Today we welcome a true wedding cake chameleon to the pod, because she can DO IT ALL!

Sugar flowers? Yes. Modern, colorful fondant cakes? Yes. Buttercream ruffles, petals, Lambeth? YEP. Baroque classical beauties? You know where I'm going with this.

Jenna Jenkins is the face behind ButterSugarFlour, 2024 winner of Best Wedding Cakes at the American Cake Awards, AND the Executive Cake Designer at Philadelphia-based Cescaphe Events.

Today we're talking about:

• Jenna's experience working in a high-volume cake design environment by day, and running her solo cake biz by night
• The importance of communication with your team, employees, and clients when working with tons of details
• Jenna's thoughts on how to be a lifelong learner and building long-term client relationships
• The excitement of working toward and finally WINNING Best Wedding Cakes at the American Cake Awards
• Jenna's tips on how to hack your workflow and how to find a cake design job that will improve your skills

Support Jenna on Instagram and Facebook!

Support the podcast on Instagram, or follow Blayre's biz on Instagram And be sure to tell your baker friends about the pod and leave us a 5-star review wherever you listen!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN WHISKTAKERS!

It’s become a thing on the podcast to have a fun episode for Halloween. After filming Halloween Baking Championship Season 8 in 2022, Halloween has become a super meaningful holiday to me! Last year I welcomed two past HBC winners for a fun roundtable. This year, I knew I had to go even bigger… so I invited HBC JUDGE, Pastry Chef Extraordinaire, and the entrepreneur behind the infamous Piecaken, Zac Young, to join us in the studio!

This episode has ALL THE THINGS:

• Hear about Zac’s unique journey from a musical theater career to somehow finding himself enrolling in culinary school
• Zac’s adventures working as part of the opening team at Bouchon Bakery, as the pastry chef for Alex Guarnaschelli, and consulting for (and ultimately becoming a partner at) The David Burke Group.
• The story behind the creation of the Piecaken, Zac’s foray into large-scale production desserts for wholesale, and the opening of his newest venture, Zac Young’s Sprinkletown
• How Zac landed his “night job” doing Food TV, and how he balances his crazy schedule
• ALLLL of the behind-the-scenes tea about Halloween Baking Championship, what it’s like to be a judge on Food TV, and a fun round of HBC-themed rapid-fire-questions!

Support Zac! Follow him on Instagram

Check out Piecaken Bakeshop on Goldbelly or visit Zac Young’s Sprinkletown Watch Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship, now streaming on MAX

Support the Pod! Follow us on Instagram Be sure to leave us a 5-star review wherever you listen to your podcasts!

Sometimes being a business owner makes us feel like a solo juggling act at the circus. Four balls in the air was fine, but then we add another, and another, and soon we've got 15 going all at once!

Our guest today is learning how to become an expert "juggler" and is here to share her tips on how you, too, CAN and WILL earn a standing ovation from your audience. Whether its figuring out how to blend biz life and family life, finding ways to connect with the community around you, or setting small, attainable goals to get you where you want to go, Pastry Chef Jill Davis is focused on finding the perfect balance of them all.

Today we're talking about:

• Jill's journey leaving her full-time baking job and figuring out how to provide for her growing family in the middle of the pandemic
• The story of how Jill transitioned from selling at markets into her brick and mortar studio space, and her tips for what to know and focus on when your business takes that next step
• How she found her stride and became sought-after in a small community, and how YOU can plug into your local area too!
• More Halloween Baking Championship tea, of course

Support Jill: -Visit the Drizzle website -Follow her on Instagram or Facebook Support the Pod: -Follow us on Instagram -Follow Blayre's business, Flouretta Sweet -Leave us a 5 star review wherever you listen!

*And don't forget to tell your baker friends about the pod!*

Cake stands and sugar flowers and dowel rods, oh my!

The World of wedding cakes is strange, beautiful, and honestly a little daunting- especially if you're trying to break onto the scene for the first time. In today's episode, I'm giving you all of my tips and tricks and telling you MY story of how I found my niche in the wedding industry as a wedding cake designer. We'll Discuss:

• My journey from culinary school to working in cake shops along the East Coast to now running my own wedding cake-focused business!
• Ways to hone your skills WITHOUT spending years and tons of money going back to school or working for someone else
• How I transitioned from working for someone else to working for myself
• The mindset work it takes to push past your limiting beliefs and step into your awesomeness as a business owner

Mentioned in this episode: Bayou Saint Cake's Dome Cake Class Finespun Cake Academy- Sugar flowers and wedding business courses Commonwealth Cake Co Mentorship Program You are a Badass by Jen Sincero

Support the Podcast by leaving Blayre a 5 star review wherever you listen! Follow the pod on Instagram Follow Flouretta Sweet on Instagram

"Do no harm, take no s***." (Now that’s a motto I can live by!)

And it happens to be the approach our guest takes to running their business. Obsessed.

Today we welcome award-winning wedding planner, ultimate powerhouse boss-lady, and accidental badass entrepreneur Taryn Blake to the pod!

We’re talking about:

• How she accidentally fell into the wedding industry and loved the freedom so much that she left her six-figure corporate job to pursue it
• The obstacles she overcame (personally and professionally) that prepared her to run a successful all-female team with salaried employees and have a healthy work/life balance
• Her advice for wedding vendors and cake designers on how to break into a new corner of the industry and how to best connect with planners
• Her thoughts on The Engagement Gap, how to pull yourself out of a creative rut, and the future of the wedding industry

Support Taryn!

• Blake Events website
• Blake Events Instagram
• Taryn’s Instagram
• Vendor Club

Also mentioned in this episode: Buy Back your Time

Support the Pod:

• Follow us on Instagram
• Follow Blayre’s business, Flouretta Sweet
• Leave us a review wherever you’re listening and share with your baker friends!

As Beyonce once said, "lemme upgrade ya"!

If you really think about it, most of our time as business owners isn't spent doing the thing we actually are in business for. Instead, we're spending our time marketing, e-mailing, creating invoices- ALLL of that back end work that helps keep things moving AND keeps our clients HAPPY! Today's episode is going to help you take a deep dive into your processes and hone in on some ways to better cater to the people who keep our lights on and keep our toolkits stocked with endless mini offset spatulas.

Mentioned in this episode:

-Dubsado - Blayre's Client Management System -CakeMemes4U -NoVendorMeal -Bakey Bakes & Disco Sugar

Support the Podcast on Instagram! Follow Blayre's biz, Flouretta Sweet!

Luxury is in the details, and nobody embodies that more than today's guest!

On this episode, we're welcoming the supremely talented Alexandria Carmona from Toronto's Finespun Cakes. Not only is she a true sugar flower wizard, she's also an expert at creating romantic, flowy, and DELICIOUS luxury wedding cakes (and she can teach you how to do the same thing!).

She joins Blayre in the studio to discuss:

• How she entered the whimsical world of sugar flowers and how she remains known for them to this day
• How she grew her business and opened her brick and mortar studio in the middle of the pandemic
• The way to build a trustworthy team
• Her classes and tutorials and community through YouTube and her Finespun Cake Academy
• Her tips on how to break into the luxury wedding space and how she builds luxury experiences for her clients

Support Alexandria! On Instagram By visiting her Website Learn from Alexandria! Finespun Youtube Channel/Free Tutorials Finespun Cake Academy (use code WHISK30 for 7 day free trial + 30% of first month!)

Support the Pod! On Instagram Visit our website Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify!

WE'RE BACK WITH PART TWO OF THE PRIDE MONTH SERIES!

Last episode we talked about some changes you can make in your business to make your space safe and more inclusive. This week, we're inviting Blayre's past clients (and friends!) Calvin and Orin Macon Phillips onto the pod to hear about their experience planning a wedding as a Queer couple. We're discussing:

• The good, the bad, and the ugly of searching for inclusive wedding vendors
• Calvin & Orin's tips for planning a wedding that was unique and special to them
• What you can do to show allyship to clients in minority groups
• How to celebrate and uplift Queer love and joy

Contact Calvin with your questions!

Support the Pod! On Instagram Online Blayre's Business Instagram and Website