Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dani Sachs. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Dani thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
On a especially busy week I was contacted by the personal assistant of a member of a royal family from over sea’s. Her adorable English accent convinced me to make and deliver a cake the next day. Not only do we not take last minute orders, I was Pregnant and it was winter in Utah. After many hours of back and forth texts we have the details down and I spend all night to get this cake completed by the next morning. The next day comes around, the cake is complete (and completely adorable if I do say so myself) and I head out to deliver. I drag my huge pregnant belly and my 7 year old thru the snow and into my jeep. After 40 minutes of driving in the snow to Park City I arrive at a Huge gate entrance and have to give a list of info to prove who I am. I then drive up a steep and windy road, the snow is getting worse, when I arrive at the house. The driveway down to the house was not only steep but the end of the drive goes straight off a cliff! I do a terrifying 50 point turn to park on the terrifying cliff like driveway awaiting the Personal assistant. When she arrives I am escorted thru a side door down a servants hallway to deliver the cake. I sadly never got to meet the people I was making the cake for but it arrived safely and we made it home unscathed.
Dani, 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?
By the time I graduated culinary school in 2014, I had been in the food and beverage industry for about 12 years. Working at Coffee shops and making cakes on the weekends. After working in the field after graduating for a few years, picking up more skills then I learned in culinary school, I had to make the decision to start making cake from home full time. After making this decision I spent months getting my recipes together and obtaining my cottage and business license. Voile Something frosted was born. Currently we provide custom buttercream cakes, often with a floral and romantic flare. We also make lovely dessert buffets a gorgeous balloon garlands. Although we work on a lot of weddings, I really enjoy the birthday clients we have as I enjoy the challenge of fitting a kids theme into our style. Most clients come to us with a rough number of guests and an idea of style and we help refine this information into a lovely cake (or dessert table or balloon garland) that fits their needs and style. Tying in the personalities of the client and making it fit into their venue is something I love doing. You are goofy and romantic, but your venue is outdoors in the mountains? No problem, I got you. I feel so blessed to be apart of my clients lives; I make wedding cakes, baby shower cakes and first birthday cakes for some clients. For other clients I have had the pleasure to make the birthday cake of every family member every year. They choose to make me apart of their special moments, so I make sure the cakes for those moments are special.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Growing up I heard often that art doesn’t pay, there is no future in art, art is only a hobby and people don’t pay you for your hobby. I had to unlearn this in the first year of working for myself, because if I wasn’t going to value my work, no one else was going to. I spent months over working and barely breaking even. After 10 months I had more clients wanting to book with me then I could actually take and this is what finally made me realize that art, edible or not, is desired and I should be getting paid to do it.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
When first making cake and desserts I was offering everything in every flavor and every style. After time I realized I had a style, and I wasn’t for everyone. Blending in with the other 50 cake lady’s on Facebook wasn’t making me money. I had to take a step back and evaluate what I wanted to make, what wasn’t being provided and how those two things could come together. My first big money maker was providing decorated dessert tables. They weren’t being offered in my area but they were trending in the wedding industry. The fact that I loved making brownies and cupcakes that are custom to the clients theme only made it easier. This is when I could see the design of my business start to form.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.somethingfrostedslc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somethingfrostedslc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/somethingfrostedSLC
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chef-danielle-bateman-sachs/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9YIuy25tiBEIk5UcAvVZPg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/something-frosted-salt-lake-city
- Other: tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lord_frosted