We were lucky to catch up with Ariel Doan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ariel, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear you experience with and lessons learned from recruiting and team building.

I purchased an already established bakery that I had been working at for 6+ years prior to buying so we did have a team but it was small and we had lost a few employees right before I purchased. So when I took over I had some front staff but no kitchen staff besides me. That was a challenge but one I am proud I overcame. I worked my ass off from day one trying to make sure cases were stocked and custom orders were done as I put out ads searching for my perfect team. One of the bakers I hired from that first round back in 2022 is still with me today in 2026 along with one of my customer service girls that went through the whole purchase transition with me.

I would not say it was an easy process. Trying to find the right fit is always hard and you never know how someone is truly going to fit in with everyone until they have been working for awhile so you are taking a risk. But I love my team right now and I don’t know what I would do without them.

I wouldn’t have been able to do much differently back then but I have changed the way I interview now. It is not just me in the interview. It is me, my head baker and my lead customer service girl. We are a team and I am not the one working with everyone all the time. So we make a decision together on who we feel is the best fit not only for the job but for the bakery as a whole.

Ariel, 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 Ariel and I own a bakery called Twisted Sisters Cupcakes in Virginia Beach. I have been apart of the bakery world officially since 2011 and it has been a crazy journey.

I am from upstate NY and worked at a local bakery decorating cakes which is where I learned that that was really my passion. Don’t get me wrong I love baking too but the creativeness and happiness that comes from decorating cakes is what keeps me going.

I moved to Virginia Beach in 2014 which is when I started working at Twisted Sisters Cupcakes as their cake decorator and baker. Soon became the manger as well. Until the opportunity in 2022 of me purchasing the bakery came to be. Can I tell you that was an exciting and absolutely stressful time in my life. Even after being the manager and cake decorator for so many years adding on the weight of everything being on your shoulders and trying to do your regular job was a wake up call to how hard it is to run a small business. But I am grateful for everything that has come from me owning a small business. The team I have created, the opportunity to be the boss I feel people deserve, and the community of customers that support me and my business.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

If I am being honest in this economy right now everyday feels like a close call; near death moment. I might be slightly exaggerating but not completely. Cake is a luxury and I completely understand that. Everyone is struggling right now to make ends meet and pay their own bills so asking them to come support my business and buy cake makes me feel so guilty on a daily basis. But that’s how I pay my bills, that’s how my employees pay their bills. We aren’t a billion dollar company, every purchase makes us do a happy dance breathe a little easier knowing we can keep pushing forward.

I recently put out a social media post to let our customers know we were struggling and I hated having to do that but I am doing my best to be as transparent as possible with everyone. I can’t expect support if people don’t know I need it. And can I tell you people showed up for me, my business, my employees and I cried I was so blown away by the support of the community. We have a long ways to go to get where we need to be but I am going to keep fighting and pushing to get my small business back where it needs to be and just hope that the world and the economy takes a turn for the better at some point to make life a little easier for all of us.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I would say the most rewarding aspect of the artistic side of my job is seeing the joy when people pick up their orders and the messages or reviews after pick up about how much they loved it and or people were raving about it.

That is why I love what I do. I make edible works of art that are apart of so many special occasions and bring joy to so many people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://twistedsisterscupcakes.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/twistedsisterscupcakes
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/twistedsisterscupcakes
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/twistedsisterscupcakes
• Yelp: https://yelp.com/twistedsisterscupcakes