Meet Erica Vaught

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erica Vaught. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erica below.

Erica, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

What a great question!

I strive to be different, outgoing, social, energetic & always open to new experiences! There are a lot of good bakers out there & I want to stand out! When I started 10 years ago, I wanted to do everything! Quickly, I realized I needed to find something I was good at & be proficient in that area. I did a lot of research & studied my area & created a sense of awareness of my fellow businesses & bakers. I didn’t want to create the same baked goods, I.e flavors design, skill, that somebody else was already offering.

This business is a passion & my livelihood. I’ve worked very hard to develop my business dynamic & my skill set over the years! I’ve taken classes, read books, YouTube, articles, magazines you name it!

I’m constantly developing new recipes and new ideas with inspiration from around the world! I do this, not only for my family, but myself.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a Homestead bakery located in Loveland, Ohio! I raise the chickens & the milk is delivered fresh to my doorstep each week from a local farm. I use a non-enriched non-bleached no niacin organic flour for all of my baked goods. The fruit that I use, while in season, comes from other local farmers & during the colder months I do get them from fresh thyme market or Costco in bulk. I make my own extracts I.e vanilla, lemon & almond! If I could, I would be 100% Homestead!

I am an award-winning cake artist here in Cincinnati, winning the 2023 great Cincinnati bake off! I will be competing again this year this October 2025! I also got selected to compete in three categories at the Ohio State fair this July 24 through August 2, 2025! I am very excited about both of these!

I am newly a part of a local farm website called market wagon & available for delivery of my products to your door each week! I mainly focus on weddings & large events! I love doing craft fairs, festivals & bridal expos ( I usually do a free off these a year). I also work with a lot of charities and donate a lot of my work throughout the year for auctions & donations to help any good cause! I am a sugar angel for Icing smiles! Excellent organization! I create custom cakes for children that have been diagnosed with a chronic illness under the age of 18 whether it’s lifelong short-term or terminal. This is probably one of my favorite things to do!

I stay pretty booked, which is awesome! I appreciate each & every customer especially my repeat clientele over the last several years!

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 an excellent question!

Some impactful knowledge & qualities that was useful 10 years ago when I started & still useful today, is:

1.BE YOURSELF! Yes! Have inspiration but create YOU!

2. While you’re busy making a living don’t forget to make a life! Time management is so important! Make a schedule, make guidelines and stick to them! Burn out is real!

3. “Find something your passionate about & tremendously interested in it.” ~Julia Child I am constantly looking for new things to learn & enhance what I already do!

This quote couldn’t be perfect!

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

My health! I’m 43 in terrible shape! I deal with something every day, & I will continue dealing with it for the rest of my life. I have an extremely rare genetic bone disease called x linked hypophosphatemia that has caused a hoopla of other conditions as a domino effect!! A Trihealth medical geneticist ran an osteogenesis imperfecta panel on me that came back positive in July 2024! This explains so much & my entire past with certain things! I have a permanent nerve stimulator implant,This is how I am able to walk currently & my teeth are horrid, it’s embarrassing, & I want them fixed; But so far no dentist, oral surgeon, or prosthodontist, has wanted to take me on!

I finally caved and awaiting final confirmation on the infusion treatment, I will need for the genetic bone disease. The damage is done, but this will slow down progression!

I still work full time & provide delicious beautiful dessert to my clients! It took me a long time to be able to ask for help when I need it, but if I’m going to be able to continue doing this, I’m gonna need the help! I’m overcoming my self asking for help when needed! It’s been a long journey, can’t wait for the next 40 years!

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