Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori P.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Lori. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a pastry chef and instructor who needed quality baking and sugar arts supplies locally.
I found so much joy to watching my grandmother create love in the kitchen. Because of her I love to bake and share what I know and I became a pastry chef which led me to teaching home bakers the craft.
I got my start while teaching HS and attended school for baking and pastry. While studying the school director asked me to teach evening classes for home cooks interested in learning more in a professional setting. Helping home cooks find their confidence in the kitchen became my new calling.
After graduating from pastry school I stopped teaching HS and I worked as a pastry chef to improve my skills.
Later I became a Wilton Method cake decorating Instructor and worked retail stores like Williams Sonoma, and Sur La Table to learn more about retailing cooking supplies.
Fast forward 13 years and we are an AWESOME specialty retail boutique focusing on baking, cake decorating pastry and candy making supplies.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Building a business from scratch is incredibly crazy, gut wrenching, joyful and exhilarating! You make a lot of mistakes then hopefully learn from them. Identifying what products customers want, keeping them stocked even in the slow times and staying up to date with current sugar crafting trends and tools has been important. The industry has changed so much in the past 13 years. Traditional is no longer. Cutting edge, colorful, sleek, jaw dropping and innovative is what’s happening. We have to be ready to give customers what they want and need.
Making sure Cakewalk Chicago isn’t a “bakers secret” can be challenging too. We don’t want our customers to keep us a hidden gem but many of our products help to set bakers apart from other local bakers which can give them an edge. 😀
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Cakewalk Chicago story. Tell us more about the business.
Cakewalk Chicago sells quality professional baking, candy making and sugar crafting supplies. Our staff are pastry chefs, cake decorators and cookie bakers. We know how to use the products we sell so you will too. We stock hundreds of cookie cutters, candy molds, ready to use icings, chocolate and more. The job of Cakewalk Chicago is to support the bakers, sugar artists and creators. If our customers are successful in realizing their baking dreams then we are doing it right. We get all kinds of warm fuzzies being part of so many celebrations. Cakewalk Chicago provides the tools and expertise to help our customers make sweet treats for birthdays, bridal showers, weddings, new babies, birthdays, and graduations. In the age of internet shopping being able to physically see, try and even taste a product can make all the difference. We know our customers by name and sharing baking stories is always a highlight of our day. Our customers have watched our children grow up in the shop. We have grown into family. Cakewalk Chicago is truly an example of “Do what you love and Love what you do!”
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
No good luck or bad luck. Only Blessings and Lessons. It has been a blessing to create a sustainable business from a mere idea that grows to bring joy to so many. For sure things haven’t been perfect over the years but when it has been broken typically it is because I wasn’t putting in the work and doing things right, Those are hard and sometimes expensive lessons to learn but I can’t blame on anyone but myself. I use those lessons to create positive momentum and move forward!
Pricing:
- We have make and take workshops as low as $10 pp
- you can create professional and themed candies at home for under $10
- Quality Gifts for your favorite baker for under $20
- over 50 baking flavors starting at $6.50ea
Contact Info:
- Address: 1741 W 99th street
Chicago Illinois 60643 - Website: www.cakewalkchicago.com
- Phone: 773.233.7335
- Email: info@cakewalkchicago.com
- Instagram: @cakewalkchicago
- Facebook: facebook.com/cakewalkchicago
- Twitter: @cakewalkchicago
- Other: YouTube.com/bakesomeonehappytv
Image Credit:
Cakewalk Chicago
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
