We recently connected with Jordin Hageman and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordin, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is such a fickle thing and it’s elasticity is something that I think is far too overlooked. One persons success is not another persons success. My success today is different than my success five years ago and probably different from what it will mean in another five years. The basic principle is: if you are happy, you are successful. I think that’s universal. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are fundamentally dissatisfied, then what exactly is it that you were successful at? I believe to achieve true success, you must be willing to work hard at whatever you’re reaching for. Be it a booming business, more money, a family, a project. It all takes unending and sometimes mind-melting amounts of effort and resilience. I also think something that people get wrong a lot is that you don’t have to love everything about what you’re doing but some part of it should light a spark in you. I hate the actual baking of the cake- it’s time consuming and boring. But the decorating fires my imagination and keeps me going day to day. Push through the baking so you can get to the good stuff. And always make sure there IS good stuff at the other end of whatever you’re pushing through otherwise you’ll burn out and that success will forever be just out of reach.

Jordin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Jordin and I am a sugar junkie (professionally). I bake and decorate all sorts of cakes for all sorts of occasions. I’ve had a creative itch for as long as I could remember but nothing I tried really satisfied it. I can’t draw, I can’t sew, I can’t sing or paint. 10-ish years ago, I found myself with a table full of fondant, cake mix, frosting and a profound regret that I had offered to make a friend a cake. By the end of the night, however, I had somehow dug through the flour and eggs and carved out a place for myself in an industry I knew nothing about but was so disproportionately enthusiastic about joining. I had so many forgiving friends who paid me for cakes that I had no business charging money for and it is only through them that I was able to practice and eventually go to school and become someone worthy of their loyalty. I am still a work in progress, but I think anyone worth their salt would agree that if you’re not constantly evolving, it’s time to retire.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that you have to be great at everything you do to succeed. You don’t. You don’t even have to be good at it. You have to want it, though. You have to have passion about it because that passion is going to propel you to want to learn, to practice, to get better and better. Being jealous of someone doing it better than you feels like crap but it means you want it. If you want it, you’ll go after it. Everyone has to start somewhere and nobody who’s ever just started out has been great at it. Allow yourself to learn, give yourself patience and grace and watch yourself flourish.

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

The best source of new clients is social media. Social media is a place where I can show off my work and communicate with people, as well as the best tool for good ole word-of-mouth (which is the real way to build a client base). I know it’s a pain and you will not find someone who is as social media incompetent as myself, but even I have to admit it’s a valuable tool. Join lots of groups on Facebook for whatever your avenue is, post your work far and wide, anywhere and everywhere you can. It’s hard to get people to care sometimes, maybe most of the time, but it’s a lot easier to find the ones that do. Someone, somewhere, needs what you’re selling and you’re probably not going to find each other just roaming the streets. Get on Instagram and post like your business depends on it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thecakerypastrystudio.com
• Instagram: @thecakerypastrystudio
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thecakerypastrystudio