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

Silvia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Continuous training. This is the secret! I always had a passion for baking, growing up in a family where my grandfather was a baker and business owner, but I got into cookie decorating when my kids were toddlers and we would decorate cookies for Christmas. It was a fun family activity! Over the years, I started developing an interest in cookie decorating: I would look at these beautiful pictures on Pinterest and wonder how do people do it? I started watching videos. I took a 2 hours class which taught me what Royal Icing was and what it’s consistency should be. I had no idea that I was doing it all wrong! So I started practicing. Youtube tutorials were a great friend but it’s not until I found a “cookie community” on social media that the cookie world and its wonders opened my eyes. So many tools, techniques, colors I was not aware of. I realise I needed to study. Practice and training go hand to hand in developing a skill. I keep training even now, and try out new techniques, even “dare” to attempt doing something I haven’t done or even seen before. The most important skill is resilience. Do not be afraid of making mistakes and keep going, keep learning.

Silvia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Silvia Zolfanelli and I am a 3rd generation Italian baker: my grandfather was a baker and pastry chef in Italy from 1940s to 1980s, my mom learned from him and I learned from my mom! I pride myself of giving a modern twist to the Italian baking tradition. I use premium ingredients, natural flavors and know how to balance the sugar very well so you can actually taste flavors. I moved to Austin TX in 2015 leaving behind a full time job in an IT industry. Having a lot of time in my hands, I picked up and developed a passion for cookie decorating. My business started by word of mouth: I loved to gift cookies to friends and one thing lead to another, people starting asking if they could place an order with me. I love to bake tiny treats (macarons, cupcakes, cake pops) or bigger ones (birthday and special occasions cakes and cakes from the Italian tradition). I am happy to listen to my customer needs and develop unique designs to match their party decor, invitation, likings. I take a lot of time in designing my cookie sets or cakes, so that everyone will have a unique experience.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Shop small and local! We are blessed in having a lot of creative people with small businesses, and supporting them is so easy. Even a social media post comment, a share, a thumbs up, a star will make an impact and cost no money. We should get together more: creative minds in different business branches will think alike and will be able to exchange ideas, grow together, help each other out. We need opportunities to meet up and share out talents.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media presence it hard. It takes a lot of consistency: post a little every day, ask open questions to invite people to comment, hold giveaways to share your page, gain more followers. Most of the social media presence benefits from word or mouth: be part of the crowd, share your story in relevant groups, comment and engage on other people posts. It won’t happen overnight but word will spread.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.silvialicious.com
• Instagram: silvialicious_cookie_art
• Facebook: silvialiciousitalianway
• Linkedin: Silvia Zolfanelli