We recently connected with Cailie Derifield and have shared our conversation below.

Cailie, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

In 2022 I opened a beautiful bakery. It was everything I’ve ever dreamed of. But I had to close the doors down within a year. To this day I don’t consider it a fail but some may. I chose the wrong business partner. She tanked our whole set up. Diving in to a business and building along side someone you think is trustworthy, then realizing it was the wrong decision, was one of the biggest set backs I’ve endured. After I closed the doors, took over our loan payments and felt absolutely defeated, I resurfaced!!!
My baking career wasn’t going to end because of a crappy human. I then bought my first freeze dryer and became Candied & Caked by Cailie!!! I started signing up for vendor events and craft fairs and my new business took off!!!

Cailie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi everyone!! My name is Cailie said like Kaylee. I’m an entrepreneur to say the least! I own 3 businesses but run 5! My main career is my baking career which I steadily enjoy! I also own a tattoo shop called Time Bomb Ink Tattoos in Blaine, MN, an armwrestling promotional company called BombSquad Armwrestling and then I also sell Scentsy and Thrive!
I really love all my businesses but baking is where my heart is! I make all the treats! From freeze dried candies to custom cakes to innovative treats such as the viral Dubai Bars and more! I love making people smile. One of my new fun endeavors has been fresh, gourmet lemonades!! I have been booking events and fairs with my fresh squeezed lemonades topped with freeze dried candies!! People love them! It’s been such a huge hit! You can catch me at your local county fair or craft fairs through out the whole summer! I even do farmer’s markets! This summer I’ll be at the Zimmerman and Isanti farmer’s markets weekly so you can catch a fresh lemonade at either event!!

I believe my motivation and resilience set me aside from others. I never quit. I’m always busting my behind for my family! My husband and I are the best team I’ve ever seen. We communicate and solve problems together. We conquer as a team! It’s really nice to have such a great partner in life. He is my everything. We have branded ourselves as a power couple. Our brand is the Bomb brand. We have Time Bomb Ink, BombSquad, my candy line is even named after bombs and such. People know my products and the quality of them are the BOMB!! Ha!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

2021 I opened a beautiful bakery! It was my dream. I put a lot of hours and dedication into this bakery to make it perfect. Unfortunately I had a business partner that wasn’t on the same page. She did a lot to destroy our dream. And I closed the doors in 2023. I had to pivot. I was NOT going to give up on my dream or let someone destroy what I worked so hard for.
I pivoted to opening my own bakery all by myself. Within a couple months I purchased some things, including a freeze dryer, and started my own candy company!
Within 2 years I now host cake classes, cater weddings and events, am a full time vendor and I even bake for restaurants!! It’s so fun and exciting and I’m just so glad I never gave up on my dream because someone else was trying to ruin it. Don’t ever give up on something you work hard for! If you work hard it will come true! That’s how the dream works.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is my bestfriend! I love social media for the sheer fact that I can advertise on so many platforms and reach so many people! When I started my new business page I wanted to get traction immediately so I started boosting ads on Facebook. This made it so my ads were being pushed out to more people that I wasn’t friends with.
I also added pages on Instagram, tiktok and other forums such as YouTube. I’m constantly trying to make quality content. By quality content I mean reels and videos that people want to see, want to click on and so forth. This will allow me to get paid from these platforms! It’s actually really neat! The more you stay interacted with your customers the more money you make!! It’s definitely a win win for me.

I highly recommend getting a business page if you don’t have one for your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Candiedncaked.com
• Instagram: Candiedncakedbycailie
• Facebook: Candied & Caked by Cailie
• Youtube: BombSquadArmwrestling
• Other: https://Www.timebombinktattoos.com