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

Tai, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

At the time, it wasn’t funny, but it’s something I can laugh about now.

It’s no surprise that bakeries are busiest during the holidays… Christmas was no exception.

I received 30 orders… all of them were pies. I spent 3 days in the kitchen, blasting music, switching between mixing and baking, and running out of room in my apartment to store the towering boxes of pies.

It was my last two pies and I was preparing my car for the trip. I don’t know if my body was on auto-pilot, or if I was ready to be out of the kitchen… but I reached into the oven to take out a blueberry pie and “slipped”.

My arm decided to hug one of the rails in the oven and that was the day my kitchen branded me.

Now I have a scar covering the inside of my forearm to remind me of the day I thought I conquered the holidays, but my oven humbled me real quick (haha).

I look forward to the day I hit 100 orders for the holidays, and look at my arm to remember where we started. Might even give it a high-five!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Growing up with my family meant that you were always surrounded by love and food. Sometimes it was love through quality time and making memories… other times it was pouring love into the food as we all cooked together.

For me, my love was baked into chocolate cakes and brownies.

Every year for thanksgiving, I remember helping my mother with the dressing and peeling sweet potatoes with my Dad. Everyone was in charge of something, and me? Desserts.

I moved away from my family to Houston to study Kinesiology and Business at the University of Houston. As a first generation college student, there were a lot of success and challenges that were along my journey.

One of the challenges was finding a way to pay for expenses. I worked 5 jobs throughout college, while being a full time student. When I wasn’t in class, or at work, I was hanging out with friends.

One day, I decided to cook dinner and make a cheese cake for my friends during game night. Seeing the pure delight on my friends’ faces as they ate the treats, made me feel like I’ve found my purpose in life (Cheesy, I know – but the feeling is indescribable).

One chimed in, and explained that my cheesecake was good enough to make a business out of it. That thought stuck with me for a while until I hit a roadblock…

It was my senior year of College and I was struggling to pay for my books and supplies. I was brainstorming ideas and remembered the cheesecake. “It’s worth a shot”

With the OVERWHELMING support of my friends, kickboxing members and family – I paid for everything and then some. After I graduated, I started focusing on my career … but the orders never stopped.

I remember the immense joy I felt whenever someone ate my food.
How food seemed to always pull my family together.
…the memories we made…
and wanted to share that with everyone.

I founded Guilty Pleasures Desserts LLC, so everyone could pull a seat up to my table and create memories that’ll last a lifetime.

In the same fashion that a family member would come to you with a sweet treat in hand – Guilty Pleasures embodies that. We deliver delicious treats to your doorstep, office, or event. Each bite is hand crafted by me and I only hope you can taste a fraction of the love I’ve received over my lifetime.

Making a passion into a business – I don’t think I would ever get tired of spreading joy in the form of cake, pies, and cheesecakes.

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

Honestly, doing pop up events and having my amazing customers post us on their social media. Word of mouth and pop-ups has been the most successful for me. It gives me a chance to talk and connect with others. The connections and knowing your customers take it to the next level.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

At first I was taking orders via my Instagram page when I first started. It was a great way to have everything in one spot but with more orders – it became more disorganized. Orders were falling through the cracks and there wasn’t a proper follow up system.

I now use Shopify as my e-commerce platform. It gives me the ease to customize my website and create promos.

For a smaller / newest business – this platform is perfect to support my orders and customers. Discounts on shipping, having communication with orders and tracking, and tracking progress.

I love how they have learning videos and tips to grow your business and explain all features.

No cons on my end so far!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.GuiltyPleasuresDesserts.com
• Instagram: @GuiltyPleasures_HTX
• Facebook: ImGuiltyHTX