We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cassidy Bailey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cassidy, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Overall, I am happy being a business owner. I can make my own schedule, I have a lot of creative freedom, and I can experience a lot personal satisfaction/growth. However, I would be lying if I said I never considered going back to working in restaurants or perhaps something completely different. The time I considered quitting the most, I went two or three months with out a single order. I thought to myself; “I have worked so hard the past year or so trying to get my recipes down, develop four blends, and grow my social media/get the word out. What am I doing wrong? Am I just not good enough? Should I quit?”.

I talked to my mom and my best friend about what I was thinking. About how I was sick and tired of being broke and having to ask my mom for help and about making and giving samples to local restaurants, coffee shops, and other businesses and never hearing back. I found myself looking up available online courses for a degree in world history. They both told me to do what I feel is best and they’d support me either way. I found myself searching for available online degrees in world history and Asian studies. I filled out two or three forms for further information and discussed the programs and such with councilors. I was seriously considering filling out an application for one or two of the schools when I got a Facebook message from an old friend.

Never. That was what I told myself when it came to weddings. When I opened that Facebook message, we played catch up and then she asked if I would be interested in doing the cake and desserts for her wedding. Even though I had told myself I would never do weddings, I thought it would be cool for my first (and what I thought would be only) wedding was that of my first ever friend. After discussing, having a tasting, and finalizing everything, I had booked my first wedding. She had a two tier cake and over one hundred cheesecake jars. My mom had just had a minor surgery and so her friend who is basically my second mom helped me with delivery and setting everything up. It was so much fun and such a gratifying experience. My mom told me how I must have enjoyed it based on the one eighty my attitude towards my business took after the wedding.

At the time, I was extremely lacking in confidence regarding my desserts. When I returned to the venue towards the end of the night to clean up, I was peppered with compliments! I’m sure my face was redder than the tulips in the various arrangements scattered around the event space. I am so thankful to everyone I encountered that night, because they really boosted my wavering confidence. I am sure they have no idea how much it all meant to me, so if they happen to read this I hope they know how thankful I am.

Remember when I mentioned earlier that I said I would never do weddings and I figured that one would be my only? Well, it has spiraled from there. About a week after her wedding, I received an inquiry from a guest about doing her wedding later that year. I then got another from a bride with the same planner, and then people who saw my post of Instagram, and even a few from their photographer’s page. I am now sixteen weddings down and eleven more on the books in just a little over a year.

I probably could have told a much more interesting story regarding a crazy story or important things I’ve learned, but with how the world is today, I wanted to share something that will allow people to see that words are important and carry a weight to them. You never know what someone is going through and how your words will impact them. I implore everyone reading this to keep that in mind moving forward. Words can hurt, but they can also help.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Cassidy, I have been in the restaurant/food industry for about 10 years now, and I own my own gluten free baking business.
I’ve always had a sweet tooth, but while growing up my grandma was a total health nut so it’s safe to say I became a bit deprived. Sometimes my grandpa or mom would sneak me a cookie or buy me an ice cream while out and about. I think the lack of sweets as a kid helped grow my love of sweets as an adult. Baking has always been something I enjoyed, was fairly good at, and after attending culinary school I realized it was something I wouldn’t mind making a career of.

During my time in culinary school I learned so much! I learned everything from a to z. Baking was my favorite class, big surprise, I know. I loved learning how to make French classics, bread, and improving on the skills I taught myself. Towards the end of my time in school, I started to become constantly sick. My grandma was dying from cancer and final exams were upon me so I chalked it all up to stress. However, even after she passed, exams were over, and I graduated; the “stress” side effects didn’t go away or get any better. I figured it was time to see a doctor.

I saw my primary physician a few times and had a ton of blood drawn and other tests done. Later, I got a letter in the mail from my doctor that had a ton of fancy words on it and at the bottom read, “testing for celiac disease positive”. it’s safe to say I didn’t handle the news very well. My already weak mental health took a nose dive and I had something like a pre-quarter life crisis. After crying and questioning my life choices for a few days, I visited a gastroenterologist who proceeded to inform me after even more tests that I’m basically the poster child for celiac disease. Yay…

After a lot of back and forth of trying to decide if I should stay in the food industry (which I sometimes still fight myself on after a bad day, no one is perfect), I decided to try to develop my skills as a gluten free baker and chef. Cooking gluten free was easy enough, but baking was a whole other ball game. I already had some knowledge thanks to a gluten free friend of mine, but I decided if I was going to make this work, I needed to develop my own flour blends and try to eliminate as much of the gritty/sandy texture and other textural issues you usually experience in gluten free baking as I could.

Once I had my flour blends down, I went on to adjust my pre-existing recipes to be gluten free and then began developing new ones. I will usually work on a recipe until the people around me can’t tell it it’s gluten free or not. While doing research, I learned that a lot of people with celiac disease also form a dairy intolerance. This news is what set into motion the vegan side of Sugarbearyy Sweets. I learned to make and use flax seed eggs, non dairy milks, non dairy butters, and all the variations in between.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Surprisingly, word of mouth! I have had more new clients come to me saying they heard about me from someone recommending my business than people telling me they found me on social media. I definitely still recommend getting social media for your business and especially joining Facebook groups comprised of your target audience.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

www.sugarbearyysweets.com/order-online

I often have listings on my online store. It usually consists of items I can ship and more popular items. In all honesty, I am still trying to figure things out regarding selling online. I am currently working on some items I can have available for “next day pick up”. I see more online sales with my subscription boxes and for holiday pick up event sales.

www.bonfire.com/store/sugarbearyy-sweets/

I also use bonfire to sell merch. I think it being an outside link is the biggest con, but they provide campaigns and shipping so you don’t need to worry about much when using it so that is a pro.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sugarbearyysweets.com
• Instagram: @sugarbearyysweets
• Facebook: /sugarbearyysweets
• Other: www.bonfire.com/store/sugarbearyy-sweets www.linktr.ee/sugarbearyysweets