We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amber Weiss. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amber below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Amber with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My work ethic came from growing up with a family that worked non stop. As a child, I was always around my grandmother. She worked 2 jobs and she kept her house spotless and was always on the go. My mother inherited that trait. She had 2-3 jobs outside the house and then would endlessly be working on some sort of project in the house. My step dad was the same way, he would work long hours in the heat and come home and build or remodel something. There was no sleeping in our household! On the weekends, we were always doing some sort of activity. I started babysitting when I was 13 and got two more jobs at the age of 15. Watching my family be so driven made me have a strong work ethic that I have now passed along to my adult children. My grandmother has since passed but you will find the rest of us always working super hard to get what we have and achieve our goals!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I own and operate a bakery/cafe in downtown Belleville called Sugar High. I worked in a bakery when I was young and always had a goal to open my own. During college, I would bake cakes out of my house for family and friends but when I was 45, right before Covid hit, I opened a brick and mortar. It was challenging at first due to Covid but I had built a pretty big clientele from years of decorating so it worked out in my favor! It took half my life to make my dream come true but I was busy raising 3 amazing boys and that was the most important thing to me in the entire world.
The bakery/cafe has custom cakes (which usually book out 4-6 weeks in advance), pastries, donuts, cookies, cinnamon rolls (biggest & best in the entire area), cupcakes and all kinds of other treats. I also offer a full menu of breakfast and lunch. I have lotus drinks, dirty sodas, specialty lattes, frappe and boozy coffees and drinks! We have it all at Sugar High!! And I take extreme pride in my staff and their customer service skills, they are truly amazing! Come see for yourself!
I enjoy being downtown and collaborating with all the other businesses. My favorite thing is prepping for all the events we have! I get so excited to come up with new ideas to bring people to the downtown area! My brain doesn’t ever take a break, the creativity button doesn’t shut off! And I’m ok with that!! I love to make people happy and have experiences at my shop, it’s the best part of it.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
What made my journey most impactful? I believe my determination and drive. There is only success in my eyes. Keep moving forward. Surround yourself with people that want what is best for you, people that are positive , people that won’t hold you back, people that will motivate you to be a better version of yourself.
Stay focused!
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Feeling overwhelmed when you own a business can happen often! Sometimes there are just so many “behind the scenes” tasks that you are trying to do on top of everyday operating. Social media, accounting, scheduling , all of the above!
I am old school. I make a list of everything for the week and the big events for that month that I have to get done and then I start to just check each task off the list. The list gets smaller and I feel the pressure go down. I also remember each time that I will get through it as always! It’s ok to ask for help too! My friends love doing the extra things to help me with my events since my staff is so busy inside the shop.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: Sugarhigh618
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18Zma4dhqx/?mibextid=wwXIfr
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