Episode 38: Cristina Arevalo - The art cake coach & No icing podcast

Speaker A: Welcome to the Adventures in Cakeland podcast. I'm, um, your host, Yvonne and this is the podcast where we talk about the ups and downs of cake life, running a business, exploring the latest cake trends and hearing authentic stories from other cake business owners. I really hope you enjoy today's episode. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to another episode of the Adventures in Cakeland podcast. So how are you? I and Harry's business. So today I have a guest, I actually have a returning guest, another podcaster. I've been a guest on m her podcast a few times last year. So I wanted to reciprocate and have a back on and just have a catch up chat and see how things are. So today's guest is Christina from the Arcade Coach podcast. And we're going to be talking about various things and just having a conversation really. And then after her interview, we're going to catch up with what I've been up to in the business, including the relaunch of my sit back kickback and also what I've seen trending. So without further ado, let's get on with the main portion of the show. Oh, Christina, how are you today? Hello, Yvonne.

Speaker B: I'm very happy to be here with you.

Speaker A: Great. So it's so good to have you back on. So you was on my podcast. Let me just have a look. In 2023 you were episode 15 and I'm up until my 30s now, so it's been quite a while since you've been on. So I'm just nice to check in to see what's going on with you. And I've been on your podcast a few times last year, so I thought it's about time to I reciprocate it and you come back onto mine for a bit.

Speaker B: Oh, uh, I love it. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Uh, I, you know, I always love to record episodes with you, so I mean, it's in my podcast. In your podcast. It's just, it's, it's fun.

Speaker A: Same, same.

Speaker B: Yeah, happy to be here.

Speaker A: So before we get started, I'd just like to say congratulations on your DMA's nomination. So would you share with the listeners what you've been nominated for and what the award is?

Speaker B: Yeah, I was very excited about that. Well, I'm, I'm extremely excited about the Community Cake Francaise Creative being nominated for the third time. Hopefully the third time is the chart.

Speaker A: I hope so, because.

Speaker B: Yeah, because we've been there for three years nominated, which is already nice to be nominated because there's so Many K communities out there. So just being recognized as one of the top is great. And also for the, for my coaching, the Art K coach, um, which honestly, I don't think. Think I'm gonna win.

Speaker A: I don't know. You never know. Yeah.

Speaker B: But, but I'm excited and I, and I keep saying this to, to the other nominees and, and to every, anybody who asked me. This is such a new, uh, niche, I mean, such a new industry within our niche that, um, just to be recognized as the top six of it is.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker B: Thank you. Yeah, it's awesome.

Speaker A: Amazing. It's, it's lovely to be recognized by your peers as well, that you're doing amazing work.

Speaker B: Yeah, it is.

Speaker A: So are you going to come over for the award show? Will you be attending this year or you're not going to attend?

Speaker B: No, yes, I'm going. I plan it to attend anyway. Uh, last year I said, well, yes, I'm going again. And uh, what it happened that I have two nominations, so even better.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So yes, yes, I'm going to go. And it's just a great time with, with everyone, just to see everyone in the industry say hello, have a little bit of fun, get to wear a nice gown because, you know, it's a black tie. Uh, so. Yeah, it's good.

Speaker A: It's. So when I see awards, when I

Speaker B: see award chef, uh, the award is going to be on the 21st, if I'm not mistaken. 21st of February. Yeah. Is at, ah, uh, Maidstone in the Kent. I don't remember the. I don't remember the name of the castle, but I know it's a castle.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah. It's going to be nice.

Speaker A: Yes. I just want to say congratulations and well done for that.

Speaker B: Thank you so much.

Speaker A: Um, those of you who didn't listen before, if you go back to episode, I think it's 15 when I interviewed Christina. But for those of you that haven't listened to the previous episode, and you don't know about Christina, she is a cape coach. So we know you as a coach. But when did you actually make the transition from stopping your business to becoming a Kate coach?

Speaker B: Well, you know, it all kind of started, uh, during the pandemic when, when we went into lockdown. I, uh, was already thinking about not baking anymore because I, I was just tired. I was just tired of, of, of the hours of the, uh, I was tired. Honestly. I'm gonna be honest. Even though I talked to my, my coaches like, no, you can do it, but I was tired. I was like, I need Something different. Then pandemic hit and, uh, I created the group Cake for Instagrative. Uh, because, okay, let's just get together and talk about, uh, you know, recipes and maybe share some knowledge while we're at home. Uh, but the group grew and it got to a point that people started asking me, like, how do you record a video on YouTube? Or how do you manage your time? Or how do you, uh, do these things? So it kind of went, you know, organically, one thing to the other. Because in the groups, in the communities, people kept asking me things and I got to the point like, hey, I'm liking this, I'm liking to. I like to help people, to give them. Them, um, especially to give opportunity when they are starting out. Because I remember when, when I started out, there was like, nobody and, and if you ask for help, it was like, you're trying to take my clients away. So. So, uh, there was no support. So it all started from there, from the support and the help to my, to my community.

Speaker A: And I suppose it's nice to share that knowledge and pay it forward, isn't it? Everything that you've learned as well? Because sometimes I think we give a lot of free information when we're in these Facebook groups and people ask for, for advice, we can give it. But it's nice to be able to share that as well on a bigger platform, isn't.

Speaker B: Is it is. And, and it's, it's so rewarding to see, not only to share it, but to see them use it, put it into practice and maybe getting out of their comfort zone and starting doing live videos on their, on their own communities or on their own pages or, um, you know, um, doing live demos in one of our events that we usually do online or participating in collaborations. So, yeah, it's a little bit of pay forward, but we get the reward as well when we see them. When I see them, uh, getting out of their comfort zone. Yeah.

Speaker A: Okay, so with that. So you were a, uh, cake business owner making cakes. So what was the mindset, the mindset shift from going from I make cakes for people and now I'm going to be giving people advice on how to make cakes for other people, if that makes sense. Going from being a cake maker, huh? To being a cake coach. What was that mindset shift like?

Speaker B: Um, actually, it helped me when I, when I understood, I mean, when I was honest about what I wanted to do with my business, which was not baking cakes anymore, it made me understand better the, the business behind it. Even though I always say in my podcast, I, When I started, I didn't treat my business as a business. I didn't know what I was doing half of the time. And, uh, with time, I learned. So I think the biggest shift is I don't have to tell you how to do it, but I can show you a way to do it right. Because when we are baking, we, we. We have to follow a recipe, right? We have to follow something and we're being told how to do things. But in these cases, I'm not going to tell you how to do it, but a tool to achieve what you need. So I think taking. I mean, it was sort of like, um, stepping, uh, out of my teaching mindset into more of helping, uh, and service mindset, but adapted to the other person.

Speaker A: So, um, you had three mindset shifts. You went from being teacher, cape, business owner, ah, to coach. So there really was, like, you said, you really had to get out of your mind and sort of deliver in a different way. But how did your customers cope with that? Because you must have had, like, a massive cohort of customers that you're regular. So how did they take the news that you were going to go from being a cake maker to a coach? You wouldn't make their cakes anymore. And do you send them off to somebody else? Did you have somebody else lined up?

Speaker B: I do, I do. Uh, it was because it was during the pandemic, like, and we were in lockdown for a while. Uh, it was easy for people, I'm not gonna say, to forget about me. You know, it's like, okay, I'm not asking for cakes anymore. So. No. So the first, uh, the first almost year, I think it was. It was okay. I didn't get too many people asking me for cakes. And the few who came to ask me for cakes were like, uh, you know, I want this cake for my son, whatever. And I'm. I was like, well, you know, I'm, I'm. I'm. I didn't say at the beginning that I wasn't doing cakes, that I wasn't baking cakes. I was like, you know, I'm transitioning to a different thing. Oh, that's great. But you're gonna do my ca.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: You know, those kinds of customers that wouldn't take no for an answer. I did it the first year. Now on the second year, I said no. Now I have to be honest and say I'm not going to do it anymore. And I have a very dear friend here, a colleague that is also, uh, uh, a cake decorator, Cake artist and I just call her and say, hey, I'm not going to do cakes anymore. So everyone that comes my way, I'm going to send it your way. She was really happy about it. Uh, and the good thing is that she's starting asking me for help in the business side and she started referring other cake artists or cake decorators to me, especially for the time management side. So it kind of worked that way. But I have to be honest, I still have, I think two clients. They won't take no for an answer. Actually. Yeah. Ah, next month, Next month, Next week. I think it's next week or the week ahead. I'm going to bake, uh, cake for this, uh, this, uh, sisters, uh, triplets that I've been doing their cake since they were born.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And they're turning 18 next.

Speaker A: Oh wow.

Speaker B: And I'm going to do their cakes again. They always order the same flavor, the same kind of cake. I mean they, they're fixed on that and uh, yeah, I cannot say no to them.

Speaker A: But it's just. Do you miss it? Do you miss bakery?

Speaker B: You know, it's been, I, I didn't until the beginning of this year, but I don't know what happened. We've been talking about that in our pod, in, in, in my, I mean in my podcast when we talk about the industry and everything that um, to go back to, to basics, to that nostalgia.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: So I, I started to miss it. But it's funny because I don't miss the rush of um, you know, a big um, bespoke cake for a celebration. I just miss baking cookies.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Or cupcakes, treats or, or a simple cake. I'm kind of missing the kitchen. So I don't know, maybe I'll start just doing something even to create some content. I don't know.

Speaker A: But yeah. Yeah. Because it doesn't always have to be. I suppose sometimes what I, even though I do celebration cakes, I sometimes just like to bake a nice cake. You know what I mean? It doesn't necessarily have to be 6 foot tall or whatever. I just want to bake a nice two layer cake with an interesting flavor and sometimes that's what I want to do. Do you know what I mean? I don't want to do all the bespoke stuff. Sometimes I just want to keep it simple. So I get, I get where you're coming from. Sometimes you just have a need to just create, but not always in that big extravagant sort of thing. So yeah, you're um, we're videoing, we're recording this and behind you I can see all your beautiful models. So do you still do all that work? Do you still activities for that?

Speaker B: Yeah, that's the one that I still do and that I can, I think I cannot stop doing, which is the, the decorative part, the sugar paste stoppers and uh, the modeling toppers. I love that. That is my, that is my meditation. And I keep doing it especially for cake collaborations. I want to still be inside the industry, not just as a coach, but knowing what the other cake artists are doing, what they're putting out there, just to still know what's going on. And cake collaborations have been good in that sense because I can still do some creative work without the pressure of the customer or, or time constraint. So yeah, I, I do, I keep doing it. I just finished uh, ah, set of a, uh, shoe in a bag for a cake collaboration for shoes and bags and is inspired on Portuguese, uh, tiles. So yeah, I just finished.

Speaker A: I remember from the last podcast, I'm sure you said you were, you were, uh, you've got a background in art, is that right?

Speaker B: I do, yes. I studied, Yeah, I studied arts in uh, um, back in Venezuela when I was in, in university and uh, fine arts. So I, I used to, I used to do sculpting and stained glass. Actually today I went upstairs because I have like a room upstairs when I keep a lot of my stuff, and I found my uh, Tiffany lamps that I used to make with the stained glass. I was like, ah, I missed this. You know, I've been quite unsettled, nostalgic lately.

Speaker A: It's like, I think we all are. I think there's something in the air lately.

Speaker B: I don't know, looking at all that

Speaker A: work behind you, he looks absolutely stunning. So I could tell you a very artistic, talented person. Yeah. So. Right. Okay, so we're gonna head a little bit back to your coaching now. So at, ah, what point point do you think a cape business owner, uh, should think about, um, hiring a cake coach? At what point in their business do you think it would be best to go to a cake coach?

Speaker B: Oh, mine. I could say right from the start. Yeah, I mean, ideally right from the start. The truth is that's not gonna happen. When we all start, we, we want to figure it out by ourselves. I, I totally get that. We want to, um, you know, we're very, we have this romantic vision of the business when we start.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Oh, I bake this piece cakes. I love baking. I love being in the kitchen. And I'm going to do this for a living and it's going to be beautiful and perfect. Uh, if you could, if you're a cake decorator or baker who's just starting out and if you could seek for help at least to get you set in the foundations of, of the legal part of the business, on the, on the management, um, of the business, you know, just three or four things go get help. But we know that that is not true. Usually people, the cake decorators or the cake artists, they come to us when, when they don't, they're like desperate and they don't know what to do and they just can't anymore.

Speaker A: Things are going tits up basically.

Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. But um, having that support especially because what we do as cake decorators or as a bake as bakers is quite lonely. We're always alone in our kitchen, our home. Um, it's rare that you have like a baking buddy or friend that bakes with you or if you are working with somebody else and together you're building that business, it's usually by yourselves. Especially home based cake, uh, business um, owners or cake decorators.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And um, having that support of somebody just to say hey I did this this week and I don't know if I should have done this or I didn't like it. You know just to have that feedback with somebody, it's, it's great. But yeah, we know that doesn't happen.

Speaker A: It doesn't happen. It's always when we're sort of desperate on our last leg. So we're thinking we need, I need some help, I need a coach or whatever.

Speaker B: Yeah, especially, especially I think the number one topics are uh, pricing is on top of that list. Yeah, pricing, um, time management and all the thing related to management of the business and social media, that's usually what people look uh, help for because, because that's, that's what they struggled the most with. Yeah. But the thing is, and uh, that's what I've been working on on this uh, coaching program these three weeks, uh, on the groups is if it all comes back to even the social media, the pricing, it all comes to the most basic and simple principle of create a structure. Start, start with a structure. Once you start baking or selling your, your cakes and um, and a structure that works for you, that's it, that's it. From there, if you create a structure, you know your prices, you know how much you're spending, you're going to create a pricing system that is going to serve you. If you create a structure as a system for your Time that works for you that you can actually keep. It's going to work no matter if your business grows and, and, and you know that. We hope so. Uh, it's going to keep working. It all comes back to basics. But yeah, nobody comes to us in the beginning. Yeah. When they're starting out.

Speaker A: It's very rare. But the phenomenon of, of Kate coaches I think is something that is really welcomed in the industry. You can tell because now we have award categories specifically for Kate coaches. So I think definitely they're here to stay. But I think you've just the next question I was going to ask you about. Where do you think the blind spots are in people's businesses when they're, when they're running their business? Where do you think you identify the, the areas that they. We just don't see. And then, um, then things sort of like we overlook it. And then as a cake coach, maybe you think, oh, have you considered this? So what do you think would be the blind spots?

Speaker B: Yeah, like I said, the, the, the ones everybody see is that pricing, social media, time management, that's the one. Every, that's like the tip of the iceberg. But the ones that nobody sees and they overlook, um, it's just structure, I guess. It's just, it's is a structure. And I, um, think one of the things that I realized because this here also has become like, let's go back to basics. Um, is to keep it as simple as possible. We've been going on through all this, uh, I don't know, maybe four or five years since five years ago, this boom of coaching, right? There is a boom of, in all the industries, there's a boom of coaching of or mentors or self help or whatever. And uh, it feels that every time I hear somebody new, they try to make. Now this is the new method that is going to work. This is the new thing that is going to work for you. And um, I realized through these years that it all comes back to the most simple, basic thing in your business, which is the fundamentals, how much I'm going to charge for this, how I'm going to work every day, how I'm going to keep track of my clients and how I'm going to promote my, my, my business.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: And um, and sometimes promoting the business is not just social media and sometimes knowing, uh, your prices, having a big spreadsheet, it's go to the supermarket and do the math of whatever is that you're spending on that cake. Keep, um, track of how much things are the Prices of things are going up. Um, it doesn't have to be too sophisticated. It doesn't have to be the next big thing. As simple, as simple as it gets is easier to maintain and to keep going. And I think it's that people want. I don't know, I don't know if I'm going off topic, but the cake. Cake, card is, well, cake. I think every, anybody who works in creative, they just want the magic peel that works, right? They want, uh, this is the, I don't know, the spreadsheet that is going to help me get all my finances on track. But you have to do the work. The spreadsheet is not going to do it by itself. Uh, or this is the, I don't know, the social media planner that is going to fix my social media. Maybe not. So, yeah, everybody wants the magic pill. And it comes down to the everyday work, the simple task, the, the simple system that is going to, that you can keep doing for a long time.

Speaker A: That's it. I think people always want a quick fix for everything. And you know, if you've been running your business for a number of years, you know that you don't. You will only know about your business if you have the values in your business as well, where you know that when things don't work and then you think, ah, uh, that doesn't work, I need to try this, I need to try this. But they, everybody wants a quick fix, but I mean, we can make it easier. But they still have to have a basic understanding of their business, don't they, about what the figures are. They do. You need to have that understanding and then, you know, you can work with somebody to make it better, but you can't just like magically get them to solve everything. But I was listening to your recent episode and where you're talking about, um, people quitting, people giving up. So would you like to just discuss why you think that is? Because I myself, since the beginning of the year, I've been scrolling through Instagram and I've seen about, gosh, maybe about five businesses. And it always starts, it's with a heavy heart that I have to announce that I am closing and that, you know. But what, why do you think there's been an influx of it over the past, I don't know, especially over the past 12 months, nearly two years or so, people are just giving up. They've had enough.

Speaker B: Oh, they have been. Yeah. The same thing happens to me every time I open social media. Somebody's closing doors or I'm not doing this anymore or whatever. Um, again, I wish I could say this is why, but there's so many factors.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: That could make a person come to a point that says, I just can't hold it anymore, but because maybe somebody be honest, can be honest with, with themselves and say, well, you know what? Like I did back in the five years ago, six years ago, I was like, you know, I'm just tired of just being in the kitchen. It's not joyful for me anymore. I'm not gonna do it. Okay, fine. Uh, and the pandemic was the excuse because it was like, well, everything stopped. So let me just stop because everything stopped. Uh, but, um, if people is giving up because they cannot keep up with their business is because the basics were not there, we're never there. Uh, again, I don't want to generalize because everybody has their own reasons, right. And is entitled to their own reasons. But if the basics of keeping up with my prices and with my costs and making a business that is profitable, uh, maybe instead of, I don't know, buying thousands of cookie cutters and taking thousands of courses, that maybe I'm not going to use it for my business and my business is bleeding out money somewhere. And I don't know where he's bleeding money from or not. Um, or may even thinking that social media is the only way to market your business and you're not being successful on social media, so it's not happening. There are other ways to market your business. There are other ways to be in touch with your client. That is not social media. There has to be some of those fundamentals that just didn't work ever. So the, with the economy as it is, with the, you know, there's so many new people out there, new cake decorators, um, that, um, I don't know if they're doing the things right or if they're just taking advantage of their, um, sudden fame on social media or whatever. With the, especially the content creator bakers, uh, they're setting these big expectations and just, we cannot just keep up with those with those expectations. Uh, a lot of people not pricing, I'm not gonna say correctly, not pricing for profit and going for, for the cheap side. Not because everybody can price whatever they want as long as they're making money. But, uh, maybe other business just, just cannot sustain whatever is going on around them. But it all comes, I think it all comes to, uh, burnout because the fundamentals of, of the structure and the management was not there. Um, I mean, uh, yeah, burnout, economically because they couldn't keep up with. With. With the economy because there was no base of. Of pricing for profit. Um, it comes down to that. I'm going to keep talking about the basics, but. Yeah, yeah, M. But it's sad. It's sad to see.

Speaker A: It's really sad to see. And I, you know, and it's just like. And I get. I get everything you're saying. It's. We can get burnout, we get tired, we get fed up. I mean, I haven't really baked properly since the beginning of the new year. Uh, and it's gonna. When I do bake, it's gonna take some effort because obviously I haven't really been doing much baking. But it. But it is sad to see. But I think, you know, having your platform and having your podcast and people being able to probably listen and relate to what you're saying about the reasons why people can probably relate to that as well. But as well as doing your podcast, you've also have another podcast. Now, would you like to share with them what it's called? And why did you decide there was a need to have a differentation and have two different podcasts? So would you like to talk about no Icing? Which I think is great. Of course.

Speaker B: Of course. Yeah. It's funny because, I mean, um, I just recorded an episode of. No, I just released it today, and this is my new baby. And I'm just laughing because I'm the kind of person like, oh, there's, you know, like, I don't have anything, Any. Any. Anything else to do. Let me just do another podcast. Yeah, um, but I think it was. It came from the urge.

Speaker A: So let me explain.

Speaker B: First, if you have. If your listeners have never listened to no Icing. No Icing is sort of a spin off of my podcast, the Arcade Coach Podcast. But I just want to keep things as real as possible, as the RK Coach podcast is more towards the business side of cake and the time management, the goal setting and all of that. And I have a guest. You've been on the podcast before? Uh, no Icing is like, you know, imagine you are having a conversation with your cake buddy and you're just complaining about everything that's going on and that you are wondering why things are the way they are. That is what no Izing is.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's brilliant.

Speaker B: Yeah. Uh, I think it came from the need. I mean, I think it was needed. I still think maybe not, but I think it was needed to have open conversations because, um, there is this, um. Uh, you know, the reality of what we see sometimes in the cake industry compared to what we see online, we see on social media, we see on events, we see on competitions, you name it, or, um, even other podcasts or YouTube channels, content creators, it's so different. And when you've been in this business for a long time, you say like, no, that's. No, that's not the way it works. That's not the way. I mean, yeah, I don't bake cakes in high heels, wearing full makeup and dancing around the kitchen.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I don't do that.

Speaker B: Yeah. Or, or when you, you know, when you go to these events or competitions or whatever and you see the same people over and over again doing exactly the same thing and, and it's like, is there anybody else there in the industry to do things in a different way?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Like, what's going on? Yeah, yeah. So I, I thought this kind of conversations were necessary.

Speaker A: Necessary. And that's okay. I think it's a really good concept actually to be a, uh, really straight talking, kind of like podcast, to just say as it is, you're saying the things that people probably thinking but not saying.

Speaker B: Yeah, probably. I hope so. I had, I had good feedback so far. Nobody got mad at me yet.

Speaker A: So fantastic. It's good now. I do. I love it. I love. Listen. Well, if it's gone out today, then I'll be listening to it as I'm pottering around the house later. Uh, but Christina, we're coming towards the end of our little interview. I think I could carry on chatting to you for ages and I wanted to just try and ask you some different stuff from what you've been on before. But before we go, what are your hopes for your coaching business and the podcast? Not podcast, podcast. Um, for the future. What would you like to see for yourself in the future?

Speaker B: Well, this year, uh, my goals this year especially are, uh, very simple. Again, very simple. It's just to keep it as simple as down to earth as possible. Uh, with my coaching business, I really want to serve. Um, I'm kind of changing the narrative to home based bakers. I really want to serve home based bakers because that's where I started and that's where my business ran all the years, all the 18 years that I did, I baked cakes. Uh, it was from home. So I really want to serve that niche, those people and uh, and make them understand that it's um. Even though if you're at home and you have to take care of your family, of your dog or you have another job and then you come back home and do, and do your thing. Um, you can treat it as a business and it can be taken seriously. That's. That's my goal for this year. The podcasts are my podcasts for the future. I just want to see them grow, you know, um, it's going to sound cocky and I said it on, I think I said it on the no Icing episode today. It's like, I know what I'm sharing is good. Like, I know people. I mean, I know this could help people. So I just want to see the show grow and, uh, get to as many cake makers and bakers out there. Yeah, just.

Speaker A: Just keep going. Yeah. Well, thank you for being an amazing guest, as usual. I'm going to put all your links. Thank you for having me. No, it's an absolute pleasure. It's always good to talk and I know that offline week, have a conversation. We've met a few times in real life and we're always having a conversation. So it was lovely to have you back on and just, maybe just dig a bit deeper or go a bit left with some of the questions I was asking. But, um, I'm going to put all your links in the show notes. But would you just like to tell everybody where's the main place that they can make contact?

Speaker B: Uh, you can find me, uh, either in Instagram or My website is theartkoach.com. that's it.

Speaker A: You can find me there. Yeah. Brilliant. Well, thank you again, Christina, for being an amazing guest.

Speaker B: Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Yvonne, for having me. And thank you, everybody for listening.

Speaker A: Thank you. Bye.

Speaker B: Bye.

Speaker A: I'm sure as cake makers listen to this podcast, you can relate to making friends with people just across social media that you probably have never met before. Now, I met, um, Christina through social media. She put out a call out. I was listening to her podcast. I was a guest on her podcast. And I'd like to say we've been friends ever since. So it's been an absolute joy to have her on and especially talking about her new podcast, no Icing. So if you get a chance to give that a listen, I definitely would because, like we said it, she's saying things that people probably are thinking but not necessarily saying. So I'm going to put all her links in the show notes, but, um, if you're listening, Christina, thank you again for being an amazing guest. So now we're going to move on to what I've been up to in the beast knees as well. As talking about what I've seen trending over the month of January across the socials. So the month of January has been incredibly slow, which was to be expected. And also it was, I wasn't mad at it to be fair. For me, especially the first two weeks of January, it just still like Christmas season to me to be honest. I'm still feeling very chilled, very relaxed and I haven't really written the goals for the year of what I wanted to do. So I was just taking my time and then just slowly starting to post. But like I've said on other episodes, me and social media, uh, we can't really, I mean I was chilled before but this year I'm really calm and it. Because I cannot fight, keep battling and fighting with the algorithm. And um, the other day I was on Instagram and there was a post come up and you might have seen it yourselves where you can use Instagram without ads and pay, I think was it 2.99 or 3.99 or use Instagram and have the ads And I'm m like, you know what Zuckerberg, you're not getting any more of my money. So, um, as if it's getting any anyway. But you know what I mean, it's just like I'm not giving you money because the algorithm is not working. It's not working as well as it, it used to. You don't have um, you don't have the reach like you used to. So me and Instagram, you know, it's there but I'm not going to be mad at it. I'm going to, I think pull because um, it's just not hitting like it used to basically. So anyway, even though I haven't really had many orders on, one thing that I did decide to bring back was my sit back kit back. And if you've been listening to this podcast, you know all about it. But this time round where I wanted to hit it a little bit different this time. So when I first started doing this treat box, it started off being just cupcakes and then I changed and started introducing different treats into the treat box. So there was meringues, etc, etc, but because I'm feeling nostalgic and everybody's feeling nostalgic and you only have to see the trend sort of mid January where Everybody was looking 10 years back to 2016 because apparently 2016 was a good, was a good era for people. So, um, so we're looking back and I myself was feeling nostalgic and I thought, you know what, I'm going to. I'm going to take sit back, kick back. The beginning, really. I'm going to take it back to how it started. We're going to start off with reintroducing cupcakes again. But what I want you to do this time is try to have an experience around it. Because obviously we've been hearing about, you know, 2026 is the year of analog. We're disconnecting. You've only just had to hear me say, uh, how I'm pulling back from social. So we want to connect in real life. We want to get back to catch up with friends and family and not be a slave to the algorithm. And I thought, with that in mind, how can I make this treat box a bit more inclusive, a bit more fun, a bit more to allow the customer to have an experience? So driving to work as I do, um, an idea popped into my head and I just needed to manifest it. So what I wanted to do was. I've come up. You'd have to excuse me about that. That was my time. And I've got a rum cake in the oven, so I'm going to take that out shortly. I'll be right back. Back in the room. I've just been to check the rum cake, and it's not quite done yet, so another 20 minutes or so, it should be done. So anyway, where were we? Talking about how I wanted to manifest this idea that I had in my head. So experience for the customer. So what I decided to do, the first thing was I'm concentrate on the flavors. I've said before, I'm going to lean back into the flavors and because that's something that I really enjoy doing, and that's something that I really love, and I think that my customers can relate to it as well. So what I did, I came up with. I've got three flavors that were going in this box, but before that, every box is gonna have a theme or a, um, flavor LED theme or an ingredient LED theme. So. Or a flavor profile, I should say. So for this particular box, the flavor profile is spice. So the cakes will include spice. So whether that's like hot spice, aromatic, or to add or like floral, that kind of thing, the different notes that are in spices. So I had a think and I revisited a couple of flavors that I've done before. So I've done Persian love cake, um, chocolate and chili, and a spiced apple and caramel. And so the Persian love cake, if you know about that one, that's got cardamom, it's Very floral because cardamom can be a bit floral. Citrusy notes in there. Then I've done a chocolate and chili which happens to be one of my sister's favorite flavors. And it's a very night cake, very nice cake. It's not going to burn your mouth off, but you can feel a subtle kick at the back of your throat. And I just didn't put buttercream on that cake. That was a chocolate ganache and some candied chilies which were quite hot by the way. And also an apple and caramel cake. And again that's got cinnamon, bit of ginger, some cloves in it. So everything is quite spicy. And um, so I thought, right, that's the flavors done and that's the flavor profile done. And then what I decided to do was I wanted to have, have to continue the experience. So I wanted to have a website or a page that they could go to, but I wanted it separate from my cake and cupcakery website. So what I did, I created a one page in Canva. And um, what I did, I put the menu there and I've added the flavor notes for each cake. But also what I've done, I've paired each flavor cake with a drink or a couple of drinks. And so um, I wanted to do that because I felt like that would add to the experience of the cake. And then what I've also done is collated a playlist that they can tap into to um, add ah, to their experience. So they have their cake with their besties and they've got the drinks that I've paired the cakes with and also they've got a playlist to play in the background. Now you can't access this information unless you've bought a box of the sit back kitbags. Because what I've then done is got some cards printed and on the back we've got the regular allergen information and you know, the allotted time to eat the cakes. And the front is the sit back kickback, um, logo. But also there's a QR code when you scan the QR code that will take you through to this website where you can then access the flavor notes for the cakes, the drink suggestions and um, the also the link to the playlist. And I was over the moon with this. This is exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to make it a whole experience and the way that I'm selling it is that, that it's to be enjoyed in real life. It's for real life moments. So if you have a um, book club that you go to or you want to want to do one of these analog admin nights that people are doing or you have a film night like we do as a family with my sisters etc we have film nights however you want to catch up in real life or you know just get together with your besties or whatever. Um, I wanted to make it a whole experience. So that launched last week. The book the Audible closes on Thursday. And yeah, I'm really really pleased with it. But what I'm doing differently as well. The box won't be monthly, it'd be my bi monthly instead because as you know if you're coming up with flavor concepts or ideas every month it can be quite intense and I didn't want to fall out of love with it and I wanted to have enough time to think about it. So after February my next, my next box will be April and then it's just going to be six for the year, uh, ending in Christmas. So yeah, let's say let's see how that works out. But I'll really, really pleased with my concept and how I've come up with it. And when I posted it I had some lovely feedback and some lovely DMs off people that they really liked the idea. So I think it has connected with people. But you know I'll feed back to say how um it went in the next episode. But yeah my sit back kit back is definitely back. Also I forgot to mention that you know I dabble a little bit with AI and I've created some custom GPT so you've heard me mention that I created need a social media assistant and a little cake design studio GPT. So GP custom GPT is like a specific chat GPT based around certain subject or idea. So I also created a flavor, a flavor lab I cannot speak today a flavor lab that has got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 prompts based around flavor. So it's is basically to assist you in creating flavors, adding in and textures and balance etc if you struggle with that kind of thing. Because some people do, don't they? So um, I like to use the flavor thesaurus but I thought wouldn't it be a good idea if I had something that I could tap into and um, just help me create different flavors and textures around cake. So if you go onto the Instagram page and if you go into the links there, the access there via uh linktree to the custom GPT, these or the ones that I've created again it's free to use. I don't collect any of the information, but it's just something that I created for myself and so I'm saving you time. So if you want to use it, just go to the link in the bio on the Instagram, um, infected in Cakeland page. So let's move on to what we've seen trending or what I've seen trending across social media. So there's three things. So the first thing is if you've been on Instagram, you'll see the trend of, uh, people sharing what they were up to in 2016, whether that's from personal perspective or a business perspective. So I thought, let me join in the fun. So I literally went into my camera roll, searched 2016 and then just shared some pictures of cakes that I was doing in 2016. That particular era there was my peak salsa dancing era. So I used to do salsa dancing as a hobby alongside running my cake business. And my routine used to be Thursday night with my salsa night. This is excluding any dancing at the weekend or any salsa dancing congresses that I used to go to. So I used to get in from work on a Thursday, get some cake work done, whether it's finishing off orders, etc. Etc. I'd start getting ready about half past seven. I was out the house about nine o', clock, um, to get to the salsa venue at half past nine because the finished classes then. And, um, and then there'll be social dancing then till midnight. Midnight would come, we weren't ready to go home. We'd stop around talking, joking till about 1 o' clock in the morning. So I rock up in my house, house at half past one on a Friday morning and I've got to be at work for 8 o'. Clock, let me tell you, I was rocking up to work like I had hangover. Honestly, I was absolutely knackered. And when I think of it now, I don't know how we did it. I don't know how I did it because now I'm in bed by 9, 9:30. So, you know, it's just something that I look back at funnily. I don't, don't. I don't dance salsa anymore. Well, I might go back in the summer and see how things are going. But me, with me clickety knee, I don't think, um, uh, it's going to work out too well. But anyway, so when I reflect back on 2016, yes, it was the peak height of salsa dancing, but also it's the peak of my business. I was so incredibly busy, but more of a busy Fall more than anything else. So it was just a really interesting trend and it was nice to look back and it was nice to look back at other people as well and what, where they were in that particular time and what they were doing. So that was, um, a trend that was quite fun. Ten years there, um, when you, when you're the age that I am, a lady of a certain age, uh, 10 years doesn't seem like that long ago. 10 years just seemed like it was just the other day. So, yeah, I liked that trend. It was fun. It was a fun one. So the other thing that I've seen trending was Finch Bakery. So if you, I'm sure you know who Finch Bakery are. They're twins. Um, the reside up north. They have a very successful business and they, they made an amazing transformation, I think, going from doing celebration cakes to mainly an online business now. But if you followed them in the pandemic, it was absolutely hilarious. And what I like about Fitch Bakery, they really connect with their audience. So they know who their ideal customer is. And it seems like they're following them on their journey. But anyway, they were trending because they, um, stated that their bakes are halal friendly. Now, as you know, with the current climate that we live in, um, when you mention anything like that, it doesn't always make certain people very happy. Well, not certain people, but some people get really triggered by it, don't understand why. And all they're basically saying is, is that the vanilla that they use contains no alcohol. The sprinkles that they use don't contain certain food colors that include like crushed beetles. Do you know what I mean? There's certain colors that they don't have in their sprinkles or certain ingredients not in their sprinkles. So they don't use those. And obviously if they're doing any marshmallows or anything like that, there's certain gelatine that they won't, they. They're using. So they won't use that is not suitable for halal diet. Um, so I just find that really interesting. Number one, the reaction that people gave and number two, that they, they, they stated that because I think for me personally, um, I, I don't say that I'm halal friendly, but if anybody comes to me and they have those requirements for me, it would be. There would be vegan cakes basically. And obviously you would have to look at what you're including. But I've had requests somet eggless cakes and when they say eggless, I always Ask the question is, are you a vegan or is this a religious requirement? Sometimes it's a religious requirement because. And I think this is usually applicable to Hindus and Sikhs, I think, correct me if I'm wrong. And, um, so in that case, they're happy to have the buttercream, but they just don't want to have eggs included in the cakes. And so I'm happy to do that. But it's really interesting using the language that they use and how it triggered people and they seem to have a mass unfollowing. But they've also gained a mass following as well, which I think is amazing for them. And, um, you know, you know, it's a really fine line how you want to sort of bring in the religious aspect into what you do, I suppose, because I always say to myself, I don't prescribe to any specific religious requirement, I. E. I'm not a kosher kitchen. I don't, um, necessarily use, um. It's not that I'm not halal friendly, but I don't promote that fact, if that makes sense. So, um, I thought the Finch Bakery girls handled it really well. They were in the media about it and like I said, they've had a mass following as well. And I think their orders have gone up and we're coming up to Ramadan soon as well, so I'm sure their order books are going to be heaving. So it was nicely handled with the girls. And like I said, when they said, hello, friendly, that is basically all they said. But it seemed to trigger a lot of people. But anyway, so that's what I saw trending as well. And then the last thing that I've seen trending is those long wedding cakes. Now, if you remember, I think we were going back to early last year where I spoke about in what's trending about table runner cakes. This was a trend that was getting, um, coming from across the pond. And obviously they say when America. What is it? It's when America sneezes, we catch the cold or something like that. So now what? I've seen a lot of, um, table runner cakes, long rectangle cakes, and I love them. I think they look so lovely and something so different. I think if you're going to do those kind of cakes, you're gonna have to assemble them at the venue to a degree, unless you're going to have a specific board and a very long boot to put them in. But I have seen people where they've had had the sections of rectangle cake and they just. They're sort of semi decorated and then they just put them together and sort of seal where the joins are, uh, and then pipe, pipe them and then decorate them with fruit and flowers. And I think that's a really, really lovely trend. I can see that being very popular moving forward. And wedding cakes in general are just taking a bit of a shift this year. I think there's lots of quirky, whimsical style of cakes coming on. Not taken away from the tiered cakes. But I like the fact that there's different things coming through. So. Yeah. So Bible Runner wedding cakes, uh, looking like they're going to be a popular option this year, which is always great to see new trends coming through. And I think this could probably, you can translate this into a celebration cake, couldn't you? Really? You could get like a rectangle shaped tin and, and then give those a go. So yeah, really pretty. Really, really nice. So anyway, that's the end of this episode. I hope you enjoyed the interview with Christina and it's been lovely to catch up up. And I can't believe it's February m already. I mean, gosh, fast. And it's coming up to my, my birthday weekend. My goodness, where are the years going? But you know what, getting older, uh, people can moan about it, but I just see it as a blessing. Every day is a blessing. So anyway, thank you for listening. Um, catch you next month, the first Tuesday of the month with another episode of the Adventures and K Club podcast. And if you're listening and you're enjoying doing, please either leave me a review, um, um, wherever you stream your podcast, or give me a cakey share. And like I said, if you'd like to be a guest on the podcast, just send me a dm. So, um, all that stuff for me to say is have a, have an amazing week and happy baking. Bye. P S the rum. Um, cake is done and it smells absolutely divine. Anyway, catch you next time. Bye Sam.