2023's goal was to get my name out there and to find a space.....

And…I did just that. It took until the last week of June 2023 to find out that this could possibly be “the spot”, but it was not without anxiety, stress, panic and wondering if it would fall through like the space that I thought I would have previously fell through 2 days before Christmas in 2022 after 4 months of planning.

I made it a priority to call anywhere and everywhere I could, churches, schools, rec centers, libraries, any venue that had a kitchen, the prices were insane and the the equipment was lacking which meant if I could afford to rent the space, I had to load my little rav 4 with mixers, spatulas, spoons, cleaning supplies, sheet trays, bowls, spoons, ingredients, towels, linens, aprons, you name it, everything, but the OVEN!

I ended up teaching at 16 different places, just this year, in 10 different cities and mastered car jenga, how to pack and unpack bags of everything as quickly and efficiently as possible and kept on hoping for a space to come through.

August 1st, 2023, my dreams of having a space finally came through. Not only did I find a space in a great location, the owners are not only kind and supportive, but super helpful in getting my business settled in and helping me in any way that they can.

Over the last 6 1/2 years, I have been running over hurdles constantly and trying to figure out how to run this business alone with no financial assistance at all, no business background, just a huge passion for baking and teaching baking and a huge mouthful of sweet teeth!!

No matter how bad it gets behind the scenes, I always try to find a positive to keep me going and those seem to be the times you email me a picture of a dessert you recreated at home after class, you text me a kind message, you check in with me just because you care, you sign up for a class, you gift my classes, you cheer me on from all over the world and most of us have never even met!!

This year started out as rough as they come with last year being the worst year for this business. I honestly wasn’t sure how I would keep going, but I kept telling myself that “it can only go up from here”.

This business is not perfect, I am still struggling and stretched very thin without being able to hire anyone beyond helping in the classes yet after 6 1/2 years, but I know that this is what I am meant to do and I am going to keep doing what I love and hopefully dig myself out of the financial strain this business has put on me.

Business is not for the faint of heart, but baking is my passion and my love so I am going to keep on fighting, teaching, and creating classes that I hope you will continue to join, refer me to your friends and family and showing up with the joy, excitement and support of your biggest fan, ME!

Cheers to 2024! Thank you for being here!!

xoxo

Annie