We were lucky to catch up with Victoria Ramos recently and have shared our conversation below.
Victoria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
I came up with Sweets by Victoria years ago before officially starting my business. I was asked to cater cupcakes for an anniversary party for a local business and I wanted to provide business cards in order to gain clientele and I knew I needed to come up with a name/ logo/ etc as soon as possible. I even used a generic card and logo style before coming up with my current branding. Once I officially started my business, Sweets by Victoria still felt right for the name of business. It is amazing to see the growth in the last few years.
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
My name is Victoria Ramos, a San Diego native and the Owner & Baker of Sweets by Victoria. I have loved baking for as long as I can remember, so much that I started attending evening baking classes during my senior year of high school and went on to graduate college with an Associates Science Degree in Culinary Arts. I have been working in the food industry since i was 18 starting as a barista and working my way up into management then working in a couple bakeries before fully pursuing my business. During that time I decided I wanted to live a healthier lifestyle and started to go plant based and reflected that in my business transforming my baking business into a 100% vegan bakery. I truly believe I can show people how delicious pastries can be without using animal products. I take pride in using the best quality ingredients that are always non-gmo, soy free, and organic. I would say my proudest moment is seeing my dreams come to life and being able to sell my pastries in local cafes here in San Diego and getting amazing feedback from my customers! I am enjoying this journey and I can’t wait to experience what the future holds for me and Sweets by Victoria.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
I am blessed and grateful I can say my side hustle became my full time business. I always knew it was what I wanted but I was fearful to take the next steps until I realized I was the one in my own way. I was mostly baking for my friends and family events while still working full time. Once the pandemic hit and I had lost my job at the time, I knew this was my time to start fully pursuing my dream of owning my own business and working for myself.
During that time I started research on how to obtain a Cottage Food Operation license to get my home kitchen certified. I remember the day I got my LLC and then started the progress of getting my kitchen certified, it was a bit of a process but I am so happy I took the risk and didn’t let fear stand in my way. I now bake daily out of my certified home kitchen and provide pastries to local cafes throughout San Diego. I also participate in pop ups and offer ordering directly through my website.
I am going to grow out of my home kitchen soon and I can’t wait to see what this journey has in store for Sweets by Victoria.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
As previously mentioned, during the pandemic I knew I was ready to take the next steps to make my dreams a reality. I decided to invest in myself and used the stimulus checks I received in order to get started. I was able to get my LLC and Cottage Food Operations license to properly start and operate my business. Everything was uphill from there, I reached out to local cafes and started growing my business and clientele. This is just the beginning of my baking business, I plan to have a storefront in the future but I am super happy to see how far I have come and where I am at in my business today.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sweetsbyvictoria.com
- Instagram: sweetsbyvictoriaa
- Facebook: Sweets by Victoria