Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alberta “abby” Keen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alberta “Abby” , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Making the decision to quit my 9-5 to open a brick and mortar with no experience in owning a business. Doing it scared with no regrets! I didn’t want to be in my old age, thinking what could have been if I had just opened a bakery when I was younger. At 55 I felt like baking full time was calling out to me. I thought about it all the time. My husband did not see a bakery in his future but he has been my biggest supporter. My friends and family have all been very encouraging, helpful and supportive. That is what makes this work for me. For a year I have been working at the bakery early in the morning and late at night, with my husband selling it during my 9-5. We recently participated in a cupcake festival and it was a family affair, my kids, parents, sister, cousin and husband all played an important part, with lots of love and technical support from around the country.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
This all started with my daughter’s first birthday cake. My friend convinced me that I could make my daughter’s first cake and maybe I could make cakes for other people. It became my therapy at night and on the weekends I would craft cakes for friends and neighbors, It was a little extra change in my pocket but I didn’t charge nearly enough. I did not have any formal training other than a Wilton cake class at Micheal’s craft store. Decades later, I have been the family baker for most of my friends and their families who now have families of their own. I put my heart and soul into my cakes. I love a challenge, when it comes to cakes, I have my freak out moment and then I get down to work. I am proud to have had the courage to do this. Repeat customers is my reward. I love to bake people happy! We give back each quarter with dessert charcuterie boards to schools and small sponsorships to sports teams. We offer some items that are family favorites that I get to share with our community, like millionaire pies, key lime pies, sweet potato cake and a fan favorite, the German chocolate chip cookie; all the greatness of a German chocolate cake in a cookie.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
A couple of years ago, I had an order for a wedding cake, it was the couples 15th wedding anniversary. I inadvertently booked it for June the 15th at 4pm, however it was for June 4th. I was just pulling into my driveway around 3pm and I get a call from the groom. He says the cake can be brought in at 4, when did I think I could be there. I thought he was kidding. He said no what’s wrong? I told him I had scheduled wrong but would have a cake for him to cut. He said came cutting was not until 8pm. I frantically asked my husband to get some other things I needed for the icing while I started on the cake. Thankfully it was a Tiramisu cake that only needed to be barely covered. It seemed as though the sky opened up and there was a downpour of rain. We arrived at the venue about 7:48 pm. The rain stopped and the sun came out. The cake was beautiful and the couple amazing. The groom sent a picture of the couple enjoying the last of the cake the next day and thanked me once again for such a beautiful cake.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
When I lived in Italy, I was not a fan of the cakes with fruit and custard. It was my daughter’s first birthday so I decided to make her cake, we picked out a dancing ballerina bear. after I made my daughter’s first birthday cake, people started asking me to make cakes for them. My weekends were filled with baking cakes. I came back stateside and would make cakes occasionally as a stay at home mom. I went back to school to finish my bachelor’s degree in Human Resources. I was still making cakes for friends and family. The last ten years I was making lots of cakes and cupcakes for special occasions and weddings. Most of my clientele has been friends and now it is the sons and daughters who now have their own families that I am making milestone cakes. Friends have always said. “You should have your own shop”The past two years we have worked on getting a place and here we are! our shop where it is now thriving and we get to meet new people daily. It was a long year before we even opened the shop. We had some setbacks with renovations and different issues within the space. We opened a year ago and now are able to see the fruits of our labor. Our friends and families have played a big part in supporting us (my dream). Our brothers, sisters and cousins, are our biggest cheerleaders. They like to call and suggest flavors for cakes and what the next special should be. It was a thought I could not get out of my head. I did not want to be 80 years old wondering how life would have been if I had opened that bakery.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.AbbyCakes757.com
- Instagram: AbbyCakes757
- Facebook: AbbyCakes LLC
- Yelp: AbbyCakes757
Image Credits
Brandon Mitchell for head shot