We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashea Myers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ashea, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
The kindest thing someone has done for me that’s hard to choose but I do remember this day. It was at my first two day market pop up by myself, I was totally exhausted but tried not to show it. A kind older woman came by and she said “can I get you anything, a coffee maybe?” I told her it was too late in the day for coffee but would love a hot chocolate. I was so overwhelmed by her kindness and thoughtfulness. The lady came back with my cocoa not too long after smiled and handed me the cup. I never got her name but she made my day much better!
Ashea, 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 Ashea I’m the owner of Straight Up Cake. I’m a licensed home baker of San Diego County. I make all types of desserts mostly southern style. My desserts are made from scratch using the finest ingredients down to gourmet chocolate. Back during Covid I started making my own vanilla extract for my baked goods as well. It’s my best seller at all my markets. I do various pop up markets all over the county. So people can try my cake slices and know what they are getting when they decide to order a big cake or dessert platter.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
The bourbon vanilla for example I had to do a ton of research for the beans and amber bottles to start the extraction process. I had some savings to start my vanilla journey back in 2020 I had invested about 4K into starting my vanilla gallons. Starting any business can get so expensive down to the little details. Madagascar beans are not cheap and they start at $7-8$ or more an ounce. I needed 33 to make double fold vanilla. Once I conducted all my research I started making my gallons. When they were finished I had to wait, I let them sit at a minimum of 2 years
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Word of mouth, my pop up markets, return customers. Free giveaways
That all helps with the clientele
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/straightupcake_
- Other: [email protected]
