6 Years, some redirection and a new vision...
We were recently asked by FairFaw Scotland to write a blog piece for them. I thought we'd share it here in the hope it inspires me to find an hour each week to bring you up to speed on all things Le Cakepop Kitchen. This one gives you a little insight into our journey over the last 6 years. There's so much more to say, but let's leave that for another day!
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To understand our now, you need to understand our then.
In 2015, myself (Lynsey) and Emma, were all about the side hustle. We both had a passion for baking, we were both total foodies, and we were (haha yeah right, are) both just on the wrong side of being fatties, so we weren’t scared of the calories in our bakes! Baking and making delicious food and sharing it with others was, and is, a true joy of ours. Ask our friends what they love most about our (pre-covid) games nights, and I guarantee they would all said ‘the food’.
Our kitchen truly is the heart of our home, and very much the heart of our business. Since starting this ‘side hustle’ almost 6 years ago, we have become a highly recommended, award winning business, a true staple in the wedding industry pantry. However, despite having a good solid few years of weddings under our belt, we spent a long time feeling that we didn’t quite belong!
Let me explain.
Wedding Favours. That’s it. That was what we believed our only offering to the wedding industry could and would ever be. For me, stepping into an established industry where everyone seemed to know everyone else, almost felt suffocating. We heard the whispers of ‘people like us will never win awards’. We saw the hesitation that followed the statement ‘oh, that’s…unique’. We had a goal, we had a vision, we had a plan, ok it may have been written on a post it note Meredith and Derek style (if you know, you know), but it can be hard to silence the negative energy.
So we didn’t. It really is amazing what can happen when you take moments of rejection and turn them into moments of redirection.
Instead of trying to fit the mould when it came to weddings, we spent the next couple of years establishing ourselves as a company where the couples who wanted to break with tradition and not end up tossing 50% of their £800-tiered traditional wedding cake into the bin the day after their wedding, came to for their wow moment. For the tower of cake pops in place of the cake. For the edible, personalised favours and finally, the custom dessert tables which stood centre stage at an evening reception. All of these things enabled us to get creative in the kitchen, play with flavour and colour and ingredients and really hone our skills to the point where we have nothing but confidence in every single, individually made item that leaves our kitchen and this brings us full circle to where we are today.
By the time the pandemic hit in 2020, all of the things we had learnt had enabled us to be future ready. We had the confidence as a business to pursue our vision of becoming a household name. We built our own website which meant our UK wide audience was growing at a steady pace; created an online store and teamed up with couriers to ship goodies UK wide; got to grips with the world of social media for business (we love Instagram, it is absolutely our favourite social media app!); brought on some amazing brand reps who absolutely believe in our vision and values, and set up a monthly cake subscription box service. I genuinely believe that if it wasn’t for the lessons we learned in the early years of Le Cakepop and in the wedding industry, we wouldn’t be where we are today and for that im truly grateful.
2020 - 2021 has been a year where as a business we have absolutely thrived. I’m cautious as I write this. I know it hasn’t been the same for everyone, but it’s something im proud of, and it didn’t come from luck. We did, and still do, put in a crazy amount of time and energy into Le Cakepop Kitchen. From the moment our eyes open in the morning until they shut at night (or sometimes the early hours of the next morning!) we are fully ensconced in all things Le Cakepop Kitchen.
In early 2020, when the whispers of the coronavirus outbreak were still quiet and seemed so far away, we decided to start thinking about rebranding. We wanted to grow up a bit and ensure that we were running a company that was built on values we believed in and that the audience who had grown with us could understand and relate to. We tossed around some name change ideas, thought about logos, discussed our values and what they actually were (this was so hard to get down on paper!) and by the time the UK went into lockdown in March 2020 we were already too far into the process, and too passionate about it, to stop. On April 2nd 2021, Le Cakepop Kitchen was officially launched and another chapter in our business vision was achieved. Maybe this is something I will blog about another time as the process was long and I don’t want to bore those of you who have lasted this long into the blog!
It is safe to say that the journey from 2015 to today has been one where we have faced failure and had incredible triumphs. Every person we have met so far on this journey has left their mark. From the couples who have and will continue to have Le Cakepop Kitchen as a supplier for their weddings, thankyou. You have truly inspired us to create for YOU, not for what is deemed acceptable by an industry, especially one where we believe there is room for everyone, because every couple is unique. To the friends we have made along the way, the ones whose expertise we call upon to help us grow, the ones who champion us, the ones who challenge us, thankyou. To the family who we don’t see often because we work all the time, and our boys who put up with cakes taking over the house, we love you and we are grateful that you share in our vision. Finally, to those who had their doubts, and maybe still do, thank you for the redirection.
Until next time,
Lynsey (and Emma, who would say more but is making the dinner…)