Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Heidi Scheurmann. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Heidi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s something crazy or unexpected that’s happened to you or your business
The craziest story related to my business is a negative one with a positive outcome. One time I was referred to a newly engaged couple about making a cake for their upcoming wedding. They were the sweetest couple, so nice and easy to work with. The entire process – cake tasting, consultation, design, etc went smoothly. The wedding cake was a small three tier cake, iced in a textured buttercream and fresh floral. Easy peasy!
The time came for this sweet couple to say “I do”. The cake was made and everything else was in order for delivery and setup. The day of the wedding, the sky was clear and the sun was shining. The temperature outside was 105 degrees and humid. I was born and raised in Texas and have resided here my entire life. Now those of you who are from Texas will know exactly what I am talking about weather wise. Our heat is not a dry heat so our summers are hot and muggy without a breeze. You can sweat just walking from your front door to your driveway. In addition to the 100 plus degree weather, I had to travel over an hour to the wedding venue during the hottest part of the day. There’s two strikes right there – temperature and travel time. Every time I deliver a cake, no matter what it is, the car’s AC is ALWAYS on. It’s always on and on full blast to keep the vehicle cool. When buttercream cakes get too hot, what do they do? They become really soft and start to melt.
I was about to arrive at the wedding venue, only like 5 minutes out. I went to turn onto a side street and thats when it happened. While I was slowly turning onto the street, I kept an eye on the cake in my rear view mirror. As I completed the turn, I watched this gorgeous cake fall over. Every cake decorator’s worst nightmare had just happened in the back of my vehicle. My stomach dropped, the panic set in. What was I going to do?? I had to pull into the nearest parking lot and collect my thoughts. I opened the back of my vehicle to survey the damaged cake. The top two tiers had shifted and ripped the skewers through the bottom tier. Cake and icing smeared everywhere. Oh my god…
I freaked out. I called my husband to tell him what had happened. I asked him to gather any extra cakes and icing I had at home and asked him to come and meet me at the venue. I contacted the wedding coordinator to explain the situation. I have to set the cake up as best as I can in my vehicle so that I can actually get to the wedding. I get to the venue and start unloading. The wedding coordinator showed me to the kitchen area where I could work to fix the cake. Luckily I still had plenty of time before the start of the ceremony. My husband arrived a short time later and I was able to take apart and re-ice what was left of the cake. Unfortunately I was not able to salvage the bottom tier of the cake. The bride and groom originally wanted a three tier cake but ended up with a two tier cake with a couple of extra satellite cakes. Thankfully I had extra cakes at home and I was able to provide enough cake servings for all of the guests.
You would think fixing a destroyed wedding cake was the hardest thing I had to do, but it wasn’t. The hardest thing I had to do was to tell the bride and groom what had happened. How would they react? Would they be angry or be understanding? My reputation was hanging by a thread. The wedding coordinator offered to let them know the situation but I said I needed to be the one to explain. I made the cake and I was the one driving when it toppled over. I lucked out because both the bride and groom were very nice and understanding. They both said the cake looked beautiful and were happy to still have enough cake to serve all of their guests.
What happened to me can happen to anyone transporting a cake. No matter what the weather is doing, or how far you are traveling. Sometimes bad things happen even when you take every precaution. This is why most decorators have a fee for cake deliveries. I do this professionally and when something bad happens to a cake, it can be very stressful. Even more stressful if you do not have the skills to repair any mishaps. I am happy to say this is my only cake that has fallen during transport. I take extra care in making sure something like this never happens again.
The life of a cake decorator can be a fascinating one. I have been a baker and cake decorator for over 20 years and I could tell you story after story of cake shenanigans. I have created the strangest cake requests, dealt with the most high maintenance customers, witnessed cakes being dropped and falling over and everything in between. I could probably write a book! The cake world is never boring that’s for sure! Ask any cake decorator you know and I guarantee they will have some stories to tell.
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
Food is a form of communication that influences fond memories of family and friends. Everyone has fond memories from their childhood linked to food. Whether it was brownies baking in the oven, a warm flaky pie cooling on the counter, or that pink sparkly pony cake from your 5th birthday, I strive to offer my customers an experience that reminds them of some of their favorite memories.
You’ll trip on deliciousness! Get Baked Bakery is a home-based bakery business working under Texas Cottage Law. I specialize in custom wedding and event cakes, cupcakes, cookies – both decorated and drop, pies and many other specialty desserts. I also offer a selection of sweet and savory breads.
What sets me apart from everyone else – I create spectacular looking desserts that taste even better. My attention to detail and caring nature shows how much pride I take in my work. I have always maintained quality over quantity and always give 100% when it comes to my work because I am not wired to provide anything less. Get Baked is my livelihood and with every order I am putting my reputation on the line.
People are always surprised to find out that Get Baked is a one woman show. I am that woman. I make, bake, and decorate it all. Every customer order has my full attention from start to finish. When your next special event rolls around, you know you are going to need something that looks and tastes fabulous. Check out Get Baked Bakery…. You will definitely trip on deliciousness!!
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
I have been professionally baking for over 20 years and decorating for over 15 years. I started working in an upscale grocery store bakery and eventually transitioned to small custom bake shop. I had always worked for someone else. Family and friends have always asked me to make cake and other desserts over the years. An order every now and then was fine with my crazy work schedule. But as time went on, I started getting more and more requests from them along with requests from their friends, family and coworkers. Word of mouth has been my greatest ally,
My customer base was growing and continued to grow. I was working full time for someone else and then coming home to work another full time job. I felt overloaded. I was tired. I was sleeping maybe 3 hours every night, if that. I was exhausted both mentally and physically and I was losing my passion for baking. I was playing a game of tug-o-war in my mind every day. Should I quit my side business and just focus on my full time day job? Should I quit my full time job and expand my business?
I have always had the support of my husband and my family. With their support and encouragement, I took a giant leap of faith and turned my “side hustle” into my full time career. I was now my own boss! I now have control over my workload. I am able to make my own schedule. I know what I am capable of and know when I need to say no. My passion for baking was reignited. You will not find anyone who will work as hard as I do to produce a quality product that looks amazing and tastes fantastic. I will always give 100% because my customers do not deserve anything less.
My customer base continues to grow every year and I could not be more thrilled. The leap of faith I took has paid off. Although I am still a one woman show, I am totally fine with that! Check out Get Baked Bakery and let me create something your friends and family will be talking about for months!
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
It’s a simple one – word of mouth.
I am thankful to have so many repeat customers. I am even more thankful my wonderful customers refer their friends, family and coworkers to me. I also have my website, Facebook business page and Instagram. Facebook has been a great source for new customers as well. I do my best to keep my website up to date and post regularly on Facebook and Instagram but sometimes that is a struggle with emails, phone calls, text messages, Facebook messages, etc. I am fairly tech savvy but regular social media posts are not my forte. I am still a work in progress on that one!
I will say nothing beats the simplest form of communication – word of mouth. It’s fast, effective and travels like wildfire. If you create something spectacular, people are going to know about it. It only takes one person to ignite that flame.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.getbakeddfw.com
- Instagram: @hendleyheidi
- Facebook: @getbakedbakerytx
Image Credits
Amy Schenk Photography