We recently connected with Raynel Paulino and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Raynel, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?

We have a partnership with a local photographer and we provide her with cakes for the photo shoots. Last year she referred a customer to us that we made custom cake for. Afterwards, she started ordering from us for every occasion and even referring us to all her family, friends and coworkers.

To show our appreciation we decided to make her birthday cake at half price with no limitations. In addition, we also made it a larger size than she requested.

She was surprised by our gesture and it was even more heartwarming when she told us she had no plans for celebrating her birthday let alone getting a cake. We were just glad to bring some joy into her life and make her birthday special.

I believe that to receive you must give. If you have a client that always chooses your business and that is always referring clients. Add some free items to their order, make the cake a little bigger even if they paid for a small size.

Show your most loyal clients that this is a two way street and I assure you, your business will grow ten times more if you show appreciation to those who support you.

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

– My name is Raynel Paulino. I am pastry chef who graduated from Escoffier CuIinary school in Profesional pastry arts. I own a small business called Paulino’s Bakery which I run from home. We specialize in custom cakes and treats for any special occasion.

At the beginning of 2020 my siblings and I found out our father had stomach cancer. Me and my oldest sister decided to leave everything behind and left to the Dominican Republic to take care of him. Unfortunately, not even three weeks after we got there we lost him. When we came back home we were in lockdown, and I had lost my job. What I did have was an idea that I came up with a friend of mine who is a bartender. She was going to make drinks and I was going to make desserts unfortunately it didn’t work out. However, I always had a sweet tooth and I thought it would be nice to start baking and selling desserts to have an income and be able to help my partner with expenses.

I decided to do some research. Finding new recipes, studying them and learning. Researching and YouTube was not enough for me. So I started looking for schools and found a culinary school that was giving classes online during the pandemic and decided to sign up for it. Now I won’t lie and say this is what I always wanted to do. Even while attending culinary school I kept looking for other careers and colleges I could attend after lockdown. After some time I found peace in baking. I fell in love with the math and the science behind it but most importantly I love the joy and happiness I bring to others through my work.

In October of 2020 I started Tasty Treats by Raynel, a little taste from heaven. Selling cookies, tres leches and flanes but people started asking for more. There is a special friend of mine that began ordering treats for her parties. She eventually convinced me into making custom cakes. It scared me so much because I didn’t think I was capable of doing something so important as a cake! I mean the cake is one of the most important parts of a party, what if I messed that up? I can tell you that practice is the key. Discipline and dedication! Reading, watching videos or tutorials, get extra classes if you can afford them (I couldn’t so trial and error was my way of learning). I do believe honesty is important in every business to this day if someone asks me for a cake or something specific and I can’t make it, I’ll be honest. I’ll let the customer know I can’t make that and see if they’re able to change some details if not I’ll decline and even try to find someone that can make that for them.

After I had my son I decided to rebrand my business last year. My first logo was made by me using Canva and my dream was to honor my dad by naming my business after him and running it with his values in mind. Being kind, humble and respectful. That’s where Paulino’s Bakery comes from still bringing a Little taste from heaven and run by Raynel but with a very special name and a beautiful meaning behind it.

I think what set me apart from others is the dedication and the love people see I put into my business. I will ask you a million questions to make sure your cake is unique, I want your face to light up when you see a cake or any treat you order from me. With every cake, big or small I am committed to go above and beyond to exceed my customers expectations.

I believe everyone should receive the best customer service, it doesn’t matter to me if you are getting an expensive cake or something more on the budget. I can guarantee I put the same dedication, the same love, same hard work with each and every order I receive.

I make my orders as if I were making them for my family or myself. I always say that I am not in this industry for the money. I am in this industry because I truly love and enjoy what I do and it is my absolute pleasure to be a part of all special occasions. While having the ability to share my love with others through my baking.

If a customer tells me that they can’t afford a cake for an event. I’ll work with their budget and do my best to put a smile on their face. I believe in giving back and helping those in need.

What I really want my potential clients to know is that when they purchase my products they are not only supporting a small business but also supporting my family. I have been able to take care of my two year old son and stay home with him. When you purchase from me you’ll know for yourself why each and every one of my customers have been with me since the beginning of my journey. Which I truly appreciate.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

My best source of clients has been word of mouth. The majority of my clients come by being referred to me by their friends or families. Last year in August 2024 we started attending pop ups and markets. Which allowed us to grow more by becoming a part of a beautiful community of small businesses that will send us their clients and of course we send them ours!! Don’t be scared to go out there if you run a business from home or even if you have a storefront, markets and pop ups will open doors for you and your business. You’ll meet beautiful, extraordinary hard working individuals. They will inspire you to keep going and to keep thriving.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Paulino’s Bakery is a family owned business and that is because the majority of what I needed to start this business was gifted to me by my family. Everyone chipped in, my mom, my siblings and my fiancé. To this day they keep gifting me anything they see and know that will help me do a more efficient job.

I know not everyone has the blessing of having a supportive family but if you want to start your own business start small, buy what you need to start and then keep going. Little by little you can start getting more tools but what is really important is to start somewhere. Maybe you won’t see the fruits right away and yes you’ll have to make some sacrifices but it will pay off.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @paulinobakery

Image Credits

PHOTOSTUDIOBYLAUHDEZ1 LLC