We were lucky to catch up with Stacy Trinh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stacy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I was introduced to the French macaron when I was in college. One of my friends took me to one of the only macaron shops in the area and told me I had to try it. We walked in, I looked through the glass fridge, and all I saw were rows of pretty, round, colorful cookies and I was so intrigued. They were pretty pricey for a broke college kid so I got one. My first macaron ever was a soft pink, raspberry macaron. I looked at it, smiled, and took my first bite. And I hated it. It was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted. I felt like the sugar was burning my tongue. I was so sad I had wasted my hard earned money on something I didn’t like but I guess now I know.

I didn’t think I would ever think about macarons again but it crept up into my mind again and again. “They are so pretty. Why can’t they taste good too? Why do people like them? Why do I keep thinking about them?” would tumble around in my mind. I found myself suddenly researching these little things and reading about how hard they are to make and next thing you know, I’m in my kitchen baking them. For hours at a time I would bake, taste, shake my head, think “too sweet” and bake again.

At first I was baking just for fun and trying to make them less sweet, something I would like to eat. Eventually I began to think that there are other people that probably felt the same as I and so my business began. I did a few pop ups and began to get orders left and right. I really believed in myself and my business so much that I quit my full time job as a logistics analyst to pursue this.

Unfortunately life threw a curve ball at me and I stopped baking for about two years. I had lost my passion and my confidence in myself. I got another corporate job and told myself that this is life. Everyone hates their job and it’s just a way to make money to live. No big deal. Obviously my mental health was not very good with that mindset and I found myself picking up a whisk here and there to relieve my stress. I slowly began to enjoy baking again and actually tried my hand at a cake for my little sister’s birthday. It was the most fun I had in a while and I began to bake more of them and post them to my Instagram page. People started to ask about them so I started making cakes for people.

Here I am today. Baking full time and loving every minute of it. Except the clean up.

My baking journey has been a messy one. One that I was not expecting but through the journey I have learned a lot about myself and am still learning to this day. Everyday comes with new obstacles and I’m over here navigating and trying to find the best way to run my business and enjoy life.

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

I started Honeylemon Bakes with one thing in mind. I wanted to share my creativity, story and spread joy through celebrations.

Growing up, and being a perfectionist, I have struggled with self confidence and being proud of things I accomplished. I would look at things I would make or do and just think it could be better. Things were just never good enough in my eyes. This is something I still struggle with today. It is a mindset that is very hard to break since it’s been with me my whole life.

Through therapy and, believe it or not, baking I have been able to slowly shift my mindset. When I bake, I share it with not only the customer, but to the social media world. Something I have always been afraid to do for fear of what people might think of me or the things I make. I document the things I create online which is the perfect way to go back and pick at my mistakes or create stories of what people might be saying. I catch myself doing this from time to time and realize that I have grown so much. No one is perfect and every creation is never perfect but I put out my best effort and that really is all that matters.

This is something that I am very proud of. I put a lot of thought and care to every single item that goes out of my kitchen. I not only care about what the baked item looks and tastes like but I also put a lot of effort into the packaging and basically everything that has to do with Honeylemon Bakes. I carefully select my boxes and create all of the packaging stickers, thank you notes, website, and photos I take. I want my customers to have a special experience when they shop, order, and open up the goodies. I love to see excited, smiling faces and this is what I strive for when I put together orders. If I can do a little something extra to put a smile on people’s face, I will.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After four or five months baking full time, I went through a really big break up. This was someone that I thought would be my person for the rest of my life. I felt blind sided and really didn’t know how to move on with life for about a month. One day I woke up and said, no more. This is my life. I am in control and I choose me. I didn’t know where I was going or what I would do yet but I’m just going to be me and be happy.

At that point in time, I did lose my confidence and passion for baking because it was so connected to my break up that decided it would be best to return to a corporate job until I figured out what I wanted to do. So I started working full time again but would bake for fun on the side and I slowly began to enjoy baking again.

I worked full time and baked after work every night for about three years. I built up my customer following and determined that this is what I wanted. I could do this full time and I had a strong support system who believed in me. So I took the leap again in 2020 and have not looked back.

I am a different person than I was when I first started Honeylemon Bakes. When I first started, I didn’t know what to do, what I wanted, or who I even was. I have learned so much about myself through the rocky journey and grown so much. I understand the struggles that go on in my head and can better cope with things like my anxiety and perfectionist mindset, among other things.

Through the years, I have diligently worked to improve myself and my business. I am where I am today because of my hard work and the support of my family and friends and for that I am very thankful.

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

Social media has always been a very good platform to reach new audience members and keep existing ones engaged by posting my new creations. Lately, I have found, word of mouth has been very important in new customers.

I am not active as I once was on social media for my mental health so a lot of my new customers are actually through existing customers. I have a lot of new customers come to me from parties saying they saw my creations and want me to create something for their party. This is probably one of the best feelings. To know that people are happy and enjoy the work I put out is really nice and pushes me to want to do even better.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.honeylemonbakes.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honeylemonbakes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honeylemonbakes/