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

Shirley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I hope that my legacy would be that I am authentically myself and share positivity and kindness. Since I am the sole owner and run my business on my own, I make sure that all my interactions with all my customers and potential customers are genuine and do my best to help fulfill their vision and help create memories for their special events.

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?

I have always enjoyed baking and decorating from a young age and would bake desserts for family and friends birthdays and holidays. My family always supported my efforts and my parents were my biggest encouragers. I would love to bake cookies and cakes of all kinds!

My friends would ask if I could make cakes and decorated cookies for events they were hosting or attending and positive feedback encouraged me to consider creating a small business. As much as I love baking, decorating was my favorite part!

My favorite part of working on any order is decorating…especially sugar cookies! My business stands out for the taste of my cookies, the decorations, and the variety of flavors I offer. I put as much effort into my work as if I am making it for my family or friends.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word of mouth and social media have been the key factors for growth in my business.

Positive feedback from my customers who then tell their family and friends have allowed more opportunities for me to create edible art. Social media has been a learning curve for me and I continue to learn new ways to best highlight the products I offer through photo and video. It also allows me an opportunity to interact with my followers and share a glimpse of what I offer.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Baking was just hobby until I decided to leave my full time RN nursing job to pursue my passion of baking! Little did I know what I was getting myself into, but I had the drive and full support from my husband and that helped make my vision a reality.

I would spend countless hours watching tutorials and decorating videos online. I would practice my skills, develop new recipes, reevaluate, and edit. I realized I never got bored learning and growing in my decorating skills and techniques. Years later and I still enjoy learning new decorating techniques and still love what I do!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shirlock86.wixsite.com/sweetsbyshirls
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetsbyshirls
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetsbyshirls