We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lucia Martinez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lucia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?
I give a lot of credit to my friends and family for my business’s success. What started as a hobby quickly turned in to a thriving venture. The continued support from my family and friends played a key role in expanding my clientele and motivating me to pursue a diploma in Professional Pastry Arts. True supporters who want to see you thrive will not make you feel like boundaries need to be set. I have been blessed with friends and family that have been there for me from the start and have been very considerate and helpful in anyway possible. Friends and family not only became my clients and helped me grow my clientele but also assist behind the scenes, in the kitchen, on days where I just can’t do it myself. It has taken a village to foster my growth this past year and for that i am grateful every day.
There have been numerous occasions where I rely on the help of others to fulfill orders. A story that always comes to mind is the time I received a a pastry order for 300 pieces. Seeing this as an opportunity to grow my business and get my name out there, of course I said yes. I left my job at the time early and went straight to work with the help of my best friend, husband, mom and cousin. We worked all night to fulfill the order. They’re willingness and commitment to help my small business succeed reinforced my belief that i was surrounded by a great support system.
Lucia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Lucia Martinez and I’m the pastry chef behind Luci’s Cakes and Pastries. My passion for baking traces back to high school. I loved going to school with my cupcake-shaped cupcake holder and selling my baked goods. Baking was always my calling, however, i initially perused a degree in psychology. I continued baking my way through college and in 2020, I decided to sell my cakes and pastries at a local coffee shop which allowed me to start building clientele at a stead fast rate. Seeing the success of what first started as a hobby, i was inspired to switch careers to a pastry chef and pursue earning a diploma in Professional Pastry Arts at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.
Although culinary school doesn’t replace the innate talent of being a naturally great baker, it taught me discipline and high level skills I wouldn’t have otherwise learned on my own. During this time, I was able to prefect my recipes and expand my menu offerings. The art of bread-making is a skill that has set me apart from other cake decorators in my city. Apart from my cakes, my top-selling item today is my conchas, a Mexican sweet bread.
My biggest accomplishment has been the expansion and growth of my business. There is a notable difference of when I started, to where I am now and for that, I am very proud of myself. This has comes with a lot of lessons and trials that not only grow my business but also nourish personal growth and the one thing I would want customers to know is that this is in great part due to their support and contribution to my small business. Each and every order is intentionally crafted with love and care to give my customers the ultimate experience of making their cake dreams come true while I work to make my pastry chef dreams come true.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been my social media presence. With instagram I have been able to showcase my products and effectively engage with customers. With reels i gain new followers as well as potential clients. I have had times where posting just seems impossible but the difference on the days I post, even on just my stories, is a huge difference from days I don’t. For my small baking business, posting and staying active is crucial especially since “one eats with their eyes first.”
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
“It’s okay to be a little late” was a lesson that I’ve had to unlearn. Growing up, being late was a norm in our household. We were late to school, late to church, late to parties, late to everything and there was never a real consequence. As adults, I’ve noticed that my two siblings and i struggle with tardiness to this day. As a small business order, being late is not an option. When i first started my small business, I struggled with being on time which made me seem unorganized and definitely affected my clientele in some ways. As my business grows, i aim to be on early or at the very least, on time. Working with food, i never know if something will take more time than needed so I’ve learned to give myself a grace period. If i think something will be done at a certain time, i always add an extra hour to that. I’m still learning to unlearn that bad habit because when I’m on my clients time, being a little late is not okay.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: Lucispastry
- Facebook: Lucispastry
Image Credits
Dalvawiphotoco