We recently connected with Danielle O’day and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle , appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I have been pursuing my creative career for a little over ten years, and my answer to this question has changed in correspondence to a deeper understanding of living authentically and maturity in said creative pursuit.

Now, let’s navigate this discussion as I feel it has several different facets. The first time I caught myself day dreaming of a closet filled with business casual, a 401k, and water fountain chit chat with colleagues was simply when my business was not doing well. The bakery brick and mortar opened summer of 2018 and it barely had time to learn how to walk before covid shut us down for months, and a high percentage of other local restaurants for good.

A knowing that I’d be sitting in that very day dream, at a desk, holding regret in the palms of my hands that I chose not to fight through the adversity was enough to snap me out of it.

The lesson here was coming to terms with failure while simultaneously embracing reinvention. If nobody is buying what you are creating, they either don’t want it or they don’t know it’s there. Either way you need to take responsibility and reinvent, while still remaining authentic to your craft.

Which leads me to my second point. If you don’t remain authentic in what you are creating, people can tell and your long term happiness will eventually suffer. I feel as though society is becoming pickier with consumption, as they should. Which can place a larger weight on creative’s shoulders to be showing up with something new and novelty, but that’s not the case at all. The significance of telling YOUR story through your specific medium cannot be lost on you, and having your community embrace your pages of wild and thrilling creations can be one of the most profound forms of happiness you can receive from standing on your artistic platform.

All of this to say, do I scroll corporate job listings on occasion? Sure. But the happiness I seek in the comfortability of a “regular job” would never compare to the happiness I actively and intentionally show up for every single day.

Danielle , 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?

Sweet Dee’s bakeshop is like a bright pink light that sits in the middle of Old Town Scottsdale. It is my artistic platform where I am able to showcase my talents of novelty, fun, flavors in the form of pastry and cake design. Also a nod to a culinary love I have deep in my heart to our breakfast and lunch menu and coffee program. Ever since I was a little girl I’d have vivid dreams of flavor combinations, colors, words, just pure and genuine excitement to create. I navigated several creative platforms in the writing and fashion world prior to starting Sweet Dee’s out of the house.

Along with conventional baking, I offered an extensive menu of gluten free and vegan alternatives which really set me apart at this time. Baking with healthier ingredients and seasonal flavors really lit me up, and to this day, it is a huge part of our mission statement with the bakery. I pride myself and the bakeshop with using whole, actual ingredients in all of our treats, custom orders and cafe menu. Our coffee syrups are made in house, every filling, frosting, or layer of cake is made from scratch. I am careful to do extensive research on locally sourced ingredients or internationally sourced ingredients (like our mouthwatering Swiss chocolate). I feel that this really shines through with our product, not only does it look amazing but the taste and flavor combination may be like nothing you’ve had before.

I am constantly creating things that are deemed “out of the box”, I listen to feedback intently. I cherish every single customer, every single pastry and every single moment I can be living out my wildest dreams at the shop. It is so important for me that it shows through the pastry case and custom cakes and orders that leave those doors every day.
Pastries, cakes, etc. are more than just sweet treats. They are moments of serotonin, celebration, and togetherness.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

A dear friend let me borrow her copy of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and I finished it in about two days. Essentially she tells stories of creativity and Ideas floating around, orbiting you and specific timing of these ideas. If you don’t capture this idea, give it life, then it will simply go to someone else. This book can rev up a stuck creative engine, inspire those that think they aren’t creative or is just a really beautiful read. I recommend it to anyone I can. I’ll end this with a favorite quote from the book. “Creativity is sacred and it is not sacred. What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all. We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits. We are terrified, and we are brave. Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege. Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us. Make space for all these paradoxes to be equally true inside your soul, and I promise—you can make anything. So please calm down now and get back to work, okay? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”

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

You cannot be stubborn when it comes to your business and social media. Having a business and a solid social media presence IS mutually exclusive!! It is one of the most monumental, free forms of marketing we have available at our fingertips.

Learn! If you do not know how to work a particular social media platform or take quality content of your product that gains leverage and a following, then dive deep into learning how. I am the only person who has touched our social media presence and it has done pretty well. One Tik Tok video can produce a line out the door the following day! It is truly a business and life changer. You’ll receive opportunities, customer base and community outreach like never before if you work on this side of your business.

It was important to learn the SEO tricks of the trade while posting content, as well as showing your own face and story behind the product. Consumers are no longer interested in purchasing from a business, they want to purchase from YOU! So have fun, show them who you are and why you’re out here doing what you’re doing!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sweetdees.com
• Instagram: sweetdees.bakeshop
• Facebook: sweetdeesaz
• Other: tik tok! xo.sweetdee

Image Credits

Tracy with Fully Alive Photography