Today we’d like to introduce you to Becky Henry.
Becky, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started Hot Chocolates out of my house in 2002 with my good friend Lori. We both had a passion for delicious desserts and knew we could bring something different to the local bakery scene. When Lori & I took off on this crazy adventure, it wasn’t legal to sell cakes baked in your home, and since we’re both rule-following-types, that meant we had to create a brick & mortar storefront.
But after all that life throws at you (for me, it was two kiddos), we came to the decision that when our lease was up in 2015, we would close the business. Then Texas went and passed this cool little piece of the legislature (lovingly referred to as the Texas Cottage Food Law), and BAM! it was ok to sell home-baked cakes.
So for the last three years, I’ve been back to working from home, only now it’s by myself. For me and my family, this is the ideal situation. I LOVE having the freedom to feel like both a stay-at-home mom and a business owner. I’m so proud of the work I do and the way that it makes me feel, that I honestly can’t imagine it any other way.
Great, 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?
Soooo many challenges. It took seven bank presentations before we got approval for our business loan in the beginning. Then in the midst of trying to pay it back, along with all the other debt that building a new business can create, the 2008 recession hit.
All of a sudden our credit limits dropped to what we owed, interest rates on the balances skyrocketed, and with the same happening to all of our customers and vendors, our prospects didn’t seem good. With a LOT of belt-tightening and creative thinking over the next few years, we made it work.
Along the way, I had two kids (who basically grew up in the shop), and we moved the bakery to a new lease location with 1/3 less square footage (talk about belt-tightening!). But that new, smaller location had a lot more traffic and was a good move.
It turns out that scaling down operations was good practice for when I moved the business into 1/10th the space in my home studio.
Please tell us about Hot Chocolates.
Hot Chocolates is a custom cake bakery. In addition to baking over 40 delicious flavors of cake, I also create cupcakes, cookies, brownies, cake balls, and more. I’m best known for my buttercream piping. Since I’ve been in the bakery business longer than fondant has been cool thanks to tv food shows, I know how to use buttercream for just about any decoration.
Of course, I know how to make beautiful fondant creations as well (because sometimes you just need a 3-D mermaid standing on top of your cake), but the majority of my customers prefer all buttercream designs and are amazed by what I create for them.
My slogan “Hot Chocolates is where everything tastes as good as it looks” is actually a direct customer quote. I also teach aspiring decorators through group classes at the Hurst Recreation Center and private classes.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Playing Atari video games with all of my cousins when we got together at Christmas.
Pricing:
- My most commonly sold sizes are the 8″ layer cake which starts at $30 and the 10″ layer cake which starts at $50.
- All of my Tiered Cakes (stacked cakes of different sizes, like a wedding cake) start at $4.00 per serving regardless of the occasion where they will be served.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hotchocolates.net
- Phone: 817-282-9400
- Email: contact@hotchocolates.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hotchocolates
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hotchocolatesbakery
Image Credit:
Mandybeth Photography – www.mandybeth.com
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
