Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Holt.
Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi!! My name is Emily. I’m 16 years old and I decided to open up my vegan/gluten-free bakery business almost a year ago. I sell cupcakes, cakes, cookies, fudge, Jared preserves, and more. I have always loved creating, especially when it came to food.
My love for and my hobby of baking quickly turned into selling baked goods in school and making cakes for everyone’s birthdays. I always have known I wanted to turn it into a “real thing”, a business, a storefront but never thought I would be able to do it successfully.
I always worried I would disappoint those around me. As time went on though, everyone started telling me “Hey, you could make a lot of money off this stuff”. It was especially my nana who was the most supportive of it and would constantly tell me how amazing it all was and how I should be making money off it.
I kept putting it off but eventually, after my nana passed away in March 2021, I decided to take the step to come up with a name for my business and make all my social media on June 14th, 2021. I now dedicate my business to her and am using some of my profits to donate to the American Cancer Society.
So far, I have sold to numerous people who have reached out via social media or seeing my business cards, and have also been apart of 3 vendor events with many more to come. I plan to have a storefront in the next 5 years or so and hopefully expand to a cafe, serving vegan and gluten-free dishes as well.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Getting myself to actually create my business and make it official was a big challenge.
It was hard to let myself accept that this is something I am good at, this is something that I enjoy doing and could do for the rest of my life as a career. Most of my problems I guess were self-doubt.
I’ve mostly gotten past it, seeing my success but I still have times where I see all that I’ve done and wonder if I’m even good enough to be doing all of this. I’ve come a long way and expect to go farther, and know I can.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As of right now, I am the sole owner and manager of my business, Cupcakes’n’Stuff.
I manage all advertisement, inventory, and sales by myself. I put up ads via social media as well as making sure to stay up to date with posting on them, spend hours thinking up new recipes, spend even longer actually baking and creating the recipes, and set up vendor booths all while also being a full-time student and working another job. I feel like what sets me apart from others is definitely my age and also that I’m a gluten-free/vegan business.
While I am out vending, so many people are so surprised to see that I have those vegan and gluten-free options that many businesses don’t offer. Also, when I tell people all about my business and then add in my age, they are shocked. They find it amazing how much I have accomplished, especially doing it all on my own at 16.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I 100% have so many people in my life that deserve credit.
I know I’ve said I do it all on my own, and for the most part I do, but I have so many supporters around me. I have multiple friends that constantly tell me how incredible I am at what I do. I have friends and family who come and sit with me while vending for support and to help unload/set up everything.
I know I have so many people to send my pictures to every time I’m proud of something I’ve made.
Pricing:
- Cupcake dozens range anywhere from $15-$20 and 24 counts range between $25-$30
- Jarred preserves $5
- Custom cakes range anywhere from $30+
- Any other pricing is available via social media.
Contact Info:
- Email: cakesnstuff05@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccakes.n.stuff_official/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/CupcakesnStuff-by-Em-104439975213766/
