Today we’d like to introduce you to Fonnita Gumulia.
Hi Fonnita, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My baking career started back in 2010 making my son’s first birthday cake. My baking experience started at my mom’s kitchen at an early age with my curiosity of watching and assisting her in baking those specialty Indonesian layer cakes for the special occasion. In the other hand, my cake decorating skills was also developed from building Fondant model for my son’s first birthday cake and also attending a basic fondant cake decoration class at my local Michaels store. At the time when I decorated my son’s first birthday cake, I don’t have the confident of baking the birthday cake due to limited baking skills, tools, at kitchen appliances which I end up on his first birthday cake I purchased three different sized cakes from a local bakery for his first birthday cake stacked the three different sized birthday cakes and decorate the cake with the Barney theme figurines.
When my friends and family saw the result of my first cake for my son’s first birthday, both My friends and family were impressed with the finished product. With positive outcomes my loved one and close friend’s encouragement of me to start a home cake decor business, I make that determination to invest on proper baking utensils, equipment and appliances. My knowledge and skill in creating fondant figurines was gained over time by attending baking and fondant figurines classes and also viewing hours of YouTube videos to gain experience in fondant figurines and baking.
My first official customer was my close friend which she gave me the opportunity to decor a 2-tier Doraemon-themed birthday cake with 8 fondant figurines with lots of detail. With the finished result of the Doraemon birthday cake, slowly from word of mouth my other friend decided to order birthday cakes from me for their family member starting from a simple to an overly complex fondant figurine design.
I reside in Covina and I serve numerous repeats customer residing as far as Ventura, West LA, the Inland Empire and Orange County.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Since my first occasion is a full-time mother for my two boys it is difficult with limited time in a given day which resulted me only accepting a limited number of orders in a weekly basis. When the Covid pandemic hit in the year 2020, it did put a stop on my cake décor business that for a period of one month due Los Angeles County mandate that forces many cancelations of many in-person plan celebrations of birthdays, weddings, and special occasions. Praise to God that after a period of one month in a great surprise, I become more busier than before because many of my repeats customers still make that decision to celebrate with their close friends and family so with that the request for a more complex custom birthday and special occasion cakes skyrocketed which resulted my 2022 calendar fully booked.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
With the continuous growth and reputation on repeat customers on my baking business, I knew that I want to give back. As I do my research, I found these nonprofit icing smile organizations in which I make a decision to donate my time and talent to decor dream cakes for children with special needs. The result from giving my time and talent in designing cakes for special needs children at times it brings greater joy and fulfillment being able to see a smile on a few of these special needs children’s faces. and I’m so proud when a couple of my cakes getting featured in Cake Master Magazine.
When I look back on the journey on these last 12 years as a cake décor, my experience ranges mostly on specialty custom birthdays, anniversaries, and wedding cakes. But at certain occasions, a few of my customers did request me to make cupcakes, cookies, cake pops and macaroons. At this time my main focus is on custom cakes.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Dedication and making every cake building personal that if today is my last day I will deliver the very best and ensure that every Cake delivered will bring a smile.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/myglorioustreats
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byfunni
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/myglorioustreats
Image Credits
Stanley Bratawira Photography Victoria Gold Photography Megan Burke Photography Playful Soul Photography
