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

Shalley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The company name, Taste of Sleek, was hand picked to represent the aesthetic I wanted for my brand. I not only want my clients to have delicious treats, I want all of my clients to have a luxury experience. “Taste” comes from the experience their taste buds will encounter when enjoying their tasty treats. “Sleek” was chosen because it represents elegant, polished and well-designed, which is how I want all of the custom treats I create to uphold. So “Taste of Sleek” was chosen because I was all of my clients to have a sweet, delectable and appealing experience as we work together to bring the vision of their event to life.

Shalley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have always been creative and loved doing crafts growing up. From writing to drawing and craft making, I loved designing something from nothing. While attending college, I made a lot of lifetime friendships which naturally included social events and dinner parties. I didn’t want to just be the guest that brought chips or a beverage so I began baking fun themed cupcakes that stood out at every event. From watermelon to margarita themed cupcakes friends started to look forward to my treats and even request for their own events with family. Then I started to get asked how much do I charge and why don’t I try to turn my craft into a business. I expanded my treatmaking to other chocolate dipped treats and after about 5 years of baking as a hobby and for fun I finally decided to take the big leap of launching Taste of Sleek in January 2020.

Just like any leap of faith, there have been bumps in the road. I originally wanted to launch my business in early 2019 but tragedy disrupted my life after losing my mother. I took time to try and get my life back into balance before taking the step to launch Taste of Sleek. 2020 didn’t go as planned due to the pandemic. I did not obtain as much growth as I had wanted but I stayed resilient and now more than 2 years later Taste of sleek has continued to grow and I am so grateful for the wonderful ongoing clients I have. It’s especially beautiful to create for baby showers and then for 1st and second birthdays. This makes me feel like some of my clients are family.

Cupcakes are still a secret favorite of mine but some of my client favorites are cakepops, cakesicles and chocolate covered strawberries, It’s always fun getting the vision from my clients and I especially love when I get colors and a theme and my client let’s me freestyle. My favorite creations are born that way.

I will continue to give luxury experiences to my current and future clients to make their treats the life of the party. Luxury treats are not only delicious but act as decoration for any event from birthday, to baby showers, engagement parties and weddings. I am constantly growing my craft and expanding my services to create a sleek experience from planning up to when their guests bite into their treats. The sky is the limit for Taste of Sleek.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media can be a challenge for a business owner. The Instagram algorithms specifically can be unpredictable. I’ve learned that consistency is key. Once I committed to posting daily or every other day, that’s when my followers began to grow. What also helped me is to follow other treatmakers that are similar to my aesthetic. This helped me keep up with the latest trends and music for reels and even holidays that can be great for content making.

Everything is content. I try to record my processes and baking to attract more followers. I have identified a couple of different audiences: dessert lovers and dessert makers. Dessert lovers are not only clients but those who love the visual aspect of treats. Dessert makers are also an audience for their own reasons that are similar to why I follow other treat makers. There is a sense of community for treat makers. When I get words of encouragement and compliments from other treatmakers and it gives me a special warm feeling.

For anyone trying to build their Instagram page and followers: make sure you follow pages that will inspire and push you to create more content. Save music that’s popular that you come across from reels and use them within a few days to reach more people. Also, post consistently to your profile and your Instagram story.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

An important lesson for me was to remember that no one else is me. What I bring is unique, and that attracts clients. No one else is like me. We are all unique. I can cripple myself by comparing myself to others. Everyone starts from somewhere. The goal is to be better than yesterday and remain resilient. I’ve had the biggest profit month by almost double this year, but I’ve also had a month of $0 profit. If I only focus on what can demotivate me, my business would not continue to thrive. I work hard to create the experience for clients that bring them back and I am forever grateful for their loyalty, encouragement and referrals. Getting a new client from them finding me on social media sometimes gives me imposter syndrome. Why did they pick me? What if I can’t deliver the quality that I strive for? These thoughts appear but I also motivate myself. They could’ve chosen anyone in their area and they chose me by the quality that I post. It’s an honorable feeling and I try to remember that what I bring to the industry is different not only because I am proud of what I produce but because no one can be better at being ME.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://form.jotform.com/210815177503148
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/tasteofsleek/
• Facebook: Taste of Sleek
• Twitter: @tasteofsleek