We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Anthony. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin below.
Erin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was jumping in headfirst to my weight loss journey. At 26 years old, I had gotten up to 365 pounds. I was diabetic, had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, PCOS, severe depression, and anxiety. In January of 2019, I decided that it was finally time to change my life and start living. I had three major surgeries within that year, and still managed to totally change my diet, go to the gym three hours a day five days a week, and begin to get my mental health under control. I went from 365 pounds to 155 pounds in the course of 18 months. I finally started to see myself as worthy! Worthy of success, worthy of happiness, worthy of health, and worthy of a LIFE, not just an existence. Being a young person with so many health issues was never easy, and I had truly given up any hope of losing weight or getting my life under control. Taking the first step towards healthier living, was also the first step toward starting my business! I took a risk and bet on myself, my own will power, discipline, resilience, and hard work. I proved to myself that I was capable of doing something greater than I ever imagined I could. The risk was believing I could do it, the reward has been proving to myself that I did.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Erin, I go by Chef E! I am the founder of Edibles by E., a baking business specializing in scratch made custom cakes and desserts! I am a 31-year-old PNW Native, and have lived in the Tacoma area for the majority of my life, I attended both Curtis and Lakes High Schools, graduating class of 2010. I am an Army brat, with a passion and great respect for veterans and military personnel!
October 2019, during the height of the COVID 19 Pandemic, I was truly at my wits end. I was set to start a new job in March, the exact day that the shutdown began. I had no income, I had no savings, I had no hope for a better future. I had an incredibly difficult time finding job opportunities with a felony on my record for mistakes I made years prior. It seemed like each passing day I’d lose hope more and more.
On the one hand I was living my best life, successful on my weight loss journey to lose 210 pounds and take back my health, and on the other hand totally lost with no direction for a way forward. I was both at my highest and lowest point in life simultaneously.
One day, I was cooking dinner and had taken a video on Snapchat, as I did on many occasions, and I got a message from someone saying I should consider selling plates. I have ALWAYS loved to cook and to feed people since I was a kid, and immediately the lightbulb went off. Something I could do to make money and that I was passionate about. I already cooked for people all the time, why not get paid for it?! The idea was genius.
I started off with savory foods, doing bi-weekly plate sales for lunch and dinner meals. I saw success immediately and things took off rather quickly. From hot wings, to carne asada fries, burgers, salads, teriyaki, and everything in between. Eventually I decided my plates should come with a sweet treat, so I decided to try my hand at baking. In the beginning I was TERRIBLE, and terrified. Everything tasted great, but it wasn’t pretty. I had never thought of myself as a baker, because I loved to cook savory foods so much. I didn’t have the same passion for baking that I did for cooking. So I thought.
Although my early treats were nothing to look at, people fell in love with the flavors, and kept coming back for more. Eventually, I started getting asked for desserts more than meals. So, I listened to what my customers wanted, and started to take baking seriously. I watched EVERY TikTok and YouTube video I could about baking. I bought cookbooks, researched recipes, and had my fair share of trial and error trying to figure out the transition from chef to pastry chef.
Every step of the way, good, bad, indifferent, failure, and success; I just kept betting on myself. Acknowledging my growth, as well as my need for improvement, practice, and understanding of my craft. Eventually I stopped selling plates altogether and became solely a baker, giving the people what they want! I am 100% self-taught and have never gone to pastry school or even attended a baking class. In 4 years, my talents have grown and transitioned from plates to edible works of art.
The biggest thing I want people to know about my brand, is that it is a true representation of myself, and of hard work. I’ve dedicated my life to growth in all aspects, but especially with my business. I want everyone that comes in contact with me to know that if I can pursue my dreams and goals, so can you! Don’t let the doubts, fears, second guessing, or what ifs to dictate what you do with your passions!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Doubt is the most wasteful energy. Being someone that struggles with depression, anxiety, and PTSD from a very young age, doubt is something I had always had in myself. My negative self-talk, and thoughts that “I can’t do this”, “I’ll never be good enough”, “Other people are better”, etc., were some of the hardest things for me to let go of. I truly had to change the way I viewed myself, my work ethic, and my ability to follow through for the things I wanted out of not just my business but in life as a whole. Unfortunately, as a child and teen I was sexually assaulted, which led to my very early diagnoses of mental health conditions. I had survived multiple domestic violence relationships as an adult, and that had a huge impact on the way I treated myself. I doubted my ability to do anything and everything. I ‘knew’ that I was destined to fail because of all the hurt, pain, and abuse I had undergone. Getting control over my mental health helped me to unlearn the fear and doubt in myself that I had always felt. I was able to change my internal dialogue and over time, every can’t turned to a can, and the can turned to am.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When I started Edibles by E., my biggest goal was to jump into the cannabis industry. When I started, everything I made was cannabis infused. My hope being that people would be able to learn through me, the benefits of cannabis, as well as the versatility it presents in the consumption of medicinal edibles. Cannabis was and is incredibly life changing for me, and without it, I do not believe I would have been able to get my mental health under control, lose 210 pounds, or start my company. It opened so many doors for me, and I wanted others to be able to experience the benefits as well.
Little did I know, getting licensed for edible production is at this point in time well over a million dollars. Washington state issues these licenses on a lottery basis, however that lottery has not been open in well over five years. The only way to obtain these licenses is to purchase one from someone that already has it. Opportunities to do so are incredibly few and far between. Instead of the $40,000 you need to enter the closed lottery, most people selling their licenses want at minimum a million dollars, something my budget just isn’t built for. Yet.
So, instead of just giving up hope as I had done so many times before, I transitioned to making baked goods without cannabis! I was terrified that because I had no formal training in pastry arts, and I was still learning, just food would never give me the means to survive or create a legacy for my family. I had weeks, sometimes a month where I got no orders, accompanied with backlash for no longer serving infused products. I didn’t give up or quit. I just kept practicing and pushing forward. Eventually it paid off and people started to recognize my talents. It was a tough transition, but one I am happy I made. There is nothing like the joy on a child’s face when they see the birthday cake or taste the cupcakes their parent has ordered for them. Although I may not be a perfect baker, I am a driven and resilient one; something I believe is reflected in my growth.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ediblesbyellc_253/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ediblesbyellc253
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ediblesbye253
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ediblesbye253
- Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/ediblesbye_253?share_id=vKsowEC7Qs+OuzzzQwQi7g&locale=en_US&sid=89617eaa35c74a899f0387cd929dc939
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Ericka LC Photography