Meet Katie Carrico

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

Katie, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Still working on it. I definitely think it’s something that we all struggle with, and some days are better than others. For women, especially in the food and hospitality industry, I think we’re constantly trying to prove to others and ourselves that we deserve to be here. We work hard. We work the 12 hour days, the holidays, the weekends, the late nights and early mornings. I’ve really struggled with downplaying my business when people ask me about it because I feel like they just view it as a hobby. You tend to get a lot of people that ask “How’s your LITTLE baking business going?” Little? “How’s your side hustle?” Side hustle? I’ve built a business, like so many other women out there and I’m beyond proud of it. I built it because I’m strong, motivated and I worked really, really hard to practice my craft and continue to learn and grow. I’m not sure if imposter syndrome ever goes away completely, but it’s getting smaller each day.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Professionally, I really like to be challenged. I love when a client comes to me with a crazy, weird theme because it gives me the opportunity to stretch my creativity and come up with something out of the box. Recently, I was given the opportunity to step into the position of bakery manager for Rose Park Roasters in Long Beach, which was another professional challenge that I was excited to take on, and I’ve had to cut back on the number of custom orders that I’ve been taking for the Mollie Rose. In a way, it’s been really amazing because I’ve been able to be very selective in the orders that I do take. It really has to spark joy in me in order to say yes, because I want it to matter. I want to be excited when I’m decorating the cake or the cookies because it makes a difference. It’s almost like you can taste that it was made with love.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First and foremost, learning how to trust yourself. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. If everyone is telling you that this logo design is the best, but your gut is telling you differently, go with your gut. At the end of the day, it’s your business and you have to be happy with it.

Second, learning how to say NO. No to designs you don’t want to do. No to clients that are making your life too difficult. No to bringing down your prices. No to meeting someone in a parking lot to drop off their cake (yes, people have asked me.) Just straight up saying no because you simply don’t want to do it. I still struggle with this and I often find myself saying yes to some of my regulars, but I just can’t help it!!!

Third, time management. Honestly, this is the key to not burning yourself out. I have a yearly, monthly, weekly and daily calendar. I write everything down. On a daily basis, I try to use time blocks instead of just writing out a prep list. I find that it keeps me on track and I get everything done that needs to get done.

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?

The number one challenge that I tend to run into is repetition. When I feel like I’m doing the same theme over and over again. It’s definitely hard because you want to give the client what they want while at the same time fulfilling your need to be creative and unique. You’ll go through stages where it seems like you’ve done 5 orders in a row that are all similar and it can really wear you down. This happens a lot with sugar cookies. Recently, I’ve started to gear more towards doing smaller sets that are completely customized. Each cookie is one of a kind. Same goes with cakes. You can send me an inspo photo so I can get an idea of where your heads at, but then I customize it from there. At the end of the day, I need to be happy with what I’m producing and ultimately, I think it makes for a much better experience for the client.

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Image Credits

images by Katie Carrico

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