We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephanie Charo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with stephanie below.
Stephanie, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resiliency comes from my mom and God.
My mom has all been the one to support and push me to keep going when things get
hard or stressful. She also is the one that is reminding me to have faith in God’s plan for myself
and my business.
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 operate a in home bakery were I specialize in custom cakes and cupcakes for all special occasions (birthdays, gender reveals, baby shower, weddings or just because!) Not only do I pride myself in how beautiful my cakes are but also in the fun flavors I offer. My flavors are inspired by my Mexican background and include fan-favorite like flan or guava / cream cheese. As well as, mazapan, gansito and arroz con leche (rice pudding).
I am currently a part of the 2025 berwyn shops cohort which has allowed me to share these fun cupcake flavors with the public. As side from the cupcakes, at the Berwyn shops I also offer a variety of pastries like raspberry/pistachio scones, coffee cake muffins and lemon loaf slices and aguas frescas.
A goal /dream that I have for the business is to open a small bakery studio/cafe, so hopefully(fingers crossed) I will be able to do that in the near future but for now I am excited to officially offer craft cold brew/latte drinks at pop up markets.
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?
Consistency, faith and resiliency.
Like a lot of fellow entrepreneurs, I started this business from scratch and have put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears into building it into what it is today. I started with no orders, no followers and literally no money.
The last 10-ish years I would do cakes for family and friends and kept telling myself that once I had x amount of money saved up and x amount of orders in a week, I would take it on the business full time. Then 2 years ago, I was let go from a job that i truly saw myself long term in, I had bought a new car the day before AND was broken up with a week before! Literally the worst week of my life and I had a cake order due the next day (that I was doing for free!) so I finished my crying session in my new car and went inside to start on the cake. That day is when I decided to take the business full time because it was my wake up call that I still had cakes to safe me.
Since then I have been giving my business all the hope, love and dedication I have in me. I really believe that God or the universe will force you to what you’re supposed to be doing if you keep holding yourself back.
I have grown my business through word of mouth and social media. When I started, I was Consistently offering free cakes to anyone that would have a birthday or anniversary. I would join any style shoot or pop up market that could take me and A LOT of praying.
All this to say, just start! It’s so cliche but there really is no perfect timing to starting your dreams. Just start somewhere, stay consistent and please believe me when I say you will get past the hard days.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
My mom and sister. Even though we drive each other crazy but they truly are my biggest support and have helped me not only grow the business but have helped me grow as a woman and person.
They both keep reminding me to keep pushing forward and have helped me in so many ways.
My mom has been up late several nights with me packing and labeling cupcakes before markets and my sister is literally the only person who can reel me back in when my mind is going a million and one ways.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cashdrop.com/sc-cakes-/my-menu
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sc_cake_studio/
Image Credits
Abe Fernandez
Monique Morales
Berwyn Development Corporation
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
