Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Naina Ingleshwar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Naina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

If someone would have told me in college, that I would have a baking business in future, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. But I guess life always has different plans for you, doesn’t it? I always liked baking but rarely got a chance to bake in my mom’s kitchen. I loved making brownies when I was younger and still think they are probably the most comforting food. The smell of chocolate, the lure of it and the possibilities of it are endless.

When my son was born in 2012, my life took on a different meaning and it was overwhelming being a new mother. It was very difficult dealing with the challenges of motherhood. My mom visited me from Houston but had to leave to go back to work after a few weeks. With no family around me, the long and gloomy Delaware winters did not help. I suffered from PPD and, as a vent out, got into baking.

Baking helped me deal with the depression and the mood swings. I saw cake decorating classes and decided to register for it. I realized soon after that I had only baked a few times and nothing from scratch. I also didn’t know how to make any frosting. After gradually starting with experimenting in the kitchen with recipes, I taught myself how to bake as well as decorate. Through my trials and tribulations, I have mastered my current cakes. The techniques I learnt in class weren’t very useful for me as I was a beginner, and I also felt I needed to have the prerequisite of baking cakes before taking the decorating classes. After taking the classes, one of my classmates encouraged me to start my own business from home. That is when “Sweet Sensations” was born. The following summer was filled with orders from friends.

Over the past decade, my baking skills have gotten better with practice, persistence and determination. My favorite part is sculpting characters from fondant and seeing it come together on the cake. I also took formal sculpting classes from Zoe Hopkinson, a cake professional in England. I practiced religiously, and now I’ve quite a collection of figures ranging from animals to children to humans. When I present the cake to my client in the end, it makes me happy to see their smiles over the product. That’s what makes it all worthwhile. When I initially started, I really didn’t know where I was going; there was so much unknown. Somehow life helps you figure it out. My mom always says, “where there is a will, there’s a way,” and I followed it. Because what’s the point of life if you are not always learning? In the process, I learnt how to make custom cakes and cake toppers. I’ve made a custom cake now every birthday for my kids as well as my husband. My mom, and family are incredibly supportive of my work but also keep me grounded. My family is also my critic; they tell me what is good and what needs more work and attention. This helps me focus on my weaknesses and tackle them better.

In 2018 & 2019, I started baking classes for cupcakes and cakes to help other like-minded locals in DE learn the art of baking. My students varied in ages from 9 to 13 to a senior citizen, and others who were women but the enthusiasm from them was amazing. Baking is also therapeutic for many people, as it’s been in my case.

We moved to Dallas in December 2019 from Delaware. In 2020, I had my first virtual class with a few students. It’s been a lot of fun teaching and I truly enjoy it. In 2021, I started classes at my home for kids as well as adults. My favorite cakes are animal face cakes. They are diverse and I love creating textures with fondant or modeling chocolate.

For a long time, I’d see people entering contests and think I wasn’t good enough for them. But I finally gathered courage and thought I should enter and see where it goes. And I’m glad I did! 2020 was the year I entered my cake work in several contests. One of them was Cake Masters, which is regarded as one of the prestigious cake contests in the world. It was very nerve-wracking, but I figured it out. In fact, I had never worked with modeling chocolate, but I wanted to give it my best shot. I made a bust of Freddie Kreuger with his iconic red sweater with a scarred face in the theme of Nightmares. To my surprise, I got a certificate from the Head Judge commending my work as it was in the Head Judge’s wild card category. I cried the day I saw the certification as it was a professional validation of my hard work. It felt so good to see it.

All these little wins have fueled my growth and passion immensely. I’m still not at the top, but I am very happy and content with where I’ve come in this journey. There was a time when I would compare my work to others and felt low and even worthless, but I’ve learnt to compare my present work to my work from the past. You will only get better at the art if you push your boundaries and horizons. I have also believed in choosing a path that is different, someone encouraged me, and I hope to bring the same spark in others. My goal in life has always been having no regrets and Carpe diem – Seizing life! Ten years down the lane, I want to say I did it, not I could have done it.

I have always felt I wasn’t born with it; I have had to work hard at my life goals. But I suppose that hardship in hindsight is the best part. It genuinely makes you stronger and more focused. It isn’t easy but I was zealous and passionate about my goals. Maybe, I’m over-ambitious. As for obstacles, life is never smooth and if it was there wouldn’t be much joy in it. There were loads of times when it got difficult, and I wondered what I was doing and questioned myself about my path. But I weathered through the highs and lows and can safely say now I feel good about where I am currently.

Prior to Covid, I started teaching in Delaware baking and decorating classes and have done the same in Prosper. I’ve conducted online classes as well, and it’s been a learning curve. My students have impressed me, though. I have a lot of respect for teachers schooling kids virtually.

As a business entrepreneur and manager, I’ve gained an understanding of business more practically than theoretically. I have majored in Marketing yet I struggle with marketing my business online. Starting my business with just word of mouth was not enough, so I have now ventured into marketing it on social media. I have learned how to market on Facebook, Instagram and have created a website on WordPress as well. The opportunities are always there if you are willing to learn and research. Basically, having a business will consistently give problems, but it’s up to you to find the solution, and that quest is where you are constantly growing and evolving. I feel I’ve learned a lot from my business too. I’ve taken classes in Search Engine Optimization and learnt how to market my business successfully on Google. This in turn has helped me grow my business exponentially.

Naina, 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 make custom cakes as well as cupcakes for special occasions. My aim at “Sweet Sensations” is to provide for your events a gorgeous cake that not only looks good but tastes great too. I am located in Prosper and bake everything at my home. Over the years, I’ve had all kinds of requests for cakes, from a BMW car cake to a Biryani cake to a giant Strawberry cake! I can sculpt and carve anything out of cake. I specialize in Fondant cakes as well as Buttercream cakes with customized cake toppers.

Email: [email protected]
Website: https://nainassweetsensationscakery.wordpress.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nainassweetsensations
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NainasSweetSensations

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I started out on Instagram, I had no clue how to gain more followers or how to take pictures. I researched and found how to take good pictures of your product. Instagram is all about having good high definition pictures in a great setting. It is also about returning comments to the people who comment, customers love being appreciated. If a fellow baker comments on my posts, I always make sure to return that favor. If an individual follows my work, I try to follow their work as well. Small things always add up.

My advice is to study other similiar businesses and observe them. I also recommend posting consistently throughout the week, take good pictures of your product, and to make sure you use the right hashtags as well all the thirty hashtags for your product.

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

I believe behind every product is great customer service. If a person complains, are you looking into why it happened? Did you fix the issue? Did you make up for it, if you were wrong? These points take on a huge meaning in business. When I make mistakes, I apologize to my customer and make up for it. It’s vital for a business to make sure your customer leaves the premises leaving satisfied and content. They will only return if you treat them well. Good manners always make an impact so be kind to your customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nainassweetsensationscakery.wordpress.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nainassweetsensations
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NainasSweetSensations