Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Venue relationships, FSA guidelines and business success with Krissy Quinton

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Venue relationships, FSA guidelines and business success with Krissy Quinton · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

• 0:00
  Krissy: As scary as it was, I just went out and asked.
• 0:03
  Admittedly, one of them was a really simple and easy ask.
• 0:07
  Pretty much sent an email, gave them some samples, and they were like,
• 0:10
  oh yeah, we'd love to have you.
• 0:11
  And that was it.
• 0:12
  The other one took me nearly a year.
• 0:15
  I really tried and I'm still in the process of asking a couple more and it's
• 0:19
  hard work, but you have to just kind of push yourself and just go for it.
• 0:24
  And what's the worst that could happen?
• 0:25
  They can say no, but at least you've tried.
• 0:27
  I'm
• 0:31
  Becca: Becca Pountney, wedding business, marketing expert, speaker, and blogger.
• 0:34
  And you're listening to the wedding pros who are ready to grow podcast.
• 0:38
  I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
• 0:41
  examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
• 0:45
  If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
• 0:49
  and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
• 0:52
  love, then you're in the right place.
• 0:54
  Let's get going with today's episode.
• 0:57
  Today I'm chatting with Krissy Quinton, founder of Primrose Cakes and
• 1:01
  owner of the Baking Business Lounge.
• 1:03
  Krissy has been making cakes since 2016 and is now helping newer cake
• 1:07
  makers get everything together to launch their own businesses.
• 1:10
  From environmental health inspections to food hygiene
• 1:13
  certificates, she's got you covered.
• 1:15
  When Krissy contacted me earlier this year about the Food Standard Agency's
• 1:19
  new guidance for using flours on cakes, I decided it was a great opportunity to
• 1:23
  get her on the podcast to share her story.
• 1:25
  Krissy, welcome to the podcast!
• 1:27
  Hello, thank you for having me.
• 1:29
  Thank you for being here.
• 1:30
  I'm really interested to get into some of this guidelines and
• 1:33
  guidance later on in the episode.
• 1:35
  But before then, on my podcast, I always like to take people back to the start.
• 1:40
  So I'd love to hear a little bit about your own journey.
• 1:43
  Take us back to pre your business.
• 1:46
  What were you doing in life?
• 1:48
  What was going on work wise?
• 1:49
  And how did you start making cakes in the first place?
• 1:52
  Krissy: Well, I actually started my life or my first career was a teacher.
• 1:57
  I've actually just given that up this year.
• 1:59
  So I was a teacher for 13 years.
• 2:01
  And when I first started teaching catering lessons, I realized
• 2:06
  that I could make a mean cake.
• 2:08
  So that's how I started.
• 2:10
  obsession suddenly started, realizing that then I had a massive
• 2:15
  interest in cake decorating.
• 2:17
  So I went right in there with all the cake decorating magazines, with all
• 2:21
  the freebies, and just went to town, basically, giving away cake to family
• 2:26
  and friends, and getting so much good feedback that I was like, I think this
• 2:29
  is for me at no point at that stage.
• 2:32
  Did I think I'm going to quit teaching, but I just kind of ran it alongside, but I
• 2:37
  was actually a hobby baker for a good five years before I then realized that, okay,
• 2:43
  I've got to register if I want to do this fully and become legit and start charging
• 2:47
  and become an actual cake business.
• 2:49
  So yeah, it took a little while to sort of become a business and take that plunge.
• 2:54
  And then, yeah, 2016, my daughter was About six months old, my first child,
• 3:00
  and just thought, that's it, I'm going to do it, I'm going to register.
• 3:04
  And I happened to know an EHO, asked him for some advice and said, you know,
• 3:08
  what does it actually take to do it?
• 3:09
  And he's like, actually, it's really easy, you're a low risk business,
• 3:12
  so we wouldn't, you know, give you a really horrible inspection as
• 3:16
  such, but obviously you need one.
• 3:18
  And yeah, just went for it.
• 3:19
  So that's how it sort of started.
• 3:21
  Becca: Okay.
• 3:21
  So you did it alongside your teaching career for quite a long time.
• 3:25
  I love the fact you say you're just teaching catering lessons and you
• 3:28
  realize you can make an amazing cake.
• 3:30
  I can tell you, I have a reputation.
• 3:32
  for making the worst cakes in the world.
• 3:33
  I am so bad at baking and you make it sound really easy, but actually
• 3:37
  there's a huge amount of skill involved, especially when it comes to
• 3:41
  the like decorating side of things.
• 3:43
  Have you ever had any formal training or have you taught yourself along the way?
• 3:47
  Krissy: No, all self taught.
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  So it might've just, it was just a recipe that I was teaching
• 3:51
  the students at the time.
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  And just, Yeah, it just worked.
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  And then from then on, it was all about sort of YouTube
• 3:57
  tutorials, things like that.
• 3:59
  All those magazines would have a tutorial in there, or I'd
• 4:01
  just play around pretty much.
• 4:03
  Since then, I mean, since I started a business, I have paid for people to teach
• 4:07
  me certain aspects, but I've never done an official qualification or a course on it.
• 4:11
  Becca: No, but you make an amazing cake.
• 4:12
  I've seen some of your cakes online and they are beautifully decorated.
• 4:15
  And I can tell you that no amount of YouTube videos or magazines
• 4:19
  that I read would ever allow me to create a cake that good.
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  So you've clearly got a bit of a skill.
• 4:24
  So you decided to go proper into the business after hobby baking
• 4:28
  and If I'm right, did you start with celebration cakes and how
• 4:32
  did you get your first customers?
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  Krissy: Yes, celebration cakes was definitely one of those things all about
• 4:37
  the birthdays and the kids birthdays.
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  I was inundated with kids birthdays, typical character
• 4:43
  cakes, all that sort of thing.
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  But what also really hit off was doing smash cakes for photographers.
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  So when they're having their first birthdays, I was the cake creator for
• 4:52
  about two different photographers.
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  So because of that, I really had to be registered.
• 4:56
  Becca: So did your first customers mostly come from word of mouth?
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  Was it people locally to you?
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  Was it people passing on your information or were you doing any
• 5:03
  paid advertising at that time?
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  Krissy: No paid advertising.
• 5:06
  I did create a Facebook page.
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  Not that I was confident enough to spread it around in like
• 5:11
  the selling pages or anything.
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  But yeah, I think it was word of mouth mainly, sort of friends,
• 5:15
  friends started inquiring.
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  You know, my friend would say, Oh, Krissy makes a cake, you know, for you.
• 5:21
  She'll do that for the birthday of whoever.
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  And yeah, that's it.
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  Word of mouth and it still is now.
• 5:26
  is, is the big thing for me.
• 5:27
  Becca: And at what point did weddings enter the equation?
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  Because there's quite a big difference between making a cake
• 5:32
  for a child's birthday or a cake for someone to smash up in a photo
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  shoot to the pressure of creating this cake for someone's wedding day.
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  So at what point did that kind of start for you?
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  Krissy: So my first ever wedding cake that I made was 2000 and I
• 5:47
  want to say 17, it might be 18.
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  I've got to think back now.
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  But that was for a friend and colleague.
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  I didn't really have the confidence to do them because I knew
• 5:54
  there was a lot more pressure.
• 5:56
  That scared me.
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  And that was quite a simple cake as well.
• 6:01
  But as time passed, As that confidence sort of built up, I was like, yeah,
• 6:05
  this is something I really like to do.
• 6:07
  I decided that for 2020, I want it to be weddings only because that is just
• 6:13
  where my passion was starting to lie.
• 6:15
  And as you can probably imagine, 2020 came and destroyed the
• 6:19
  whole industry, basically.
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  So I ended up spending that year.
• 6:25
  Just working on my business, my branding and my marketing just to
• 6:29
  make sure that I was ready for the following year to then just be right.
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  No more novelty cakes, no more birthdays.
• 6:35
  I just want to do the weddings and work with venues and other suppliers.
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  Becca: And so now you're basically fully wedding cakes when it comes
• 6:42
  to the cake side of your business.
• 6:43
  Where do you find that most of your work comes from now?
• 6:47
  Krissy: I actually get quite a good lot of traffic through my website.
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  So Google's working for me at the moment, touch wood it stays, but
• 6:54
  also still that word of mouth.
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  So I'm now starting to get the cycle of the sisters or the
• 6:59
  bridesmaids of a wedding cake, of a wedding that I've done a cake for.
• 7:03
  And now being a recommended supplier for two venues as well
• 7:07
  is really helpful because it's like building up that reputation.
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  And yeah, I've got quite a decent amount of sort of followers on like Instagram.
• 7:14
  I get a few inquiries through there.
• 7:15
  So they just sort of the main points for me.
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  Becca: Now, I know that there'll be a lot of cake makers listening that are
• 7:20
  desperate to get recommended at venues.
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  So I always like to ask people about their processes because I don't think
• 7:25
  there is a one size fits all when it comes to how you get recommended by venues.
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  And I find the best way for us all to learn is to find out
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  everyone's different experiences.
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  So if you're willing to share, I'd love to know that the two venues
• 7:36
  that you're recommended at, how did you manage to get on their list?
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  Krissy: I asked as scary as it was.
• 7:42
  I just went out and asked.
• 7:43
  Admittedly, one of them was a really simple and easy ask, pretty much sent an
• 7:48
  email, gave them some samples and they were like, Oh yeah, we'd love to have you.
• 7:52
  And that was it.
• 7:53
  The other one took me nearly a year.
• 7:55
  Wow.
• 7:56
  I really tried.
• 7:57
  And I sort of left the gap did a wedding fair there and then asked again and still
• 8:03
  nothing happened to do another wedding fair sort of those few months later.
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  And they then asked me.
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  So that it was a completely different story and I'm still in the process
• 8:13
  of asking a couple more and it's hard work But you have to just kind of
• 8:17
  push yourself and just go for it and what's the worst that could happen?
• 8:20
  They can say no, but at least you've tried.
• 8:23
  Becca: Yeah, absolutely I always say that you might get a no but you're no further
• 8:26
  back than you were and if you don't ask you might never Get a yes either.
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  So you might as well ask and put yourself out there and The thing is you say,
• 8:33
  Oh, I just did a simple ask for the first one, but actually you didn't.
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  You did more than that because you did send them samples and you made an effort.
• 8:39
  I'm sure there was a bit of relationship building going on there as well, because I
• 8:43
  always say people tend to not just want a cold email from anyone saying, can you be,
• 8:48
  can I be on your recommended supply list?
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  But actually when we go above and beyond, go to a wedding fair.
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  supply them with some cake, give them some samples and be a nice person,
• 8:56
  it's going to help us along the way.
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  So I'm sure that's been your experience as well.
• 9:01
  So when you look back over your career in cakes so far, what would you say have been
• 9:06
  some of the biggest successes, some of the things you're most proud of along the way?
• 9:10
  Krissy: Well, I'll mention the suppliers list again, because that I never, ever
• 9:14
  thought that would be a thing for me.
• 9:17
  I think the other thing is that I'm now fully self employed with it.
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  There was always an element of that dream, but going from being employed
• 9:28
  to self employed is such a big jump.
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  It's, it's a very scary gap, and I'm so proud of myself for doing that this year.
• 9:36
  There's a few other sort of other circumstances and reasons of why, but
• 9:40
  yeah, that just, it made me feel like I've actually built my business up
• 9:44
  so much that I can rely on that now.
• 9:46
  She's amazing.
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  And I just, I think, cause I just love working with those
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  couples and other suppliers.
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  I get, I've got quite a good network in the area.
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  It just feels good.
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  Feels like a really good community.
• 9:59
  Becca: Yeah, well I think it's the best industry to work in in the world.
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  But I might be a little bit biased but I definitely think weddings are
• 10:05
  the place for us all to be working.
• 10:07
  Let's talk about that a little bit then because it is a massive
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  jump to go from teaching to be on a, you know, a permanent wage.
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  to suddenly going to being fully self employed.
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  And I know it's a dream that lots of people have.
• 10:19
  It's a stage people want to get to, but there is an element of risk.
• 10:23
  There is an element of taking that leap and it does feel scary for people.
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  So how have you navigated that?
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  How have you managed to kind of get through that?
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  And looking back, do you have any regrets?
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  Krissy: I have no regrets.
• 10:35
  I will quite happily say that.
• 10:37
  I think it's just, it got to a point in my cake business where I
• 10:42
  thought, you know what, if I stopped.
• 10:45
  My day job next month, would I be able to survive the next year?
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  And it was a yes.
• 10:52
  Once I'd handed in my notice on my teaching job, which is quite a lengthy
• 10:55
  notice, it's a whole term, I was then able to pull in whatever business I
• 11:00
  wanted once I knew my leaving date.
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  So, and that's the one thing I would say is that it, it's really pushed me,
• 11:07
  knowing that I was leaving one job and having just, My self employment is that
• 11:12
  I can do what I like with my business.
• 11:14
  Now I can push as much as I want into it.
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  I haven't got to worry about whether I'm working that day or whether I've
• 11:19
  got year 11 reports due that week.
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  So I can't do a wedding that week, that sort of stuff
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  that it just all disappeared.
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  So I could just focus on business and that is all I do.
• 11:29
  Becca: Yeah, exactly.
• 11:29
  And it is, it's so difficult because it is a big step and it is hard to lose
• 11:33
  that regular income, but it is a chicken and egg situation because when you've
• 11:37
  got a full time job, you don't have the time or energy to put into the business.
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  So it kind of, it's hard to grow the business as big as the job,
• 11:44
  unless you give up the job first.
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  So it is a really difficult decision to make.
• 11:48
  And I know that financially, I'm sure you'd be You put some
• 11:51
  things in place, as you said, to make sure that you could survive.
• 11:53
  And as I always say to people, you can always go back.
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  Like, I think we feel like it's this massive thing when we say
• 11:59
  goodbye to a permanent job and then become fully self employed.
• 12:03
  But ultimately, if we needed to, we can always go get a job again.
• 12:07
  Like we're not closing that door forever.
• 12:09
  And I think I always say that to myself, even now, after all these
• 12:12
  years in business, if I have a moment where I think, What am I
• 12:15
  going to do if no one buys this?
• 12:17
  What am I going to do if everything falls apart tomorrow?
• 12:19
  I think, well, I could just go and get a job at the local
• 12:22
  supermarket if I absolutely had to.
• 12:24
  I really think that someone would take me on.
• 12:26
  So it kind of takes away that pressure of feeling like it's all or nothing.
• 12:29
  And actually there is, there is an in between.
• 12:31
  We can always go back, but you know, hopefully.
• 12:34
  That won't be the case for you.
• 12:35
  It sounds like you have no regrets from leaving teaching and the only way is up.
• 12:39
  Now we talked about all the successes.
• 12:41
  We talked about the good things, but ultimately being
• 12:44
  in business isn't always rosy.
• 12:45
  We know that there are good times.
• 12:47
  There are bad times.
• 12:48
  When you look back over the last few years, what have been some of the biggest
• 12:52
  struggles for you in your business?
• 12:55
  Krissy: I suppose it's a bit like, well, one of the struggles at the moment is
• 12:59
  like the customer ghosting and just.
• 13:03
  I struggle with communication at the best of times, but it's, yeah, when you feel
• 13:08
  like you've got an order in line and then you hear nothing or someone might reply to
• 13:15
  you and say, no, you're not for me or too expensive, or I've gone somewhere else.
• 13:18
  That's fine.
• 13:19
  So you sort of, you have to really push aside.
• 13:24
  Those strong feelings about that and move on to the next, but
• 13:27
  it is a difficult thing to do.
• 13:29
  And with the wedding industry, especially is that a lot of the
• 13:34
  orders, they all come at the same time.
• 13:35
  We obviously have a wedding season, so we have quiet spells in the winter,
• 13:40
  really busy spells in the summer.
• 13:41
  And it's making that balance work, isn't it?
• 13:43
  I think, but.
• 13:45
  Becca: Yeah, planning ahead, thinking it through.
• 13:46
  I think the ghosting thing is a real challenge.
• 13:49
  And I think especially as kind of solopreneurs, small business owners,
• 13:53
  we do take it really personally when people either say no to us or just
• 13:57
  disappear off the face of the earth.
• 13:59
  And I think one thing I've learned, and I'm sure you're learning along
• 14:02
  the way, is that we have to just get a thicker skin and realize that
• 14:06
  it's not just It's not personal.
• 14:07
  I'm writing a book at the moment, a wedding industry book.
• 14:10
  And literally just before we did this call, I've been
• 14:12
  writing a chapter on sales.
• 14:14
  And the last thing I wrote before we had this conversation was it's
• 14:17
  not a no until it's a no, because actually sometimes these people
• 14:20
  come back out of the woodwork.
• 14:21
  I've known people that have had conversations, really positive
• 14:24
  conversations about a cake or about flowers with a couple.
• 14:27
  They agree a prize.
• 14:29
  They send the paperwork over and that couple.
• 14:31
  just disappears off the face of the earth, doesn't reply to them, and
• 14:34
  then suddenly six months later just reappears and it's like Are you
• 14:37
  still okay to do my wedding cake?
• 14:40
  So, you know, it's, it's not a no until it's a no.
• 14:43
  So we have to be consistent and keep asking the question.
• 14:46
  And also the other thing I was writing about is the fact that it's not personal,
• 14:50
  that the actual phrase I wrote just before we spoke was, The CEO of Burger
• 14:55
  King doesn't cry on his sofa every time I decide to go to McDonald's, because
• 14:59
  I think sometimes we, as small business owners, we take it so personally and
• 15:03
  we think, oh, they've decided to go with that business instead of me.
• 15:06
  It must be something I did.
• 15:08
  It must be something I wore.
• 15:08
  It must be my prices.
• 15:09
  It must be my brand, you know, and we beat ourselves up.
• 15:13
  But actually, As I just said, you know, in, in these bigger businesses, they don't
• 15:17
  have time to think about whether or not I've decided to go to McDonald's that day.
• 15:20
  And it's not because I hate Burger King or I hate their
• 15:23
  branding or I hate their prices.
• 15:24
  Sometimes it's just a personal choice in that moment to go somewhere else.
• 15:28
  So yeah, I absolutely hear you on those struggles.
• 15:31
  And I think there's a lot of people who are probably
• 15:33
  struggling with similar things.
• 15:35
  So as well as your cake business, you now are trying to help other aspiring
• 15:39
  bakers to, as you call it, not be a hobby business anymore and actually
• 15:43
  register and be a proper business.
• 15:45
  And I do think you have some struggles in the baking industry that many
• 15:50
  of us don't have to cope with.
• 15:52
  So just the thought of hearing words like hygiene certificates and EHO
• 15:56
  inspections, like freaks a whole lot of people out and puts them off.
• 16:00
  off.
• 16:00
  So if there are people listening that haven't got to that point of
• 16:04
  becoming a proper as it were baking business, have you got any reassurance
• 16:09
  for them that those processes aren't as difficult as they sound?
• 16:13
  Krissy: Yeah, I think you can, you can break it all down.
• 16:16
  So I, I've broke it down into sort of 10 steps.
• 16:19
  There's 10 sort of things that you need to do to start baking business, which
• 16:22
  you think, Oh my goodness, I've got 10 things to do, but actually One of them
• 16:26
  is just creating a name for yourself.
• 16:28
  The next one is getting your food hygiene certificate, which will
• 16:31
  only be, you know, a few hours work.
• 16:33
  So once that's done, you haven't got to do that for another few years.
• 16:35
  So when you break it down, it's not like you've got to do these on
• 16:39
  a daily basis or a weekly basis.
• 16:41
  It's just to get set up.
• 16:42
  So once it's all out of the way, you're fine.
• 16:45
  And then you just got to update things every now and again.
• 16:47
  And that's it.
• 16:49
  Some things are scary.
• 16:51
  So yeah, having someone come in your home and inspect your kitchen, you might
• 16:54
  think, Oh my goodness, they're going to notice that bit of dust there, that
• 16:56
  little bit of crumb on the floor there.
• 16:58
  And you do overwhelms you always, but they're not looking for that.
• 17:02
  They're just hoping, well, making sure that you are using the proper
• 17:06
  cleaning methods, that you're storing the food in the correct way,
• 17:09
  just like a shop or a cafe would.
• 17:11
  restaurant, all those sort of things.
• 17:13
  But it is ever so slightly more relaxed than that, because we are a low risk.
• 17:17
  We don't use things like raw meats and things like that,
• 17:19
  which are the high risk foods.
• 17:20
  So yeah, I just, I try and put it in such a way that it's.
• 17:24
  It's not as daunting as you may think.
• 17:27
  Becca: Yeah.
• 17:27
  And I think a lot of people stay in that place cause they
• 17:29
  feel like it's so daunting and therefore they put off doing it.
• 17:32
  But actually I imagine that when you get things in place and do it properly,
• 17:35
  there's a massive relief that you're no longer like running this dodgy
• 17:39
  enterprise that you shouldn't be doing.
• 17:41
  Krissy: Yeah, absolutely.
• 17:43
  And so yeah, a lot of people don't realize that even if you're doing something
• 17:48
  that's not very regular, that you do still need to have all the paperwork in
• 17:52
  place, you still have to be registered and have your hygiene certificates
• 17:55
  especially if you're serving the public.
• 17:57
  So yeah, if anyone wants any particular help with that, then you can find that
• 18:00
  information on my website or through me.
• 18:02
  Becca: Amazing.
• 18:03
  I will of course put all of the links in the show notes for that as well.
• 18:06
  But if you're listening and you haven't done those things, stop being
• 18:09
  scared of it, stop being daunted, get it done because you'll feel so
• 18:12
  much better once you've got it done.
• 18:14
  Now, Krissy, one of the things you, when you initially reached out to me that
• 18:18
  you were talking about, was this new guidance from the Food Standards Agency
• 18:22
  around flowers and foliage on cakes.
• 18:25
  Now, this is something that I didn't even know was a thing that was coming.
• 18:29
  So thank you for highlighting it and bringing it to my attention.
• 18:32
  But I believe that they are putting together some new guidelines and you've.
• 18:35
  been quite involved in that.
• 18:37
  So explain to me, how did you get involved in that and what are
• 18:41
  these guidelines aiming to do?
• 18:43
  Krissy: Yeah.
• 18:44
  So I've, I'm a massive floral person.
• 18:46
  I love using flowers on my cakes.
• 18:48
  It doesn't matter what type, but obviously fresh flowers are one
• 18:51
  of the high risk ones because of what might be inside and harmful.
• 18:54
  So it's always been a massive interest of mine.
• 18:57
  And I hate to see anyone doing it wrong, and I knew that this was
• 19:02
  something that I wanted to teach people.
• 19:04
  And it's not just cake makers, I can teach this to florists as well, because
• 19:08
  some florists do put flowers on cakes.
• 19:10
  And I just reached out to the FSA late last year and just said, you know,
• 19:14
  have you actually got any official documents that can help me so that when
• 19:18
  I'm teaching people to do it, that I'm using the correct terminology and the
• 19:21
  right information, because I was just doing it based on my own knowledge
• 19:25
  and what I, my experience, I suppose.
• 19:28
  And that is when they come back to me and said we are actually writing some draft
• 19:32
  guidance at the moment specifically for it and it is called floristry and food.
• 19:38
  And I was like, Oh, brilliant.
• 19:39
  So they sent me sort of a lengthy email.
• 19:41
  I think it was copy and pasted from it.
• 19:43
  And I was like, oh, brilliant.
• 19:43
  Thank you very much.
• 19:45
  And then a few weeks later, one of the policy advisors emailed me again
• 19:49
  and said, we'd love to have you read the draft document if you're
• 19:53
  available and we want feedback on it.
• 19:54
  And I was like, yes, please.
• 19:56
  I'm super excited about it.
• 19:58
  And yeah, and that's just what I did.
• 20:00
  And they were hoping to release this guidance.
• 20:03
  in the spring, so around about March, April time.
• 20:05
  But the amount of feedback they got, so they called us stakeholders.
• 20:09
  There was several of us, I think there was florists and caterers
• 20:11
  and other cake makers as well.
• 20:13
  But the feedback they got from it, just, I think it was quite overwhelming for them.
• 20:18
  My feedback wasn't necessarily positive.
• 20:21
  There was a lot of work that needed to be done with the information they'd
• 20:25
  put inside and they just turned around and said, no, it's not ready yet.
• 20:28
  We can't release that because of what people have said.
• 20:31
  So we're still waiting to hear, but they said they'd keep me updated.
• 20:35
  And I said, I'd be more than happy to help any other way.
• 20:37
  So.
• 20:37
  Becca: Amazing.
• 20:38
  What an incredible insight to have gone and read that guidance before
• 20:41
  it's even published and it means that you can help all of us as well.
• 20:44
  So this is obviously important for people to know, not just for those who are
• 20:48
  making the cake, also for florists, as you said, but actually for venues, for
• 20:52
  wedding planners, for anyone involved should be paying attention to this
• 20:56
  because it is increasingly popular to see all sorts of flowers going on cakes.
• 21:00
  And I don't think that people always.
• 21:02
  Considering the safety of that at all.
• 21:05
  So although the guidance isn't released, are there any kind of top
• 21:08
  line bits of advice or tips from that that you can share with my listeners?
• 21:13
  Krissy: Absolutely.
• 21:14
  So the first thing I always say is that if you are wanting to use
• 21:19
  fresh flowers or foliage on food, so it could be cake brownies.
• 21:23
  Sometimes there's some people do like the dessert platters and things like
• 21:26
  that is you need to know your flowers.
• 21:30
  So even if it's just a simple.
• 21:32
  Google search or physically asking a florist or just using a reputable florist
• 21:38
  that knows what flowers are what, that is the main thing you need to know.
• 21:42
  And then using that reputable florist, if they are using organic
• 21:47
  flowers, that is always the sort of most recommended one for food.
• 21:50
  So they might not use that for the styling, that's fine.
• 21:52
  But if they have organic flowers for the cake, even better, just
• 21:56
  reduces that risk of the use of pesticides and things like that.
• 21:59
  And then It's applying them to the cake that is another big issue because we
• 22:06
  don't want to just be sticking flower stems straight into the food because
• 22:10
  of that cross contamination risk.
• 22:12
  So we have to use specific things that are in food safe materials as
• 22:18
  well to stop that cross contamination.
• 22:20
  So things like the sap from the stems, it might be that the
• 22:25
  water they've been sitting in.
• 22:27
  is not suitable.
• 22:29
  Pollens, things like that.
• 22:30
  So there are a lot of different types of flowers and foliage that carry
• 22:35
  toxins that if we were to consume as humans would make us poorly.
• 22:40
  Anywhere from just having a tummy ache, or actually being violently ill.
• 22:44
  So you have to sort of know what you're putting onto your capes.
• 22:50
  Becca: So if we are a cake maker or even maybe a wedding planner and a couple
• 22:54
  comes to us and they've got this big vision, maybe they've seen it online
• 22:57
  somewhere that they want all these flowers on their cake and we're not
• 23:01
  sure whether or not that is okay or not, where's the best place for us to
• 23:05
  go to get help with that to make sure that we're advising them correctly?
• 23:09
  Krissy: Yeah.
• 23:10
  So I would.
• 23:11
  First of all, make sure that the cake maker is fully involved.
• 23:13
  So whoever's making that cake should be fully involved with what's going on it.
• 23:18
  And then I would then probably approach the florist.
• 23:21
  So how it works for me is I'm the cake maker, I am fully responsible.
• 23:25
  So I don't let anyone else put anything on my cakes because it's my responsibility.
• 23:29
  But I do work very closely with the florists to ensure that I know what
• 23:34
  they're giving me to put onto it.
• 23:35
  That makes sense.
• 23:36
  Becca: Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
• 23:38
  So you're making sure, because ultimately it's your responsibility
• 23:41
  as the cake maker, that if someone eats your cake and they're ill because
• 23:45
  of something that's been put on it, that's your ultimate responsibility.
• 23:48
  So therefore, you're not letting anyone put anything on there unless
• 23:50
  you've checked it yourself first.
• 23:52
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 23:53
  Yeah.
• 23:54
  So if we are a wedding planner or a venue and a couple says to us,
• 23:57
  Oh, there's a cake in the corner.
• 23:58
  Can you go and shove these flowers onto it?
• 24:00
  And the cake maker's not there.
• 24:02
  We shouldn't be doing that.
• 24:03
  Krissy: I wouldn't recommend it at all.
• 24:04
  I think as a cake maker, I am very much like that's my baby.
• 24:10
  So I don't want anyone touching it.
• 24:11
  And I do have a thing in my terms of conditions that says, if anyone puts
• 24:16
  anything on my cake when I, once I've delivered it and I'm done with it,
• 24:20
  it's then their responsibility because.
• 24:22
  I wasn't there.
• 24:23
  I wasn't informed.
• 24:24
  I can't do anything about that.
• 24:26
  Becca: Yeah, I think that's really important.
• 24:27
  And again, if you're listening to this and you don't have a clause
• 24:30
  like that in your contract, it might be well worth listening to it.
• 24:33
  So at the moment, do we know when the expected date is for this guidance?
• 24:36
  Do you think it's going to be a lot of change for cake makers
• 24:40
  or is it more just helping them understand and have more knowledge?
• 24:43
  Krissy: So no date as yet.
• 24:45
  I spoke to them back a couple months ago.
• 24:47
  So back in.
• 24:48
  April, but yeah, I was hoping by the end of the year, that's where I see it.
• 24:52
  But yeah, and it's, it is a guidance.
• 24:54
  It's not a law.
• 24:55
  It's not a legislation, anything like that.
• 24:57
  They're not banning us from anything.
• 24:59
  It's, it's quite a soft bit of guidance.
• 25:02
  It's just to help us consider the risks of using certain
• 25:06
  flowers and foliage on our cakes.
• 25:09
  So it's, yeah, it's not like a harsh rule.
• 25:12
  It's just to make you think a bit more carefully about what you're doing.
• 25:16
  Becca: Amazing.
• 25:17
  So again, it's a little bit like what we were talking about earlier
• 25:20
  with the food hygiene certificates.
• 25:22
  It's not something to be scared of, it's not something that's daunting,
• 25:24
  it's actually just something that's designed to help you.
• 25:26
  So if you are listening to this and you're thinking, All this
• 25:29
  applies to me, then keep an eye out for that guidance coming out.
• 25:33
  Give Krissy a follow on Instagram.
• 25:34
  I'm sure she'll be talking about it all over the place once it is released as
• 25:37
  well, and make sure you're on top of it because you want to just make sure you've
• 25:40
  got the knowledge, knowledge is power, and it's going to help you move forward.
• 25:44
  Super interesting, Krissy.
• 25:45
  Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 25:46
  I'm looking forward to hearing more from you as well.
• 25:49
  Once that is officially.
• 25:51
  Now, as we bring this episode to an end, Krissy, I always end my podcast with
• 25:55
  the same question, and it's this, which is, what's one thing you personally wish
• 26:00
  you'd known sooner in your own business?
• 26:02
  Krissy: Oh, about branding and marketing, that is, that has been the biggest thing
• 26:09
  and the hardest, like, or the thing that I've worked the hardest on in my
• 26:12
  business over the last few years because I realized how important it is to have
• 26:17
  a brand and, and be consistent with it.
• 26:20
  Basically, it's really helped.
• 26:23
  Becca: It really has helped you.
• 26:25
  So what, what changes did you implement?
• 26:27
  What have you done to your brand to make it work better?
• 26:29
  Krissy: So my current branding I've had since 2021.
• 26:33
  Now I've not changed anything about it.
• 26:35
  And that has just really, I put my business out there of
• 26:41
  what I wanted it to look like.
• 26:43
  So, I mean, I say I'm Luxury Wedding Cakes, and it's just the colours,
• 26:46
  the font, the copy, all of that.
• 26:50
  And that is what it is.
• 26:51
  And I don't think I'll really change it now.
• 26:53
  I think it will just always stick.
• 26:55
  Becca: Amazing.
• 26:55
  Yeah.
• 26:55
  It's so, so important.
• 26:57
  Something that we often think of too late, but it's never too late to rebrand.
• 27:00
  It's never too late to change.
• 27:01
  If you don't like your brand, I always say, if you've got to a point where
• 27:04
  you feel embarrassed to show someone your website or feel embarrassed
• 27:07
  to show someone your business card, that's normally a sign that it's
• 27:10
  time for a rebrand to something that you're super proud of, which
• 27:12
  it sounds like you are really proud of your current business brand.
• 27:15
  So that's where we want everyone to be.
• 27:17
  Krissy, it's been such a pleasure chatting to you.
• 27:20
  If people want to find out more about the future guidance or
• 27:24
  things about their baking business.
• 27:26
  Where's the best place for them to find you?
• 27:28
  And do you have any resources that may help them?
• 27:31
  Krissy: Yeah.
• 27:31
  So I'm on Instagram and I'm on Facebook.
• 27:33
  And I've got my website, which is where you will find my blog, which
• 27:38
  hopefully I can keep updating.
• 27:39
  And I've also got my free downloads on there as well.
• 27:43
  So the current one on there is seven toxic flowers and foliage.
• 27:48
  That should not be used on cakes.
• 27:49
  And it's got some popular ones that are used in the wedding
• 27:51
  industry and listed in there.
• 27:53
  So that's helpful.
• 27:54
  Hopefully.
• 27:55
  Becca: Amazing.
• 27:56
  I will make sure that I link to that.
• 27:58
  That's well worth a download for anyone in cakes, in flowers.
• 28:01
  I think you need to give that a read.
• 28:03
  We don't want to be serving anyone any toxic flowers on their wedding day.
• 28:07
  So go and grab that.
• 28:08
  And I'll put all of the links in the show notes.
• 28:10
  Krissy, it's been such a pleasure.
• 28:12
  Thank you so much for taking your time out to speak to us on today's podcast.
• 28:18
  I really enjoyed that conversation with Krissy.
• 28:21
  I think it's fascinating to dive deep into some of these different areas.
• 28:24
  And although you may think it doesn't apply to you, actually, I think some of
• 28:28
  her tips apply to the wider industry.
• 28:30
  And if you're involved in the cake, in taking photos of the cake, in
• 28:34
  providing flowers for the cake, you should be on top of this guidance.
• 28:37
  So do look out for that.
• 28:38
  When it comes out, do go and follow Krissy on Instagram, as I'm sure
• 28:41
  she'll be talking about it everywhere.
• 28:43
  And I'll see you all next time.