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

Claudia , 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.

Biggest risk I’ve taken… well in October 2019 I had just got laid off from my job of 4 years. I had a ton of bills of course that come every month and a severance package of only a few thousand dollars( like less that 3k) and I remember sitting Indian style on my floor in my room and talking to God. Asking do I find another job or do I take everything that I have and fund my business!

The biggest and scariest risk that you will ever take is to have faith in your self and your abilities. START THE BUSINESS ! I took everything I had and never looked back. Best decision I ever made in my life and I love what I do.

Claudia , 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’m Claudia(Dia) Starr your favorite cake artist and owner of DS Sweet Treats and Catering born and raised in Dallas, TX. I specialize in custom cakes for weddings, birthdays and special events. My favorite type of cake to do would be a freestyle cake, where I completely get to do what I want and truly create art those are always my favs. We also provide small catering packages and a vast array of desserts tables and packages.

I am most proud of my ability to create different designs and not just stick to the normal. I love being adventurous when creating rather it be color, shape or even 3D designs.

We are definitely looking to serve more brides this year so 2022 and 2023 brides come on out for a tasting.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

In the beginning I didn’t understand the importance of social media. It wasn’t until I went to a business retreat for my boutique business that I discovered the impact social media can have on your sales and marketing. It’s important to know, learn and figure out when YOUR target audience is active. So that you know when to post. It’s important to know that videos get more attention than normal post. Also with social media you have to keep up with the trends. Reels, TikTok, stories you have to use them all to make it with social media and marketing your business. Also Ad’s you never know what ad marketing can really do for your business until you use it and definitely let’s not forget the “old school” email list most web host allow you a certain amount of free email marketing per month with your plans USE it!!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My bakery itself is a story of my resilience. I literally open my bakery 2 months before the United States was shut down due to covid-19. I thought in my mind “oh my god I just spent all this money and I’m not going to have one customer, who is going to shop in a pandemic”! But I kept posting, I kept making new items even if no one was going to eat it but me!! I kept practicing, advertising and keeping ahead with new trends, and till this day 2020 has been my highest year of profit! I thank God for that and for keeping me going still!

Contact Info:

• Website: dssweettreatsandcatering.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/ds_sweet_treats_catering
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/dssweettreatsandcatering/