We were lucky to catch up with Justin Dominguez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Justin, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents did a lot of things right, but what resonated most with me is the idea that anything is possible. When I was a kid and wanted to be power ranger, they said, “be the best damn power ranger there is.” Obviously fighting crime and the monochromatic spandex outfit were not in my future, but the idea that whatever I put my mind to, I could do. That stuck with me. When I started making cakes, their approach was the same. You make the best damn cakes you can make. I think they knew early on that a normal career path wasn’t going to be something I was interested in, but they made sure I knew that there was value in whatever I did. On the busier, more difficult days, I remind myself that there’s value in what I create. I get to help people celebrate their happiest days. I’m not solving the worlds problems, by any means, but I’m helping create a bright spot in someone’s day. That makes me feel like I’m doing my part.

Justin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a cake artist from San Antonio, Texas who specializes in horror and horror-adjacent cakes. I started Justin Cakes in 2018. I started making cakes because, frankly, I stopped drinking (five years sober now) and I had a lot of time on my hands. My first order was a pink unicorn cake for my nieces birthday. When I finished that cake, I sat back and realized it was the most fun I’d ever had working on something, and from then on I was hooked. I’d never considered baking as a viable career choice for me, but the more cakes I made, the more real it became. I stuck to more basic cakes in the beginning, mostly because they sold easier. But as time progressed my love of horror and all things nerdy seeped into my work. Covid happened and I found myself with even more time on my hands and not a ton of work, so I just started making these elaborate, macabre cakes and the response I got was amazing. That’s when I pivoted to what I do now. There are so many bakers who do simple cakes so well, and they make good money doing it. My theory was, why not make twisted cakes, that nobody else does, and also have the most fun doing them. So here we are.
I’d have to say I’m most proud of the little space I’ve carved out for myself in the cake community. I’ve been able to make some cool things; and I’ve been provided with so many exciting opportunities because of my odd, horrifying, weirdo cakes. I’ve come a long way from that bright pink unicorn cake, and things are only going to get bigger and more terrifying from here on out.

What do you find most rewarding about being creative?

There are two major aspects that are most rewarding. The first is I get to make things I love. I get to pull these absurd creatures out of my brain, mold and sculpt them out of chocolate, and then bring them to life with edible paint. I get to essentially be a kid again… but I get paid to do it. Which leads me to the second rewarding aspect, which is the client reaction. Seeing a clients face when the cake they’ve been dreaming of is right in front of them, is always cool.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I’ve been told so many times to “find a real job” and I think it’s because society as a whole doesn’t value the arts nearly as much as they should. Even in school, the art programs I was apart of rarely got the funding and recognition they deserved. There seemed to be this idea that the only respectable work was hard labor, and that you needed to get your hands dirty blah blah blah. Students who go to art school are still laughed at for “wasting their time and money”. What society can do to best support artists is learn to appreciate what we do. Without artists the world we live in would be a very dull place. Artists literally and figuratively add color to the world we live in. The rooms we walk into, the food we eat, the music we listen to… all of that is given to you by artists.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @justincakessa
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/justincakessa