We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Wetsch. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle below.

Michelle, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

I am a one woman show as of now. So I do it all, on top of the baking and everything else I have to do to keep this train moving. One thing I was told when I went to Culinary School was that I should document everything. Good and bad. I post pretty much every thing I make on social media. I’m a firm believer in it. Most of my clients have found me through Facebook and Instagram and word of mouth. If it wasn’t for people seeing and sharing my pictures and tagging me online in Fb groups, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Social media is very important to a business. But it can also break a business in a second. My best advice is to be smart and to be consistent. I try to post at least once a day. Many social media platforms are free. If you’re getting likes and shares on a meme, you could be getting likes and shares on your product. Take advantage of that!

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

Ever since I was a little girl and I saw a custom cake online I knew I wanted to do that too. I always loved playing and making things with play doh when I was younger. I always wanted to be the next “Cake Bossette.” I also have cherished memories from when I would go visit my Aunt in Arkansas. She would always have some kind of baked treats when I’d come see her and she would make things with me in the kitchen. I always looked up to her with that. When I was out of high school trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life I kept going back to this. Of course people would tell me that chefs don’t make a ton of money or that you really have to have the passion to make it in that industry. Or that girls aren’t really made for a professional kitchen. That never really scared me away, it just made me more curious . I had taken a year off to figure things out but I promised my dad I would go back to school after that year. The year was ending and I hadn’t done anything so I decided to check out a couple culinary schools in VA beach. Ended up touring at the Culinary Institute of Virginia. The first two classrooms I walked into on my tour I was handed a croissant and homemade pizza. Two of my favorite things! Told the man I was with that I didn’t need to see anymore, go ahead and sign me up. I finished my 14 month program at culinary school. Even though I was classically French trained in every aspect, I felt I didn’t get all the baking experience I was craving. Specifically fondant cake work. If I had stayed in VA I would have continued on to pursue my Bachelors in Baking and Pastry. It wasn’t until I moved to Raleigh and started working in country clubs and convention centers where I was able to get more baking experience under my belt. One day I decided to go to Costco and buy myself a mixer and a cake decorating kit from Michaels. I started looking at videos on YouTube and finding cake tips on Pinterest and making cakes for my friends and family. I would also post my creations online! Eventually other friends and family would ask me to make them cakes too! Social media and word of mouth has been huge for my business. 11 years later and here I am doing this full time. It wasn’t easy though. I did this all on the side as a hobby at home. Yes I was Serve Safe certified and a professional chef working in the industry. I have a husband and two kids, and pets. Some nights I wouldn’t get home from work till 10pm. I still would take the time to bake and decorate a full wedding cake for the next day. I would always find the time to work on my business around my already busy life. That meant a lot of late nights and all-nighters by myself while the family slept only to wake up and do it all again after and around my full time job and taking cake of my family. That meant sacrificing time with friends and doing fun things on weekends. I didn’t care if I only got one hour of sleep. I loved it. I was passionate about it. Eventually over the years I was able to build enough clientele and experience where I could step away from the corporate world and make this passion and my dream my full time job. Finally I found a commissary kitchen to work out of where I could finally become official. It was a scary move but I did it. I got my LLC. I’m inspected by the NC Dept of Agriculture. I’m liability insured and still ServeSafe Certified. Now I am proud to say that I am a luxury custom cake artist. I focus on making everything from scratch and I thrive on creative freedom. I’m proud of the fact I don’t use boxed mixes for cakes or candy melts to make dipped treats, and cocoa bombs. I don’t mind spending the extra money on quality ingredients like Belgian chocolate and hand tempering that instead of taking the easy way out with cheaper and artificial ingredients. The clients I’ve gained I know appreciate that too. As far as my cakes go. I love to gather all the random ideas and images clients give me and somehow just make it all come together and work to create a stunning cake. I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into my business and creating my brand. I’m proud of myself to sit here and look back on how I got to where I am now. I wish my Aunt could see me now. I’d love that. It also really comes full circle when I have clients that have been with me since the literal beginning of my career come to pick up a cake from my new commercial location. I’ve had friends from Virginia and South Carolina drive out of their way to come to Raleigh just to order and pick up something custom from me. It really makes me feel so good and proud of myself. The support is unreal and I am so incredibly grateful to be where I am now. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the support from friends and family old and new. Thank you.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think just being who I am really helps. I have high standards with my baking and quality of fresh ingredients. I’m honest and open with my clients and I take the time to pay close attention to every detail. Before booking a cake I make sure to ask every question under the sun to make sure I have every detail correct.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

The best way i communicate with my clients is either through messages on social media or email and text. You can call me but I can’t promise my kids won’t make a scene in the background if I’m in the car or at home. If I’m at work my phone isn’t in my hands. But if I get a moment I can quickly respond to a message almost immediately. Again I’m always honest and open with my clients. You’re not just an order or invoice in my book. If you’re trusting me to create something special and memorable I want it to be perfect in all aspects. If that means we need to book a tasting in advance I can make that happen. Because of this, many clients have become great friends throughout the years. Im so grateful for all the relationships I’ve built near and far with this business. Again, I wouldn’t be where I am now without the support of everyone.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/chellewetschcakes
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/chellewetschcakes