Meet Ashley Money/Ashley Rosen

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Money/Ashley Rosen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley/Ashley , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Sweet Salvation Bakery, founded on faith and friendship, demonstrates the strength of businesses driven by purpose. Ashley Money and Ashley Rosen, the co-founders, embarked on this adventure guided by their faith in Jesus and a shared passion for baking. Hobby bakers and have walked a journey to become business owners. For Ashley Money, it all started with a desire to create something special. Baking became more than just a skill; it became a way to express creativity and connect with others. For Ashley Rosen, it started as a hobby and a way to bond with her grandmother. This gave her the opportunity to create cherished memories and generational desserts. Our shared values and love for baking brought us together. We both realized that walking in faith and having passion could be a platform to spread joy and positivity.
The mission statement of Sweet Salvation Bakery, “Have fun and stay faithful, bake sensational cupcakes and more, put customers first and give generously,” summarizes their purpose-driven approach. Ashley Rosen highlights the importance of fun and faith in the business. She wants every interaction with customers to be enjoyable and meaningful. She’s also been known for making a fun environment with her outgoing personality. Putting customers first is another cornerstone of their mission. Ashley Money strives to exceed customer expectations and to create memorable experiences. Giving generously is not just a business strategy but a core value for the founders. We believe in giving back to our community and supporting causes that are close to our hearts. Whether through charity events or donations, Sweet Salvation Bakery is committed to making a positive impact beyond their delicious treats.
To sum everything up, the journey of Sweet Salvation Bakery is a testament to the life-changing power of purpose. For Ashley Money and Ashley Rosen, finding their purpose meant combining faith, friendship, and a love for baking to create a business that brings joy and inspiration to others. Their mission statement reflects not just what they do but why they do it, making Sweet Salvation Bakery a symbol of purposeful entrepreneurship.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hi there! My name is Ashley Money, and I’ve been immersed in the world of baking and decorating cakes for the past 12 years. What began as a simple hobby quickly transformed into a significant part of my life. My journey into cake decorating started with a class during my high school days. Although I temporarily stepped away after graduation to explore other interests, the desire to create resurfaced when my oldest child celebrated his first birthday.

Decorating cakes has been an avenue for me to unleash my creativity and continuously refine my skills. While I still cherish the art of cake decorating, my recent passion lies in crafting delectable cupcakes. With cupcakes, I’ve had the freedom to play with various flavors and unleash my artistic side, whereas with cakes, my focus was primarily on their overall appearance.

Beyond the kitchen, I’m happily married to my supportive husband of 12 years, who has always encouraged my baking endeavors. Together, we are blessed with two wonderful children, Owen and Adalyn, who fill our lives with joy and keep us busy with their various activities.

In my spare time, you’ll often find me at the gym, as it is my go-to for stress relief and “me time.” However, amidst all of life’s activities and pursuits, I attribute my success and inspiration to my faith in Jesus. As Philippians 4:13 beautifully expresses, I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength. God is my strength and salvation, guiding me through every endeavor and making my journey a testament to His grace in my life.

Ashley Rosen: The Conductor of Chaos, Baker Extraordinaire, and Smile Distributor

Welcome to the whimsical world of Ashley Rosen! If you’re looking for a blend of meticulous management, a sprinkle of humor, and a dollop of devotion, you’ve hit the jackpot. As the brains behind the business, I keep the gears turning smoothly—think of me as the maestro of a very organized symphony, where every note is a task, and every rest is a well-deserved coffee break.

When I’m not orchestrating operations, you can find me whisking up a storm in the kitchen. My baking skills are a legacy, passed down from my Memaw since the tender age of five. I’m all about that sugar, spice, and everything nice (and occasionally, a pinch of chaos for flavor).

Laughter is my currency, and I’m spending it like there’s no tomorrow. I firmly believe that a hearty chuckle can turn any frown upside down—plus, it’s a great ab workout, and who doesn’t love a two-for-one deal? Devotion? I’ve got it in spades. Married to my high school sweetheart, Jake, for a dozen years (but who’s counting?), and mom to our little champ, Luke. Let’s not forget the Big J.C. upstairs—He’s the CEO of my life and our business.

What comes next? Growth! Our start as a home-based bakery (July 2023) with the goal of one day being in a store front is starting to come to fruition. The biggest part of this is growing our customer base through different marketing and social media techniques. While expanding our customer base, this will allow us to also expand out product offerings. We started with just offering cakes and cupcakes, which has now grown to cookies and sweet breads. The goals is for us to grow our product base to include, muffins, pies and explore the possibilities of breakfast pastries.

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?
Grace, Organization, Balance…..

Grace is so important, being a new business owner can be stressful, and it can feel very over-whelming with all of the things that go into growing your business, The drive you have to be successful can be disappointing when you miss creating a post or miss out on something with your family. That is where grace comes in…..give yourself some GRACE. Your business will grow and its not going to self-destruct because you chose to go to a ball game or recital over networking.
Organization will help reduce being over-whelmed. Set a time each week to focus on the big parts of the business, like planning and prepping.
Balance is crucial, this will give you a sense of peace, because it takes away the feeling of guilt when chose to take some much needed “me time” whether that is with just yourself or family, balance is key.
The last and in our opinion, the most important, is staying prayed up. Praying allows you to communicate everything on your heart….aspirations, fears, joys…everything. Praying will leave you with so much peace knowing you are not alone. We ourselves lean on Psalms 37:5.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
There are three things we have learned to do when feeling overwhelmed. Stop, recognize and pray. Owning a business is not always going to be a walk in the park. There will be many ups and downs and there will be times you will need to just take a step back and breathe.

Stop. When you are feeling overwhelmed you should immediately stop what you are doing. If you continue to work while feeling overwhelmed you can essentially start making mistakes, which will only increase the feeling. Stopping will allow you to collect your thoughts and clear your mind so that you are not making decisions based off negative emotions.

Recognize. When you are feeling overwhelmed it is important for you to recognize what is causing that emotion. Is it the environment, task or feelings you are having in that moment? Once you answer this, it will allow you to come up with a strategy to overcome the situation, and prepare you for similar situations in the future.

Pray. This may be the most important step. The bible teaches us that we are to be sheep with Jesus as out Shepard. Sheep are not load-bearing animals, they are not meant to carry the weight of anything. Giving the situation at hand to God can allow you to refocus or “transfer the load”. There are many stories in the bible where different people had the feeling of being overwhelmed. In every situation they called out to God and he answered.

The advice above comes from experience and has helped us overcome so many obstacles that overwhelmed us to the point we wanted to give up. It is through every one of those moments we experience growth within ourselves and our business, so don’t ever give up…you got this!

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Image Credits
Misty Maxson

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