Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachelle Diaz.
Hi Rachelle, 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?
I have always loved making my own gifts for my loved ones instead of spending money on something and that is why I have always gone that route of creating to bring meaning and a personal touch to it. Now on Valentine’s Day I thought I would surprise my fiance with chocolate covered strawberries and had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but I also did not want to go out and buy them from the store. I wanted to be able to create them myself to be able to give it more meaning. I looked up a youtube video and went from there and realized that I actually really enjoyed creating these and thought to myself that maybe I could really learn and start doing them for my family members. That is when the idea sparked of me doing something with treats and since I was wanting an outlet to be able to find myself again after having a baby I thought this could be the next project for me. I started to look into the Cottage Food Laws in Texas and then started investigating how I could perhaps start my own business from my home. It was really scary at first since I had never taken on such a big project and managing through postpartum scared me the most because I felt like maybe I wouldn’t have the time. I then went on and with every chance I had I started researching and creating my business name and business logo and after each accomplishment I felt like I was one step closer to being able to fully open for business. I did a lot of practice treats for my family to get honest feedback and that is what led me to picking the right molds, the right chocolate and overall the right tools to be able to create something delicious. The first few weeks of me launching my instagram were really scary because I was not sure how social media worked when it came to businesses, but I quickly picked up on the trends and researching other content creators to see what they were doing and how I could incorporate some of those ideas to get attention to my page. I did not get my first official order until around 2 weeks of me launching my instagram, but in the meantime my family and friends became a huge part of my success as they were constantly buying treats from me and I was able to create something unique and practice new techniques for their orders. I truly owe it to my family, my best friend, and my fiance for being such an important support system to my business as it was them that kept me going to who I am now. I am now being fully booked and creating around 1000 to 1500 treats a month and one day I dream of doing this full-time.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road the whole way through, but I think that is part of the journey because it is never easy when starting up. I remember that at the beginning the hardest obstacle was getting customers that were not my friends and family and since I did not have a lot of followers I did not have a lot of credibility to what I could do since I had not yet created a big portfolio and did not have a lot of content made yet. That was my biggest obstacle at that point since I did not have anyone ordering big themes, but once I got my first customer I made so much content with that order and gave it my all to be able to showcase what I could do. The next obstacle from there was the cost of running ads on both instagram and facebook because it did get expense and at that time I was pulling from my own personal money to hopefully be able to recover those costs with future orders. It was mostly a waiting game and truly did not get my constant orders until about 3-4 months later when I was starting to book for every weekend, but then the obstacle and struggle became not having enough time, but I can now proudly say that I found a great balance and I have been able to create more treats than ever with the schedule I have found that helps me prep for my orders about a week in advance and during the week I dedicate about 3-4 hours each day to complete the orders in a perfect timed manner.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The name of my business actually comes from combining both my last name with fiance’s and creating something special and unique. I want my business to represent who I am and that is why with every order I give it everything I have. I specialize in custom treat orders and that includes anything from chocolate covered strawberries, rice krispie treats, pretzels, cakesicles, cakepops, and oreos. Each one is specifically designed for the theme that is requested and I actually take about a day or two to design it and create a mockup to send over to the client and that way they can change or request additions of other things so that it gives them complete control of how they want the treats to come out. I think communication is very important especially when it comes to these important milestones in their life and being able to bring their vision to life through my treats is an incredible feeling. That is what it sets me apart from others. I dedicate a lot of time to each of my orders and communicate with clients all the way through, so that they are 100% happy with their order. I create sketches and mockups to help me understand their vision and everytime I create an order I make sure that any additions are approved first before I finalize anything. Another thing that sets me apart from others is that I create my edible images and bows in house and therefore it adds even more of a personal touch as they know that I am the only one creating each of the different additions to their treats. I actually started selling my treat bows and edible images to people all around the U.S as a side part of my business and have been super successful as the quality speaks for itself and I only use silk ribbons to create those bows to make sure they shine and have that unique look to them.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way people have worked with me is by bringing people through referrals. I actually have a program where anyone that brings in a referral gets a giftcard to get coffee on me as a way to thank them for not only placing an order with me, but bringing me business as well. I think that a referral program is a huge hit as it encourages others to know that someone created their dream treats and create that trust between clients. The way people collaborate with me is by sending me either an email, text, or a DM on instagram and from there we see how we can collaborate and create something unique.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bakesy.shop/b/ciaz-treats
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciaztreats?igsh=YWo3MWlta3h4eTd1&utm_source=qr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ciaztreats?_t=ZP-8zXMAuCp9cV&_r=1
