I have always walked into every room and wanted to be the best. A silent competitor, I wanted to be respected, and known, and well regarded by my peers. And then, somewhere along this crazy journey, I realized that if I walk into the room and I am always the best….I’m walking into the wrong room.

 

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

 

Every day I am amazed by the talent that my staff possesses. I have one girl creating picture-perfect three-tiered cakes, next to another girl who is rolling out massive bourbon bacon cinnamon rolls. Next to her, a flamboyant creator that is coming up with cupcakes based off rainbows and Lisa Frank….and the other one coming up with seven different types of homemade cheesecakes every day, on top of mixing four colors into one pastry bag to make galaxy cupcakes. How could I forget about the two in the back? The one who makes the famous Matilda cakes, rolls out homemade pop tarts like it’s nobody’s business and of course, my Dad… making batter after batter, dolling out hundreds of pupcakes a week. And then there is me, often just staring at all of their creative geniuses working at one time.

And then, you head out to the front…where my Mom runs the show of a group of seven girls who formulate into quite the hard-working little army. The front of the house is the hardest job. On any given day, they have 120-250 transactions per day and field a ton of phone calls. That is a lot of talking! And besides helping the customers, the cleaning, the refilling, the panic run to the back of the shop pleading for more cupcakes… it’s a lot of work. And whenever I find myself out there, I remind myself how hard they work for me.

This type of work ethic motivates me. How did I manage to hire so many people that treat my business as if it’s their own? In return, I am willing to work as hard as I can…not so that I can live a lavish and rich lifestyle…but so that I can pay them what they deserve to be paid. I am willing to work as hard as I can so that my parents don’t have to work from 5am-5pm or from 8:30am-9:30pm. I am willing to work as hard as I can so that the love of my life will reap the benefits of an enjoyable life when we are older.

 

 

Back in the day, being the best in the room was what motivated me… but once I surrounded myself with people who never stop learning and want the best for my business and in all actuality, are better than me, my mindset changed. I want to surround myself with the best so in return, I become better.

 

-Renee