Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie DeVoll and Mandy Arburua.
Whisk’d Away unknowingly started as two coworkers planning a birthday party. Mandy has worked in the restaurant industry for 18 years. Starting as hostess/busgirl and working her way up to General Manager. Baking is in her blood. She learned to bake from her mother at a young age and has always loved being in the kitchen. After having her daughter, she left the industry and became a stay at home mom.
When it was time for her to daughter to start school she decided she wanted to find a job that would allow her to get back in the kitchen but this time in the BOH, baking. Stephanie never felt more at home than that first day in culinary school. After graduation, she continued to learn and fine tune her trade while working in the pastry industry. She worked for a high-end resort which taught her discipline and hard work. After leaving the resort she worked her way up learning different tricks of the trade along the way. Eventually, she became a head pastry chef and helped open another thriving small business which is when she hired on Mandy.
We met in 2017 while working together. Similar charisma and chemistry allowed our baking to fuel each other. After working together on that first birthday party we were asked to do another. Having so much fun doing what we both loved we realized it was something we could do on our own. We wanted to be able to work for ourselves and build something for our families and our future. We decided to offer our services to other friends and family. For every party we did we would get more and more referrals. Before we knew it, we had events booked every weekend. The two of us sat down and realized we had hit a point where we knew wanted to focus on growing our business full time. We decided we would take the leap and both quit our jobs to start our own business.
Has it been a smooth road?
Fortunately, it has been a pretty smooth road. Starting your own business always comes with certain struggles but we haven’t faced anything that would deter us from going forward. Our biggest struggle that we have faced and are currently facing is how to scale up. We have hit the capacity of what we can do as a home-based business and now its time for us to make those next steps in attaining a brick and motor production facility. This challenge is going to be one of the hardest yet most rewarding, and we are so excited to see what the future holds. Our advice to those just starting their journey is to not be afraid of change, to embrace it. When we started we had certain ideas and thoughts of how things would play out, but along the way those ideas have changed. What has made us so successful is being able to roll with the changes. Business is an ever-changing force and some things work and others do not. You have to be able to adapt to continue to grow. If something doesn’t work, it is a learning experience, not a failure.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Whisk’d Away – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Whisk’d Away is a bakery caterer located out of Downey, CA. We service the areas of Los Angeles County, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. We offer a wide range of pastries made from scratch. Specializing in wedding cakes, birthday cakes, custom sugar cookies, full dessert displays, mini desserts (cupcakes, cheesecakes, eclairs, macarons, etc.), and even vegan desserts. We are most proud of the fact that almost all of our clients have come to us through word of mouth. People who have been at events we have done, referrals from clients to their friends and family, and people who have heard from others about how great our product is. This concept is amazing. It gives us such pride knowing that our product speaks for itself. What sets us apart is the relationship we build with our clients. We have a lot of returning clients that we have celebrated milestones with, baby showers, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries. One of the services that we really pride ourselves on is our one year wedding anniversary follow up. Let’s be honest no one wants to eat cake that has been sitting in your freezer for a year. When you book your wedding with us we offer to make you a 6″ replica of the top tier of your wedding cake for your One year Anniversary. It’s our way to say thank you for allowing us to be part of your special day.
What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
Do not give up! Some days are harder than others but the reward in saying your own business is so much greater than any hard day.
Honestly, do not be afraid to ask questions. Other thriving small businesses have so much advice to offer. We have had sit downs with restaurant owners and picked the brains of other business owners. They will tell you about their mistakes, what not to do, and what are the “must haves”. The small business community is all about helping each other succeed. For networking, social media is a huge asset. Instagram and Facebook allow you to reach so many people. Another piece of advice would be to get out in your community. We do a lot of work with one of the schools here in Downey, CA and that has really helped make us a household name in the community.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whiskd_away
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhiskdAwayPatisserie
Image Credit:
All images belong to Whisk’d Away
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