd
really gotten serious aboutcreating the guide, people would
message me for my recipe,things like that, and at the
very first I kind of had thosefeelings of oh, like if you get
my recipes, you know you'regoing to outsell me or you know
(27:11):
that kind of thing.
But um, it really is sorewarding to see other people
find the success that you haveum with your recipes and your
tips and tricks, like I just Ithink it's been so rewarding and
I've enjoyed it so much to stepinto the role as more of a
teacher and I think it's totallyworth it and it can be
(27:35):
life-changing.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
I love that.
Would you recommend anyone tojoin digital product community?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Oh my gosh, you already know how I feel.
I love you, I'm obsessed withyou.
I'm obsessed with your course.
Um, I think I might've alreadysaid this I listened to a class
every night when I do the dishes, when I go to the gym, I'm
walking on the treadmill, I pullup a class.
I'm currently learning um fromyou, the pro, how to do um
affiliate marketing, and I, I,just, I, a hundred percent
(28:05):
recommend I couldn't have doneit without the support of your
class.
It's just, it has beenlife-changing, life-changing.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
You're amazing and I look forward to seeing the lives
that you change with your newcourse.
You guys, I'm going to link hersocial media page in the show
notes so that you can check outher course, check out her stand
store Of course she's on standand grab her templates.
She puts out new templatesevery single month and, danny,
before I let you go, I just wantto say thank you so much for
(28:35):
sharing your story and yourgrowth and your journey, but I
can't let you go without playinga game of lightning round.
So are you ready?
Okay, I'm ready, let's do it,danny.
What is your favorite color?
Pink, awesome.
What is a dessert you cannotlive without?
Brownies with frosting, amen.
(28:55):
Who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Oh my gosh, that is a very hard one, probably the
Rock.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Oh wow, that's a good one.
That is a good one.
What is your favorite book?
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Oh gosh, I am a huge book nerd, so that is a hard
question.
Probably a book I read back inhigh school pillars of the earth
but I got to tell you I'm stilla huge twilight stand.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, I love that whole series too.
What is your favorite kitchenutensil?
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Oh gosh, it's gotta be my pink spatula.
I have a favorite pink spatulaI can't live without.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Okay, I love that All right From the bottom of my
little Southern heart.
Dani, thank you so much forcoming on the Baking for
Business podcast and hanging outwith me today.
It is truly appreciated.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
This has been so fun.
Wow, you guys, how awesome wasit hearing Danny's story.
Special thanks to Danny forjust coming on, for being
authentic and transparent andamazing, and also I definitely
want to thank her for just beinga really wonderful student,
because she was open to gettingfeedback, to allowing me to just
(30:13):
share the ideas I had with herand then watching her own ideas,
her magic, the work that sheput in y'all and she put in
really really great work, likeit was obvious that she's a
teacher and that same detail iswhat she shares in her course.
So if anyone wants to add cakesandwiches to their business,
(30:34):
like I stated, I'm going to puta link in the show notes.
But more than anything, danny'sstory is really just proof that
when you step out in faith,when you face your fears and you
share your knowledge, therewards can be life changing.
In just one week and you heardher say it herself she earned
(30:54):
more than she had in an entireyear of teaching.
So many of my students actuallywent to college.
They're college educated andthey're no longer doing what
they went to school for, becausethey're finding joy and love in
baking and they're taking thatup a notch and now they're
finding joy and love and moreincome in just creating a line
(31:17):
of digital products.
And the truth is she didn'tjust make money.
I mean, although she madeamazing money, she created
impact.
That is what is better thananything.
And then you'll even see sheshares her students.
Now those are people who are.
They're making change in theirbusiness, they're making change
(31:38):
in their communities.
They now have a moneymaker justbecause she decided to open up
and share.
All of us have a tip, a tool,something that we can share,
even if it's something as simpleas a chocolate chip cookie
recipe, or it doesn't even haveto be a recipe.
Maybe it's a template, maybeit's a technique, maybe it's a
style that you do with weddingcakes or that you do with
sourdough.
(31:58):
And in your mind you'rethinking, yeah, but it's so
simple.
It's only simple to you.
It's not simple to the nextperson who needs it and who is
struggling with it.
I know some of you listeners arestill holding on to doubt.
You worry that if you shareyour recipes, well, maybe
they'll take it and they'll runoff and they'll do better than
me.
But y'all please stop thinkinglike that.
(32:19):
It's not going to happen.
And also, it says a lot aboutso many people's thought
processes, because there'snothing wrong with there being
someone on earth who's betterthan you Nine out of 10, you
probably know someone right nowwho's better than you, and
multiple things.
Don't rate yourself like that.
You were amazing.
You were fearfully andwonderfully made.
(32:40):
You are good enough.
It is a wonderful thing to knowof other people who are doing
well, because iron sharpens iron.
You never really want to be thesmartest person in the room, and
then there's other people thatjust feel that they're not
qualified enough to teach.
That's the cool thing aboutdigital products.
You don't have to go to school.
(33:00):
You don't have to be fancy.
All you have to have is twothings.
Number one, a passion andwillingness to help others.
And number two, you just got tohave hands because somebody's
got to type this stuff up andput it out there.
I can give you all the game inthe world, but it's up to you to
take that chance.
And let me just remind you oftwo parables that come to mind,
(33:22):
because I know a lot of people,like I said, that Dani was
really transparent and sharing.
You know she had those thoughts, she felt those things, but
again, she was booked.
She was busy.
There comes a point in timewhere either you're booked and
you cannot take on anymore as asolopreneur, or it's the
opposite.
Maybe you have slow seasons andyou just need something else to
(33:43):
fill in those gaps so that youcan earn extra income.
And one of my favorite parablesis from Matthew 25, verses 14
through 30.
God blesses those who investand multiply what he has given
them.
Hiding your gifts doesn'tprotect you, it limits you.
And then the second line talksabout the parable of the lamp,
(34:05):
meaning that we are to light theworld, and no one lights a lamp
just to hide it under a basket.
That's crazy.
Like God has given you anamazing talent, you're really
good at something.
You have this light that'sshining.
Why limit yourself to justlocal when you could be global?
That is the entire part ofputting your knowledge out there
(34:27):
and getting started withdigital products.
Your knowledge and experiencesare meant to shine and they're
meant to bless others, and youcan't hoard your gifts.
Y'all and y'all know thisbecause y'all know how I feel
about faith you would have neverbeen given a gift if you
couldn't profit and prosper fromit.
And so here's what I want youto take away from this.
(34:48):
The sun is really big enoughfor us all.
Success isn't a pie with limitedslices.
You can sell digital productsand you can still run a thriving
baking business.
In fact, no one's ever sayingto pick.
I think that's one thing peopleget mixed up to, like I have to
drop one to do the other.
No, you do them all.
When you go to the baking forbusiness website, that is the
(35:11):
first sentence that you see onmy website.
It says I'm committed tohelping you create multiple
streams of income.
Multiple streams of income,just like the parable says I can
do all things through Christ,who strengthens me, and then
eventually you can step awayfrom one peel back from another.
But you'll never know how goodyou can be at stepping into the
(35:33):
role of being a digital productseller.
You'll never know how good itcan be on the other side, when
you do start sharing yourrecipes, your templates, your
eBooks or whatever it is thatyou decide if you don't get
started.
And so just think about that,because it's not an either or
choice.
It's an expansion of what'spossible for you.
(35:54):
Why would you put limits onyourself when I know for a fact
God has not put any limits onyou whatsoever.
If this conversation resonatedwith you and you're ready to
start leveraging your expertiseto create passive income, my
digital product community iswhere you need to be Inside.
You'll learn step-by-step howto package your knowledge, build
(36:15):
your confidence, start sellingwith strategy.
You'll get all the tools fromnot just me, but from other five
and six figure bakingentrepreneurs.
You don't have to figure thisout alone.
There is a community of bakersjust like you who are making it
happen.
So if you're tired of watchingfrom the sidelines and you're
ready to make your knowledgework for you, then join us today
(36:37):
.
You can find the link in theshow notes or you can simply DM
me on Instagram at baking forbusiness and just say chef, can
I have the link to join digitalproduct community and I would
love to send it your way.
I pray this story inspires youand motivated you.
I look forward to helping youearn money with your baking gift
(37:00):
, not just digitally, but in anyparticular way that we can do
it legally, y'all, because wewant to shake our cakes legally.
I pray you guys have a blessedday.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
I love you guys all to the moonand back.
Take care.
Bye for now.
And also, if you enjoyed thisepisode, tag me on social media
(37:20):
at bakingforbusiness as well.
I would love to give you ashout out and know that you're
listening and share it with afriend.
Right now, send this episode toa friend and share so that you
can encourage and inspiresomeone else.
All right, you guys.
Bye for now.
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