Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Navigating your wedding business niche with Jenae Cartwright

Transcript

Navigating your wedding business niche with Jenae Cartwright · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

0:00
Jenae: By cost, I'm not just talking about your ingredients, your cost of
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goods, your heat, your electricity, your boxes and flour, you know, all those
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things, but the cost on your life, how much it takes away from your family or
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your personal life, the tax that it plays on your mental clarity, focus, health.
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That all plays into it when you are an entrepreneur and we don't think
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to charge for stuff like that really just examining how do you pay yourself
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what you are valued and not just cover your cost of goods but actually make a
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livable income and then price to that.
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Becca: I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert,
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speaker, and blogger, and you're listening to the Wedding Pros
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Who Are Ready to Grow podcast.
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I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
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examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
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If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
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and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
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love, then you're in the right place.
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Let's get going with today's episode.
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Today, I'm chatting with Jenae Cartwright, the founder of Cake and Crumble.
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Based in Seattle, Cake and Crumble is a totally gluten free bakery,
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creating wedding cakes, dessert bars, and lots of lovely treats that they
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supply wholesale to local coffee shops.
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I got the pleasure of meeting Jenae in person during my recent trip to
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the States, and I cannot wait to introduce her to all of you too.
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Jenae, welcome to the podcast!
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Jenae: Thank you, Becca!
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Actually, really an honor to be on here.
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Becca: I'm really honored to have you.
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I'm really excited to get into this conversation because we started a
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conversation about your business and about the gluten free world of baking over a
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drink in a rather nice hotel in Las Vegas.
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And I decided we needed to bring this conversation out for
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everyone else to hear it as well.
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Jenae: Absolutely.
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I, I think you're spot on.
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Becca: Perfect.
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Now, before we get into that though, I want to tell the listeners, let
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them into our secret because we met in real life out in Las Vegas and it
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was kind of an unbelievable moment.
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I'd only just arrived in Las Vegas.
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I'd only just arrived to this conference with all of these people.
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And you tell the listeners in your own words, what happened?
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Yes.
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Jenae: Well, I think for both of us, it was kind of surreal.
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I was minding my own business, just checking in at the wedding MBA, and I'm,
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I'm looking down at my name plate and all of a sudden the most distinctive, fresh,
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spring like voice It comes out of nowhere and like chills went down my spine.
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I was like, this, this has to be Becca.
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And I turned around and there you are.
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So you know, your voice recognition.
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And what's so funny is, you know, it's the wedding conference.
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It shouldn't have been surprising to find you there.
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You're in England, right?
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You're in England?
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Yes.
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I'm in America.
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It was just kind of an out of body experience for me.
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So, I yelled your name like a, you know, Taylor Swift fangirl.
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And, like a Swiftie.
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Oh, the look on your face was priceless too, because it was that
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moment of like, oh, somebody knows me.
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Becca: Yeah, I was taken by surprise.
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And you know what's funny?
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I'm like, how does someone know who I am?
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But it was really funny because I got home and I was talking to my husband
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and I was like, it was so cool.
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And like, Janae just spoiled me and she knew who I was.
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And now my daughter keeps telling everyone, mommy's famous in America.
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Jenae: Brilliant.
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I'm so glad that I could offer that.
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Yeah, I mean, you know, after taking I just, I feel like I'm Got a, an English
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family after spending so much, you know, training time with Lauren and hearing
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you and taking your, your Pinterest class and listening to your podcast.
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It's, you know, it's that fake sense of familiarity.
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And so, yeah, I accosted you because you were already my BFF.
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Becca: Well, it was fun because now we're actual real life friends and
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we got to hang out in Las Vegas.
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And exactly.
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And hopefully we'll get to do it again soon.
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And now you're on the podcast too.
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So, you know, Jenae, dreams really do come true.
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Okay.
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So let's get back to the job in hand.
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Enough joking around.
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Let's get back to the job in hand.
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So let's go back to the beginning of your business journey because I want to,
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I want you to share how you ended up in this business that you find yourself in
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now and why you decided to go down this route of making everything gluten free.
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Jenae: Oh, it's beefy.
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Well let's see here.
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I was trying to think what year it was.
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I have to count backwards.
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It might've been 20
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It's about 11 or 12 years ago, our, I was clipping along with life.
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I had just left the banking world to spend more time with my kids and kind of
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take care of some other people's kids.
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I used to be a bank manager and we're just kind of trying to find some purpose.
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So I was.
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It's trying to find some purpose and our daughter who was three at the time
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was suddenly diagnosed with celiac disease and didn't know what that was.
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It was this random test that she'd had taken and we kind of didn't believe
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it at the time because it was so.
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It just seems so out of place, but lo and behold, she had it, and
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within seconds, our world changed.
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It, it actually was right before Thanksgiving that it all really came
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down, and so, you know, I had my pie recipe out on the counter and was
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getting ready because I love to bake.
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I used to, used to kind of be in the world of kitchen tools, and
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it was, for lack of a better word, it was just really traumatic.
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I tried making my mom's.
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amazing banana bread recipe with some local, not local, but you know, just
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like a grocery store, gluten free flour.
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And it was disastrous.
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It was just the most disgusting thing.
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And I thought if I can't even make my mom's banana bread,
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what is the purpose of life?
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You know, it was really, I mean, when food is so nostalgic and
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unfortunately sugar is the queen of.
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You know, nostalgic food.
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And so anything baked just became really a real a real sore spot.
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And so we went through the evolution of, you know, one year I found a gluten free
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bakery and got a cupcake went across, you know, town and got her a single
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cupcake so that she could take it to a birthday party for some little kids.
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And when I went to pick her up from that party, I'd spent an atrocious
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amount of money on this cake.
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rather not good cupcake and then I walked in and all of the children had left their
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cupcakes on the Table to go play but all the frosting had been eaten off And so I
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was like, okay, so when her first birthday being a celiac came around we didn't
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have any cupcakes We just had frosting.
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I've had bowls of frosting with sprinkles because the first of
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all, you know, I was like, Oh, that's what the kids really want.
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But second, I was still really terrified of gluten free baking and realizing
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that no matter what I made, it was just going to turn out like crap.
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And so anyway, that was kind of the beginning of the journey.
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And, but I have this personality that is just always driven to.
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Discover more to tackle problems.
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I don't like taking no for an answer when it comes to subpar things.
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So I was like, I've got to be able to tackle this or I won't survive.
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And so I just started practicing and tweaking things and reading up as much
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as I could on anything I could find.
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You know, a decade ago, there was not as much information about
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gluten free as there is now.
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It's, it's really changed quite a bit, but.
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Even before me, the frontier for gluten free knowledge was pretty slim.
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So grocery stores, I still get post traumatic stress disorder
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going into grocery stores.
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Even though there are things now that are labeled gluten free.
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So, anyway, the trauma around that was just a lot to tackle.
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And as I got better and better, people started Reaching out to me and
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asking, Hey, can you make this for me?
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Or, Hey, how can I make this better?
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Or I'm at the grocery store.
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What should I get?
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And then I would hear of another parent who their child had celiac.
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And so I would talk with them on the phone for hours, counseling them on
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how to change out their cookware and how to have two peanut butter jars and,
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you know, don't use the same toaster and just all the different things.
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And one day I said, that's enough, let's, let's do something about this.
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How about I just open a tiny little bakery out of my home and make birthday
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cakes for people and try to get into coffee shops where they could
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have a fresh baked cinnamon roll.
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And that was the beginning of madness.
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That's the short story.
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Becca: Just a little bakery.
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That was the dream at the time.
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And I mean, it's really inspiring, isn't it?
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Because you do it even now.
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I know there's a lot more gluten free offerings, but now you go into the
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supermarket, there's that tiny little section of the store where it's like,
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this is the gluten free section.
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And there's the same three cupcakes that they can always, yep.
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When it is kind of sad, you know, there's, there's a family member that I have that
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is celiac and every birthday, whatever the cake is, this poor child just has the same
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cupcake on the side of the big old cake.
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So I love that you saw that and you wanted better for your own child, right?
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What mom doesn't want better and therefore you could start to serve other people.
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So you had this idea of, of making it into a business.
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Where did you find your first customers?
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Jenae: Ooh, well, it, as I said Okay.
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Interestingly, she was diagnosed around Thanksgiving, and the state of
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Washington finally allowed me to, they like, made me an official business
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as it was nearing Thanksgiving.
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So my very first orders were Thanksgiving pies.
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I offered a few, I had some orders for apple pie and pumpkin pie and cherry pie.
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I believe that was the first, that was the induction.
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And then the type of license that I have to work out of my home
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here in the States, or at least in Washington state, there's two types.
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You can either have a cottage food permit, which you must use your home kitchen, your
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personal home kitchen to do your work.
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But then there are limitations surrounding.
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The amount that you're allowed to do, the types of food, how much
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money you can make in a year.
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It's really meant for like small operations, farmers market type stuff.
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And then there's a food processor license, which is, you're
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basically a food manufacturer.
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And even though it's a small operation, I could easily simply transfer
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this to maybe like a warehouse.
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But you have to do wholesale.
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And so, I put my big girl panties on, and went to a local bakery, kind of bakery,
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coffee shop, and sat down with her, and offered her to taste my cinnamon roll,
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and some muffins, and some cookies.
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And we sat there for the longest time.
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She, I could tell she was afraid to taste it in front of me.
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And I was like, I get it, I get it.
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There's just such a stigma.
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So I said, I'm going to go use the restroom.
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Why don't you taste it?
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And I'll be right back.
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And when I came back and sat down, she just stared at me.
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She said, I have to admit, I was so, so afraid to eat this, but this is.
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This is actually delicious.
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I can't even tell this is gluten free.
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Let's do it.
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Let's start right now.
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So that was my first coffee shop and now I have 20 with a wait list.
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Becca: That's amazing.
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And let's just dig in a little bit while we're on that subject because
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I know there'll be Kate, people listening and possibly other types
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of supplies as well, who have Thought about going to down the wholesale
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route or thought about approaching cafes, but are too scared to do it.
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Like, how have you gone about growing that side of your business?
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Jenae: I, my, my official advice is run, run away.
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Don't do it.
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Was that surprising?
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No, it, it's actually a wonderful thing.
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I yeah.
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The way you go about doing it is find your local city and state or province,
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you know, wherever you are in the world.
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Find your local governance on what they will allow you to do.
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And even have a game plan for how ramped up you want to make that.
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Because we figured we would have a few coffee shops that we would work with.
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And then would, you know, have the recipe custom cakes and such.
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But last year, two years ago, my husband put By himself, 50, 000
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stickers on clamshells over the year that would go out to the coffee shops.
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That's usually when you're at that stage, you've got some automation
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and we do not have automation.
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We're putting it on ourselves.
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So, you know, I, I would, that's why I say run or be prepared
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with how you want to ramp up.
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But yeah, just start with finding your local, your local rules and.
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Go from there and know what you want.
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You don't offer too many options.
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Start with three or four.
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Don't have more than six or seven.
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I have ten.
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Don't do that.
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But, you know, just offer a few things.
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Becca: Okay, so you basically just reached out your comfort zone,
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reached out to some cafes and coffee shops and just asked for a meeting?
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Jenae: No, actually, the coffee shop that I told you about was
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the only one that I pitched.
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Everybody else came to me because word of mouth was.
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powerful.
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Everybody wanted a gluten free option.
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Becca: Oh, it's interesting because one of the things I talk about when I talk
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on stage is about how important it is to know your niche and how if you become the
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expert in something, everyone will come to you because people have to have a reason.
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You have to be the go to person for something.
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And it sounds to me like Going down this niche of gluten free, obviously
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you didn't plan to go down that route.
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Some people would think, well, that's a bit scary.
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It's a tiny little niche, but actually you've become known in your area
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as the go to person for that thing.
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Jenae: Yeah.
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I, I even, I get often asked, Oh, can you just make this?
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You know, regular for me.
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And the reality is I can write.
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I'm an avid baker.
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But I can't not for the bakery could do it on the side friend for
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friend, but the bakery must remain completely gluten free so that it's
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safe for someone with celiac disease.
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And so, yeah, sometimes having that.
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Really sharply defined niche is very freeing.
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It allows, it allows you to stay focused.
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Becca: And it helps people to know that you're the go to person for that
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because actually, especially now, it's getting more and more important.
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All of these coffee shops need to be providing an alternative option
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for people and you're the obvious choice for them to come to, even if
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you're trying to run away from it.
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Jenae: Absolutely.
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And, and, you know, not to blindly segue into wedding cakes, but that's
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also what I'm trying to form with my, you know, the luxury wedding cake side
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of my business is I am your option.
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You know, if you want the best.
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Gluten free, non tasting gluten free wedding cake.
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It will look fantastic and it will taste more fantastic and there is no
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reason to attempt to just use some other bakery that can try to do gluten free.
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I am your option, you know, insert evil laugh.
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Becca: I absolutely love it.
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And it's true because your cakes are beautiful.
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I haven't tasted one because you didn't bring any with you, but hopefully
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next time we meet, I will get, I will get the opportunity to taste it.
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So talk to me about weddings and how did you end up doing your first wedding cake?
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Because it's a far cry from doing wholesale.
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baked goods and birthday cakes.
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Jenae: Oh, it really is.
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I remember when I was meeting with a group of friends and you know, excited
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about sitting down with this wedding couple and unsure of what to charge.
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I grew up pretty, we didn't have a lot.
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We, we had to be really frugal with our resources.
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And so for me, the idea of spending a lot of money on anything
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is a little bit terrifying.
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And so I was really hesitant to charge too much.
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I just didn't know what that would be.
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But also I didn't really Know what my costs were.
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So I, I was really worried about that, but at first wedding, I made way too large.
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It was a a cake that probably would have fed about 175 people, but
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there were only 75 people there.
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So that's okay.
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But yeah, it was, it was a fun experience.
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Very terrifying.
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I realized that transporting the cake was the most terrifying
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part of the entire process.
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And Oh, you know, it's, it's so funny all the things you learn along the way to,
17:35
to make life easier, but I don't know.
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Becca: So it's easy when people listen to a podcast and us talking
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to just assume that everything is rosy for you in your business.
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Oh, Jenae sounds like she's got it all together.
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Business came easy to her, but we know that the reality to
17:50
that is a little different.
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We all have our ups and downs.
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So when you look back over your years in the cake business, what
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would you say have been some of the things that have been a struggle?
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Jenae: Well, the first one.
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Is not valuing myself enough.
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I think that the first struggle is just deep imposter syndrome.
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And I think that's really hard for any entrepreneur.
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I think another struggle is.
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It's just simply not having all the information.
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And so you're winging it half the time, faking it till you make it or working in
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response mode rather than playing defense rather than offense, you know, just so
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many different things coming at you or you know, I think the biggest struggle that
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I still have today, I've been open seven years now and is wearing all the hats.
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That I think is the biggest struggle because I'm, I'm
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an artist and I am creative.
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I also have a business side of me.
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I mean, I managed a bank.
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I was in charge of millions of dollars and customer accounts
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and emails and training people.
19:06
You know, I can do all of that, but so often I feel like a failure on that
19:10
end, which is why I have an accountant because you can't, even though you
19:15
can be an expert at everything.
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You also should not spend all of your time on those things.
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And so I pick and choose which areas of my business I will be
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kind of letting go for a little bit while I focus on something else.
19:29
And I hate that cycle.
19:32
So.
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You know, it's about learning who the other experts are that you can
19:36
offload tasks to or things that they can focus their expertise on.
19:42
So that's probably been the biggest struggle.
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Becca: And I think that's a big learning curve for lots of people because at
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the start, we have to do everything because we've got no money coming in.
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And then as our businesses get more successful, we get
19:53
busier and busier and busier.
19:55
But letting go of tasks we know we can do ourselves and letting someone else do
20:00
something which is part of our business baby is really, really difficult.
20:04
Have you managed to outsource many things so far?
20:07
Jenae: Yes, some.
20:09
I do have an employee.
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She bakes, she does almost exclusively the baking for the wholesale so that I
20:16
can focus more on weddings and custom work and the business side of things.
20:21
I have an accountant.
20:22
I have a virtual assistant.
20:24
And who helps with emails and drawing out my proposals for wedding clients.
20:30
So that's.
20:31
That's definitely been really helpful.
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My husband and daughter get forced into things all the time as well.
20:39
So it is helpful when you have a village.
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Becca: You need to eventually because otherwise you will just burn out or
20:44
you have to just stop your business growth because there is no way that
20:48
one person can do all of the things and grow a big successful business.
20:51
You will just hit burnout.
20:53
Jenae: Well it's, it's not even just about burnout.
20:55
Some of it is.
20:56
Because you are the one, you know, you're, you're one employee
21:01
with 17 hats, which is just not feasible in the world of business.
21:08
So often creatives start a business because someone
21:12
says, Hey, you should do this.
21:14
You're really good at it.
21:15
And so they don't have the skills to really.
21:18
Ramp that up.
21:19
And you know, I certainly, I didn't get a business degree.
21:22
My, my degree is actually in psychology.
21:24
And then I've had a lot of training, hands on training in the culinary world.
21:28
So that's really helpful, but you know, when you don't know how to run a business,
21:32
that's why bakeries so often fail or any type of, you know, small creative
21:37
business, because you have that creative side, but then can't execute, don't
21:44
realize how you have to pay your taxes, you know, all the different things.
21:47
And so Yeah.
21:48
You have to lean on experts and give them the opportunity to
21:53
shine so that you can shine.
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It's way more freeing.
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Becca: A hundred percent.
21:57
I often use as an analogy when I talk about what I do, I'm like, I cannot bake.
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I'm known in my family for being an absolute disastrous baker, but what
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I can do is help a cake maker market themselves because I'm good at marketing.
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You're good at cake.
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I'm good at marketing together.
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We can work on this.
22:12
I don't need to be able to make a cake to help you market your business.
22:14
So yeah, we all have our own skills and we need to learn which ones
22:18
we We can get from each other.
22:19
Now, you mentioned at the beginning, you have been working
22:22
with Lauren here in the UK.
22:23
She is a take coach for personal development.
22:26
You've taken my Pinterest course.
22:27
You've done listening to all my podcasts as well.
22:31
Why do you think personal development has been important
22:34
for you on your business journey?
22:36
Jenae: Oh boy, probably one of the most important things without it,
22:43
you, you just, you stay segment.
22:46
beCause you're only working within the framework that you know every time I've
22:51
taken training my business has Grown multiple fold, you know, i'm not gonna
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throw in numbers Because I don't know them because I'm not really a numbers
23:03
person, even though I was a banker.
23:04
That's not that's not scary With without it.
23:08
My business would be stagnant Not only does it just grow you richly But it it
23:15
makes you look less like an imposter because you're actually doing the work.
23:19
It's like It's like when you're 45 and you feel like you're adulting finally, you
23:23
know, it just puts everything together.
23:26
Becca: Now, I want to get into a bit of a subject that we talked slightly about
23:29
when we were in that bar I mentioned in Las Vegas, and that is competitors.
23:34
Because as you said, when you first went into this world, there wasn't
23:38
a whole lot of gluten free stuff.
23:40
But right now it's kind of huge.
23:41
More people are talking about vegan and gluten free and all these kind of things.
23:45
And I'm sure over the years you've seen an increasing number of
23:48
competitors or people starting to move a little bit into your niche.
23:52
How have you personally dealt with that and stayed in your own lane?
23:56
Jenae: I think you have to be confident in what you offer because I actually have
24:04
to celebrate when other bakers or bakeries Offer something that's gluten free.
24:13
So here in Seattle, we have quite a number of options.
24:17
And down in Portland, which is, I don't know, a couple of hours
24:21
away Portland, Oregon, they also have some incredible options.
24:25
You have to drive down to Portland for the best gluten free, deep fried donuts.
24:30
And I have yet to do it, but I need a field trip.
24:34
But you know, I celebrate that because I think about my daughter.
24:37
I don't want to be the only option out there because I cannot serve.
24:41
Every client, every customer, every consumer, not only in the
24:46
Northwest, but the world, right?
24:48
We all want to think we can take over the world and the reality
24:50
is the playground is huge.
24:52
Share the playground and build each other up.
24:57
I cannot thank enough a gal who was just closing her bakery as I was opening.
25:04
That actually terrified me a little bit.
25:06
She had a brick and mortar store.
25:08
I fangirled over her.
25:09
She was a popular spot.
25:12
She had spoken with a business coach and realized that she wanted
25:15
to go in a different direction and to work on a cookbook and her
25:19
flour blends and stuff like that.
25:21
And so she was closing and she sat down with me.
25:24
We had coffee and I think we talked for three hours without her support
25:28
and her care, there was so many things I would have had to work harder for.
25:33
And so I feel a deep sense of gratitude.
25:37
And a deep sense of obligation to those around me who also are either in the
25:45
same boat or they're just starting out.
25:47
And anytime I can share nuggets of wisdom, they're not going
25:51
to take over my business.
25:52
Because I have made a name for myself for who I am.
25:56
And you know what I have to say?
25:57
If they do, kudos!
26:00
Because that means they're that much more talented, or they've done something
26:05
so much more brilliant with their marketing that it drew people to them.
26:09
They must be doing something with their taste.
26:11
That's fantastic.
26:13
Again, they cannot own the market completely.
26:18
Because It's not saturated, right?
26:22
It's it takes a community.
26:23
And I think when we build each other up rather than compete, our
26:28
businesses flourish rather than one siphoning from the other.
26:33
I just think when you've got that sense of community, everybody wins.
26:36
Becca: 100 percent I totally agree with you.
26:38
I'm all about community over competition.
26:40
I think it's a really healthy outlook that you have to.
26:44
And I think it's why you can own that market because it's a real story, right?
26:47
You're not just Putting on gluten free because you thought it would sell.
26:50
Like you have a genuine heartfelt reason why you are gluten free,
26:54
why everything's gluten free.
26:55
It's not just some add on because it's trendy.
26:57
Like there's a heartfelt reason why you're good at what you do.
27:01
And also because of that, you have made sure your product is the best
27:05
in the United States because you want the best for your own child.
27:08
Jenae: Oh, my goodness.
27:09
Yes.
27:09
In fact, there's a yeah, I mean, friendly competition can spur you to
27:15
do even greater things for yourself.
27:17
It helps you not be complacent.
27:20
There's a local bakery that just popped up.
27:22
They're brick and mortar.
27:23
They're in a local city, so they're somewhat close by and
27:27
they're getting rave reviews.
27:28
And Even though there's that, of course, we're all selfish, and there's that sense
27:33
in me like, Oh no, somebody is getting rave reviews, you know, what about mine?
27:40
And you're like, okay, share the field, share the field.
27:43
But My my other first reaction is excitement because that means when
27:48
I'm out with my daughter I can go out and she can eat something safely.
27:52
That's my whole goal.
27:53
I want people to go to coffee shops I want people to be sitting at the wedding
27:56
everybody eating the same wedding cake and then going Why is Janet eating the cake?
28:02
She can't have gluten and then somebody say well because the cake
28:06
is gluten free and then go what?
28:08
Right.
28:08
I want that.
28:09
So if a local place is offering something that she can go and have
28:13
a lovely time I celebrate that but then at the same time when the person
28:17
said that they really liked the cinnamon rolls there I was like nah.
28:20
Mm hmm.
28:21
Nope.
28:21
I have the best cinnamon roll Wait, do I?
28:24
Okay, it's back to the test kitchen.
28:26
Let's see if we can make it better, you know?
28:29
So it's good to, it's good to, you know never become lazy, but yeah,
28:34
you have to celebrate others success because you can enjoy it then as well.
28:39
You can play a part in their success.
28:41
Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
28:42
I totally hear you on all of those things.
28:44
Okay, Jenae, what is next for you then?
28:46
I know that you're always looking to the future, you're always
28:48
looking to the next best thing.
28:49
I know you're going to improve your cinnamon rolls, but what
28:51
else is coming for Jenae in 2024?
28:55
Jenae: Ooh, that is an interesting question.
28:58
Full of possibilities, fear, anxiety, loathing.
29:03
Did I say excitement?
29:04
I think I did.
29:05
All the things.
29:06
Jenae is at a bit of a crossroads.
29:09
Cake and Crumble has A lot of possibility, and I'm just trying
29:15
to decide which is the best way.
29:17
Remember how, you know, earlier I had said that focus is really important,
29:21
and I've had a lot of changes.
29:24
We've considered so many times opening a brick and mortar, but
29:28
it is incredibly expensive to do.
29:31
And in this really volatile, you know, post pandemic market, it is just not
29:36
that easy with supply chain and whatnot.
29:38
So I'm certainly.
29:40
Focusing on the wedding cakes and the luxury wedding cakes and traveling with
29:46
wedding cakes again, because gluten free is such a niche market and it is really
29:53
difficult to have continuity there.
29:55
I, I travel with wedding cakes this last year.
29:58
I was down in Dallas.
29:59
I when we were down in Las Vegas at the MBA, I took a.
30:04
a faux, like a dummy cake for a luxury styled wedding shoot down there.
30:09
And so I want people to know that they don't have to be limited to what's in
30:15
their local market if it's not going to cut it for, for what they want.
30:18
So I do travel, which is a lot of fun.
30:20
But so focusing on that and I don't know, teaching, you know, I, I actually, before
30:26
I became a psych major, I did start an education and I, I love to be upfront.
30:33
I love to be the center of attention.
30:36
You know, you know what I mean.
30:38
You, Becca, will walk into a room and just instantly you know, the charisma's there.
30:42
And I kind of have that too.
30:44
I love to make people feel comfortable.
30:46
I love to inspire people.
30:48
And so, I, I want to move into the education realm.
30:53
And I'm, I'm really trying to discover what that's going to look like.
30:57
Originally after Caitlin was diagnosed, there was so much fear and trauma
31:03
and confusion even for the people in her life, her teachers, her aunts and
31:07
uncles, her grandparents, playdates.
31:09
Sleepovers, you know, all the different avenues in which she could
31:14
be in a really dangerous environment.
31:15
And so I've kind of wanted to put a series together on how, how to approach people,
31:20
how to sit at a restaurant and order.
31:22
And there's books, but you know, a lot of people don't have time to
31:25
sit down and read a chapter book.
31:27
So I'd love to be more interactive, do coaching, even, even fly in and.
31:33
teach people about their homes, work through their kitchens help bakeries
31:38
know how to put out an excellent gluten free wedding cake or just
31:42
a custom cake or a cinnamon roll, like consultation basis type stuff.
31:46
I, you know, I, I dream.
31:49
I'm a bit of a dreamer.
31:51
So.
31:52
Becca: I love it.
31:52
I think there's a definite market for it.
31:54
You could be the super, super nanny of the gluten free world where you go
31:58
in and you advise and you help people.
32:00
Yes.
32:01
Jenae: What can we, how can we, like, play off that?
32:04
Super, super maid?
32:07
No.
32:07
What's a kitchen?
32:10
Not a nanny, not a, not a maid.
32:13
Super cook?
32:16
Becca: I think we need to work on the names, that is not an area
32:20
of business that I'm good at.
32:23
Jenae: Oh, yeah.
32:26
Becca: We're not there yet.
32:27
Well, we'll watch this space.
32:28
I'm excited to see what you do next, Jenae, because I agree, you have got
32:32
the charisma, you've got the knowledge, you're amazing at baking cakes, and
32:35
I think that very soon you'll be able to announce that you're not only the
32:38
best gluten free wedding cake, in the United States, but in the world.
32:42
And I truly believe people will fly you out to the other side of the world to
32:46
make a beautiful gluten free wedding cake.
32:49
And I hope it's in England so that we can hang out too.
32:52
Now, you know, I always end the podcast with the same question and I'm going
32:56
to pose that to you now, which is this.
32:58
What's one thing you personally wish you'd known sooner in your own wedding business?
33:05
Jenae: This is gonna sound so cliche, but I wish I would've listened.
33:10
More closely to the voices that that want you to watch your costs.
33:18
And I also think that and by costs, I'm not just talking about.
33:25
Your ingredients, your cost of goods, your heat, your electricity, your boxes
33:32
and flour, you know, all those things.
33:34
But the cost on your life, as far as how much it takes away from your family or
33:40
your personal life, the tax that it that it plays on your mental clarity, focus.
33:48
Health that all plays into it when you are an entrepreneur and we
33:52
don't think to charge for stuff like that Lauren's class was so helpful
33:56
in that really just examining.
33:58
How do you how do you pay yourself?
34:00
what you are valued and not just cover your cost of goods, but actually make
34:07
a livable income and and then price to that and I think you know, unfortunately,
34:15
it's it's not about money, but When you're working, it is nobody works
34:19
for free, you know, Boeing, the people don't go in there because they just
34:25
feel altruistic about playing parts.
34:29
They, they go to make an income and the creative sphere is no different.
34:32
And so I think that, you know, sometimes I, it's what I want to
34:38
be able to do is have the freedom to, to have the altruistic spin.
34:44
When I, so when I can be philanthropic, you know, offer something for
34:49
free or do something, I don't want to say the word discount.
34:52
I hate that.
34:53
But you know, really offer something that somebody can't afford.
34:58
I love to be able to do that when, when I can, but I, but I can't do that
35:02
all the time or I will myself go out of business and then I'm not available
35:05
to those customers that need me.
35:06
So.
35:07
I think it's just, it's balancing the, the cost with care for your, your self worth.
35:13
Not self worth, but your, your worth as a business owner and an artist.
35:18
Becca: Such a good reminder, and I know there'll definitely be people
35:20
listening that needed that reminder today to charge their worth and maybe
35:25
even consider putting their prices up.
35:26
J'Nai, it's been such a pleasure to chat with you today.
35:29
If people want to find out more, chat to, or even order a gluten free wedding
35:33
cake for their wedding in London, where's the best place for them to find you?
35:36
Jenae: Oh, that's a great idea.
35:38
London for sure.
35:39
You can find me@cakeandcrumble.com or on Instagram.
35:46
You can find me at cake and crumble dot pnw.
35:51
And of course, I'm on Facebook as well.
35:53
I am still, you know, all those hats I'm wearing, still implementing.
35:58
Becca's Pinterest.
36:03
So yeah, that needs a little bit of work, but I am trying to focus on
36:06
getting my, my Pinterest back up.
36:07
And I'm sure that that's Cake and Crumble, maybe, dot PNW as well.
36:13
I don't know.
36:15
Becca: I'll be sure to put the link to all of those places in the show
36:19
notes so people can just go and click.
36:21
Jenae, it's been so good.
36:22
I hope to see you somewhere, somehow, in person again very soon.
36:26
Absolutely.
36:27
Jenae: Thanks for having me.
36:30
Becca: I love that conversation with Jenae.
36:31
Isn't she great?
36:33
I'm so glad we got the opportunity to have that chance meeting at Wedding MBA and
36:37
now we can actually be real life friends.
36:39
I think she has so much inspiring things to share about the importance of niching,
36:43
not worrying about the competition.
36:45
Petitors and actually celebrating them and just reminding you
36:48
to value your own worth.
36:51
If you want to check out her cakes do go and take a look at them.
36:53
I haven't had the chance to taste them, but hopefully I
36:55
will soon, but I do believe they are going to taste incredible.
36:59
I'll see you next time.