Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Childress.
Hi Jessica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started my baking journey after having a deep fascination with cake decorating/challenge shows 9+ years ago. I feel vain saying this, but my very first cake was my own 21st birthday cake. It was terrible. Undermixed, gritty frosting (one that called for flour?!), I didn’t let it cool properly and I had cake sliding everywhere. Quick stint in the freezer and some thick fondant and boom… I had an upright cake with a very defective bow atop. But it was my first nonetheless and certainly not my last.
From then, I continued to practice and refine my skills… even sweet talking a few friends into letting me do my first few wedding cakes for them. Fast forward a few years and I had an incredible opportunity come up for a local internship through the hospitality program I was in at UT. Connie McMahan with Sugarbuzz Bakers kindly opened the doors of her bakery open to me and I spent a spring semester soaking up her descales worth of knowledge and skill. After years of side hustling and building my brand, I took the leap of making J.C. Cakes an official business here in Knoxville.
It was the most beautiful, rewarding whirlwind getting to meet and create custom cakes for brides and local clientele. The business eventually moved to my hometown of Jackson, TN where I was able to share my own brick and mortar space with a longtime friend and that’s when I really caught my stride. Weddings quickly became my bread and butter and Saturdays were prime delivery days back and forth between venues. Then came babies!
And my priorities quickly shifted to family time and weekends freed up to make memories with them. My youngest just turned a year old and I’m just now starting to feel back in stride with picking up orders while attempting to create some sort of work/life balance. The shift has also gone back to more specialty orders like birthdays, special events, corporate events… things of that nature. And while I’ll always love my brides, I don’t regret for one second having the weekends freed up now for my babies and husband.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
PRICING, PRICING, PRICING! Among other things. But this is still a struggle. The whole, “know your worth and then add tax” motto stays on replay in my head. The shift in market from East to West and then back took some time to navigate. But I quickly realized that for every potential customer that couldn’t fit your price range, there was just as many who appreciated the value in not only the product itself, but the admin, shopping & labor time to get it made.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in custom cakes, cookies, cupcakes and bite sized treats like macarons, chocolate covered Oreos, cookie sandwiches, choux pastries and several other items. The custom sweets trays I offer were a big hit for weddings to add variety to the traditional bride and grooms cake, and now that’s carried over as an alternative to birthday or celebration cakes.
I’d say my kryptonite would be my attention to detail. It’s very hard for me to walk away from something until it’s smoothed out, leveled & every detail is in its proper place. But it’s something I take great pride in!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I hope funky, fun and more risk taking in the bridal industry! But I can also respect and appreciate the classic and elegant approach that stands the test of time. Due to Covid, I see much of the celebratory orders shift from cakes to more individually wrapped items or custom cookies, but I hope the tradition of a delicious and beautifully made birthday cake never goes out of style!
Contact Info:
- Email: j.c.cakesbakery@gmail.com
- Instagram: @j.c._cakes
- Facebook: @j.c.cakesbakery
Image Credits
Samantha Harrell Photo, Kristin King Photography, Elizabeth Looney Photography, and Kimberly Kimble Photography
