Today we’d like to introduce you to Dani Richardson.
Hi Dani, 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?
I have always loved working with food ever since my first Home Economic class in middle school I was hooked. I grew up working in nothing but restaurants, being able to watch chefs/bakers create amazing delicious masterpieces and realized I couldn’t wait to do it myself.
After I turned 30 and my kids were a little older, I had decided to start my own business from home. I started off supplying local bistros and country clubs desserts to sell to their clients. But felt that I could do more than just baked breads. I worked day and night practicing and studying different techniques.
I had fine-tuned my own recipes and techniques that worked best for me and became a buttercream cake and sugar cookie artist.
About five years ago, I made the move to Orange County where my business took off. I started doing weddings and working with local country clubs supplying decorated themed desserts for all their holiday parties. I had recently worked with an actor starting a baking show recreating my cakes blindfolded called the Blindfold BakeOff.
I do love that with everything that I do day to day is that I love that my clients put their trust in me to create amazing, delicious and fun desserts to help them celebrate with their loved one’s birthdays, graduations and celebrations.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It did start off very slow for me trying to figure out what my clients might like. I had months and months of testing recipes, which some were amazing and some not so much. I did have amazing support from my friends and family which made it extremely easy to keep moving forward even when I was feeling defeated thinking that no one would want to work with me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a licensed home baker that specializes in Custom Cakes and decorated sugar cookies. I am known for my cakes, cookies. I am most proud of how far I have come with decorated sugar cookies and my cakes. I think what sets me apart from some other cake designers is that I am solely a Buttercream Cake artist which means I do not use any fondant on any of my cakes. I use buttercream, decorated cookies and chocolate to help me recreate my client’s visions. As for sugar cookies, I feel that my attention to the details helps my cookies stand out.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I definitely feel that I have had luck throughout the last few years with having an amazing family backing me up 100% even though they rarely saw me with the crazy hours I was working. When Covid started, I had feared the worse and thought that I would be done and everything I had worked for was gone. After two weeks, that all turned around and my business tripled in less than a month. The support from my community for small business was the most amazing thing and so very lucky.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/miabellabakeshop
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/miabellabakeshop
