39 Replies

You’re not the only one!!! I also work in IT – as a systems analyst (seems the IT/cake combo is not as strange as a lot of people suggest). The job pays the bills but the cakes are my passion.

I work in IT at a space center. I love being creative whether it’s code or cake! I would love to do cakes full time, but not ready to make the jump either.

I’m a fulltime mental health technician…so not corporate, but all the same I do a job that is not cakes and is half-way decent. My struggle is funding, currently I do cakes out of my home and only two per week, I know I could do enough business to support a full-time caking job but I don’t want my home over-run by it (well, it kind of already is,lol) So if I went full time with cakes I’d want to do it out of a store-front location…but for the most part our family lives pay check to pay check and my husband is 100% against using our home for collateral on a business loan (can’t blame him there) I have a glimmer of hope in that slowly but surely, I’ve been paying off all of our family’s debts for the last two years, it’s the last year on a killer car payment, braces are finally done for the kids,and I have a wealthy aunt who really wants to start a cake business for me (she travels a lot and sometimes ‘forgets’ i’m around though so I’m not holding my breath on that one!!) Right now, I just have to be okay with the cake stuff being ‘on hold’ until the timing is right.

I’m glad to hear there are others that I have things in common with, aside from cake! I went “public” a year ago, thanks to a modification in Michigan law that allows home baked goods, and it took off like wildfire. i am booked from April through October with weddings…EVERY weekend, and everything in between. There are literally only 2 weekends I am not booked and I prefer to keep those to myself. My biggest struggle has been “friends” who think they can wait to the last minute to book, weddings mind you, and the reality is…I just can’t do it. I have a 5 year plan in place to make my final decision…of which only 4 remain…but I have been considering going full time with this since 2005… and yes, I too struggle with funding. I am building my self confidence and my client base, so we’ll see what will happen. It’s just comforting to know that there are others like myself putting in long hours at a full-time job, and then burning the midnight oil just to do what they really love! Thanks for posting your thoughts and stories, they are all appreciated!

I have a full time job too…I work in the Marketing Department for a captive finance company. And as much as I would love to do cakes full time, I have 3 kids and paying for their education takes priority.

My dream would be to own a cake supply store w itha specialty bakery for 3D cakes…and offer classes too. Maybe someday….just not today :-)

I have a full time IT job also. I am an application developer. I have been told many times I should bake for a living but that is not even something I can consider right now. I am the bread winner in the house right now and we could not afford to lose my salary.

Right now I just do it as a hobby and I am content at the moment.

Wait IT as in information technology? Just double checking, seems to be a lot of you in the same field! :D

Jessica – yep information technology. I’m surprised myself actually – I’m forever being told that it’s a strange combo, but it’s apparently quite common!

I’m a 9-5 executive assistant (secretary) at an international marine insurance company (i.e. the companies who insure the ships to pay for the accidents and loss of life and machinery, like that Italian cruise ship fiasco!) and since my husband lost his job last year for 6 months (and stayed home with our infant daughter) then finally found a job paying almost $20K less, I am now the bread winner. I’m also a Wilton Method Instructor at my local Michaels and do the baking/decorating in the weeeeeee hours of the night as a hobby and some extra money. All of my extra curricular baking/decorating/teaching started when he lost his job so we know all about living pay check to pay check and in New Jersey we still don’t have a cottage food law so anything I do is under the radar and mainly just friends and family. Like someone else said, those are the people who wait till the last minute, want extravagant cakes that defy gravity and expect it to be a “gift”. It’s tough and we all have dreams, some are luckier than others. Maybe someday when I can pay off all our debts (which doubled while he was out of work) will be paid off, NJ will pass the cottage food laws and I can maybe find a job closer to home that still pays the bills but takes less commuting time. My family time is worth more to me and everything that takes away from that isn’t worth the gum under my shoes.

Good luck, you are not alone!

How Funny that there are so many IT/cake decorators! My husband is a IT in the USCG I’m the cake decorator.

I work full time and make cakes as a hobby. I’m always exhausted from it! I’d love to open a shop and do this full-time, but my fear is this: just because I an smooth butter cream icing and pipe a little border doesn’t mean I know how to run a profitable business. Sadly, more than this is just a dream for me. :(

I work full time and make cakes in my spare time. The hard part is finding the spare time!

I am a Senior Specialist at a Corporate bank and I do cakes as my hobby. I would love to have my own cake/partying decorating business but I’m so scared due to the economy. It would be hard to leave a full time stead job for cakes. There are weeks that I bearly get cakes and there are weeks that i need to get assistant because its soo busy.

Hello everyone, I’m a newbie! :D

For the past 5 years I have been working as a news & traffic presenter for radio. I bake part time, managing my orders online and baking from my little apartment. It’s been very exhausting, as I have to wake up at 5am everyday for my day job. I knock off at 4pm and whatever time I have for the rest of the evening is dedicated to stocking up on supplies, baking, decorating and cleaning (I’m sure you guys are all too familiar with this..). All the mad rush has taken a toll on my health as I developed a serious heartburn problem and all the sleepless nights have caused me to put on a lot of weight.
But…I am happy to say that I have finally decided to take the plunge and leave my job. I submitted my resignation last Jan 18 and my last day of office should be mid April. To be honest I can’t be sure what the future holds for me but what I know is I will finally have the time to explore the full potential of what I can do and hopefully regain my health back :)

Very exciting!! Good luck to you!! and I just have to add, I am very impressed that with all the posts and what not from PeggyDoesCake, I truly envy her for all her energy and her ability to maintain a full time job!

Yup, I work in IT too as a support analyst – I think the reason there are so many folks from IT doing cakes is because IT IS BORING AS HELL!!!!!!! lol. Unless you do something extremely creative as part of your job, the work is mind numbing!

Yep – totally agree there Torta!!! Although it still confuses me how we end up in IT in the first place!

I am a dental hygienist. Work part time. I hope to be into cakes/baking full time by the time my boss retires (6 more years or so).

Lol I know this post is old, but since I’m new I wanted to participate too. I am a full time insurance agent, and I recently (this year 2012) decided to do cake decorating. I have a degree in culinary arts, so in the past I mostly focused on working with hot food. Only last year I discovered how much fun baking and cake decorating can be. And here I am :-).
I hope to have a very profitable business in the near future!

I’m a speech pathologist at a hospital full time and I bake part time. Would love to eventually do caking full time but for now, part time it is!

I’m there took, working full time and making cakes…..would love to stop work…but the market is so competitive at the moment and the economy so bad , I can’t take the risk with a mortgage to pay

Hi Stacy! I am brand new to the site , but it seems like a wonderful one…I also live in MI (Metro Detroit) and started decorating cakes for others just recently. I work full time (min 10 hrs a day) in management of a local hospital. I decorate on the weekends and would love to do only cakes, but I am too not sure it will provide me with the same income. It is scary! I am so glad to hear I am not the only one with the same thoughts! If someone figures out how to add extra hours to a 24 hr day, let me know :)!

I can’t believe how many people work in IT and are cake decorators! :) I too have a full time IT job from 6am-2:30pm from my home office, so I also am able to take care of my 2yr old and 4yr old, then after they go to bed, I do all of my caking… I don’t think I’ve done a cake yet, that hasn’t been completed between the hours of 3am and 6am! I would absolutely love to be able to support my family the way I am now from my corporate position, but decorating cakes instead. I don’t see that happening in the near future though… Maybe after I retire? :)
All kidding aside though, I personally don’t have the baking skills or the support team behind me to open my own shop. I really only cherish the decorating portion of the cake process, but if you have a passion for baking and decorating, maybe eventually a shop could be something worth looking into :)

I was a bookkeeper but laid off over and over again here in Southern California.. I went the way of sugar flowers starting to teach and sell and by chance working with a friend with a cake business that is picking up or her… who knew how things turn around but since being out of the so called “Corp World” I hope I never have to go back.. it is still a struggle but I am extremely happy.. wish I knew about sugar flowers years ago… I still do some bookkeeping for my friend I work for.. but, i don’t miss it at all..

most people I have met that changed careers are either lawyers or in accounting… hmmm!!!

Hi! I’m new here:) I am a full time registered nurse and also have a small cake business. I probably crank out anywhere from 4-5 cakes a week and also teach a Wilton course during the week. I also have a 3 year old and a 10 year old. I do get REALLY tired every now and then but have found comfort in knowing that my husband supports me 100%!! He even built out my current kitchen and added an extra 200 sq feet too it and added commercial grade equipment tables/sinks/mixers (got it at discount at a closing sale)!I’ve learned to not be timid about my pricing and let my family/friends know that my time/business is valuable so if they want to place an order, do it with plenty notice and EXPECT to receive a 20% discount off my regular pricing. My plan is to find a job with the school district so that I can work when my children are in school and bake when they are off during the summer. Don’t know what the future will hold for me but we will see.

Wow, I am really surprised by the many people working in IT and decorating in their spare time! I am a database programmer, and also frequently get told to bake and decorate full-time, but there is just no way I’d be able to make the same income – where I live people are really not prepared to pay for all the time and work that goes into cakes, so even if I worked 24/7 I would not make my current salary.

Maybe decorating is a much needed release for all of the techies!! I work as an executive assistant for a real estate firm and handle basic IT & Network Tech duties for both offices. One of our realtors purchased a business and needed help so on the weekends I work as a managers assistant at the local Drive In & Flea Market.

My husband works as a Satellite Tech and is a great decorator though he doesn’t really enjoy it. He just does it to help me out sometimes. lol We co-own an event planning/promo LLC. We have two kids – 9 & 10 who are both big time foodies and want to have their own bakery someday. Cakes are my hobby & my passion and someday I hope to walk away from everything else (except event planning) and make cakes professionally.

I’m a full time Pharmacy Technician (my husband is in IT) and just do cakes on the weekends. I WISH I could do it full time as a business. During the summer I sadly have to turn away lots of orders. I have 2 children and both play sports during the summer so that takes up our weekends. The little time I do spend on cake decorating I enjoy and love every minute of it. Sadly I can only drean of owning my own cake business.

Hi, I’m new on this site. I’m probably somewhat older and had worked as a billing supervisor in the mental health field for 15 years. The facility had gotten a new administrator a year and a half ago and she laid off all of the employees who had been there 5 plus years. I’ve tried a couple of other jobs, but my passion has always been cooking. I found out that making meals at home wasn’t an option, but baking was. A Dr. and a couple of other friends encouraged me to try cupcakes. From word of mouth, I have been getting orders along with furnishing a great coffee shop at the hospital. I live in an area where classes aren’t an option so have been self teaching with the internet and the wonderful blogs. We live in a very small home and I too have considered a small store front. I would welcome any leads for financing, advice, etc. It’s difficult to do large orders in my home, but have done fairly well with what I have to work with. I’ve done my first wedding last week, have another booked and 2 consultations this upcoming week. Have done very good with special occasion orders and would like to expand, but have that “fear factor” going on. Thank you all for reading my rambling and any advice you can offer.

I work full time from home for u tied healthcare…. Last July my position was eliminated and I started my baking business that August. Then I made the stupid decision to go back to the same company last October. In some ways it’s been fine…. My new position is more salary and less work. A lot less. I have so far had more than enough time to balance cakes, work and my 3 little boys. The goal is to quit as soon as I get more steady cake orders. The down side is that I do not get out of the house, because of work, to actively get my name out into the town. I’ve business partnered with our elementary school and that has gotten me several orders but it is moving more slowly an I would like. I am not after caking to become wealthy. I am simply wanting to pay my bills and do what makes me happy. I doubt cakes would ever bring in as much ,only as my day job but I’m fine with that. Happiness beats money every time for me. Good luck to us all! Don’t give up on the dream even when it’s not happening as fast as you hope it would. Be persistent it will happen.

Wow!! Such great feedback…it’s nice to know that this, as well as our overall love for cake has not died out!! Since I originally posted, we have really gotten our name out in our, plus outlying communities. I average about 3 cakes a week in addition to a Farmer’s Market that we consistently sell out at. I’d like to think I am on track to make this dream a reality, but time will only tell….Bliss Pastry said it best, “I am simply wanting to pay my bills and do what makes me happy.” Soon is all I can say for me! Best of luck to everyone in making your dreams come true too!

I so agree, I have bills to pay and will be at retirement age in 5 years. Since my position has been eliminated from my employer of 15 years, I’ve chose to do something I’m passionate about. I have found over the last 8 months since I first have moved forward with this, seems to be feast or famine. When I don’t have orders, I have been learning new techniques, etc online but know this can’t continue forever. I’m wondering how fellow cakers do at Farmers Markets? How do you display cakes or cupcakes? Do you pre package? I too am exploring that avenue. I also am tossing around the store front idea. Wondering if those of you have opened a shop if there are grants available or how far you have gone with purchasing equipment and giving your shop “curb appeal”? I think the only thing holding me back is finding a valuable individual who would work for me and with me and share that passion. The other big word is FEAR! If any of you have encouraging words, I would love to hear them! My specialty at this point is cupcakes and am working at self teaching on cakes. Also thinking of breakfast muffins, simple lunch sandwiches and soups or salads per season. Of course, coffee and beverage. All of your thoughts would be so valued. Thanks bunches.

Ok, I’ll chim in..how about full time accounting & full time baking? (at least that’s what it feels like)..lol. Sleep what’s that? I have been building a customer base for a couple of years hoping to do this when I retire full time..I’m wondering, if anyone has any idea what “general Lib” insurance in michigan cost for a small business..looking to take the next step..and I hate giving out all my info just to get a quote…cyber world know too much about already..lol

I work full time as in a Special Education classroom. I love both my jobs. My husband and i both bake and dream of one day owning our own bakery. My children are grown, my son married and expecting our first grand child and my daughter is away at college. I’m enjoying what I am doing.

During the school year, I am very tired. I go back to work on Mondays, to rest up from the weekend. My two worlds are starting to collide. I don’t make enough profit making cakes to leave my full time job. I leave work on my lunch break to go do deliveries, or I take a three tiered cake with me to work to keep in the office air conditioning (away from little hands) and deliver it right after school. I am getting uncomfortable doing this. I thought my work would be seasonal with the tourists and jive with the school calendar, but much of my business is being built with the locals too. I’m busy year round. I only had a small break in January for about 2 weeks and things started hopping again.

Confession: I admire much of ya’lls work and have said, “Yeah, they have all the time in the world to do such a good job, they probably do cakes full time.”

Corrie, Peggy, I stand humbled before you. And you both still have children at home. You go girls!

It is awesome to see how many people “dream” of starting a cake business – I am adding myself to that creative group…I always dream of having a little shop filled with pretty cakes – a little piece of Paris… So, if any of you live in South Florida (Palm Beach) I’m open to the idea of getting a business started. It doesn’t cost to dream and it gives you something to do while you’re waiting for those cake orders – :))))

my husband and I work part time in bookkeeping and then the rest of our time is making cakes. We make cakes for a local restaurant and then also create custom cakes for other clients. We hope to transition out of our day job by the end of the year and start cakes on a permanent basis. We homeschool our daughters and so the day job is consuming time we do not have. Once we cut ties with that we hope to open a retail store for our cakes but still bake at home..just because we have 3 ovens at home and our city is ridiculous in codes. On average we create 6-7 cakes per week..my husband bakes sometimes and I do most of the decorating

My husband is Active Duty, so we move all the time. Once he retires, I hope to open a kitchen. We plan on building a house, and I hope to design the kitchen and an additional room to accommodate a cake business. I’d love to open a storefront, but as everyone stated, the economy stinks right now! I also think a home based business would give me more freedom with my schedule. I won’t have to be in the kitchen 18 hours a day because my baker quit; I’ll have more flexibility with my schedule and taking time off; and, the overhead cost would be less than renting a storefront. The internet and local advertising could definitely make this possible for all of us! Luckily, all of the places we’re considering after my husband’s retirement have cottage food laws in place. Hopefully the rest of the states can get on board as well :)

Here is a little website I found that may help some dreams come true.

http://www.kickstarter.com/

I hope that helps.

(I have no ties/relationship with this website, other that I seen it one day and thought it seems to help a lot of people follow their dreams)

Wow! So much has happened since I first posted this…my little cake venture has completely outgrown the cottage food laws and had no choice but to move to a commercial kitchen…now we are researching commercial space, are currently driving to look at display cases and my plan for this evening is to write up my official resignation. Dream big and it will happen! I’ve waited over 15 years for this and cannot believe this is actually happening!