Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalia Potapenko
Hi Natalia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My friend Elena and I met in New York in 2013 and very quickly became friends. In 2015 we moved together to Dallas. One day we craved for French macarons and couldn’t find any that we liked so we decided to make them at home. French macarons are one of the most difficult desserts to make and surprisingly they came out perfect from the first time. We got an idea of opening a business but then life was happening, college and office job, and we never got back to it.
Long story short, in 2023 one week before the Mother’s Day we hanged out together and decided that a box of macarons is a great gift and it would be a perfect time to start a business. We started Instagram and Facebook pages, registered our company and one week later we were delivering our first orders made in our home kitchen.
During this year we extended the variety of desserts we make beginning with cake-pops and ending with wedding cakes. We specialize on dessert tables when all desserts follow one theme and color palette. As the volume of orders increased we started to use a revolving kitchen and plan to open a store front with a coffee shop next year (Fingers crossed)
Alright, 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?
No, it is never smooth!
None of us had an experience of running own business and we both are coming from absolutely different fields. I worked in fashion online retail / wholesale business and Elena is a nurse who always has been passionate about baking. So we are learning on our mistakes all the time and they cost us money and time. Simple things that are easy for an experienced bakery business owner sometimes can be challenging for us.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We specialize on desserts that are made from scratch from natural ingredients only. We stand strongly agains artificial flavors and chemical preservatives.
Originally both of us are from Europe and in our products we mix both, American and European, dessert cultures. In general our desserts have less sugar and have a few different textures. Imagine a cake made of layers of moist chocolate sponge, silky coffee mousse and buttery chocolate cream cheese filling, covered in chocolate ganache and finished with crisp layer of velvet cover. (By the way we use only premium Belgium chocolate.) Chocolate-coffee cake is one of best sellers from our Signature cake menu of 9 cakes. And the best part that you can order individual portions of our cakes served in a cup. Each trifle is a miniature copy of our full-sized cake, crafted with the same care and quality ingredients that define our signature cakes but in easy to serve at a party or event.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Never give up and stay positive no matter what. Even if you just dropped a cake that you’ve made and need to make a new one ASAP.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sugardispensary.store
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugar.dispensary/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/fXL7CRR9Dd1Qsg9s/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
