We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jen Drury a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jen, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word RESILIENCE means: “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change”.
Now, I understand that this could very quickly make some people uneasy or uncomfortable. But the way that I view it, is quite the contrary.
In this life we will constantly be bombarded with things/people/circumstances in which we have the ‘choice’ to recover from or adjust to.
If I sat still for a moment to review the things in my life that attempted to steer me of course of my destiny, the list is lengthy (just like most other humans)!
Product of childhood divorce, deaths of family/friends, young and (now long) marriage, miscarriage, losing my previous cake shop to a fire, my husband being diagnosed with cancer, and being a bystander to a commercial robbery – just to name a few.
You see with each and every single thing I listed above, there was a very intentional choice that I made. That choice was to be ok with hurt, failure, and misfortune. I believe that it is crucial to feel it deeply for whatever amount of time necessary, but to always pick up the pieces that are left and move forward. During some of the events above, it may have taken me a bit longer to take the next step forward than others. But the time doesn’t matter, it’s just the moving forward that matters. And this concept of the importance of choice, for me, is the epitome of RESILIENCE.
Time and time again, hurt after hurt, pain after pain, failure after failure – I have bounced back and usually better than ever.
This is evident over the course of the last 20+ years in the custom cake business. My life story intertwines with my business story. I am very proud that after all I (No More Boring Cakes) have been faced with, I am still here and stronger than ever! Regularly evolving to not only meet the needs of my clients, but also to genuinely represent who I am at different stages of RESILIENCE in my life.
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?
My cake story began about 20 years ago, when I offered to make my nephew’s 2nd birthday cake. At the time I had no idea how to make or decorate cakes and mind you there was no Pinterest, YouTube, online tutorials, etc. So, I would go to the library and check out cake decorating books. Followed that up with taking a Wilton 1 course at a local craft store. Learning just enough to (barely) put together a buttercream star-tipped Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake for my sweet nephew. I had a blast making it and since I was already the crafty type – I took cake decorating as another one of my creative projects! Over the next few years, I made cakes for all my family and friends while honing in on my skills (but never taking any additional classes). There came a point where I wanted to start charging for my cakes, but quickly learned that in order to market myself that would entail operating as a legal food business. So I began the uphill climb to become a fully licensed and health permitted business. I filed my fictitious business name as NO MORE BORING CAKES, got a business license, and went on a hunt to find a commercial kitchen to work out of.
In 2009, I began to bake and decorate after hours out of Eat Your Lunch Deli in Carlsbad. I had no storage space, so I would carry everything up and down a flight of stairs. Several months later, I was contacted by SmokeHouse catering company to partner with them in opening up a new joint facility in San Marcos. Just a couple weeks later I subleased a space within their building. Things were moving along very smoothly and I was thoroughly enjoying having a storefront.
Then the day came in 2010 that I received the phone call that every up and coming baker strived to get. The call came from a producer from the TLC network about filming No More Boring Cakes for their ongoing reality cake show called Fabulous Cakes. I was absolutely shocked and so incredibly humbled that they found my little cake business and wanted me! The crew did a 4 day film shoot at my shop in San Marcos and then my episode ‘Southern California Makin Waves’ aired in 2011 (it’s uploaded on my youtube channel – fyi). It was simply a dream come true to be on national tv for my cakes!
At that time I felt like I was climbing towards the top rungs of my cake career. The notoriety that the show brought allowed me to become a much more established cake shop and to be honest it was just loads of fun! I chugged along doing hundreds of cakes until that came to a screeching halt in August of 2012 when the catering company that I subleased from had a fire in the wall behind the smoker that closed us down by the health department. As I began to wonder what my next move was going to be, my Step-Dad was diagnosed with cancer (just a couple days after my fire). Surgery was on the books for him and I couldn’t help but be thankful that I didn’t have to worry about my cake shop or any outgoing orders. A quick 30 days later he beat me to heaven, but I truly believe that the fire was God’s way of making sure I was at the hospital every single day with my Dad. Within about 45 days, I had lost my cake shop and my Dad. I was involved (witness) to an armed robbery that was a bit traumatic for me. I spiraled into a time where I felt entirely lost. My Dad would come and sit at my cake shop and watch me work, bring me lunch, cut my cake boards, etc. And I just couldn’t fathom going back to cakes without him.
The catering company ultimately sold to Mike’s BBQ (Escondido) which allowed me to move back in after repairs were made from the fire. But a short time later the catering business was shut down entirely and there was no opportunity for me to return even if I wanted to. I put all my equipment into storage and was sure that I would never return to cakes again. Now that didn’t mean that my phone didn’t ring and I didn’t get constant emails in which my clients were encouraging me to return. I ignored them all and was just trying to put one foot in front of the other while dealing with my grief.
One morning, in late 2013, I was sitting in my car in a parking lot and I was overcome with tears and sadness. So I simply pleaded with God to show me my path, because I was tired of feeling lost. My phone instantly rang and I ignored it like usual. Then it dawned on me that what if that was God’s answer. So after well over a year, I picked up the phone and said “No More Boring Cakes, this is Jen.” On the other end of the phone was a longtime client of mine that I had made several cakes for over the years. She pretty aggressively told me that it was time I get back to cakes and that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer and ordered a cake for 2 weeks out! I knew at that moment; it was time to return and with a grateful heart I hung up the phone and began to scramble before fear changed my mind. I immediately pulled everything out of storage making multiple trips in my car and set up a room in my home, tables and racks and all. I had just moved into a new house a few months prior and just so happen to have an extra empty office. I called my old vendors back and started ordering supplies. By that night when my family got home, my cake room was nearly all set up and everyone was very surprised. The next day, I was at the health department reinstating my health permit. While I was out of business for 15 months, the law in California changed and the Cottage Food Law was adopted. This allows for home bakers to operate under strict rules out of their homes, instead of commercial kitchens! So, in the beginning of 2014, No More Boring Cakes got their second chance. I was greeted with open arms by the local community and business got off the ground quickly and easily (again).
Fast forward 3 years 2017, my husband of (now) 22 years was diagnosed with cancer. For 2-3 years I put my business on hold, as I cared for him. I took a few orders here and there, in an attempt to have some normalcy – but was only focused on his health. Update, he is doing very well these days!
In 2020 right before COVID hit, I was invited to be part of 2 Gelson’s Markets (high end grocery stores in Del Mar & La Costa), by another local baking company, Little Cakes Kitchen. I excitedly launched custom cake Holiday pre-orders in both locations, but once COVID began to shut everything down – it was clear that my time in those 2 markets wasn’t going to last more than a couple months. Things naturally fizzled out and I decided to focus on tackling the pandemic with the thought of pivoting to meet the needs of the community. I was a little concerned that my cake business would be interrupted, but I was dead wrong. I ended up doubling my typical orders and thriving while offering smaller cakes during the week to help families celebrate their special events. In the middle of COVID, I also launched a side hustle of printing and shipping edible images, under the name of EAT YOUR IMAGES (an homage to Eat Your Lunch Deli that I began this cake journey out of years ago).
So here we are at the beginning of Fall 2022 and I have had the most successful 2.5 years (making over 400 custom cakes, launching Eat Your Images, teaching classes, hosting cake decorating parties, and selling DIY cake decorating kits). I have been very focused and I’ve been learning to dream about what my hobby turned into a business can become.
I want you to understand something CRITICAL here. When I moved into SmokeHouse Catering in 2010 – they found me (on craigslist) and asked me to be part of their business model. Again, when the phone rang and it was the producers of the TLC reality show – they found me (on the internet) and asked me to be part of Fabulous Cakes. Again, when I lost my shop to a fire, it was perfectly, imperfect timing in my personal life (allowed me 100% of my time to be with my Step-Dad until he passed) – a gift that was afforded to me by the fire. Again, when I was exhausted from being lost and I ‘told’ God that He best show up and light my path – the phone rang and I was asked to get back in the game and given the opportunity to work from home under the new cottage food law. Again, when I received an invitation to be part of the 2 Gelson’s Markets – I didn’t seek that out, it came to me. Again, when the world shut down due to COVID – I had a record breaking 2.5 years given to me.
With an incredible amount of joy and thankfulness. Out of the blue, the Owner of Little Cakes Kitchen (from the Gelson’s Market venture) contacted me with what could be one of the best invitations of my career thus far! As of Summer of 2022, I am sub-leasing a commercial space once again. Little Cakes Kitchen and No More Boring Cakes have had some similar parallel success over the last 10-15 years. And we have now partnered with one another and are ready to join forces in order to become a greater influence in North San Diego County. NMBC has created a decorating station in their (new) 2nd location in Vista. I will be able to teach classes, host parties, sell edible images & DIY cake decorating kits, decorate custom cakes, allow the public to pop in and watch me while I work, offer cupcakes to go along with cakes, and much more!
Oh, and one more time, when Little Cakes Kitchen reached out to me in early August – you know what I am going to say here…they came to me. You see, in all of my cake career, all these things have graciously entered my world and with that, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunities that I have had the pleasure of partaking in. I am anxiously looking into the future of what will be next as well!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Thinking back over my 20+ years in the industry, the top 3 qualities/skills that come to mind are:
1) Let go of perfection. If I spent the time to perfect each and every cake that has gone out my door I would still be on cake #10! On a side note, I have created well over 1000 custom cakes in my career. I am just about the only person who can see the imperfections, so it’s best to just let them go. It’s not worth the time for 99% of people to not even notice. It is simply unnecessary stress.
2) You know the saying ‘be a duck and let it roll off’. I prefer to act like a turtle instead of a duck. I am still soft on the inside, but try to have a hard shell on the exterior. Speaking transparently, working with the public can be hard. People can be mean, demanding and difficult, especially when we are speaking about pricey custom cakes. A client has an idea of what they want. I have an idea of what I can create, using their ideas as inspiration. But at the end of the day, I am an artist and there is always a need to be flexible in the design, because things don’t always go as planned.
3) Always have backup plans. Working with cake/frosting/fondant/gumpaste as a medium can be very fluid. Things go wrong, designs we had in our head may not translate well to a 3D cake, bubbles pop up, items break, colors run, and on & on. So being flexible and being able to cover up any mistakes is crucial.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
I am very blessed to have both of my parents alive, well, and local. This means that they have been able to participate in all aspects of my personal life as well as business life.
I have been very lucky to have been given many bonus parents in this life, with step-parents and loving family friends who treat me like their own children. To say the least – I am very loved by many parental figures!
When thinking about the most impactful thing that my parents did for me, I keep trying to come up with some fancy physical thing that they supplied me or taught me. But that’s just not it.
The truth is much more simple than that!
ALL of my parents have instead given me the biggest gift of all: unconditional love and support. There has never been a day in my adult life that I don’t fully know without a shadow of a doubt that they love me and are so incredibly proud of me. They very often speak or write those exact words to me, but my soul knows at all times.
This is the most profound impact that they made on me. Because I never have to question their love or strive to make my parents proud.
What an immense gift this is to me as I walk thru my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.
nomoreboringcakes.com - Instagram: nomoreboringcakes
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/
nomoreboringcakes - Youtube: www.youtube.com/@
nomoreboringcakes7938 - Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/no-
more-boring-cakes-vista-4?osq= no+more+boring+cakes
Image Credits
Aidan Filbrun on 3 and the rest are mine
