Meet the Baker
Smile, Cupcake! can be taken as a whimsy cute name, but if you know me - you know there is a little snarkiness in everything I do.
I've always loved how baking brings people together. Whether it's in the kitchen with your mom baking the perfect chocolate chip cookies, celebrating a birthday with the most delicious layer cake, or comforting your ailments and heartaches with the perfect tub of rocky road ice cream; it brings us together.
My love for baking started at a very young age. I grew up in NW Ohio, where you could look for miles and miles and see nothing but cornfields and Amish barns. There wasn't a lot going on, so a lot of your time was either spent being productive or getting into trouble.
I had my share of both :).
I decided to pursue my degree in Public Relations and Graphic Design at Otterbein College in Westerville, OH - another small town that was the very definition of perfection, just minutes from Columbus, OH.
So what's with the name?
I got my first "real" job at the end of my freshman year at Starbucks. My whole life was spent either working for my dad's business or the local pool, so my skillset was very minimal.
I was probably the very definition of what NOT to do as an employee there. I wore my nose ring (which wasn't allowed at the time), I never tucked in my shirt, I was late to shifts, and I ran my mouth to customers. I'm not ashamed to admit that at 19, I was terrible.
I was about 6 months into the job when I was promoted into a shift supervisor (probably due to lack of interest).
The atmosphere in the store at that time was a little rough. Management was changing, and there were a lot of people who were uncomfortable with the changes.
I took a lot of the situation to heart, since I was really close with some of the people that were being asked to leave this location.
There was one night when a manager that I respected grabbed me by the shoulders and said,
"Smile, Cupcake! This is your time to shine! You get to choose how you show up everyday"
There were more details to that conversation that changed my attitude and my life from that moment on.
I went on to graduate from Otterbein, and I realized that PR was not the area I wanted to get into. So, I moved to Los Angeles, CA to get another degree in Merchandise Marketing at FIDM (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising).
Starbucks was a career path that allowed me to change locations, so I continued to work at stores within downtown LA and Beverly Hills, CA.
After graduation from FIDM, I have held various jobs within the fashion industry, and have landed in Portland, OR working for Nike.
Working for Nike has given me the freedom to explore other things including this little business venture of baking.
What started out as a small way to get to know people, has developed into a full business of catering cupcakes, cakes, macarons, and cookies.
When I was trying to think of a clever name with a bit of an edge, a lot of things passed through my mind. However, I continued to keep going back to that pivotal moment in my career when I realized I had the choice of how people would perceive me...
When you're trying to come up with the perfect recipe - start with about 4 cups of determination, 2 tablespoons of a good attitude, 1-2 handfuls of fun & sass, bake for one year, and you get Smile, Cupcake!
I hope my treats bring you an opportunity to enjoy company and a couple of smiles.
Cheers,
H
