We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bobbie Worthy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bobbie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I have. I’m a self-taught cake artist, with no experience or training except a ton of practice and watching how-to videos online. I began making custom decorated cakes for my children many years ago. That eventually led to friends and family asking for cakes for their events, and simply from word of mouth, I completed my first “paid” cake order in July 2011, from my home kitchen. I continued this small home business for another 6 years, and went on to open my first storefront bakery in January 2017. Since then, I moved that bakery to a much larger location, and in April 2022, opened my second storefront bakery.
Both locations are doing really well, and along with my team, we have created more than 14,000 custom cakes since 2011! It hasn’t been without its hiccups, but overall, it’s been a very positive journey I’ve been blessed to call my life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well, I got into cake decorating because I wanted to make my children’s birthdays special and give them something made by Mom with love poured into it. It was a complete accident, or more likely God’s will, that put me on this professional path. Initially, I was entirely a home based custom cake designer, but after several years, I outgrew my small home kitchen and opened a storefront bakery in 2017. There, I continued with the custom cake design and added a bakery case full of sweet treats anyone could walk in and purchase daily. I was blessed to continue to have success and growth, even during the Covid months of shutdowns, etc; and was also blessed with a wonderful assistant that was by my side day after day helping to grow the bakery.
As a single mother, this first location was our only source of income, so I pushed as hard as I could in the custom cake aspect to ensure I could support my children and assistant adequately. I had to put aside some of my “pet projects”, and focus on building an income. However, even then, I continued our work with Icing Smiles – a nonprofit organization that relies on volunteer bakers to donate their time and talent in providing celebration cakes for seriously ill children and their siblings. If you haven’t heard of them, I urge you to check it out and donate if you can! Even $5 can go a long way to providing a cake that is the brightest part of a sick child’s day.
Anyway, Icing Smiles remained my one charity I put my time into, even when times were tough and funds were strained.

After marrying my best friend, we decided to open a second location, focusing more on sharing the things in our hearts that we are passionate about- God, our country, and family- and giving back to our community that has so richly blessed me. We also advocate for & bring awareness and acceptance of Autism, by way of Koty’s Kolors, which is our line of bakery products that are made in the autism awareness colors; and by providing a safe ASD friendly space where we “Celebrate Different”. Koty is my son who has autism. He is my reason for this particular part of our business.
We opened this second bakery, Patriot Cakes & Creamery in April of this year, and it has been an amazing journey.
Our “Wall of Heroes” has so many photos of military heroes that have been shared with us; we have so many clients/friends that come and share their stories or listen to ours; I have been able to pour all of my training and love into thousands of baked goods for the wonderful people in this town; I feel like this was truly my calling and has surpassed my wildest dreams.
Born in my very small kitchen about 12 years ago, I never would’ve imagined this is where I would be today; the owner of two successful bakeries, able to use my love of baking to share my passions with my town and bring happiness to others.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I can say 1000% that WORD OF MOUTH can make or break a small business such as a bakery, or any other type of creative. My business literally began because of families and friends telling their friends that I made their child’s cake, etc. Those people would ask for my information, and I finally made a “for profit” cake.
Also, social media is a powerful tool! Posting photos of the cakes I made and having those shared by others brought many new clients quickly. I had a client base of over 4,500 within a year, as a small home-based side hustle, with absolutely zero paid marketing.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

As I worked at home making extra cash and I had more and more requests for orders, I knew I would need a larger space. So, I looked at what expenses there would be, and decided to begin saving most of what I was making from this “side job” in order to open a storefront without the added debt of a business loan. I knew opening a business would be scary enough and a huge financial risk, so I definitely didn’t want to overextend myself. I saved what I hoped would be more than I needed, and then began the search for the right space.
Unfortunately, due to an unforeseeable large expense, a small business loan was necessary for the first storefront. For the second, we had more knowledge, so we planned & saved, and were able to complete the buildout and purchase all equipment with no added debt.

Contact Info:

• Website: Patriotcakes1776.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patriotcakes1776/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patriotcakes1776
• Other: [email protected]