We recently connected with Melitza Spies and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Melitza thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

Growing up, my parents always made sure we knew the value of a dollar. For as long as I can remember, I would always help my parents, along with my younger brother. They’d tote us along to whatever they were doing and had us work in whatever business they had. Being young, we, of course, hated it, but little did we know that helping them would instill the work ethic I have now! My parents had their own careers but always had their own small businesses on the side. They ranged from owning a deli in Brooklyn, where I would help make breakfast or set up my own little juice stand, to getting involved in weekly flea markets where we would have to load and unload all the items we would sell that day. As we got older, my mother opened up her own spice business where is where I learned a lot about customer service, the importance of having a great product and the amazing array of flavors that existed. Every weekend, I would wake up early and spend all day working at the various markets we did, sometimes all weekend long. When I tell people about my childhood, it wasn’t the “traditional” kind since we grew up doing these things with our parents but I look back and am so proud of how our parents raised us. During those weekends of waking up early, working all day, longing to be with friends, I have so many amazing memories with my family. We still tell stories of people we’ve met along the way, days when something funny or crazy happened and I pass those stories along to my children. Thanks to my parents, I learned what it is to work hard, to appreciate everything you work for and to not take that for granted. They taught me the importance of helping others, how to be a successful business owner, how a meal or food can bring together people and how family is everything. I hope to be able to pass along that same work ethic to my children and share the fun and the memories that surround it.

Melitza, 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?

Growing up, cooking and baking was always a big part of my life. It was one of the most important things, especially being from a Puerto Rican family. Food was what connected each generation-the flavors, the traditions, sitting together around a table, the way it made you feel when you took that first bite of your favorite dish. I went to college for my Bachelor of Science in Fashion and Textile Technology in 2009 but I always talked about going to Culinary school-one day. In 2010, that opportunity presented itself and I went to the Notter school of Pastry arts in Orlando, FL, where I received my Pastry Arts certificate. Along with my newfound knowledge and hunger, came the move to Raleigh, North Carolina. I have worked at great local restaurants and bakeries but through it all I knew my path would lead me to be an entrepreneur. In 2018, I officially launched Sugar Coat Baking Co. and it’s been an amazing ride since! Along with being a wife and mom of two wild boys, food is my passion and it brings me so much joy to be able to touch people’s lives through my baked goods.

Here at Sugar Coat Baking Co., I offer unique, hand crafted pastry treats that are tailored to provide customers an opportunity to make their day or special occasion as sweet as our treats! I work out of my home kitchen, which is inspected by the State to ensure I comply with all safety and health standards. I work with the customer to create edible works of art that are freshly handmade for each order. My specialty item is custom, decorated cookies. It is our driving force and number 1 product above everything else I offer. I make cakes, cupcakes and other pastry treats but I am definitely known as “the cookie dealer.” In my area, there is a saturation of bakers but I think what sets me apart from the rest is the overall experience of working with me and the customer service I provide each client-whether they’re a first time customer or have ordered a hundred times! I make sure I have clear and consistent communication, I listen to what they are trying to achieve and create a unique product for them. I like to make people feel good-Whether you’re buying one cookie from me at a local event or ordering a custom item, I want everyone to walk away thinking “wow, what a great experience!” With my products, they not only look beautiful, they taste great too and when you’re paying for a “luxury” item, such as custom cookies, it is very important that every aspect is delivered!

Sugar Coat Baking Co has become my other baby. I am so proud of how far the business has come-I have worked hard to get my business where it is now and I pour my heart into it every day. It is a constant thought and a constant evolution. I look back at the first cookies I decorated and I cringe a little-they’re not bad but they’re nowhere near what I offer now. Everything I do has evolved, from my decorating skills to photography skills to my marketing abilities. It is awesome to see the progress from day 1 until now in every area of my business-like watching your child grow throughout the years. The best part is that Sugar Coat Baking has grown to be a well known local business in the area-a growth that took a few years. It is pretty neat to go out into our community and connect with other local business owners and members. And although, Sugar Coat has grown into this awesome business it is today, it’s not done growing, hasn’t quite peaked yet, the best is yet to come and this proud “mama” can’t wait to see where it goes!

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

I am the proud owner of Sugar Coat Baking Co. but I am also a wife and mother of two young boys. These roles in my life are definitely a hard balancing act. My mind is always busy with new ideas, to do lists, reminders, sports practices etc. In the past, I would just push through, taking every order I could along with all my other responsibilities in life. This would lead to major burnout by the time December rolled along. I started to resent my business, customers and just everything in general. At the end of last year, I started to put boundaries in place with my business and at the start of 2022, I decided I needed to change the way I handled everything. So instead of going full speed ahead, I decided to pivot, just a little bit-until I regained focus on what was important. I made the decision and painful announcement that I was going to take this year very easy. Very few custom orders, no events and let the business take a back seat to my life.

It was a VERY hard choice to make since the business was definitely starting to hit a huge stride but my family, and my sanity, was taking the hits for it. So for most of 2022, I focused on my family and myself. I still took on orders here and there which proved to recharge my love for what I do. I enjoyed each and every set I made instead of being stressed or critical of myself. Now, here we are towards the end of 2022 and I am slowly starting to get back to full capacity with the business. When you have a business, you want to make everyone happy, sometimes at the expense of your own happiness/mental health. I think it’s important to take a step back, to change or pivot, to listen to what your body and mind are telling you. Because I did make that change, it allowed me to truly appreciate my business and most importantly, my family and myself!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

As a business owner, you always learn so many lessons-big and small. But I had a pretty big humbling experience early in my career and as a budding business owner. In 2010, I made the plunge and applied to the Notter School of Pastry Arts in Orlando. It was an short, intense program headed by some of the greatest chefs in the industry, I even got to assist/work with a few celebrity chefs when they visited the school. I graduated and moved to North Carolina in 2011 with my now husband and started off my career as a Pastry Chef. I worked at a few local establishments but always made cakes and baked goods on the side out of my home. Little by little, word got out that I had a side baking gig and gained a few customers out of it.

I was young and thought I really had it going on-a young pastry chef who immediately got the role of the assistant pastry chef at a well known local restaurant, was in charge of the dinner service plated desserts AND had my own side business. Well the day came in which that realization came tumbling down, one day, on my way to work. I had made a huge cake for one of the line cooks’ daughters for her 15th birthday. I had stayed up all night after working my shift at the restaurant making this cake and quite frankly, it was okay (looking back now). I was almost at work when I had to suddenly brake and totally ruined the cake! The whole cake had shifted and panic started setting in because my shift started immediately upon walking into that kitchen. I walked in and upon seeing my boss, I immediately burst into tears and told her what happened. My boss was a brilliant chef out of New Jersey- she was so talented, tough and an amazing mentor. She was truly like a second mom to me, especially since I was usually at work! Between her, another amazing coworker and myself, we fixed this cake and it was good as new, better even, in 30 minutes. As we fixed the cake, my coworker showed me different techniques and tricks on how to prevent that from happening again, how to properly and cleanly frost a cake with buttercream-the list of lessons was endless. But the most important lesson I learned was Humility. Being young and a student fresh out of pastry school, I thought I knew it all. I loved to learn and always received advice but I still thought I was all that and a bag of chips. Well, I quickly learned that I didn’t know everything. I only had a fraction of the knowledge I was going to need to navigate this new world. I had the key ingredients but I needed to read the whole recipe in order to to really learn from everyone around me, from those who were very willing to help a fellow baker in need. After that day, I learned so much from every single person and cook that worked there. I learned techniques and learned how to cook new things that I still use today in my own home kitchen. That day and is one I think about every now and again but that lesson will always stick with me. Although I have grown to be very good at what I do, I know there is still much more to learn, much more to work on. The owner of my pastry school, Chef Ewald Notter, always talked to us about the importance of constant learning. He was a world champion in the sugar and chocolate world and you would always find him learning more, reading more, seeking out more information. He was THE Best and he never once acted above anyone else. He said that the day you stop learning is the day you stop growing and the day you stop being the best.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sugar-coat-baking-co.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SUGARCOATBAKING/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SugarCoatBakingCo