We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Callista Mei-Miller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Callista, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

I think everyone gets really caught up in the perceived timeline of life, especially when it’s associated with success milestones. But as cliche as it sounds, I really do believe in everything happening when it’s supposed to. Technically the origin of my brand launched in 2018, but I had a lot of personal factors I needed to attack first before I could really feel ready to give it 110%. Ironically enough, my brand which brings me immense joy, stemmed from really traumatizing experiences in my life. I thought of the name as I was walking around The Hammer Museum with my now husband, as he was recovering from a freak stroke at only 28. (To add insult to injury, I had been struggling with this deep fear of death and panic attacks since I was 19 after losing a friend.) So you could imagine my head space.

Standing in a room of ornately framed, moody oil paintings, I felt the reality of the out come that could have been. I thought, “why am I not doing what I’m passionate about when life is so fleeting?” To be honest, I’m not really sure why Six Sweet Under: Desserts To Die For was the name I came up with, kinda morbid when I think about it given the situation; but it literally just popped into my head as an “ah ha!” moment and I wrote it down in the notes on my phone. I guess in a weird way it was attempting to face my fears and gain back control. If I could choose how the narrative of the inevitable was presented, maybe that would make it easier? That was the seed I planted in my head and it’s taken about 5 years to really pull the vision together. Some people might think that’s such a long time to make something happen, but my mental illness was still winning and that needed to be addressed first. I didn’t get a true hold on my panic and OCD until the pandemic hit and I knew I needed some serious, specialized help.

I signed myself up for an intensive outpatient program that was 15 hours a week; in addition to still working full time as an essential worker at Magnolia Bakery. I’d work 6am-2pm, rush home, slam some food and then have sessions from 3pm-6pm, five days a week. So as you can guess, I didn’t really have time to focus on my small business. But as one of my best friends said to me recently, “You weren’t ready.” Nothing is truer than that statement right there. If your mind isn’t ready, you’ll never be, no matter how great of an opportunity or idea is in front of you.

Beyond that, there’s also the polarizing duality of following your dreams or “getting a real job” and that feels even heavier now that I’m around the age people start having families. Feeling like you have to choose one or the other as a woman is truly paralyzing and honestly can manifest itself as, doing neither. I chased the idea of a more secure job for a couple years; networking and focusing on food media, but I got so tired of jumping through all these hoops to be considered, just to be told “thanks but no thanks” over and over again. I really think the universe was like, “Girl, helloooo, we keep showing you you’re supposed to do your own thing!!”; it just took me a while to hear it.

So, with that being said, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be to expand my brand and do it all. Because I’m ready.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Being born and raised in Los Angeles, in a biracial home, food was always a large part of my life. My Uncle is a professional Chef and whenever we’d visit him and my Aunt in Queens, NY, I’d shadow him, just completely enthralled watching him cook. My natural interest in cooking and baking became one of my main hobbies as a young teen and stayed that way throughout college. I actually studied film and media analysis in school and worked in the entertainment business for a while; ranging from commercials, producing, radio DJ and acting. After moving back to Los Angeles from San Francisco to pursue acting and comedy I just found myself unfulfilled and I didn’t quite have the fire for that industry that I knew I needed to succeed. One day over a large bowl of ramen my mom asked me what I would do if acting didn’t work out and with out hesitation I said, “cook.” I took that as my sign to switch careers and I’ve never looked back.

I crash coursed and landed two culinary jobs at once; one as a Chef Assistant for a cooking school and the other on the pastry team at Nancy Silverton’s, Osteria Mozza. Both of those experiences definitely whipped me into a very organized, efficient, tidy and sharp Chef. I then moved onto Magnolia Bakery where I was their head baker and back of house supervisor for a couple of. years until I got the opportunity to compete on Food Network’s “Chopped Sweets”. While I placed runner up, I felt like I still won because that experience opened doors for me to work in the food media realm. The Culinary Producer was impressed by my approach to the competition and offered me a job as Assistant Food Stylist for a “Chopped” spin off the following year. Since then I have been working freelance in food media and as a a Private Chef while I expand my personal brand.

Six Sweet Under: Desserts To Die For, truly reflects who I am and how I choose to present myself to the world. It’s glamorous. macabre, intriguing, detail oriented and a breathe of unique air in an overly similar industry. Or to sum it up with the quote I have embossed into my wallet, “The right amount of wrong.” Authenticity is a core value of mine in life and in business; it’s something I take a lot of pride in. I have always been consistent in who I am, what I stand for, what I like and the energy I surround myself with. That approach towards my brand has and always will be present which is why I know it will be successful. If you are not truly who you are presenting to be, it will always come out eventually.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I still think this is something I’ll constantly be unlearning but, don’t let the big picture scare you from starting. It feels super overwhelming to think of how you’re going to scale your business to a level where you’re sustainable and successful; but if you think about all the steps it takes to get there, you’ll panic and end up doing nothing because that’s easier. It’s true to just take it one thing at a time, even if that’s just making a list of all the things you think you need to do. I started with a brainstorm so I could see my plan of attack on paper, rearranged it in a way that made sense to me and what was most important and then just started going down the list. When I approached it that way I was actually shocked how quickly I accomplished my tasks. Also remember you can always say no; I know as a small business owner you want to take on as much as you can but it is always more important to uphold your product quality and self care.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

You would think this is standard practice but I’ve come across so many unprofessional people in my career and field. So it’s really not that hard to stand out when you genuinely lead with professionalism and kindness. That means prompt responses, clear communication, being on time, attention to detail, personalization, treating others equally, obviously top notch product and gratitude towards your clients. LA is a small town, it’s even smaller when you’re in a niche world such as culinary, so word of mouth and reputations matter, big time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sixsweetunder.com
• Instagram: @six_sweet_under
• TikTok: @six_sweet_under
• Others: http://www.madebymei.info/

Image Credits
Hannah Getz & Hulswit Designs