Meet Dee Williams of Elegant Impressions Bakery in Inland Empire – Riverside

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dee Williams.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Dee. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Food. Desserts. Both of these words have a special place in my heart, especially as a bay area native. Growing up between Oakland and Hayward, I was able to experience some of the most amazing food cultures in California. From mom and pop Chinese food restaurants to Taco trucks and Burrito shops and Clam Chowder bowls from Pier 39, I must say, my knowledge for good food was created by patronizing these businesses.

The passion that I have for baking comes from some of the most influential women in my family. When I was a child, my grandmother taught me how to make cupcakes from Betty Crocker cake mix; yellow with no frosting was her favorite, and every year for Thanksgiving she would make the most delicious Sweet Potato pies for the family. My Aunt Jean baked excellent cakes, Christmas cookies, yeast rolls and the best of them all, my number one go to of all desserts, Peach Cobbler. Although my mom didn’t bake much, her Apple Pie recipe was so good that I add it my holiday menu every year. One of my specialties is pound cake. The inspiration for all of my flavors actually comes from my Aunt Gwen. One summer, around my teenage years, she gave me a recipe for her favorite, lemon cream cheese pound cake. This was the first time I made a cake from scratch and I was pretty nervous. It came out ok not as moist as they are now, but she and the rest of my family enjoyed it. This was the cake that I perfected, making it for many parties and family functions, and it is now apart of my current menu for clients.

Let’s fast forward a bit to how this baking business was created. In 2014, when I lived in Atlanta, GA my husband inspired me to create a plan of entrepreneurship. I always found myself asking these questions “What else is there for me to do besides working for someone else to make an income?” And, “What do you love to do that doesn’t feel like work?” My husband knows I have a talent for cooking and that I live for sweet’s, so he suggested that I should start my own food company. Now in the state of Georgia, the food laws are more strict than the ones in California and it was illegal to sell food outside of your home, but I was able to find a law that let individuals sell baked goods from their home without having a commercial kitchen. Hence, the cottage food law. I did my research about what permits I needed, what food items I could sell, who could I sell to, everything you needed to know about this law I studied it.

After all was said and done, I was a cottage food baker and the first name of my company was Dee’s Sweets (named after me of course). Boy was I in over my head. I didn’t know much about selling cupcakes and cakes so YouTube was my University for ALL of the information I needed at the time. I felt like I was in college all over again with numerous amounts of videos on how to bake moist sweets, how to roll out Fondant and cover a cake, how to create marketing material, anything for a self-taught baker could learn from. My first customers were former co-workers, and for every monthly staff meeting, I made pound cakes or cupcakes for an employee birthday within the month. Family members also were a great support to my business, I had the honor of catering all of the desserts for my mother’s wedding as well as my Aunt Gwen’s birthday one year. With all of the extra income, I was able to purchase filers, menu brochures, business cards, and even a logo for Dee’s Sweets. By then two years passed and I relocated to So Cal in 2016, where drastic changes were made for my business.

I missed living on the West Coast, so my two daughters, my husband and I moved back to the IE and I was very determined and eager to find new clients and introduce them to Dee’s Sweets. This transition was not easy. I went for months without any clients, and I honestly didn’t have a clue who I wanted to cater my business to. At one point, I was what you called “The Jack of all Trades.” Any order I could get I took, just to get my name out there. I didn’t have a specific niche, and I was practically selling desserts without making much of a profit. I felt so overwhelmed and underpaid, I had a strong feeling that I wasn’t operating this business correctly until I found a group on Facebook called Cake Cents. Cake Cents is operated by Janelle Copeland, who won an episode of Food Networks Cake Wars and owner of the bakery “The Cake Mama’s” in Glendora, California. This was exactly what I needed!

Cake Cents is a group for bakers like myself ran by a woman who knows the ins and outs of the cake world. At the time, she offered an 8-week business course called “Passion to Profit” which teaches students how to run a successful baking company. I immediately signed up for it and this improved my business drastically. I learned so much pertinent information such as pricing my products correctly, time management, marketing, brand awareness and finding my ideal client. When I completed the course, I had more confidence in selling my desserts, and I was able to find who my ideal client was. Janelle is a great business mentor and I am grateful that I was able to find her at one of the darkest times of being a business owner.

I’ve been in business since 2014, gone through three logos and two names, changed my ideal client three times and now I am at a point where I can take my time to focus on my niche, catering elegant events with dessert tables. In the beginning, I was unaware of what it took to run a successful business, and now I realize that I am more than just a lady who creates beautiful desserts. I am a businesswoman who has the ability to sell products to the right people and make a profit from doing so. Eventually, I want to open a storefront and have the opportunity to pass my business down to my children so they can continue the legacy of Elegant Impressions Bakery.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Honestly, I wouldn’t say that I’ve had huge struggles being a business owner yet. There were situations where others may look at it as a struggle, but I see it as a learning lesson. I wear many hats, I have a full-time job, I am a proud wife with two beautiful daughters and a business owner. There are some nights where I only get two hours of sleep from clients orders and still have to go to work at my day job. It can be overwhelming and exhausting, but my main focus is handing my company over to my children someday, so they are able to have their own source of income instead of making someone else rich. When I get off track, I just think about their future and what it will be, take a deep breath and keep it moving.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Elegant Impressions Bakery story. Tell us more about the business.
Elegant Impressions Bakery is a dessert catering company which specializes in full-service dessert bars and candy tables. I create smaller desserts such as gourmet cupcakes, cake pops, cookies, and designer candy apples for elegant occasions. My best selling desserts is my Death by Chocolate cupcakes (a moist dark chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache) and the Churro cupcakes (a cinnamon swirl cupcake with cinnamon buttercream and topped with a handmade caramel glazed cinnamon churro). I am proud that I am able to not only provide beautiful desserts but make them delicious and full of flavor. Everything I make is from scratch, and I only use high-quality ingredients and organic fruits. I find that these days excellent customer service is very hard to come by, so I guarantee that every client that I work with, receives an outstanding personal experience from me.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I have good luck both in life and my business. I was blessed with a talent for creating contemporary desserts and I am fortunate enough to share my talent with clients that I meet. Everyone has bumps in the road, and as I grow older, I realize that life is too short to dwell on past shortcomings. I have a motto that I stand by: “Live your life to fullest without any regrets”.

For those who are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur and you have doubts, please don’t let that stop you from achieving your goals. Being a business owner isn’t for everyone, but if you are a determined individual who isn’t scared to take a chance in life, then I say go for it! I still have a long way to go until I open my storefront, but I am willing to work hard and learn whatever I can to get it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elegantimpressionsbakery.com
• Phone: (510) 468-0141
• Email: elegantimpressionsbakery@gmail.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/elegantimpressionsbakery
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/elegantimpressionsbakery

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