The anti-business model
“It’s funny, when you think of what an entrepreneur does, you think, What’s the business plan? What are you gonna sell? What's the product? For Flour Shop, it was all 100% backwards. I didn’t know exactly what Flour Shop was going to be or that it was going to be custom cakes or anything. All I knew was that I was leaving the fashion industry to bake. There was demand before there was a product, a brand before a website, and it was called Flour Shop before there was a shop. Now, looking at opening one up, it’s totally crazy to think how backwards it was all done. My next goal is to look for a retail space where people can come into my environment and see where the magic is made.”
On doing it all
“I bake myself, I deliver myself, I answer all the emails. It’s funny when I talk to different people and they’re like, ‘You have a team, right?’ and I’m like, ‘Who is this team?! I need to meet them!’ You don’t think about every detail when you’re starting a business. [For me, I thought,] Cakes! No more office! But, then I realized, Wait, I have thousands of emails to respond to. Along with everything else you have to do for a business — like getting registered in New York. I was literally Googling [how to do] it.”
Why being your own boss is awesome
“I play with food all day. The kitchen is my playground. I eat ice cream for breakfast all the time. I really like waking up and throwing on a teddy-bear sweatshirt and sneakers and calling it my work outfit. I also like being able to create anything that I want. If something pops into my head — whether it’s edible glitter on your cake or sprinkles on your head — I can do it. I’m the boss! I never question myself. I always know that what I’m doing is right because I have so much fun doing it.”
The most surprising thing about my background
“I don’t have any professional training in baking. For me, it was about being able to envision something and make it happen by figuring out which ingredients will work. I’ll look at a cheeseburger, and my brain will start translating it into cake. A lot of my cakes look cartoonish for that reason, and it’s become a signature look for me. It’s fun to play around and break a lot of the baking rules. I don’t do the typical wedding cakes or piping or little flowers. It’s more like, How do I make this look like a giant ice cream cone?”
Why I don’t aspire to “perfect”
“I don’t use any fondant. I refuse to do it. I know a lot of people like it because it has a perfect look, like Play-Doh, but I’m not going for perfect. I like the idea of doing things with frosting because it’s more of a challenge and it gives the cakes a more realistic look. I think of a child’s first cake and them being able to reach out, take a bite, and have it be all over their face. That enjoyment gets taken away when you add fondant. I love to keep it as real as possible. I don’t want people to feel like they’re peeling a cake like a banana. I want people to have a food fight with my cakes if they want.”
My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
“Don’t look at competitors. People ask me, ‘Have you seen this cake or know that baker?’ and it’s just too many messages. I say stick to your gut and what you like. Everything I make comes from my head. I do things my way. I like butter, sugar — the real deal. A lot of people stop themselves from doing what they really want to do because they don’t think they have the proper training or experience, but that should never stop you. I’ve never had help, and I think I’m doing pretty well with these cakes.”