We were lucky to catch up with Kierra Harper recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kierra, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?
When I find myself creatively restricted, I choose to take a step back. Sometimes, when I struggle with coming up with new cake designs and content, I disconnect from social media and trends. Instead, I focus on baking simple treats around the house—like muffins, banana bread, and hand pies. These are things I wouldn’t typically sell and don’t require intricate designs. It’s a way to reconnect with my love for baking.
Returning to these basics helps alleviate the stress I feel and makes baking enjoyable again. It removes the burden and reignites my creativity.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a baker and cake decorator, and I make custom cakes for special occasions. I make anywhere from simple cakes to have around the dinner table on holidays- to a custom cake for your wedding! I also like to make really flavorful treats like cookies, cupcakes, cake shooters and brownies!
I mostly specialize in custom cakes. I get to make cakes for birthday events, baby showers, and anniversaries. Have a specific theme in mind? I’ll make a cake to fit your vision!
I take so much pride in making cakes for special events because it really does make a difference for the person of honor. They take so much time to carefully plan their events and create a vision, whether it’s a birthday party, baby shower, or etc. So when they walk in, and see a cake there that fits what they have in mind, it makes me happy.
At this time, I’m really hoping to get more involved in different small business markets around the city. I feel like it would be a great way to connect with more people locally, so if anyone has any advice, I would love to hear from you!
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?
Three skills or lesson’s I’ve learned that has helped me so far would be: One, you have to learn to stop comparing yourself to others really early into your business, craft, art or whatever it is you do. That’s only going to serve to distract you. If you’re concerned about self improvement, spend as much free time as you have practicing your craft. Maybe even find a trusted mentor. If you’re serious about your craft, work towards it as often as you can.
Two, professionalism is KEY! I’m both a business owner and a consumer. I know how I would like to be treated as a consumer of someone else’s business, so I try to reflect that in my own business. I’ve experienced a lot of unprofessionalism in my life, and I’ve seen a lot of unprofessionalism on social media. People trying to constantly have the next big viral moment. It’s easy to receive the compliments and praises, but it’s a little harder to digest the critiques and criticisms that come along. I just urge everyone to take a moment and breather and think about how you want to represent your business. Professionalism is often times a lost art in small businesses today, and that can either make or break you. You can have the best product ever, but you’ll still need people to come back time after time.
The third is very simple, be kind to yourself. None of us are perfect, and I would even say most of us are trying to figure things out as we go along. You are really only in competition with yourself, so be kind to yourself.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
This is an easy answer for me. I would spend that decade traveling as much as possible—seeing as many places as those ten years would allow. I’d hope I get to see some amazing places.
But more importantly, I’d focus on giving to others. I’d love to find ways to use my baking to pour into people’s lives, whether through acts of kindness, community events, or simply sharing something sweet. That’s really it. More seeing, more giving.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kakdbakery.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kakdbakes/
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Photo Credits: Emalee Evans
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