Conversations with the Inspiring Adriana Tellez

Adriana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My love for baking comes since my very early years in Mexico as a toddler because of my mother. She is the best cook and baker I know, so, in our family, she has been since always the one in charge of dessert at any family holiday, reunion or gathering, always. She is an old school lady, she spends the majority of the day in the kitchen every day, and so do my sisters and I there with her. We always helped her mainly with the baking, so I have a lot of memories of all of us in the kitchen measuring flour, breaking eggs, mixing in bowls, etc. I feel that I grew with it, and I have always liked baking and throughout the years it became love.

Then when my younger sister learnt in a class to decorate cookies, she taught me because she needed help and before we knew it, we became a team, and we began to sell decorated cookies to our friends in school and their families. Years passed, I got married and moved abroad. So it was here in the US when it really started for me,
as I had said, I always baked but I didn’t really knew how to make cakes look pretty, so once I moved here and while my newlywed and pregnant life was just beginning, I had very few friends and no social life besides my husband, so I was crazy bored and after a few weeks one day I was at a craft store and I saw that they offered cake decorating classes . I got enrolled and did all 4 courses they offered there and that was just my introduction to the fun and beautiful cake decorating world. I kept taking classes wherever I could, so there was a time I had a cake every week at home so I started to share them with friends or my husband took them to work, and the real thing started there.
People at his work place began to ask if I could make a cake for their kid´s birthdays. Before I can remember, I had some good pictures to have a catalog and Facebook was the perfect place to do so. Almost by the end of 2012 once my first and only baby boy was born, I created Sweetbites by Adriana Facebook page.

Once I started my business page there, things started to go bigger as I could reach more people than just immediate friends. After Facebook then came my Instagram which has been also a big open door to grow my little business.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road hasn’t always been easy, especially with a part time job and being a mom/wife duties there is sometimes I feel I can’t do it anymore, I don’t sleep as many hours I should be because I go to work in the morning and then I get home in the evenings to work on my cake orders, but this is honestly, a labor of love. Only a baker/decorator would understand the hassle it is and we keep saying YES to orders, not only that, you actually get super excited about new themes or cake designs you haven’t done, and here we are, doing it every single weekend.

When starting, it was somewhat discouraging not making money from this, but it’s an investment, only until you’re into this cake decorating world, you realize how much money is invested in good tools, how much time is involved into each cake project and the love you put on it. It actually was very difficult to learn how to price for cakes or any baked good. I learnt on the road but it is so hard and it is still hard because most people think “it’s only cake” but even tough flour, eggs and sugar as not as cheap as many people think, it’s not “only cake” it is all the labor that a cake requires, all those beautiful little details are made by hand or piped by hand, that requires some good skills and a lot of time, plus all the effort and love involved. And this is an everyday struggle when people ask for quotes and they show you a Pinterest cake picture and expect a grocery store price.

When I started, I had some cake fails, I had to discard some cakes while trying to find the perfect balance on flavor and moistness, experimenting with different recipes, modifying them, but practice makes perfect and I’m still on that road, always learning. I have done a few wedding cakes, but I haven’t got into that world that much because I work Saturdays, but they are definitely in my future and I am looking forward to that, and hopefully soon be a fulltime home baker and decorator,

So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into Sweetbites by Adriana story. Tell us more about the business.
I began making dessert cakes, Mexican style mainly, like the all times popular tres leches cake, flan and chocoflan. But now I also offer custom buttercream and fondant cakes, cupcakes, cakepops and decorated cookies. When you order a cake from me, I guarantee that it will be made specially just for you with the best ingredients I can find, just like I would do when making a cake for my own family. I hate when I hear people saying that their cake was expensive, beautiful but didn’t taste good, or that fondant is nasty, that breaks my heart; buttercream is definitely the favorite of most, but a good quality fondant can be very tasty too! I believe cake design is not against a delicious cake, so I always think about that when making a cake, I want them to be good and beautiful at the same time, inside out!

For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
I think nowadays women can face any challenge they encounter, we are now in a period of time that our grandmothers would never imagine, we are now stronger than ever, brave and educated. Women today have the same job opportunities as a man and we are a very important part of any household as we now contribute economically and still do all the chores all moms or wives do.

I honestly think we are living the future where men and women are equally positioned for any opportunity, it’s not the gender what is decisive, I think it’s more now about the skills, education, wisdom and experience someone can have regardless the gender.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 469-236-7903
• Email: sweetbitesat@yahoo.com
• Instagram: sweetbitesat
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sweetbitesat