The Business of Cake: Sprinkled Sweetness

What’s it like running your own cake business, and how do you balance all that sugar with real life? I sat down with Tatiana Wingate of Sprinkled Sweetness to talk about these things and more.

Tatiana started her first business at age 19 in 2007. Since then, she’s learned a lot. These days you can find her baking up amazing custom cakes for her Sprinkled Sweetness customers and teaching kids about entrepreneurship through her non-profit organization Sprinkled Sweetness Academy.

Read on to find out how Tatiana got her start, the most important thing she learned in business school, and how she survived a cake delivery gone wrong!

So you started your pastry business at the age of 19, what was that like?

I had no idea what I was doing! At the time my son was about to have his second birthday, and he was obsessed with Spongebob. So I looked up how to do a Spongebob cake and said I think I can do this. Then I started baking for friends and family and it grew from there, I had no clue I would make a career out of it.

Then you pursued further education, both from the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College as well as a degree in Business Administration and Small Business Entrepreneurship. Why did you decide to take that path?

I wanted to prove that I could do it, I wanted to do it for my family and my son. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. There are a lot of ways now that you can learn to do it online or with shorter classes, you can also get a mentor and learn from them. Honestly, if you can figure out how to start your business without taking out huge student loans, do it.

So you recognize that there are different ways to learn entrepreneurship. What was the most important thing you got out of going to school for it?

I learned marketing, which is a big thing. How to scale your business and finding your idea client. Oh, and the accounting, the number crunching, that part is super important. You want to be able to look at your business and see if you’re actually making a profit.

Can you tell me more about your marketing strategy?

I use a lot of social media. But I would rather grow slowly and organically with a tribe that is loyal than just have a bunch of followers. On Sundays I plan out my social media and I use Planoly to plan my posts. I’ll plan out what quotes I want to use or what captions to write. I still post organically when I’m excited about a cake that I’m working on, but I also put a good amount of research into things like how to use hashtags, how to take good quality photos, and stuff like that. I learned from interacting with my audience that they love bright, beautifully curated photos, so I give them what they want. This strategy along with personal engagement converts followers into clients.

Yeah, I really love your Instagram posts, you’re always so positive and inspiring. How do you stay so positive?

Part of it comes from having some negative experiences in life. I just decided to stay positive. If you put that positive energy out, you’ll get it back. It’ll ooze into every part of your life.

And you’re also doing some really cool educational things for kids. Can you tell me about Sprinkled Sweetness Academy?

I was trying to connect the two things that I’m passionate about; cakes and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is popping up everywhere, and what kids don’t want to decorate a cake? So the main group is ages 10-14, and we teach them things like what a sole proprietorship is and what an LLC is. Then we have them do a mock bake sale with play money. They get a set amount of money in the beginning, then they have to buy their ingredients, decorate their cakes, and figure out how to price them to make a profit. They end up having so much fun they don’t realize they’re learning.

And you’re also starting some health and wellness workshops as well, how is that going?

It’s going really well. The first class we did with just a few ladies, but the second one we had a lot more. I’ve partnered with my best friend who’s an amazing chef and we’re teaching women ways to make foods that are both healthy and attractive.

That’s something I think is really important, especially for people working in the food industry. And I’ve had a hard time with making desserts but still trying to be healthy. How do you balance desserts and health?

That was a big thing I was conflicted with for a while. I really felt like a fraud, but I realized the truth is having a slice of cake at a wedding is not going to ruin your diet. You have to remember that you’re providing desserts for special occasions, not feeding people sugar every single day.

What’s your favorite technique or part of the baking process?

I love buttercream, I love seeing how far I can push myself without using fondant.

And what kind of buttercream do you make?

I make a standard american buttercream. I suggest in investing in a really good vanilla, it really makes all the difference.

Can you tell me about your biggest baking fail?

My biggest baking fail was in 2014, a 5 tier wedding cake, but the top two tiers were dummies. I remember it was a Saturday and I had to work my regular baking job, so my mom was going to deliver the cake. We had to borrow a car from our neighbor because the cake was so big. I was so worried at work waiting to hear that the cake was delivered. Then over the loudspeaker in the kitchen they called me. When I heard that my heart sank. I knew it was bad that they bypassed my cell phone and called directly to my work.The cake had fallen over, completely toppled over in the car. And this was back when I couldn’t decorate that quickly.

OMGGGG. So what did you do?

The head baker where I was working found cakes, a different flavor, but the same size and in 40 minutes we got an exact replica made. I even got it delivered on time. That fail taught me a lesson in structuring. The dowels in the cake have to be even to make sure the structure is sound. You really have to make sure each tier is perfectly level. Like seriously, go to Home Depot, buy a level, and double check every tier to make sure it’s perfect.

So what’s the ultimate lesson here? How do you take on big projects if you haven’t done anything like it before?

Definitely take risks, but don’t go overboard. Don’t be afraid to turn something down if you’re not confident enough yet. And be very transparent with the client about your abilities.

And this an example of something real, versus the kind of “highlight reel” you get from a lot of small businesses on social media. I think things can be overly romanticized, but what’s the real deal?

The real deal is it’s not for everyone.

And how would you advise someone who’s trying to figure that out, whether or not it’s a good fit for them?

I would tell them how many hours I work, and how many hours I sleep. I’d ask are you so passionate that you would make cakes for free? When it’s 3AM and you’re rolling fondant, you have to be really passionate about it. It’s a very rewarding job but it takes some grit.

If you could go back to when you were starting and give yourself one piece of advice what would it be?

I would tell myself to figure out my worth and to walk away from cakes where I felt like I was getting the short end of the stick. This is the thing I love more than anything, and if you don’t charge your worth, then you start realize you’re doing it for nothing and you fall out of love.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell aspiring bakers?

If you love it, if you like it, just try. Be fearless. Don’t worry about friends and family. People thought I was crazy. Don’t be afraid to skin your knees. If you don’t put yourself out there you’ll never know what you can do. If you don’t know how to do something, there’s so many ways you can learn.