Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Paige Melancon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Paige, thanks for joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I have incredibly supportive parents and furthermore a very close and supportive extended family that has helped mold and shape who I am not only in life, but in my career as a creative and educator. My parents instilled a tenacious work ethic in both myself and my younger brother that has led us where we are today. I grew up on a small farm a couple of hours away from Houston and was always taught the value of hard work. Not only was I involved in clubs, honor societies, and sports in school, but I was also responsible for taking care of our cattle after school as well as work at the local grocery store. I was encouraged to pursue my passion of art and baking and my Grandmother was very skilled in that department. She owned a small gift shop and I would go to the shop to help her from time to time- she taught me how to make gift wrapping bows and I would sit in the back room making bows and gift wrapping items the customers bought. She was also an amazing cook and baker- every time we would walk into her house she had some new dish or dessert on a fork shoving it in our mouths for us to try- typical Italian grandmother style. Between the creative genes from my Grandmother and the work ethic my parents instilled in me I was destined to be a small business owner and pursue my creativity.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Pastries by Paige is a home-baking business that operates under the Texas Cottage Food Laws. I specialize in intricately decorated sugar cookies as my main focus and on the occasion I offer cupcakes, cakes, and other cookies as well. I grew up baking in the kitchen with both of my grandmothers and have always had a love for baking. I was a personal cook for a family during college and would meal prep for their busy family of 6 to have throughout the week as well as make themed caked for their summer camp classes. Prior to that I had just made cakes for friends and family. When I moved to the Houston area I began trying my hand at decorated cookies after seeing some on social media- I didn’t even know the decorated cookie world existed before that! I loved to paint and draw as well and I knew this was a great way for my to combine my love of art with baking. After only making cookies for friends and family I started branching out to friends of friends and was then encouraged by my family to make this hobby into a small business. Pastries by Paige has grown exponentially in the last few years and I am so proud of this dream I am building. I love it when my customers send me their event invitations or decorations and give me full creative control to create beautiful cookies for them. Not only are the cookies pretty, but they taste amazing as well- which I’ve heard from several customers has been hard to find and why they choose to use me for all of their events and promote my business to their friends and family. Returning customers will always be my biggest success and it is so fun to watch families grow by getting to first make their engagement or wedding cookies, then their baby showers, and kids’ birthday parties- I am very humbled and blessed to get to be part of their lives in a really sweet way.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One lesson I had to unlearn was that saying no means you’re not doing enough. I have had a very difficult time saying “no” or turning customers away even when I am completely overwhelmed and overbooked- it’s not easy being a full time middle school educator and small business owner. I have always had this little voice in the back of my head telling me that if I don’t take that extra order or tell a customer “sorry, I’m booked” that I am not doing enough and I need to do more. I have had to unlearn this lie so many of us believe when running a small business and make time for myself. If I’m not at my best then I cannot give my customers my best work, so now I try to limit the amount of cookie orders I take in a week while I am still teaching middle school as well.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I was not aware of the vast amount of resources out there for cookiers like there is. Honestly, I didn’t know the decorated cookie world existed until I saw a picture of decorated cookies from a local baker on facebook. My family always loved to make sugar cookies at Christmas to decorate, but I had never seen them in such great detail as the ones I found online. The further I go into my cookier journey the more resources I see- a vast majority of them being from other cookiers around the world. So many have created classes on techniques and give information out freely- the cookie community really is like a big family.
Contact Info:
- Website: pastriesbypaige.com
- Instagram: pastriesbypaigehtx
Image Credits
All pictures were taken by me.