We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shadayah Perry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shadayah below.
Shadayah, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
When you first start out with any new endeavor, you need to be confident in yourself and your skills. In the beginning, things did not seem that great. I was struggling and learning. I failed time and time again, but I continued to learn from my failures and my mistakes. I also reached out to others for help including other bakers, friends and family. Over time, I came to understand and apply the “Power of Yet”. I can’t do that….yet! I am not great at that….yet! I kept pushing myself and practicing and with each thing I accomplished, my confident grew in my skills and I just watched myself get better and better.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I have an in home bakery that focuses on customized sweets and treats. I do custom cakes, cookies and cupcakes for all occasions (Birthdays, weddings, reunions, parties, etc.). I am also branching out and adding items to my menu such as chocolate covered Oreos and cake pops.
I also just recently started something called The Front Porch Freezer. I have a freezer outside my home where people can pickup and purchase treats! This is used for when I want to try a new recipe and ask others for their opinions!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey would probably be work ethics, resilience, and determination. Ever since I was a little girl, I was taught to always work hard for something no matter the challenges you face. I was also taught to never give up even when things seem difficult. If you keep pushing through you will eventually see progress over time. I really strive with “Progress Over Perfection”. I am not perfect and never will be, but I strive to keep getting better and better with each new thing I take on. If I could give any advice to anyone who wants to start their own business journey, is always keep moving forward. Things will be hard, but your “YET” just hasn’t happened…..YET!
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
My family has been my number one supporters! They encourage me and push me to keep moving forward. My husband in particular has been very supportive during our journey. I say our journey because I could not have done any of this without him. He has been there time and time again when I was doubting myself as well as when I was proud of my accomplishments.
I feel like this is important to put in as well. When I had my first child in 2017, I developed the “baby blues”. Unfortunately for me, my “blues” developed into a postpartum depression to a severe level. One in 10 women have this same struggle. I struggled emotionally for months before finally seeking treatment. When I was teaching, I was busy and happy, but our schools are out for 3 months during the summer. That first summer I had with my child was a struggle every day. My husband worked graveyard as a Corrections Officer to help provide for our new family. I was only seeing him a few hours out of the days that he worked and when he was not working, he was sleeping and keeping his sleep patterns in check. I felt like I was a married single mother. Being alone this much with a colic baby was emotionally draining and tasking on my mental health, but once I returned to teaching, I was fine. Summers were still hard though.
When I got pregnant with my second child, postpartum hit again and in full force. It was much worse than my first. My second child was born on March 12, 2020. The Nation was put into COVID Quarantine on March 13, 2020. I felt so isolated. With my husband’s job, he considered an “Essential worker” and needed to still go to work which we were very grateful for. With the quarantine, I could not have family come and help me make the transition from one child to two. Two weeks, I just needed to make it two weeks. Well, two weeks turned into three. Three weeks turned into four. I was getting to the end of my maternity leave and very much struggling. The thing that kept me going was knowing that I would be going back to teaching, even if it would be remotely. My glimmer of hope and sanity. Then I received an email stating that the Utah school year will be cut short and students would not be returning to the schools. Their last day was going to be week 7 of my 8-week maternity leave. I would not be returning to teaching for the school year of 2020. It was like the perfect storm. A hurricane of emotional roller coasters. Somehow I made it through the summer of 2020, but I struggled each and every day. The 2020-2021 school year started and we were fortunate enough to be going to school in person with masks. This was what I needed for my emotional well-being. Like I stated before if I am busy and occupied, my mental wellness was managed. It was in September 2020 that my mom made that phone call for a cake kit.
In January of 2021, I decided that I wanted to start my own bakery business. I decided that I wanted to open up an in home bakery called Sweets N Treats by Shadayah. I planned and prepared for months to get everything in place and finalized. During this time, I was teaching full time and raising my two young boys (both under the age of 4).
In March of 2021, everything was finalized and I was officially a business owner. I didn’t realize then what a huge blessing this business would play in mine and my family’s lives. During this time, I had the amazing support from my husband and family. I would not be here if it wasn’t for them and them understanding that I needed something to keep my mind busy and that is exactly what this bakery has done.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetsntreats_byshadayah/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetsntreatsbyshadayah
