Today we’d like to introduce you to Brenda J. Moreno.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m the owner and the face & hands behind all the “too pretty to eat” confection creations. I am so grateful and honored to a have the opportunity to share my story with you all.
As a young girl I was always thrilled with the idea of celebrating and creating my own DIY party decorations and desserts. During the pre-pintrest era (the 90’s), I was inspired by the vibrant colors and textures of my Mexican culture, school holiday projects and pop culture trends.
My first non-paying gig was in the second or third grade. I had volunteered myself to make my classmates pretend wedding invitations. Each single invitation was hand cut and written in my ever so neatly #2 pencil calligraphy. The invitation was adorned with hearts made with leftover construction from a previous class project. Needless to say, my classmate (the soon to be bride) loved the invitations. However, the wedding never happened, because the groom got cold feet.
In the third and fourth grade, I absolutely fell in love with arts and crafts. It brought so much joy and excitement because it allowed me to express myself in such a creative way. One of the most memorable projects and learned skill set I learned was sewing. All the quilts we finished were donated to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. This marked the beginning of my forever happy place of creating.
Fast forward to 2009. During this time in my life so many things had already happened. I had just celebrated my one year wedding anniversary (for those asking, no, I did not make my own wedding invitations). I graduate from Norco College in the end of spring (later transferred to CSUSB, to complete my undergrad), and my husband and I were expecting our firstborn son in the fall.
Once having my son, I took about six months off of work. I only stayed employed for an additional six months, when I decided to stay home with my son. It was definitely a huge adjustment for me. I was home 24/7. Although I was grateful to have the opportunity to stay home, I felt like a part of me was missing. I needed a creative outlet. Slowly, I started to venture off into the baking world. I did what every single newbie baker does: purchase every single gadget, silicone mold, cake pans, and cookie cuter. Soon my little baking supply bin turned into an entire storage rack full of my precious tools.
The best opportunities to practice my baking and decorating skills were for my kids birthday parties, friends graduations, and family gatherings. I had zero professional pastry training. Most of my skills were adopted from trial and error and tons of YouTube videos. Even though it was hard and frustrating in the beginning, I loved it so much that I was determined to be the best. Passion was my driving force!
By 2012 my second son was born in the Spring, I was enrolled in the fall to attend California State University of San Bernardino and my husband was too starting his first year in Nursing School. With of full mommy, wife and school schedule, time was definitely limited. However, I still managed to carve time to practice my baking and decoration skills.
After some time, I had mustered up the courage to start promoting and selling my product. My heart raced as I uploaded my very first picture of my work on social media. I was so nervous and thought to my self, “I hope I just bet one like”. The verdict was in. I had a total of 3 likes, one of them I was mine. The more I practice the more confident I grew.
My first non-paying clients were of course my friends and family, not because they expected the services to be free, but because I was eager and passionate to create edible art. Thanks to their continuous love and encouraging words, I’ve grown so much as an artist and I will forever be grateful for that!
By this time our little family had grown: 2 boys and 1 girl. Finally, with so much sacrifice, I too completed my undergraduate studies Spring 2015. I proudly was the first in my family to obtain two undergraduate degrees: Human Communications and Public Relations, and a minor in Intercultural Communication. After giving it so much thought, I decided to take the plunge and start my journey of entrepreneurship. Brenda’s Sweet Treats was officially in business fall 2015.
Being part of this amazing baking community has allowed me to work with some of the best event planners, have my work featured in most sought after party blogs and create some amazing friendships. This journey has been quite the ride. All the blood, sweat, tears and long nights were well worth it.
Even through some of my darkest moments of my life: the loss of my young nephew Matthew and the sudden death of my teenage brother Edgar, being in the kitchen baking and decorating was my refugee. It allowed me to work through so many emotions. I don’t share this to receive pity, but instead, to use my story to inspire all those who are going through something difficult in their lives. Just remember, your current situation is not permanent, this too will pass. Keep going, keep showing up, you are one-of-a-kind!
Great, 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?
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint heart. This was a saying that is frequently echoed in these self-made businesses. I quickly began understood what that meant. Self anything came with tons of trial and error, and taking the leap of faith and hopes that everything I imagine and plan for my journey would go as planned. Wrong! It was hard! The raw truth is that I hated it for the first year, I constantly questioned my entrepreneur journey. Many things went wrong, from cake delivery disasters, disgruntled customers, to my toddler biting off the ears from the freshly decorated Mickey Mouse cookies. From these and many other experiences I learned to become mentally tough.
Time management is still one of the biggest challenges that I face as a mom-preneur. Most of my time is dedicated to running my business and maintaining those relationships that I’ve created my industry. I’ve had to sacrifice family events, calling off on girls night out, and most important my kids school and sporting events. Mom guilt is the worse feeling. However, I am at ease to know that when I’m not there, my husband or extended family members are there to help.
Nobody said that achieving my goals of running an online bakery was going to be an easy road. However, I am excited and I look forward to enjoying all of the fruits of my labor with my family.
Please tell us about Brenda’s Sweet Treats.
Brenda’s Sweet Treats is an online-based business and we operate from Moreno Valley, Ca. We service the Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire. We make sweets for all events: weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays, corporate events, ect.
It’s a one-woman-show. I do it all: customer services, operations, social media, baking, decorating, ect. Thankfully, my husband and family help with the packaging and other tasks on really busy weeks.
We are known for our one-of-a-kind decorated cookies and cakes that are sure to be a show stopper. In addition, we provide other sweet confections such as: cupcakes, cake pops, candy apples, chocolate covered: Oreos, rice crispy treats, and pretzel rods.
What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life and business?
Creating this business has not been luck at all. Tons of groundwork was done in order to get my name out there. I was out in the community offering free samples, discount codes with minimum purchase and donated 1,000 mini cookies for a nonprofit marathon event. In addition, I collaborated with a group of handmade crafters on Instagram that invited me to participate at their event.
All that effort slowly started paying off. Soon, I started to book orders and built my clientele. As work picked up, during the day I took care of my little ones and prepped for my orders. At night, once I tucked them in, I worked until the wee hours of the morning. I had to do what had to be done to continue building Brenda’s Sweet Treats.
Contact Info:
- Address: Home base business: 12941 Jackdaw st. Moreno Valley 92555
Hours of operation for calls/ text: 10am-6pm - Website: brendassweettreats.com
- Phone: 951-529-5023
- Email: [email protected]
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