Today we’d like to introduce you to Inez Rodriguez.
Hi Inez, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Inez owner of Royal Kneads. I bake custom decorated sugar cookies. For the past 5 years, I’ve run a successful home based baking business. Being the granddaughter of bakers, I watched my grandmother and grandfather bake pastries, pies, cakes, and everything in between. As a child, I would rummage through her large photo albums of all her custom cakes she had made from simple rounds to extravagant wedding and quincenera cakes. I admired her ability to create such lavish cakes that basically started from just a bunch of flour, sugar, and few other ingredients. I have always had a passion for art and being creative. Later on in life, I ended up having a desire for cooking, baking, and creating desserts, as my grandmother did. I started to bake for my son’s class and teachers. After posting a set of decorated sugar cookies for teacher appreciation gift in May of 2017, the request for inquiries started pouring in. Many just friends and family which very quickly turned into a customer base of people I had never met! I have made cookies for events such as birthdays, baby showers, weddings, and everything in between.
In December of 2018, I found myself in a cake supply store chatting with the store clerk. She assumed I baked cookies after my numerous visits of purchasing cookie cutters and asked me if I made decorated sugar cookies. I replied with “yes.” She went on to tell me that they were in search of a new cookie class instructor. Two weeks later, I was teaching my very first Valentine’s Day cookie decorating class. Teaching classes with such little experience (in my opinion) was a valuable learning lesson that I will forever be grateful for!
Today, I host my very own cookie decorating classes. I offer private lessons, private small group classes, large corporate classes, and have even hosted a virtual class for a prestigious property company and their residents across the US! I also sell my No Spread No Chill cookie dough recipe. Just recently, I had the honor of baking custom decorated sugar cookies for the Mayor, Superintendent, Chief of Police, and more! In December of 2021, I was declared winner of the Dallas Morning News Holiday Cookie Contest!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Just like many, the pandemic put a slight damper on my business. However, it was very short-lived as I can say that May 2020 is when I had my highest month in sales due to Mother’s Day and graduation since retail stores were not being visited as often.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create custom-decorated sugar cookies. I bake and design edible works of art some in the form of celebrities like Harry Styles, Queen, The Beetles, Harry Potter, Marc Anthony, and more. Being custom in itself sets me apart from others. Also creating my own recipes with different flavors makes me different from others in my industry. I am most proud of my 7.5″ highly detailed nutcracker cookie I submitted for the Dallas Morning News Holiday Cookie Contest. I WON!
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I see myself teaching innovative and new techniques for an online audience. Teaching is something dear to my heart and in our industry, there are many bakers looking for new cookie designs and techniques. I also have a goal to write a book, possibly a cookie book with recipes and designs for different holidays.
Pricing:
- Custom Cookies are priced based on level of difficulty and details and range from $48 per dozen to $60 per dozen.
Contact Info:
- Email: royalkneads@gmail.com
- Website: www.royalkneadslive.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/royalkneads
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/royalkneads
Image Credits
Erin Heinz
