We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lesley Rico. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lesley below.

Lesley , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, let’s take a stroll on memory lane, back to when you were an apprentice or intern. What’s a memorable story from that time that you can share with us?

I did my internship 2 years ago in 2021. I did my first half of my internship at a local chocolate shop and has far been the greatest experience. I spent all day making chocolate confections, listening to oldies classics, and chatting away the day with the shop owners and customers. I have such great memories working there. My absolute favorite thing to talk about, and brag a little, is how fast I was at dipping truffles. The average time it takes to dip a tray of 250 truffles was 30 minutes. As the time went by, I started improving on my timing and was finishing the truffles in only 15 minutes! So the owners and I started a game; I would have about a week and a half to practice on my speed without affecting quality of the product and on a scheduled day, the owner would start a timer and I would begin hand dipping. Each time we timed the process, the numbers would lower and lower. By the time the end of my choclate days came, I would have developed the skill to dip 250 truffles in about 6 minutes! I still remember how we were able to hear the chocolate slap back into the warmer from how fast I was dipping. Although I would have loved to stay and finish my internship there, I wanted to expand into the bakery business. Now if I would have known what I know now about the outcome of that exact decision, I would have never left the chocolate shop. It’s like I went from such a positive, fun, and successful environment, to the exact oposite. The bakery I finished my internship in was also a local bakery that has been in business for 50 years and had a great reputation follow them troughout the years. Before I started I have already heard such great things about their cakes, pastries, and about the owner. So my expectation were set pretty high and was genuinely excited to start as soon as possible. I went trough the interviewing process and got the tour of the bakery right before my first day. Now the building was a little beat up but nothing too crazy, at least that I noticed right away anyways. My first day was on october 1st. The first few weeks went pretty smoothly, but as thanksgiving was starting to creep up, things got more and more intense. Long 12-13 hour shifts were almost an everyday thing, I was starting to see how much pressure and unrealistic expectations management put on everyone, including myself, and I was severly underpaid for the amount of work and stress I was put trough on a daily basis. My coworkers and I weren’t allowed to help eachother, even if the other had the time and ability to do it, the way things were managed and organized was terrible and we would get in trouble because the system management placed wasn’t resulting in the productivity they wanted. To put it short and sweet, you have to be a superhero and have some crazy powers to be able to meet their expectations. Now as someone who has been in the food industry for years, I am fully aware of how sanitation and safety is the #1 priority in any food handling place. When I say I dont know how this bakery passed city health inspections, I genuinely mean how on earth is this place still up and running?! They did have infestations, broken fans and smoke alarms, expired ingredients from 2 years before, and many more things. The list goes on about how terrible my experience was there, but needless to say, the moment I completed my Internship I walked out those doors and never looked back. On the positive side, it really opened up my eyes to see the exact things I would want to avoid when running my own business, how teamwork does absolutely make the dream work, and lastly how not only should I appreciate my future emplyees, but also customers.

Lesley , 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?

My name is Lesley and I am a 23 year old pastry chef. I specialize in custom cakes and cookies for special events such as birthdays, babyshowers, gender reveals, weddings, and much more. I also offer a variety of other breads and pastries such as conchas, croissants, danishes, banana bread, and many other sweet things. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the baking insdutry since I was young, but didnt oficially start my baking journey until I was 14. Unfortunately, throughout my last 3 years of high school, I couldn’t take any culinary classes, but I did take food science which was still fun. In culinary school, the forst year was pretty boring as I was only taking basics amd other pre-requisites, but once I competed all of the prerequisites and basics, it was time for the real deal. At some point in one of my classes, portfolios were mentioned and from there I decided to start Lesley’s Baked Delights. I originally had started the page to track my culinary journey and use it as a portfolio for an upcoming assignment. I posted everything we baked in class for the next few months. I felt like I was a food blogger! I didn’t think any actuality turning my page into a small business until an old friend of mine from middle school reached out to me. She had told me she was looking for someone to make her daughter’s birthday cake and had seen all the items I had been posting. I was actuary shocked that someone was interested in buying something from me, especially when I had little experience. After a few encouraging words from my partner and mom, I was up for the challange and accepted the order. The moment her order was paid for, all the nerves on my body went on overdrive. I couldn’t stop worrying and stressing about the order. I kept thinking to myself “can I pull this off” and “will I reach their expectations”. I was stressing more about the what if’s instead of the how to’s. I had to literally calm myself down and breathe before I could gather myself and start the process. At the time, I didn’t really plan anything ahead so it was a little more stressful than it should have been but step by step I was getting it done. There were some minor flaws, but that’s how we all start. There has to be mistakes in order to learn and succeed moving forward. The day came where it was time to deliver the order. I thought I was a nervous wreck when making the order, but nothing beats the nervousness I feel when delivering any order till this day! I was so scared that she wasn’t gonna love her order or how she would react, but I was relieved when she opened the box and said she absolutely loved it! I thanked her and made my way back home with this joyful feeling. The next day she posted on her social media, tagged my page, and said that she very much enjoyed everything about her order. From there I started receiving more orders from time to time amd before I knew it, I was an actual home business selling cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. I’ve learned so much from each order and it does get a little easier each time. My priority with each and every client is communication. I will make sure to communicate everything and as much as I need to so that the client and I are on the same page and they have the best experience with me as possible.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I believe the biggest thing that helped my reputation is honest quality. My priority is quality over quantity. I personally enjoy making all my products from scratch and never take any shortcuts. I like to proudly say that each item is made with my own two hands and will not sell anything I wouldn’t like or don’t meet my own standards. They always say you are your hardest critic and that couldn’t be farthest from the truth.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The recent strategy I’ve been doing that seems to be working for me is doing pop up farmers market. Big or small, if i have the opportunity, I will sign up and try to interact with everyone. I try to include my most popular items in the events or create sample boxes so than anyone interested can have a taste of everything. Although sales and profit is something on the back of my head, my main priority at these events is marketing. Even if only a few people were there, that’s a few more people that know about me and my business. Occasionally there will also be events that are about the community and the people so I would attend and hand out freebies with my personal business cards attached.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScjUgmz-VKg0SSLeG8fLOz9VVa9uBr0X8WNXXy_PxvRZlBDBA/viewform
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/lesleysbakeddelights?igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesleysbakeddelights?mibextid=ZbWKwL