Dreaming of a Job as a Cake Decorator? |

Who doesn't love dessert? Imagine spending hours working in an environment with chocolates, icing and sugar all day long? My mouth is salivating just thinking about it! Or perhaps you require something gluten-free, fat-free or all-organic and having a hard time finding these products in your neighbourhood or in your price-range and are now starting to think that maybe baking your own goods is a job that you could do?

Local business owner of One Tier At A Time, Melanie Marinucci, turned her passion for cake decorating into a profession. Read our interview below to see if the cake decorating world is for you and how to stand out from all the rest!

1. State your name and business.

Melanie Marinucci, One Tier At A Time

2. What inspired you towards this career?

My husband always liked to bake. We were asked by our mutual friend to make her wedding cake so we decided to take cake decorating classes together as couple. After becoming certified cake decorators, the rest is history.

3. What is the one thing that surprised you about running your own business?

I was most surprised by the lack of support from others in the same industry. I can understand not wanting to help your competition, but we all need to start somewhere. I see no reason why we can’t share resources or information about how to progress forward.

4. How important is social media to your business?

Extremely important. You can find me on so many platforms: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, and then there are the cake specific social media sites too! It’s a full time job.

5. With quite a bit of competition out there, how do you stand out from the crowd?

I make everything from scratch and custom make everything. No two cakes have ever been the same.

6. What are the top three personality traits you think a future cake decorator professional should possess?

Be a great listener – If you can’t understand what your client wants from you, there’s no chance to succeed.

Communication – You need to be able to express to your client, in a way that they can understand the vision you see in a cake, that incorporates what they want, along with your own artistic touches.

Creativity

7. No one likes to talk about salaries, but we are all curious. Would you recommend a job in this industry as a viable way to make a living?

Honestly, it takes a lot to make any real money in this industry. The reality is, someone will always make it cheaper. But you just have to persevere and stick to your pricing. Knowing what others in the area charge helps with knowing if you are on the right track or not.

8. What’s the title of the last book you read?