We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacky Saravia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacky below.

Alright, Jacky thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

I got my first client on February 12th of 2023, that was the day I launched my business on social media. I received a message shortly after posting my first cake which was a vintage cow themed cake, and they wanted an exact replica of it to ask someone to be their girlfriend on Valentines Day. I was so happy to be a part of a couple important day! Words can’t describe the excitement I felt when they sent payment to confirm their order. That was the first dollar my business earned, and I used it to continue improving my business. I got a lot of orders following that one because Valentine’s Day was 2 days away. I was so excited to be busy that Valentine’s Day week, I don’t think I celebrated it myself!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Jacky Saravia. My home bakery is based in Morrisville, NC. My business started out as a hobby while I worked as a surgical tech at UNC hospital. Cake decorating quickly developed into a passion after baking and decorating cakes for my family and friends. Having watched many “Vintage/Lambeth” decorating style videos, I realized there aren’t that many vintage cake decorators in my area and that it would be a great idea to be one of the firsts! I had no business plan or experience, but I had a big passion for baking and decorating cakes, so it became a dream to make it a successful business and full-time job! My cakes are super girly that include glitter, pearls, bows and are 100% customized! I came up with the idea and name of petite sweets by making small or “petite” versions of my cakes which my customers enjoyed so petite cakes became my best sellers! I am so proud of my petite cakes because no one else does mini cakes in my area so I feel like they really set me apart from other cake businesses!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I took a huge turn in my career as a surgical tech when I decided I wanted to work on my cake business full time. I am expecting my first child in spring of 2024, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to juggle a full-time job, a full-time business and being a first-time mom so I made the hard decision of letting go of my surgical tech job to focus on growing my business. It was very difficult deciding if I wanted to leave my career that I had worked on for the past 7 years. I enjoyed my surgical job in the hospital, but I felt like I needed something more fulfilling. I took a 3-month long break from my cake business in the beginning of my pregnancy to not overwork myself, but I missed it terribly and couldn’t wait to be relaunch my business. Once I started taking cake orders again, I knew I wanted for my business to be better than before, so I focused on improving it before relaunching. It has been difficult adjusting to my new lifestyle, but I have been loving decorating cakes and making content for my social media for a living. I hope it continues to grow as it did in my first year.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I started my cake business from all of my cake supplies that I previously owned when I baked as a hobby. They were very bad quality, but it was what I had to use for the first month after launching my business because as stated before, I didn’t have a business plan or investment money. I used the money from my first cake orders to invest in better equipment and supplies. It definitely made a difference and I saw a shift of quality in my cakes once I invested more and more into it. I continue to do it as my business grows.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/petitesweets.xox/
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@petitesweets.xox

Image Credits
photo credits: Allyson Diaz-Portillo