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

Shirley , appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

At the beginning of my business, I was essentially giving away samples. Initially, I felt inadequate in the baking world. I’m not classically trained and have learned on my own. I dismissed that notion early in my baking career.

I’m involved in a non-profit organization and frequently used the folks there as my tasting “guinea pigs.” Anything I shared was always a hit.

One day one of the ladies mentioned that she was getting married and would like me to make her wedding cake. Whoa! A wedding cake for my first order was an intimidating prospect, but I was up to it. As the time approached, the “year that never was” (2020) did its damage and the order was suspended until further notice. I had purchased everything I needed to complete the order and wasn’t able to deliver.

I used this time to sharpen my skills and hone my craft. I used my social media platforms to promote my items and as folks began to gather again, I started receiving orders for small gatherings. My first paid order was for cupcakes that were individually wrapped for a “drive-by” birthday celebration. I was happy to oblige and felt so satisfied when I saw the smile on my client’s face.

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 am a home baker and started my business, SA WHITE TREATS, in 2019 with a small hand mixer and a dream. When you think about it, every special event we have involves sweet treats. That’s why my motto is “It’s Not A Celebration Without SWeeTs!” I provide all types of treats including, but not limited to cakes, cupcakes, pies, cobblers, cookies, brownies, dipped fruit, pretzels and much more. Essentially, if it has sugar in it, I’m your person.

I work from the premise that the products a client orders should be fresh, never frozen and always made from scratch. In my young days, boxed cake mix was my friend. It was quick and easy and tasted pretty good. Once I started my business, I despise boxed mixes. I guess you can say that I’m a purest in that respect. Anyway, a cake made from scratch tastes way better than a boxed cake.

I pride myself on providing treats that comfort my clients. My palate is, to say the least, primitive. I don’t delve into the exotic or gourmet flavors that are highlighted on so many baking shows and competitions. When a client contacts me, I counsel them on the best approach to their dessert needs.

Many times, a client doesn’t know what they need. I pride myself on making sure I don’t oversell the client. Honesty is my policy. I’d rather have a return customer than a one-time customer. I know my lane. If I don’t provide a particular item (i.e. sugar-free items) I let the client know and try to provide them with direction on connecting with a vendor who can meet their needs.

Existing and potential customers can be confident that I will make sure their dessert dreams are realized. Planning a celebration can be stressful, so I make sure that I don’t add to that stress. I will always communicate regularly so the client is comfortable that their desserts will be delivered on time. They can also know that their desserts will be exquisitely displayed and taste even better.

It important to me that any celebration that is entrusted to me is excellent in every way. I work hard to make sure each celebration is a hit. I work a full-time job and begin my business activities after work. It is not uncommon to have to pull an all-nighter to get everything done. Well, for me, it is all worth it when I see the excitement and smiles when the customer opens their treat boxes. I love the feeling that I have made someone’s day with a sweet treat.

I don’t take it for granted that customers trust me with their celebrations. They can go anywhere else, but they choose SA WHITE TREATS.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When asking a food vendor about resilience, the year 2020 comes to mind. It was tough for a lot of folks, but I had a full time job at the time. I learned my lesson in resilience when I first started baking.

So, I set out to make my now sought after Vanilla Dream Cake. I wasn’t going to sell the cake, but I wanted to know for myself that I was capable of producing quality treats. I vividly remember the recipe calling for 1 cup of butter. Well, I’m a smart person. The box of butter had 4 sticks of inside. In my mind 4 sticks equals 4 quarters, thereby equaling 1 cup. Nope. One stick of butter is 1/2 cup. Instead of adding 1 cup of butter, I put in 2 cups.

Generally, a cake layer takes about 25-35 minutes to bake. I don’t remember exactly how long I baked the cake, but it was a long, long time. I kept thinking, it just can’t be this long. When it finally baked, it was good but too rich to eat. It was buttery and I mean but-ter-y! Needless to say, I trashed it and quickly learned that my baking knowledge needed to increase, or my young business wouldn’t survive.

I successfully baked that cake, and it is the image used in my company’s logo. I will always remember how it started.

Throughout my baking career, I’ve had to trash some items, start over, pivot to a new idea when something doesn’t work. Most of all, I realize that I don’t know everything about baking and will continue to learn and excel as my baking career progresses.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Social media has been a game changer for my business, specifically, Facebook Groups. The majority of my clients come from that platform. I don’t dedicate as much time as I should to promoting my business and have been relying on the platform to send customers my way. Once clients view my post, they are sent to my website that gives them a better look at what I offer.

With the new year approaching, I plan to concentrate more on different avenues for promoting the business. This year, I plan to appreciate my existing customers with special promotions and offer discounts to potential clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.sawhitetreats.com
• Instagram: SA_White_Treats
• Facebook: SA White Treats

Image Credits

I own all images.