We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marianne Tayloe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Marianne, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

One thing I’ve noticed in most food-service industry professions is the “work nonstop” mentality. The early mornings, late nights, no-days-off culture is something I fell into for years because I wanted to prove and earn that drive towards being successful; when I moved into the wedding industry I quickly learned that the culture was very similar, especially during Spring and Fall wedding season(s). Once I started building connections with wedding industry professionals, it was easy to spot the “burn out” that would eventually take the place of that drive that was once there and I always believed it was from not being particular with not only who you choose to work with but how much you choose to work. It’s a fine dance, because you obviously want to make enough money to survive as a business, but I knew that the only thing that was going to keep me from doing this job long term was my having lost that love for it. As a small business owner, it is imperative to focus on mental health while balancing a heavy workload, and a lot of the times that means being strategic with knowing when to put a “cap” on the number of events I take on per month.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I learned very quickly that I wanted to work with food, watching Emeril’s TV shows as a kid and (most likely) getting conned into making lunch for my brother and his friends whenever we had a day off from school; it quickly turned into a love for baking, where most would say that the finicky nature of it was a deterrent I found a reassurance behind the science-forward aspect of ratios and mixing methods. I had plans to go to culinary school by the time I was 13.

I’m a graduate of Johnson & Wales University Charlotte and have been working in the food industry since I was 18. I obviously had plans to attend Johnson & Wales for pastry but I quickly realized that I needed to know a little bit more than that in order to find some direction once I graduated, so I started to tally off the avenues I knew I didn’t want to go down- the first, being cake.

I never felt called to it when I was a kid, didn’t love the work I produced in my cake classes and just never had that “comfortability” I was expecting to have when I found my niche. I had assumed that since I had such a strong calling to bake in general, that I would have the same calling when I started focusing on my career and potential job opportunities.

A job opportunity came to me by way of my mother, who knew I needed to make money to help pay for rent if I wanted to stay in Charlotte over summer break. The link to a Craigslist ad to be a “cake filler” at a local bakery was not what I was wanting or looking for- but this was probably the fifth job ad she had sent my way and I knew I didn’t have the luxury to be picky. I got the cake filler position and within a few months I started to become obsessed with cake.

During that time, I was discovering artists like Maggie Austin and Jasmine Rae, which really catapulted me into the direction of “art meets cake”, taking sculptural elements I never considered a possibility and making them edible. It all honestly just snowballed from there.

After a couple of years working with cake, I started working at a larger, wedding cake-focused business in town and stayed there for 9 years. I worked my way up to lead designer, saw the business through a change in ownership and honed my skills as a luxury cake artist. In that time, I re-connected with The Spectrum Center, an arena in Uptown Charlotte, and began to make cakes for performing artists such as Rihanna, Bruno Mars & The Red Hot Chili Peppers. As a kid who played music through childhood, it was an incredible feeling to be able to honor multiple passions at once.

Towards the end of my time there, I began teaching cake classes part time, working under an owner who also used to make wedding cakes. Through her guidance (and reassurance that I was actually good enough to do this on my own) I started to work up the courage to leave the comfort of job security and try my hand at small business ownership. In 2023, I stepped away from my full time job and dedicated all spare time towards building my brand. A year into business ownership, I’ve worked with almost 200 large-event clients as well as maintained my working relationship with The Spectrum Center, making cakes for Drake, John Mayer, Nicki Minaj and so many other incredibly talented artists.

These days I’m still learning, picking the brains of other talented cake business owners every chance I get and figuring out how to grow my business in a way that serves me & my clients.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Having worked for a larger, well-known company for as long as I did definitely helped me form relationships within the industry that I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to know until later on in my career. The wedding vendors who had essentially watched me grow up in the industry were able to witness my work ethic & evolution in terms of design style and all-around capabilities. These connections were monumental stepping stones towards bigger opportunities in my first year of business ownership than I could have ever anticipated.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Word of mouth! Consistently showing up for your clients, communicating with them as much as you can, and forming bonds with them as individuals. I always joke with my clients that wedding vendor meetings sometimes feel like you’re at a car dealership: you’re in an environment where you know the least, everything is way more expensive than you thought it would be and you need to sign a contract at the end of it. It can be incredibly overwhelming as a buyer and I think taking that time to help my clients feel comfortable in their decision-making by being available to answer questions, troubleshoot ideas (and to not act like a car salesman). I brag on businesses that make me feel seen and heard, I know that wedding professionals and clients alike do the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.mariannetayloecake.com
• Instagram: @mariannetayloecake
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariannetayloecakedesign

Image Credits
Photos by Bridgette Williams (1,4,5, 6) Lauren Rosenau Photography (2), Wyeth Augustine (3)