We recently connected with Laura-Kate Amrhein and have shared our conversation below.

Laura-Kate , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

It was just me for the first 9+ years! I was so scared that I would never find an employee that would show as much love and attention to detail to the cakes as I did. After years and years of working myself to death, 7 days a week, multiple “all-nighters” a week…I finally decided that I needed help if I was going to survive! I always tell people now that not hiring sooner was my biggest business mistake. After hiring my first assistant, I quickly realized that all my fears were ridiculous. I now have 8 assistants and can’t even describe how that has helped my business grow by leaps and bounds. The “recruiting” process isn’t always easy. I learned fairly early on that finding someone with a pastry chef degree and with cake decorating experience is near impossible. I have been blessed with a few of those, but most of my assistants have learned on the job. I have realized that having people that you enjoy being around, that have great work ethic, and are willing to learn new things are truly the most important qualities in an employee. I spend more time with these girls than my family most weeks, so this is really important!!

Laura-Kate , 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?

After high school, I spent 3 years at LSU, changing majors from interior design to Dietetics and then to Nursing…I finally realized that I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was so unhappy with school and desperately needed a hobby that would fulfill my passion for art and creativity. It was about this same time that I started taking notice of the amazing things cake and dessert artists were doing on television and elsewhere. I immediately saw that this could be the very medium I was looking for, and quickly enrolled in my first cake decorating class. It did not take long for this hobby to become a passion, and soon I was creating desserts and custom cakes for friends and family in all of my spare time. After getting married and moving to Austin, Texas for my husband’s job, I decided that this “hobby” could possibly be a career. I enrolled at Texas Culinary Academy-Le Cordon Bleu and graduated as a Pastry Chef. After doing an internship at the historic Driskill Hotel, I decided to focus on custom wedding and party cakes and thus Sweet Stirrings was born. I made lots of cakes and desserts while I lived in Austin, but it was still a “side business/hobby”. After living in Austin for 7 years, we moved back home to Zachary, LA. I made the decision to make my business my full time “career” and the rest is history! I have so many customers and wedding vendors that have been with me since the beginning and have helped me grow into what we are today! We still specialize in high end wedding and party cakes and desserts, but have added a retail option at our shop that has daily sweets and lots of fun merchandise.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I feel like my business has grown the most by word-of-mouth. The quality of our products and service has always been so incredibly important to me. When we make a cake for a baby shower, for example, that’s 20+ women that will potentially ask the host “where did you get the cake from?!” They are only going to ask that if the cake is beautiful AND delicious. We have so many repeat clients…from weddings to birthdays to baby showers and baptisms…and they tell all of their friends and family about us, too. Social media and print advertising are great….but a customer telling someone else about how amazing your product is, is by far the best way to get more customers.

Any advice for managing a team?

I am an introvert and loner by nature, so managing a team has probably been one of the hardest but also most rewarding parts of owning my business. I have been blessed with an awesome group of girls and we’ve all become a family of sorts. Hiring reliable, respectful, and responsible people has shown to be a key to keeping a happy team that loves to work together. It’s always a good sign when your team has an ongoing group text and likes to hang out with each other outside of work!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sweetstirrings.com
• Instagram: @sweet_stirrings
• Facebook: Sweet Stirrings

Image Credits

TerriLynn Photography, Angela Marie Events, Whitney Marie Photography, Sarah Ward Weddings, Carolynn Seibert, Brandon O’neal