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

Alright, Monica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Starting my own business is definitely the biggest risk I’ve taken so far! I’m so glad I did tho. In fact I should have done this sooner. I’ve worked in a few very popular bakeries local to the Tampa area, which I absolutely loved, however nothing beats being able to be my own boss, make my own decisions and create my own visions for my work. To me baking is a form of art so to be able to have my own creative freedom is one of my greatest accomplishments aside from my daughter. Having my daughter is actually what pushed me to make the big decision and after meeting her I knew I wanted to be able to stay at home with her. Which in the moment made making that decision even scarier. If it didn’t work what was my back up plan? Did I even have one? Truth is I didn’t but I went for it anyway and yes of course at first things were rough. I had to spend money to make money but wasn’t making any money to be able to spend. So with just my mixer, a handful of cookie cutters and no other equipment I did what I could to make what I could and promote my business. Almost 2 years later my business is thriving and I am so beyond grateful and still in disbelief at the amount of love and support I’ve received along the way.

Monica , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a pastry chef/ food artist and I say that because I believe decorating/ creating custom pieces of food is an art. I’ve known ever since I was a little maybe 7/8 that I wanted to grow up and create special pieces for everyone’s special moments. Growing up it was just my father, younger brother and I. My dad raised the two of us by himself and I believe experiencing that taught me my greatest lesson in life “anything is possible” no matter what my dad made it happen. He gave my brother and I a great life no matter how hard times got and he did it by himself. He is by far my biggest inspiration and supporter in my pursuit to follow my dreams. That being said having a broken family growing up really inspired me to want to be a part of all the special moments I maybe missed out on. Seeing how happy and touched people are over the small things I’m able to create for them for their memorable occasions touches my heart more then one could possibly know. I hope that by doing this I also am able to show my daughter once she’s older that she too can accomplish whatever she sets her heart to and to never settle for less and if I’m able to inspire some other people along the way as well, then even better. Something I truly love about my business aside from the creative freedom is the simple fact I’m able to make everything from scratch. Most bakeries don’t do that anymore because for them it’s not as cost efficient, it’s not for me either however I take pride in offering nothing but the best products for people to consume. I will say there’s nothing better then something home baked and not to mention FRESH. Most bakeries, due to high demand bake everything weeks in advance and freeze it because otherwise would be impossible to accommodate but not me. I truly pride myself on my fresh products, quality ingredients and unique, one of a kind, custom, just for you pieces. I offer just about anything and everything you can think of but I would definitely venture to say that as of lately my favorite thing to make is custom cookies and if your unfamiliar it’s the themed sugar cookies covered in royal icing that you’re maybe used to seeing only around Christmas time. I enjoy making these year round for any and every occasion. I mean what’s more thoughtful or personal than a set of cookies that maybe have your name, favorite color, favorite animal or tv character?! My goal is to eventually build up enough of a customer base to open a small little mom and pop shop that’s open maybe 2 days a week, which would ensure I’m able to still create everything myself and everything is constantly fresh. Most importantly to become a part of a lot more special moments for a lot more special families

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I would definitely 100% have to say word of mouth! As a new small business I have no way of advertising myself other then word of mouth and Instagram. However to find me on social media you would have to hear about me so that again leads back to word of mouth. What’s better then word of mouth anyways? If someone in my life reaches out to tell me to go check out a product because of how good it is then no questions asked I’m going to look into it because I trust without a doubt they’re telling me that for a reason. I believe I put so much hard work, love and dedication into everything I create that it truly speaks for itself and I feel so blessed that people are able to see that and believe in my products enough to share those thoughts with other people.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I do create all my products myself from scratch! Learning how definitely didn’t happen over night. I spent most of my childhood baking and looking though cooks books constantly creating and trying new things for my family to critic. I also took cooking as my elective in 6th grade and culinary all 4 years through high school. After graduating high school I moved to Maryland to attend and 2 years later graduate from a pastry arts school where I was able to learn so much and really focus on just the baking and pastry side of things. The biggest lesson I’ve learned with manufacturing my own products is try and try again and don’t settle for less. If you know something can be better make it better and use the best products to create your products because that will be what truly sets you apart from everyone else.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sweetsbymonicalynn.wixsite.com/sweets-by-monica
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/sweetsby_monica?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetsbymonicalynn