Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lauren Lynch. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I’ve always been passionate about events. Planning, decorating and baking have always been my niche. I thought long and hard, ‘what better name to use for a business title than the name ‘passion’?”. I did some research and found ‘ardent’ which is a synonym for ‘passion’. I pestered all of my close friends and family asking what adjectives and phrases stood out to them. We landed on Occasion and Creators. Arden Occasion Creators is my brand that has stuck with me since 2015. Through all of the tough experiences I’ve had, I could not see myself changing my Business name anytime soon.

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.

What sets me apart from everyone else is I make every cake with love. Baking is one of the most nerve wracking and rewarding things to do. I create designs on paper and ask my clients to trust my design skills in executing a cake of their dreams. I’m usually holding my breath until my Client shares their feelings on the design. It is SUCH a relief to see their expressions and hear their kind and loving words. I want my potential Clients to know that I truly love ALL things cake. I love hearing what they like and don’t like, seeing their expressions change during a tasting for different flavors, the ability to trust my vision coming off of a paper-drawn design, all the way to the instant feedback that I get when they see and taste their order. The process. I love the process of caking and baking with passion. I give my caking-craft my all.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social Media was an area where I was stagnant for a while with only under 100followers on each platform. I was talking to my best friend, Bonnie, who was telling me to join TikTok and post some videos. I said, “No,” initially. She begged me to post videos of ‘the process’ she said TikTok would love it and I would grow my account so fast. I didn’t believe her. But I tried it! With one video and asking people to simply SHARE my video— I had 70-80 followers. My page was fairly new and I was SO worried about what people thought of my physical appearance AND my videos being such low quality using my phone.

None of that mattered. People wanted to see in to my kitchen and how I was baking. Being a SAHM(Stay At Home Mom) affected the way I completed orders in my kitchen. One of my videos got tons of views and comments for all of the wrong reasons! I was called a bad mom because my baby was crying and I stopped baking to console him and put him down for his nap. I was also called dirty because I didn’t have on gloves. People on the internet need to get real and use soap and water to wash their hands regularly.(Haha)

My strongest social media following is on TikTok. There, I can be myself and make mistakes on video without the backlash of defending myself. Thanks to Bonnie, I have a tough skin for the internet. I wouldn’t have taken this leap without her building me up to do it.

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

I had just had my son and became a SAHM of 2 under 2. We needed more space so we could handle the volume of orders and our growing family. Being in the kitchen became a chore and not any fun! I was a one-woman show getting everything done. I offered a lot for so little and people loved my baked treats and sweets. My prices were just below market and I had a line of customers everyday for fresh baked cupcakes of various flavors and cookies.

My Husband and I purchased a home in June of 2022. We quickly learned homeownership was a scam(HAHA). To stay a step ahead of the bills we foresaw, I went back to a regular 9-5 so we could have 2 stable incomes. The baking industry was a rollercoaster post Covid. No one really wanted to have events. No parties unfortunately meant no cakes. This made baking rewarding only to my spirit and not my pockets.

In that time of working a 9-5 I missed baking so much, I started doing it for free. I would bring baked goods to work, started sending them to my Husband’s work, AND my kids’ daycare. I quickly realized… this is my calling and I can’t just stop cold-turkey. I love baking cakes, cupcakes and treats.

After finding a ‘new normal’ with the kids’ schedules and the adult schedules in the house, I was able to go back to baking part time again! Clients new and old have been consistently reaching out to make new orders.

My Husband(Douglas) and I are currently renovating a wing of the house specifically for our home-based business of baking. My Douglas is officially in the kitchen with me and helping out. Not only with the baking, but now delivery and paperwork is a breeze having someone I can trust and rely on to get things done. I can’t wait to get back to baking full time!

Contact Info:

• Website: Ardenoc.square.site OR Ardenoc.com/bakes
• Instagram: Instagram.com/Ardenocllc
• Facebook: Facebook.com/ardenocllc
• Youtube: YouTube.com/Ardenocllc
• Other: TikTok.com/Ardenocllc