Baking For Business Podcast
The Baking For Business podcast is dedicated to helping you start and grow your home bakery business and scale and expand with digital products. We believe bakers and treat makers can earn money in multiple ways by sharing their gifts and talents.
Learn more at https://stan.store/amandaschonberg
Baking For Business Podcast
#Ep 81: 1 On 1 With Yolanda Gampp Of How To Cake It
Crafting a cake empire is no easy task, but today's guest has done it flawlessly and left no crumb behind. Yolanda Gampp co-founded How To Cake It, an online educational brand dedicated to empowering and teaching baking enthusiasts through decorating videos and services.
In this episode, we will learn:
- How she got started with her baking career
- What inspired her to create her YouTube channel
- How she is using collaboration to spread positivity and grow her brand
- What obstacles she has overcome while growing her unique brand
Want to keep up with Yo? From books to classes check out all things How To Cake It by visiting her online store. https://howtocakeit.com/
Loved this episode? Tag us at @bakingforbusiness on Instagram.
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Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg. I started my baking business with a bottle of DeSorono and one Bundt cake pan. Fast forward to today, from news to magazines, speaking on national stages and more. I can truly say that baking has changed my life. So now, as a bakery business coach, I get to help others have the same success. I've helped hundreds of my students across the world in my global membership program six-figure businesses, mainly from home.
Speaker 1:The Baking for Business podcast is an extension of that, from actionable tips to valuable tools and resources that can impact you as a business owner. I truly believe y'all. We would never have been given a gift if we couldn't profit and prosper from it. So come on, darling. What are you waiting for? Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Baking for Business podcast. I'm so excited to have you guys in listening today because today we have such an amazing guest. You guys probably know her from everywhere, but it's Ms Yolanda Gamp with how to Cake it, and when she's not on QVC sharing products or on YouTube doing amazing cakes, you can always find her on social media turning anything into a cake, or on TV helping and encouraging others with their dreams as well. So we're so excited to have her here. Yolanda, welcome to the Baking for Business podcast. Thank you so much for having me Amanda.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and so I want to go ahead and get started with simply how did you start? Can you share with us your journey into the world of cake artistry, and how did you actually run across that as a passion?
Speaker 2:Well, my journey began a long time ago, when I was about 19,. I guess I loved baking as a kid, but I never thought about it as a career path and I went to a very academic high school which furthered that belief in me that it wasn't truly a career path. When I was done high school, I wanted to go to OCAD, which is the Ontario College of Art and Design, and I chickened out because you had to do a presentation and you had to present a whole portfolio and I was extremely shy and the thought of standing in front of professors and discussing my work was just not for me at the time. So I instead decided to go to George Brown College here in Toronto. Now, at the time there was no cake decorating, there was simply a certificate for baking. So I went into the culinary management program, which was straight up cooking, and then some other courses to support the idea that you would one day own a restaurant. Like you know, bookkeeping and accounting, we did do a tiny bit of baking. It was mostly like bread, a pie, nothing like what I do today, but on those days I just loved it so much. I would think to myself this is what I want to do all the time. So we had to do a co-op placement and I boldly went to the dean and I asked for permission to apply to a bakery rather than a restaurant, and he said yes. And it's only now, at this point in my life, that I realized, you know, he really changed the course of my life, and even me asking him for permission to do that changed the course of my life, even though I didn't realize it at the time.
Speaker 2:So I went to work at a wonderful bakery here in Toronto and I would work on weekends, go to school five days a week, and I just fell in love because they let me try every single station in the bakery. So there was one gentleman who just made fillings, one who just made pie dough, one who baked all the cakes and manned all the ovens, and then, of course, there was the cake decorating station, and that's where I truly fell in love. Now, none of the cakes were sculpted there, and that's where I truly fell in love. Now, none of the cakes were sculpted, there was no fondant whatsoever.
Speaker 2:But I did learn about, you know, filling and stacking cakes and piling flavor into cakes and then, of course, icing them, and at my best I could ice about 125 cakes in a day. And when I was done college they hired me immediately and I ended up working there for three and a half years and then I moved on to another bakery which had a very different style of baking and learned so much and I loved it equally. And then eventually I just started to make cakes on the side at home for anyone I could give them to, because I really wanted to test out fondant and sculpting, which brought me back to my artistic ways. You know, as a child I just loved building things and making things with my hands. So I think that cake decorating was a blend of those two loves baking and creating.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. It's always amazing to see everything come full circle, and so we have something in common. That's what I went to culinary school for, too is for management. Okay, yeah, I love that. That's wonderful. You said you started off from home on the side. Did you ever end up selling as a cottage food operator or doing it on the side to hone your skills?
Speaker 2:No, I ended up selling. So at first I would just, you know, give them away or I would make a cake for my friends and family. Anytime it was a celebration. And then I love that term cottage baking, because we don't actually have that term in Canada. I know that that's an American term and I learned about that term through how to cake it, but I did eventually.
Speaker 2:I used to bake out of my mom's kitchen and I would sell cakes. So I mainly made cakes for weddings or mitzvahs and then maybe larger occasions like a 50th birthday or perhaps the odd corporate cake. And then I went full throttle. I quit my job at the bakery because I had started to ride this train of you know. I made one bar mitzvah cake for a woman and all the kids at the party loved it. And then all the other moms called me for all the other bar mitzvahs and I started to actually receive orders.
Speaker 2:And so my dad had had a business in the basement of our house and after he passed away that space sat dormant for years and I actually decided to invest and turn that into my professional kitchen, because one of the problems I had was, you know, I couldn't call myself nut free. One of the problems I had was, you know, I couldn't call myself nut free, since I was baking in my home kitchen, which contained peanut butter and a lot of other things, and so by building this kitchen and buying new equipment, then I could declare I was not free, which was a really big deal. At the time, I found that most of the birthday cakes and bar mitzvah cakes I was making, there was always someone with a nut allergy, so it became a bit of a hindrance for me. So I built this space and had all my tools in there and I would just, you know, cake my days away, taking orders whenever I could get them, you know, blasting my iPod and moving to my music while I baked.
Speaker 2:And I feel like you know. I think I might feel very different than other cake decorators in the sense that the years I spent honing my skills and really diving in and I was so hungry for everything cake Essentially I was completely isolated doing that. I didn't know another cake decorator. I didn't go to a cake decorating school, it was just my. I didn't have friends who made cakes, so it was just my thing and I was constantly immersing myself in it.
Speaker 1:That sounds like a story that a lot of people can relate to. So, however, once you started building the business, I love the fact of you transitioning the area that you have into a workspace, which I always think is amazing. What made you decide to take the leap to then YouTube, to actually sharing your journey? Was that the first space that you started sharing? It wasn't more so social media.
Speaker 2:It was neither, and actually it wasn't my decision at all. So I came into contact with someone and I would make cakes. She was an event planner, her and her partner, and I would make cakes for them, for their events. I had actually made her wedding cake years before and that's how she knew of me. And they came to me and they said I really want to work with you on a bigger level.
Speaker 2:And lo and behold, this is my friend Casper that I'm talking about. He had a friend who was in TV production and he said to Jocelyn you have to see what we're doing with this girl, yolanda, we're doing these sweet tables at all our events. She bakes a cake and she makes baked goods to match, and then we do linens and florals and there's always a theme. And Jocelyn came out and shadowed us. She basically had a little camcorder and she filmed us setting up a sweet table at a charity event that had a very full harvest theme, on a beautiful golf course. And, lo and behold, she turned that into a sizzle, sent it to the Food Network Canada, food Network Canada and it became a show within 11 months and we hadn't even, you know, inked our business, made it official. We were just enjoying working together with the two of them as event designers and me, as you know, this cake decorator, baker and so that became a show called Sugar Stars, which aired on Food Network Canada in 2012.
Speaker 2:And it's hard to believe that's 12 years ago, and so I was really nervous because, like I said, when I asked the Dean and you know, going to art college, I was extremely shy and I didn't like any sort of attention, nevermind a camera on me. But I remember thinking very clearly this is the chance for me to put my work out there, to show my talent and then, of course, to grow my business and get clients, you know, from the greater Toronto area and beyond, who perhaps hadn't heard of me at all. So I just thought I'm going to give it my all, doesn't matter if I'm shy, and there was three other people on the show, so it didn't feel as much of a spotlight on me. And there you have it. We did the show and it wasn't renewed. It was a great learning experience. It was difficult for my business, however, because we shot that show over the course of nine months and I had to turn away all of my clients in those nine months. So you know, production and being on TV was a completely new world to me. It forced me to come out of my shell in so many ways, but it also forced me to put my business on hold, which was a detriment to me. It forced me to come out of my shell in so many ways, but it also forced me to put my business on hold, which was a detriment to me, because you work very hard to build a clientele that trusts you, of course, and I was so scared to give that up. But it was a great experience and I don't regret that at all. And unbeknownst to me after it wasn't renewed.
Speaker 2:Behind the scenes, jocelyn and her business partner, Connie, were pitching this idea of me and my cakes to the Food Network, to the Cooking Channel, tlc, all these things, and they were being turned away. Now they were in that business, they were in television development, so they would come up with show ideas, develop them and then pitch it to networks, and I was one of them and, like I said, they didn't run this by me. They just thought this is such a great idea. Cake was becoming huge, as you know. All of a sudden there was cake on TV where it never was before, and in the end they were constantly told no.
Speaker 2:And by then I had my son. I was sitting on the couch breastfeeding him. He was like eight months old. They called me and they said what about YouTube? We hear YouTube is the thing. Let's do this together on YouTube.
Speaker 2:And I remember Amanda thinking so clearly in my head this will be perfect because I can get back to my art form, we can make a video here and there, and I'll just do it at my own pace. And, most importantly, this would be the first time I would have the chance to make cakes that I wanted, because, even though I was fortunate enough to have a business and make cakes for clients, I always had to make what they wanted Right, and I had to make what they wanted right. And I had this sort of bucket list of ideas in my head that I had never made. And, as it turns out, it was the complete opposite of that original thought, because the minute we entered the YouTube space, it has been such a rocket ship and a roller coaster for so many different reasons, and it hasn't been a video here and there. It has been my whole life, consistently for the past nine years.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it wasn't my idea at all and it's so wonderful. You know, when I was pregnant, at the end of my pregnancy and during my mat leave, that was the first time in my life, since I was 19, that I wasn't baking or creating anything, and I truly missed it because it just felt like sort of a big emptiness in my life that wasn't there before. And so I think it's so great that these two women saw something in me, believed in me, and you know, I like to say like thanks for saving my ticket Like they they never. And you know, I like to say like thanks for saving my ticket Like they never. When I forgot about me, they never forgot about me. And we all went on this journey together and I think it's a combination of our own unique talents that makes how to Cake it so special. You know, because they bring all the good stuff the production, the back end, you know, the SEO, the website, all that good stuff and I bring what I do best.
Speaker 1:What a blessing that someone did. They never stopped. They saw something in you, even when you didn't see it, and just kept going and pitching, and that's remarkable. I always value collaboration over competition, which is amazing. How was it like for you? Because so many people may not remember or may not have even known that you did operate your own business and sell to clients. So how was it like for you to actually turn that off, Because I'm pretty sure at some point you had to close it for your channel.
Speaker 2:Yes, I think at that point I had accepted that it was kind of closed. I was on this sort of new mom path in life and, as any cake decorator knows, when you're a cake decorator you are married to your weekends, right. Like I would spend the whole week cleaning my kitchen, buying ingredients, you know, starting the whole process again up to delivering the cakes, which were usually Saturdays and Sundays, and then start the whole thing again. So I never had a weekend. My weekends were spent with my mother or my boyfriend at the time, now my husband driving around the city to various banquet halls and hotels to deliver and put together these cakes.
Speaker 2:And when I had a baby, I started to think that lifestyle really wouldn't suit being a mom. And so when they brought up YouTube, I thought, oh, this is perfect, because now we can sort of work around my schedule and I can switch up how I work. So I think I had already accepted that my business was over. In fact, I was already thinking in my head what will I do now? Maybe it's time I got a real job and I did something else, um, and so when that opportunity came, you know, like I said, it just felt there was no way I would have said no at that point, because I truly felt like they were just opening this new door for me.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. That's so amazing. So now you're on YouTube, you're, you're building the channel. Obviously, you're no longer taking orders. So many people actually like to step out and branch out from their baking business to either maybe blog or maybe sell digital products. I know now with how to Cake it. You have classes, as well as several guest teachers. Do you remember having your first class? Or were you just okay with the monetization on YouTube? Or at what point in time did you decide to start teaching?
Speaker 2:Well, it started with, you know, the tutorials on YouTube, and then we wanted. We noticed such a connection with our community. I have to say, what makes us stay on YouTube is the community that's the best thing that we have built here at how to Cake it and remember, like I said, I was so isolated in my caking journey for years. It's how to cake it that brought me a community, and I kind of really didn't foreshadow that even when we started the channel, and so we started with something called Can't Cake. We noticed that. One thing I love about the channel and what it's taught me is children never, ever, let their fear dominate their curiosity, and that is the most beautiful thing about being a child. So when children see me make a cake, no matter what it is they think I'm going to make that. Mom, get me this, mom, help me. Can we do this? I really want to do this. Nothing stops them, whereas adults, even if they've wanted to do this their whole life and have been curious, they talk themselves out of it before they even start. And so we noticed a lot of children. We would get letters from a lot of mothers, you know, thanking us for inspiring their children. So we started with something called Camp Cake and it was often a one or two day class and it was shot just like we shot the channel. So they felt very much like they were entering my space and we would do simpler projects, whether it be cupcakes that look like sundaes or chocolate fudge that look like a wreath for Christmas things that kids could handle and we'd usually do two or three little projects and the whole time I'd walk them through it. It would be an open dialogue. They'd ask questions, we'd answer, jocelyn would be there just like she was on the channel, and we would just have a blast. It almost felt like a slumber party. You know it really did. That gave me as well, because it was the opposite of being isolated. Right Now I get to share this knowledge that I have amassed over the years and do it with them and see the joy and, most importantly, the pride that it brings them. And something else the three of us felt really good about is you know, on YouTube, young girls especially are just pummeled with content that tells them how to dress, how to look, how to lose weight, how to do your hair, how to, and all of that is fine and dandy, but when you're a certain age and you're impressionable, that can be a lot, and so I love that we were offering something different. Be creative, do your thing, make it your own. You can feel so proud. You're making something that you can then share with your friends and your family, or bring to school, if you're allowed to do that. So we just loved that energy and that feeling.
Speaker 2:And when COVID hit, you know, as you know, the world was baking. All of a sudden, everyone was making banana bread and no one could buy flour, right. So we thought how do we make more camp cakes? Because camp cake was something we had only done like twice a year, once in the summer and once over the holidays. And that's how Bake you Happy came to be. It was this idea of how many classes can we put out and not just showcase me, but other creatives in the baking space who are at the top of their game, like you know what I mean Like the top macaron maker, the top cookie artist there's so many verticals in baking, it's it's endless, and so to share our platform with those other artists has been incredible, and it's also grown you know our community as well as theirs and just sort of bringing all the bakers together and giving people, like I said you know, something to feel proud about and something to learn, especially in a time when the world was shut down and we weren't allowed to do much.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and the how to Cake it website and community does that so amazing? Because you do have so many different classes and you're very versatile in the offerings that you put out there for people to learn from and, like I stated earlier, I do love the fact that you do collaborate with other people, so that in itself is amazing. At what point in time? Because now you eventually returned back to TV. You've been a judge on several shows, so at what point in time, what was your next show afterwards, once you finally started building that, that YouTube page and building your brand out?
Speaker 2:What's funny is we never thought we'd return to TV. Like I said, connie and Jocelyn had come from that world. They were kind of done with it and we had moved on. I had never expected to be on TV in the first place, so it wasn't in the back of my mind at all. But when you hit a million subscribers on YouTube, a lot of magic happens, and so when that happened, here came all the same networks that were previously rejecting Connie and Jocelyn, as well as publishers.
Speaker 2:And I should say my biggest dream in my caking journey the whole way was to have my own book. That was my biggest dream because books were my source of learning. In fact, there used to be a store in Toronto that was called the Cookbook Store, and all they sold were cookbooks and baked books imported from different countries. I used to go in there and flip through pages of books. I couldn't dare afford at the time, and every time it was my birthday or Christmas I'd ask my mom for one of those books, and I of course, have a collection of cake decorating books that I just loved to flip through. Not that I wanted to copy other people's designs I'm not like that at all but it would just be so inspiring. Or maybe I just saw one technique and I thought, oh, I'm going to use that here on my cake. And so a book was something I had always visualized for myself.
Speaker 2:And, lo and behold, youtube brought me to that spot and I really didn't see that coming. And then, of course, it brought me back to TV. So at first the offers were, you know, for me to that spot and I really didn't see that coming. And then, of course, it brought me back to TV. So at first the offers were, you know, for me to be a guest judge on several shows. I've been on nailed it, I've been on best baker in America, winner cake, all there's a whole bunch.
Speaker 2:I feel like cake wars, and unfortunately, every time I got offered the position to be a permanent judge, we would turn it down because YouTube is an intense algorithm and we needed to feed it, and so there was no way for me to continue making a weekly video of these cakes that take so long. And then, you know, go be in LA or wherever it was, for a month. We wouldn't be able to keep up. As well as, you know, my be in LA or wherever it was for a month. We wouldn't be able to keep up, as well as you know my own life and being a mom, and so that opportunity came to me when I actually decided to quit YouTube. So I quit YouTube for about a year and a half, just out of a lot, a whole lot of factors sheer exhaustion, creative burnout. My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2020 as well, and I also had a very severe injury here from cake decorating, from rolling fondant, from doing this with a spatula. I couldn't even turn my neck, I couldn't turn my head to the right at all, and so I had to start acupuncture and physio and all kinds of things and all those factors combined.
Speaker 2:I just decided to take a break from YouTube, and at the time, bake you Happy was so massive for us. So, even though I had guilt, I felt a lot of guilt leaving the wonderful community we've built, but I also felt guilty about it was the first time in my life I started to feel like I was faking it and I don't do well with that, you know. Like you know, I'd go to the studio and I'd start to make a cake and I think I don't want to be here and I don't do well with that and I also truly believe you know, the energy you put out is exactly what you get back. And there's something about me that thought I wasn't hiding it well, and so I took a very long break. And what's funny is, I think three weeks after my last video aired, I got the offer for Crime Scene Kitchen. Wow, and again, I think that is so serendipitous because I was on a break. Now I could consider this, I could go somewhere for a month. It wouldn't be stressing my injury because it would just be, you know, talking about what I do. And so I took the job and I'm so happy because I think being a permanent judge on a show has really made me come out of my shell in so many ways uh, battling my own, you know, inner shyness, being able to talk about my craft and articulate and help others on their baking journey uh, while giving them, you know, constructive criticism.
Speaker 2:I certainly don't like to bake anyone, burst anyone's baking bubble, that's not my thing, um, but I really enjoy it. And I also get to dress up. They dress me up. I get a little glam squad. That's not like. That's nothing like cake decorating In the cake decorating world. I've got on a t-shirt and some Crocs and some jeans, and that's my footwear. Yes, so it's been so wonderful, and I actually just shot another show where I'm the permanent judge with Buddy the cake boss, so it hasn't aired yet, but another wonderful experience that I'm so grateful for, and in the meantime, I have returned to YouTube. I basically found my way back, but I don't want it to be the only avenue. I think it's important for me to be diversified in as many ways as I can.
Speaker 1:I love that, because I'm always telling that to my students to diversify your income. So many of us go through what you went through If not an injury, then either we experience burnout, we feel like we're doing too much, or we're always, like we stated, baking on the weekends that we never have that time with our family, and so I'm always encouraging people to find other avenues either host your own classes locally or do digital products. And it's crazy that you said you took a break, because it never really seems like you left. But that's the power of YouTube, because it's evergreen. So even all that content that you put out there is still getting views, is still raising your brand awareness, which is amazing. And then it sounds like you finally completed one of your dreams, as we know, because you have several books. So take us back to your first book. How did that come along?
Speaker 2:Well, like I said, we hit a million in just under a year on YouTube. And then, I want to say, three or four publishers came knocking and so we made the decision that I would do this. It actually came down to the wire. I wasn't going to do this because at that point I was truly burnt out, we were getting really tired. Because at that point I was truly burnt out, we were getting really tired. And Connie and Jocelyn said to me you know, wouldn't it be great if your first book was released the year you turn 40? And I thought that's got a nice ring to it. Yes, it does. So we decided to do it Hardest project to date, but I am very proud of it.
Speaker 2:And it was hard for many reasons. Number one it's actually not the book I wanted to start with. My second book is the book I wanted to start with, but the publisher, of course, wanted my book, you know, under their umbrella to represent what our channel was known for, and that was mainly novelty cakes, and so I always felt like it was a little too niche and I also felt like, why would you start your caking journey there? You would obviously start, you know, steps ahead of that and work your way up. But what was most interesting about that whole process was because we were on this YouTube train and all three of us had such creative freedom to go into something like publishing, where, yes, it's collaborative but there's also sort of rules to follow, and they were all rules we knew nothing about. Um, that was really difficult, and I would say the most difficult thing about book number one was having to write in words the description of how you make these cakes. That is, that cannot be described, because at least in a YouTube video, it really doesn't matter how I articulate it to you, because you're seeing the visual. In fact, I think I'm very casual on my channel. I think that's kind of the beauty of the channel. Even though I'm making cakes that can be quite elaborate, I talk about it like it's the most casual thing.
Speaker 2:But in a book, no, no, no, no. It needs to be proper good grammar, it needs to make sense and there needs to be enough still pictures that you're getting the point every step of the way right. The recipe is not for a salad where I can just show you the final product and in your mind you can visualize how to get there. No, I need to give you the proper steps and I felt really strongly about that. So things like having to push back, you know, one cake can't just be two pages, or one of the things I really two things I really fought for in the first book were a to lay out instructions of how to achieve the project. So day one I would tell them bake your cakes, make your buttercream, make your simple syrup, cut your cake boards. And then it would say, day two, to start the process of decorating, because I felt like it was a lie, you know, to write a recipe as if you could just complete it in one afternoon. You can't, you know, as we know, any cake decorator knows this. And there's so many factors you can't. You know, as we know, any cake decorator knows this. And there's so many factors you can't even control, like climate. The last cake in my book has 53 steps. Wow, it's a lucky cat.
Speaker 2:And so I think in the beginning you know, at first the publisher, I think they wanted me to have like 70 cake recipes and you know I had to sort of say that would be a set of encyclopedias. There's no way the book will be this big, but I have to say I grew a lot. I learned a lot. It was one of the first projects I got to work very closely with Connie on because she took the reins on that. And when I tell you, we worked six days a week, flip-flopping between book and YouTube, and we worked till like 2 am and I could not be prouder of that book. You know, every time someone brings it to me to sign, or even when I look through it myself, I just think it's a work of art and it's better than the book I had always imagined for all those years.
Speaker 1:That's your baby. And then eventually came Yo's Magical Kitchen the perfect cake.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, that's like I said, amanda, like with the children in our community. You know, baking is so multi-generational. We say this all the time. If it's not a grandparent baking with a child, it's a parent baking with a child or a child baking for their family. You know, all cultures have some form of baking or sweets at a celebration. It means the same thing worldwide, and so we definitely wanted to do something in the kids space. We want to do a lot more in the kids space. Actually that's on our bucket list.
Speaker 2:But the perfect cake is a little story that's, you know, about sort of young me and my family and I love the title because I'm such a perfectionist and it is something that has plagued me my whole life. I like to say it's a gift and a curse. It's a gift because it's what keeps me coming back. You know, every single cake on my channel I would change something about. There's probably only three cakes that I would leave alone, and so I think it's what keeps me hungry and keeps me striving to make more. But it's a curse because you're very hard on yourself and in this sort of world of like constant content, it's impossible to be perfect at every single moment, and so that's what the story in the Perfect Cake is about and it's part storybook and at the back there are two very simple recipes where children can start to bake.
Speaker 2:So I'm really proud of that book and it's self-published as well as my second book, Layer Up, which is all easier cakes than novelty cakes in my first book, but they're all dessert stuffed, so they're all inspired by some kind of dessert or sweet treat I love, and each cake has several recipes and components and textures, divided into seven chapters by flavor profile. And that was a real passion project which we we opened an arm of publishing, had a cake of publishing and we published it ourselves. And what I loved about that book is not only did I have creative freedom with the cakes, like I did with the first book, but I had it with the way the book is laid out, the photographer we chose. You know everything about it and I created that book during my time off of YouTube. So that process felt extremely different than the first process because I didn't have to flip flop and go back to making videos in between, it was just straight up. Let's make the most beautiful book we can for like a six to eight week period.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I love to see how your face lit up. I mentioned the children's book. You're like, yeah, finally, yes, yeah, that's awesome. And then we also know you have some amazing products, but one in particular that you're probably definitely known for that big old squeeze bottle.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir Squeeze, he's become, he's my main squeeze. So, sir Squeeze, you know, right off the bat we wanted to build a business. I want to say that because it wasn't as if we thought, oh, let's just put everything into YouTube. Right off the bat we wanted this to be a business, so we launched the website, the YouTube channel and the products right away. Our first products were, you know, the cake teas with the cake puns that I've worn. Every episode we would sell those.
Speaker 2:But in some of my early episodes, in fact in the very first episode, I use my own, sir Squeeze, which I had from my ex-boss at the second bakery I worked at and it was just a part of my life. I used it all the time. But what we realized quickly is home bakers had no idea about simple syrup, and so we were just flooded with comments of what is that bottle? What's in that bottle? Why are you spraying water on the cakes? So many questions. And Connie got the bright idea to think or to investigate and research where these bottles were made so we could sell that bottle as a product. And so she hunted them down. She found the factory. We ordered 10,000 and sold out. Then we ordered another batch sold out and then we decided the third batch would be branded how to cake it, and we had a little competition to help name him. Uh, so he's sir squeeze a lot. That's his full name and it's such a big uh part of the channel. And eventually we had little squeeze and we had some other cake decorating products.
Speaker 2:You know, unlike other youtube channels, we really weren't about trying to sell just general products. We wanted to sell things that pertain to what we did, and especially if it was a tool, it had to be a tool that I would actually use and do use in the videos. We recently unfortunately had to shutter products because we are Canadian, we're in Toronto and shipping from Toronto is really difficult and really expensive, and so we had a fulfillment center, which was wonderful for years and years. That was out of Florida, but unfortunately they got acquired, and then we started to get a lot of complaints about people's products arriving damaged, which was something we had really never had before, and so we had to make a very difficult decision to stop or put products on hold, at least for the time being. That was really difficult and it's funny, sir Squeeze is the one product that I always think of. He's the one I can't let go of.
Speaker 1:It makes sense and I think people just love watching you. It's just a thing, Like you could just watch it all day putting simple serve on cakes. I love the fact that you're open with, like you stated, you're building a business Because so many bakers they only think about OK, I'm baking at home, I'm fulfilling these orders. They never really think about diversifying their income or other income streams Because, besides those products, you're also a brand ambassador. Do you still work with Fat Daddy-Os?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I was just on HSN selling Fat Daddy-Os and I will be returning in the summer. I'm very excited. That was another experience that made me broaden my horizons. I was so nervous before I went on and it's pretty intense you have to do some training to be on HSN but again, I'm so glad that it's a product that I genuinely like and use. That makes it easier for me to talk about and to sell on a platform like HSN.
Speaker 2:You're absolutely right, because when I made cakes for you know, 17 years in this city I never thought about diversifying ever. All I thought about is I need to make cakes, more cakes. How can I make more cakes? Who can I make them for? I never thought about it, and so I found myself in a real pickle. When I was pregnant and I had my son and I started to rethink my life choices and what I should do next, I really felt like I had missed the boat, especially because when I started, there was no social media, there was no cake on TV. Like I said, I used to collect books, and now there was a definite time period where cake decorating was just everywhere and I felt like I was sitting back and watching it, you know, just when my passion had sort of come to the forefront, I was taking several steps back from it and I didn't really know how to feel and how to process those feelings.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for sharing that. I can definitely relate and get it so to anyone listening who maybe wants to start a YouTube channel, or maybe they want their own line of products, or maybe they want to put themselves on TV and apply for the shows. What advice would you have to that person, who is kind of like you in the beginning? They're just so wrapped up in the baking business that they may be afraid to step out of their shell too.
Speaker 2:I think my best piece of advice is be as authentic as to yourself as possible, because anything else will tire you out. Anything else will tire you out. You can only sort of act for so long. And also, you have to be willing to let go of some of your fears.
Speaker 2:For example, when we first started the channel, one of my biggest fears that kept me up at night was sharing my recipes, because these were recipes for cakes I had made for years. I had worked on the recipes, tweaked them over the years, because, as you know, when you bake an eight inch cake and you bake a 14 inch cake, they can come out completely different. And this was sort of my vault. You know what I mean. This is my vault of recipes. And I had a sheet that people could order from with 10 different flavors, and I just thought, oh my gosh, am I going to go in a video and, just like, spread my recipe out to everyone and everyone? Like, spread my recipe out to everyone and everyone.
Speaker 2:It was a true fear for me, because I didn't know that YouTube would work out and I assumed I'd have to go back to making cakes and eventually, as we just kept riding the train, I had to learn to let go, and I think that's what this journey has taught me. I've learned to let go of so many things that I held onto so tightly because I believed that that's all I was. You know what I mean? I believe that I was my recipe and I like, and I had to learn to let go of that, and I find the more you can open up, the more people open up to you. I was always very, very rigid, but years of YouTube and embarrassing yourself on camera we'll close that out for you.
Speaker 1:And you're not alone. When I talk to students, that's always their first thing. They're like well, it's my recipe. I'm so afraid, but I always tell people our gifts were not meant to be just kept to us. They're meant to be shared. And that's normally the number one fear that people have is they don't want to let go of their tried and true recipes.
Speaker 2:Yes, yep, and I can't tell you how many people I've met who say to me your vanilla cake is the only vanilla cake that I make. I was on a show judging and someone they had to bake vanilla cake and they were like I took one bite and they were like it's your recipe. And now I think, oh my gosh, how could I have at one point been afraid to share this?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. It's a blessing and you're blessing so many other people in their business with them saving time, you know, having something that's that's theirs. They're able to sell that and make sales, and you're touching people all over the world. So it's, it's, it's amazing, and there's more than enough room for us all. I love that. Before I let you go, yolanda, you've shared so many wonderful things with us and it was so awesome to hear your story, but we have to play a game of lightning round. Are you ready? I'm ready.
Speaker 2:All right, let's do it.
Speaker 1:What is your favorite?
Speaker 2:color. I'm ready. All right, let's do it. What is your favorite color? Oh, I always say that it's yellow, the color of butter. It's a very happy color. Okay, Love it, Love it. What is your favorite dessert? Oh, I love is too small of a word. I adore ice cream of all types. I like gelato ice cream, soft serve. I love to make ice cream. It's the thing I make the most on my own. It's just. It makes me feel like a kid again. That's why every cake on my channel for my birthday is me caking some form of ice cream. It's because of my love of ice cream.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Ice cream is definitely delicious. And who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2:Oh man, I've actually met one of my celebrity crushes. It's Martha Stewart, because the empire that she has built is ridiculous and when I met her judging a cake competition, she was the host. I couldn't talk to her for like a half an hour, couldn't talk to her for about a half an hour and Couldn't talk to her for about a half an hour and talk about building an empire. You know, before there was even social media and that type of content. I used to collect magazines and just it was. It was definitely a source of inspiration for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she has a knockout brand, for sure.
Speaker 2:She has a knockout brand and she didn't think she built that Right. Even if you hear her story, she didn't know that that would happen to her. So yeah, definitely. What is your favorite book? Oh my gosh, I am not prepared for this. I read a book a long time ago that was called the Celestine Prophecy. I actually read it on a beach in Thailand and it was such a nice time for me, and I recently just found it in a box, because I had all these boxes with, like, old books. I've recently just found it and I pulled it out and I thought to myself I need to read this book again, because I remember how it made me feel, but I can't pinpoint why.
Speaker 1:So I want to reread it Awesome, and we'll link that book in the show notes for anyone else, along with all of Yolanda's other products. And then, lastly, what is a kitchen utensil that you cannot live without?
Speaker 2:Oh, you know the importance of a sharp knife. A sharp knife is really important and I know most people will think of, you know, chopping, which is super important because you'll cut yourself with a dull knife. But I think about a nice bread knife that can cut serrated, serrated knife. I also have a need for a nice sharp paring knife with where the tip is still sharp, because when you're cutting little fondant details or trimming fondant along a cake, it makes all the difference. So it's a really simple tool but very versatile.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Do you sharpen your knives yourself or do you send them off?
Speaker 2:I sharpen them myself the paring knives that are less expensive, when I feel like the tip is worn down. I just get a new one, and I love that they come with a colorful handle of pink and yellow.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, we all learned something new today. From the bottom of my little heart, yolanda, thank you so much for stopping by the Baking for Business podcast. Wow, you guys. So how was that? I hope that you really enjoyed listening to Yolanda's story.
Speaker 1:A couple of takeaways that I received just from listening while I was speaking with her is really just the power of community, collaboration and pivoting, and, if you notice, those are kind of three pillars that Yolanda really hit on. Number one, just her eagerness and her willingness to just always show up and to build her community with her passions and things that matter to her, because we're not designed to do life alone, let alone business. And so just the fact that she is open there are always wonderful people that we have that we're able to collaborate with in order for us to not carry the burden on our own, but also so that we can grow together and that we can share our gifts with others. And then, when you think about pivoting at times, when Yolanda said after she gave birth to her child, or maybe even after she felt burned out, you know, always walking through the next door, even when you don't know what it holds. There are so many ways for us to show up in this baking industry and bake the things that we love to bake in different manners, whether it be blogging or YouTube, or whether it be podcasting or, you know, selling to consumers. There's just multiple ways for us to use our gifts, and we're always able to do so whenever we're open to opportunities that present themselves.
Speaker 1:So special thanks to Yolanda for sharing her story and sharing all the many ways that she has grown her brand as long as she has been on her journey. I truly hope that her story inspired you. You can be sure to check out the book recommendation that she selected, along with everything and all things how to cake it, whether it be her books or community her site, by clicking the link in our show notes. And, as you're listening, please be sure to tag me at baking for business and tag Yolanda and tell her if you enjoyed the episode. The best form of pay that you can give anyone is a compliment, and so pay it forward. Also, share this episode with a business buddy or a friend or someone who you know can get inspired and motivated by hearing the podcast. That's it for now. I appreciate you guys. To the moon and back. Thanks so much for tuning in. Bye for now, thank you.