Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Smith.
Hi Andrea , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve been in love with baking, art, and creating in general for as long as I can remember. I went to school for baking and pastry arts right out of highschool and quickly got my degree. From there I worked as the head decorator for another local bakery that unfortunately closed down during Covid and could not reopen. The owner was incredible and set me up for success during that time to be able to start my own home based baking business!
I was newly engaged, pregnant, had just moved to a new apartment, lost my job, and was navigating the covid shutdown all at the same time… I had no choice but to be successful in my own business!
I spent the rest of my pregnancy/covid time being as creative as I could- experimenting with absolutely everything to build exactly the business that I wanted. I got the name; Violet flour bakes, from my daughter whose birth flower is a violet. She was my motivation for it all.
The following years I managed other local bakeries while running my home baking business as a side gig. Eventually I had another baby and decided to persue my own business full time to have more time with my family.
In the last almost year since going full time I’ve grown exponentially- fulling booking up with dream wedding cakes, opening a retail spot in a local vendor market, and now hosting cake decorating experiences created with the intention of giving other moms and women in general a place to create and connect.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been far from a smooth road. My biggest struggles have been learning how to find a balance with work and family life, rising inflation and the insane cost of ingredients and supplies, and fighting burn out.
Building a business while raising young kids is far from easy and finding a balance has been very difficult. Every day is different so I’ve learned to tackle it one day at a time!
Ingredient and supply costs and shortages have been another huge obstacle for me. It is such a difficult financial time for a lot of people right now so often times I am out of budget for potential clients because of how high my costs are to do business.
Fighting burnout has also been a challenge because I started my business during such a difficult time. It has taken months and months of 7am-midnight or later work days without any days off in sight just to make things work. I’ve learned that carving out little moments for myself is not optional and that self care has to happen in order to be successful and keep momentum.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in custom wedding and event cakes, curated desserts, and cake decorating experiences. I am known most for my wedding cake designs- especially my viral 7 foot long cakes! I am most proud of my cake decorating experiences. They are more than an average cake decorating class…. They are cake decorating experiences! They offer a space for guests to dress up, create, connect, enjoy curated refreshments and music, ask questions, and receive professional photos of their work. What sets me apart is my creativity and ambition.. I never stop creating and surpassing my goals while creating new ones at the same time. I love experimenting with new flavors and unique designs.
How do you think about luck?
Honestly, I think a lot of people would think that I am successful due to having good luck. But I’ve had quite the opposite. I had a few videos reach millions of people on social media and got a lot of comments saying how lucky I am to be doing what I do and so good at it. But what those people didn’t see was all of the obstacles I had to come along the way. They didn’t see the woman who decorated cakes at 3am after feeding a newborn and then got up to go to another job… they saw the woman that those obstacles created. What appears to be good luck was really just a lot of hard work over years and years without giving up when the luck was bad.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.violetflourbakes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/violet.flour.bakes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18k3iCbFa2/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@violet.flour.bakes
