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

Sarah , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

After making the life-changing decision to stay home with my daughter after maternity leave, I was terrified my dream business wouldn’t take off. I talked to friends and family, tried giveaways online, and delivered free samples all over town, but I just wasn’t gaining the momentum I had hoped for. Then one day, I had the idea to collaborate with a local brewery owned by a friend of mine from high school. I painted the picture of “Beer & Cupcakes” as a monthly pairing event where we could each feature our creations. The event was a hit! We offered monthly pairings where I baked seasonal cupcakes using their beers for two years. At the same time I took a break from baking to have our son, the state where I live further defined the rules around cottage food business pop-ups, which no longer allowed me to participate in this event. I was devastated! We haven’t had another pairing event since. I loved seeing all my loyal customers, the smiles on their faces, coming up with delicious flavors to pair with amazing beers, and promoting my business in a fun way. I still hope we can collaborate again someday, somehow.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always loved to bake. It was my favorite hobby until I made it a business after having our first child. I mostly loved to bake cookies, experimenting with every possible variable to get each recipe just right. But most people don’t order cookies for a birthday, baby shower or wedding. So I learned to bake cakes and cupcakes. Again, I tested countless recipes, manipulated variables, put my spin on a few things and came up with a pretty good core menu. As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, I simply would not sell anything that I wasn’t proud of. The curious scientist in me got bored making the same flavors all the time though, so I would challenge myself to come up with new flavors, try a new cake decorating technique or master the finicky art of macarons. I expanded my menu this way and came to have a decent spread of offerings for special events.

But I am a stay-at-home-Mom first, and my kids are the reason I followed my dream in the first place. I didn’t want to look at them one day and tell them to chase their dreams if I didn’t do the same. I wanted to spend time with them when they were little so I had to make the tough decision to scale back and took mostly wedding clients in 2022. I love getting to know and work with couples and be a part of the biggest day of their lives. Some weekends are crazy and I don’t get much sleep but it’s all worth it when I see their smiles, hear feedback, receive thank you notes and see photos of my creations on their wedding days.

It has taken a long time to find balance between my two dreams (my kids and my business). I hope to take more orders in the future when my kids are grown. I just can’t miss this season with them.

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

Word of mouth, without a doubt, I don’t know how many inquiries start with the phrase “I’ve heard amazing things about you from so-and-so…”

To me that is the greatest compliment. I feel proud and confident in my goods when I know others are recommending me to their friends and family. Producing a high-quality product with good customer service is something I am very proud of.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I never say can’t and I don’t quit. We just don’t in my house. My kids will tell you that. Have I ever been in a puddle of overtired tears wondering why I took on so much? You betcha. Did I end up finishing and delivering the product like I said I would? Absolutely. There’s nothing a good dance party can’t fix, even at 2 am.

In October of 2021 I had a single order for 5 wedding cakes. Not single-tier wedding cakes. There were 39 cake layers in these 5 cakes. They were all different flavors. They were all different sizes. They were all decorated with painted buttercream flowers to match the color scheme of the wedding. I barely slept that week. I drove them 4 hours to the wedding venue and I just about couldn’t leave them. They are still the high point of my career and I’m so proud of the hard work and resilience I had to accomplish such an order.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @doughphoria
• Facebook: @Dough-phoria

Image Credits
Colorful Edge Photography, Morgan Maxine Photography, ErinRae Photography, Bethany Jackson Photography