Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashlee Mohr-Santmyers.
Hi Ashlee, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I have always loved baking; I have memories as far back as a child in the kitchen with my grandma. I would help her roll out pie dough. I struggled to find a creative outlet growing up, I tried writing, tried art, I knew I wanted to do something but nothing ever really stuck, and then I tried cake decorating, and I was hooked. Storybook Delights, started out years ago, as Any Occasion Cakes and Pastries by Ashlee…I know a mouthful, but it was just something I did making cakes for my family and friends, and a place I could post my cake work without it cluttering my personal page. Fast forward almost a decade, I met my husband, and he decided to help me turn my dream into a reality. It was a slow start, and it seemed like my dream would always just be that, a dream, and then the furlough came, everything got flipped upside down, we decided to rebrand into Storybook Delights. We hit the ground running and haven’t looked back yet, and now we are in the process of growing once again. If you had asked me ten years ago what I thought I would be doing, owning and running my own business would not have been my answer.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not always been smooth. There have been many speed bumps along the way. Either time constraints, working a full-time job, and trying to get things up and running. There were a couple of times when I thought, I would have to give up, because the demand was not there, or I couldn’t get my foot in the door at the right time, it always seemed like I was a day late, a dollar short as the saying goes. More recently there was a period of time, after our successful rebrand, where I wasn’t sure I was cut out for this anymore. Struggles with work-life balance led to problems at home, and problems with the business, but we took it one day at a time, made the best of each day, and got through everything. Then life hit us with the biggest curveball yet, we were expecting our second, and we sadly lost him at 21 weeks, we were so worried about the fall out of being a small business and having to cancel weeks’ worth of orders, we were worried we would not be able to bounce back, but the community support was amazing, and though it took some time, we were able to come back from that challenge as well.
As you know, we’re big fans of Storybook Delights. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a custom cake and pastry shop, and our motto is “Every dessert has a story, let me tell yours”. We specialize in custom cakes, I like to say that no request is too crazy, though I have had some crazy ones. We can make a cake for any theme, or any occasion. My favorite style of cake is a “peek-a-boo” style cake. By that, I mean a cake that is an elegant cake upfront, but you turn it around and there is a surprise element, usually based around a fandom of choice, kind of a nice surprise to the traditional, elegant, oftentimes boring wedding cake. This way you get a cake that no one else has.
How do I do a cake no one else has had, every cake is different, even when I recreate a cake, we are always learning from past designs on how better to implement something, or maybe we want to try something just a bit different, so you can set two of my cakes down side by side and they may be the same theme, but there will be something different about them. We want everyone to feel like they are getting a truly one-of-a-kind cake, made custom to their order.
The other thing that sets me apart, and what I am most proud of is my commitment to being a fresh bakery, I have a three-day window on my cakes, for bake/build/decorate and deliver, my cakes are always as fresh as can be, we never freeze our cakes.
I think what people are often most shocked to find out is that everything we do comes out of our home kitchen. We operate as a cottage bakery right now.
If I had to convey one thing, don’t be shy or afraid to ask for what you want, I have done everything from a kinky cake to a 5-tier elegant wedding cake, there really is nothing too crazy, and we will also prioritize flavor over design when it comes to budget. You can have the most beautiful cake in the world, but if it is dry then that is all people will remember. I would rather you have to compromise on detail for flavor if it comes down to a budget choice.
What’s next?
Our next big step is to make the jump to LLC, we are looking to expand and bring on some additional help for the holidays, we are considering a brick and mortar, that is the ultimate dream.
Contact Info:
- Email: Storybookdelights@gmail.com
- Instagram: @StorybookDelights
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/StorybookDelights
