Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Danielle Lucas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Danielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I know it is very typical to say that my Grandmother is the best cook or baker in the family, but for me that truly was the case. I spent the majority of my adolescence at my grandparents house either after school or on the weekends and my grandmother, or Nana as we called her, was the Queen of the Kitchen. It was there I learned what food could do to the soul and how through each dish or pastry I was discovering a piece of our family’s history.

Over the years, I grew more and more intrigued with the art of Baking and wanted to figure out a way I could turn this passion into something more. However, after graduating college in 2010 practicality won out over passion and I ended up starting a career in advertising. Unfortunately 2 years later my grandmother passed away, leaving me to question how I would be able to carry on her legacy.

Since graduating college, I always had a dream of opening my own Bakery but it took 10 years + a global pandemic to make that dream a reality. The plan was to keep my 9-to-5 while creating time and space to run my side business, Jo’s Confections, named in honor of my grandmother. The idea behind the bakery was that I would continue to showcase our family’s recipes while also adding my own flare. At the time of the pandemic, there was this overwhelming need for familiarity and comfort that I knew I could provide if given the chance. I had always baked here or there for different family functions, but I dedicated all of my extra time at home to perfecting some of my grandmothers old recipes. After putting my twist on a couple of items and testing out a few recipes on close family and friends, I gained enough confidence to start accepting jobs for different events. From there things started to take off via word of mouth and pop-up shops I participated in around the city!

Right now I am still operating out of home, which allows for me to make items a little more cost effective for my buyers but I am hoping to move into online distribution in the next year as demand continues to grow.

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

My name is Danielle and I was born and raised in Decatur, GA. After attending the Atlanta Girls’ School, I finished up my education at Hampton University in Virginia with a BS in Business Management. I always had aspirations of one day owning my own Bakery, but decided the more practical thing would be to start my career in advertising. I spent my first couple of years working in Atlanta before living in NYC for 5 1/2 years, but the South called me back home in the Fall of 2017.

My entrance into the baking scene wasn’t a traditional one, I am a self-taught, at-home baker with no professional training. I decided to open my own baking business, Jo’s confections, as a side-hustle in early 2020 shortly after the pandemic hit. The bakery specializes in some of my family’s old recipes with a slight twist as well as customized cakes. My passion and curiosity is what drives me and I wouldn’t be where I am today without my grandmother Josephine showing me the way. All of my initial hands-on experience came from countless hours of baking in the kitchen with her. She taught me things you can’t learn in any classroom, so it only made sense to name my bakery in her honor.

We are currently only operating in the local Atlanta area (hoping to start shipping the new year), but if you want to check out some of my past jobs or place an order you can Follow us on Instagram @JosConfections!

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

I am currently a team of 1, so every order that comes in has to be fulfilled by me from start to finish. When you are just starting out, you can sometimes agree to things that aren’t necessarily possible just to get a sale. Well last year, I had a customer reach out to me to see if I could bake over 100 customized hand-dipped cookies and individually package them. Of course I said yes without fully knowing how I would be able pull it off. I had a jammed-packed weekend before the delivery date, so I tried to strategize as best as possible but life happens. Half of my cookies broke and I had to rush to bake, decorate and package over 50 cookies in 1 day. This meant I had to take work calls while putting cookie dough in the oven, pulling out a fan to cool off the cookies and my husband to package up the remaining cookies. My kitchen had red frosting and flour everywhere, but with 10 minutes to spare I was able to deliver the cookies to the customer.

Taught me a very valuable in time management and allowing yourself to say no.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Honestly I can’t replace the value in word-of-mouth. Since I am small and nimble, I originally started out by making things for friends and family. Through their recommendations and guests from their parties/functions I have gained traction and business has started to take off. Referrals are still my #1 source for acquiring new clients, however I have started to do pop-ups over the last year.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josconfections/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josconfections1/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/josconfections/