We recently connected with Nikki Nikki and have shared our conversation below.
Nikki , we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Developing confidence and self-esteem as a business woman is hard. It’s something that definitely took self-reflection, and resilience. A lot of times so many people were telling me “it’s not the right time, don’t do that, stepping out on your own is a risk.” But for me stepping out and just doing it truly was the first step, and once things started to move in the right direction for me my confidence grew, and the more I continued to see my business flourishing I know that i was on the right path so my confidence in what i was doing steadily grew.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a local Atlanta cake artist that specializes in custom cakes and cupcakes. I currently have a home-based bakery in downtown Atlanta Old fourth ward area. I’ve been baking/ cooking since my early teens so when I decided to start my own business baking and catering no one was surprised. My love of cooking probably started in my grandmothers kitchen. I grew up in a very small town about an hour south of the city Barnesville, GA. My grandmother was an amazing cook and she almost always made desert. I’ve taken the things I learned from her as well as my own mother, continued to learn from others as time went on, and now I just might call myself an amazing cook too.
I quite literally LOVE all things baking, cooking, food, sweets, and drinks. Currently I am shifting gears and adding a new product line to my business. With the prices of everything soaring I wanted to add something that could be enjoyed at home and easy to do yourself so I created a drink kit that includes things like my homemade margarita and lemon drop mix, my fresh made infused fruit syrups, as well as dehydrated fruits for garnish. The entire line will be available this summer starting in June!
Although I’m always trying to figure out new ways to be innovative in this business my heart will always belong to cakes so currently I am honing my skills, learning new techniques and trends that are popular right now. Amongst those are the ever popular heart shaped cake that has been seen all over Instagram.
Currently I’m preparing and actively in a busy graduation season with my own son celebrating a pre k graduation and making cupcakes for his graduating class as well as my clients that are graduating seniors and college students.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three most impactful skills/ arenas of expertise that have impacted my journey would have to be time management, customer service, and always being open to learning and taking criticism
Time management is so important when baking cakes because there are so many steps to get to the final result. You have to bake the cakes, then they have to cool, you also have to ice, stack, then decorate. And of course customers want their cakes on time.
I’m not sure why I didn’t put customer service first because it really is the most important skill you can possess as a business owner. No the customer is not always right, but you almost never tell them that, and I’ve realized you get so much further when you go above and beyond the first time. When i finally open my bakery customer service will be at the top in the training list for all employees. It is so important and is honestly the glue the retains customers.
I have found that being open to learning and taking criticism is one of the largest cheat codes in life. Sometimes you just have to listen. If it means seeking out a mentor, if it means going back to school or taking classes from those in your field. Never be unteachable.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
Currently I’m facing the challenge of taking my business from home based to brick and mortar. I’d love to have more reach as well as offer new exciting flavors, and dishes. I feel that I outgrew my home space years ago, but with COVID, then inflation I’ve just been afraid to really step out there and do it. I hope that in these next seasons I am able to expand my dreams further than I could even imagine into reality.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Thebakerystudioatl
- Facebook: The bakery studio ATL