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

Bonnie, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I began making cakepops when my kids were small. I wasn’t technically “full time”. We were blessed to be able to have the option to stay home, but as they got bigger, so did the cost of sports, clothes, etc. After being in business 10 years or so, I had to make the decision to go full force or go back to my previous profession, teaching. I chose to see where cakepops would take me and so glad I did. It hasn’t always been easy but the amount of support I’ve had from family and customers has been overwhelming. Getting a order come through never gets old.

Bonnie, 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?

I am a former first grade teacher who always had the dream of staying home, like my Mom did with my brother and I. I enjoyed my job and everything about it but never realized the joy I would have as a full time Mom. As busy as motherhood can be, I wanted to contribute somehow to our family and started a baking business when my daughter was a year old. I called it Sweet Stella Treats after her name, Stella.
I didn’t have any experience with anything! I watched Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes” and decided I would teach my self, from baking to fondant and everything in between. We didn’t have a lot of social media back then. Facebook was just getting on the scene. I found a lady who baked from her home and asked her a ton of questions. I’m not sure I could’ve made it without her guidance. I started with cakes and cupckaes with a few cakepops here and there.
Fast forward a few years, the kids were getting bigger and orders would come in sporadically but I did it enough that people would always come back, keeping me as busy as I could be at the time.

I soon realized after 5 years of baking that cakes weren’t my love language. I loved the process and design of cakepops. These little pieces of cake on a stick have been the only thing I’ve offered for over 10 years now.

It’s always humbling when a customer returns with another order. I don’t know, unless they are in business for themselves, if they will ever know how much it means to us that they are the reason our business keeps going. Without them, we wouldn’t have a business.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social Media is here to stay. Like anything else, there are pros and cons, but as a business owner, I wouldn’t be as successful without it. The connections I’ve made, customers who’ve found me and partnerships I’ve made with brands I love wouldn’t have happened without social media.

If you’re just starting out, remember social media is a highlight reel. Comparison is an easy trap to fall into when scrolling. To keep my mind focused and intentional, I like to look at social media as another part of the job. Have a goal when posting and make it clear to the reader what you want them to see or walk away with after engaging in your post. Be consistent.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I realized quickly I couldn’t stand in the kitchen all day and produce masses amounts of cakepops on my own so I began to think of other ways to bring in income. I brought my teacher hat back out and started camps and classes. Not long after that I realized there were customers who had moved away and wanted to somehow make cake pops with me from there home, so I created my first product that could be shipped, The Pop Box. It contains everything you need to create cakepops from your home, along with a video tutorial fro me.

Not only did I want to target the people who wanted to make cake pops with their families, I also wanted to teach cakepops. There was so much I had learned over the last 15 years of cakepops, i thought it would be amazing to house it all in one space. This is when The Pop Party Membership was born. It’s a monthly membership of amazing cakepop friends who want to grow their business or their hobby. It houses over 85 tutorials, business advice, and the bet part, the sweetest community of like minded people.

I like to say I’m still te3aching, but my classroom looks a little different these days.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sweetstellatreats.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetstellatreats/
• Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/sweetstellatreats/

Image Credits

Cara Martin