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Cake Therapy
Cake Therapy is a heartwarming and uplifting podcast that celebrates the transformative power of baking therapy. Hosted by Dr. Altreisha Foster, the passionate baker, entrepreneur and advocate behind Cake Therapy, this podcast is a delightful blend of inspiring stories, expert insights and practical baking tips. Each episode takes listeners on a journey of self-discovery, emotional healing and connection through the therapeutic art of baking.
Cake Therapy
From Childhood Memories to Baking Success: Melanie Lewis's Sweet Perfect Piece
Ever wondered how childhood memories can shape a lifetime passion? On this episode of the Cake Therapy Podcast, Melanie Lewis, the genius behind Perfect Piece Sweets Company, takes us back to her formative years baking with her grandmother, Mabel. Melanie's touching recollections highlight the pivotal role that shared family recipes and holiday baking traditions played in sparking her culinary journey. Growing up in the Sumner Field Projects in North Minneapolis, Melanie experienced a tight-knit community whose spirit remains a cornerstone of her successful bakery today.
From her parents' adventurous cooking to mastering the art of cake making, Melanie’s path to owning her bakery is nothing short of inspiring. Listen as she opens up about the initial insecurities that nearly held her back and the unwavering determination that fueled her progression from a young girl fascinated by food to the proud owner of The Perfect Piece Sweets Co. Melanie’s candid discussion reveals the balance she strikes between preserving beloved family recipes and innovating with new flavors, all while navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.
Melanie's story is one of resilience and cultural respect, shedding light on the importance of local sourcing and sustainable practices. Melanie also tackles the stereotypes surrounding black-owned businesses and underscores her commitment to excellence in customer service. Her journey serves as a beacon of empowerment for women in the bakery industry, making this episode a treasure trove of insights and inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs and food enthusiasts alike.
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Welcome to the Cake Therapy Podcast, a slice of joy and healing with your host, Dr Altricia Foster.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, welcome back to the Cake Therapy Podcast, your slice of joy and healing, with me, your host, dr Altricia Foster. Today we are talking to Melanie Lewis, the creator and creative force behind the Perfect Peace Sweets Company, located here in Minneapolis, minnesota. She has a passion for artistry and a commitment to sustainability. Melanie has built a reputation for crafting exquisite desserts that delight the eyes and taste buds. Melanie received the culinary arts degree from the Art Institute International of Minnesota and a baking and pastry degree from the Johnson and Wales University. She has over 10 years of fine dining experience and she specializes in pastries and desserts and have worked with the James Beard Award recipients and Minnesota-renowned restaurants like Bar La Grasa, spoon and Table and La Belle Vie. Welcome, Melanie Lewis. She's the executive pastry chef from Tell us where you're from Melanie, the Perfect Pea Sweets Company.
Speaker 2:Yes, we're excited to have you here today. How are you doing?
Speaker 3:I'm doing well. I'm really excited about getting into weddings and it's that time of year, so super excited about that. And graduation comes to the same point, um, but yeah, I'm super excited and still trying to get into retail. Branching off into that corporate business has been picking up, so that's been great. So yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 2:Well, that's good. Uh, you know I'm usually excited when we have like a time to have conversations and talk and kinky, absolutely yeah, it's like it always is a good time. So full disclaimer here. Melanie is from minnesota, we're both minnesota um bakers, I would say pastry chefsaires and when we get together we're always laughing. So I'm really excited to dive into Melanie's conversation. So little Melanie, around five right Standing in the dining room helping her grandmother, mabel, making bread and chocolate cake. What does this memory mean for you, and was this the genesis of how your cake journey began?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Grandma, rest her soul passed in April. She was like 95 years old.
Speaker 2:April of this year Full life.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, full life, full life. And that's the one picture on my Instagram that we have together. And that was when she first came to Minnesota to visit. And she was a baker in New York at St Clair's Bakery for years and years and years. That's where she retired from and it was then when she came to visit. That was her first time in Minnesota and she brought her starter and we made biscuits, we made the bread and then we made chocolate cake and it was just eye opening. I was like this is really cool, like my brothers and sisters were outside playing around and I was just fascinated with her, how she was rolling the bread and then how she iced the cake. It was, it was fascinating to me and it always kind of stuck with me, and so I think my dad remembered me saying I want to be a cooker. I didn't know it was a chef term, but I want to be a cooker.
Speaker 2:So tell me, you have this memory of your grandmother and I always tell people that the kitchen builds relationships. Absolutely. Did your ultimate, like you know, your being inquisitive at five with your grandmother in the kitchen and wanting to be a cooker. What did it do for that relationship with you and your grandmother?
Speaker 3:It did so much Like she was the one I was always, because she would then would then send like fruitcake every Christmas. Now, I'm not a big fan of fruitcake. I tried it, didn't like it, still don't like it but I could always look forward to her sending it every Christmas, along with some cookies or some more bread that she was sending the mail and so and I didn't we didn't get to see our grandmother a whole lot because she made like a couple of trips to Minnesota. The rest of our family was on the East Coast and so it was always about food. It was always always about making food, talking about food.
Speaker 3:What was her favorite thing to eat? It was just always built on food. I remember on her 90th birthday party, me and some of my siblings, we flew out to Baltimore and I got a chance to tell her that she's one of the biggest reason that I started the business and went into restaurant and baking and she was just like what All those conversations about food and stuff it just like made me excited about getting deeper into food.
Speaker 2:How, besides your, your grandmother, mabel, how important was food to your household, your family, what you know? Talk to me about that.
Speaker 3:Oh my God, food was everything Like, even when, because my parents we didn't have a whole lot of money Right, we grew up in the projects and so but the one thing we could when a holiday, that so that we didn't get the things like the gifts, but we got the food and then the relationships and the family moments over the food. I always look forward to those times where we all get together and sit around and just laugh and talk and reminisce and all that. It's just, it's a huge part of a part of the experience of food. Yeah, yeah, for me it's not just the food, it's the experience that comes with it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I, I, I. What what stood out to me just now, too, is that you said you are from the project. Yeah, I, you know. Like the, the, the podcast is an extension of our foundation who seeks to serve women and girls in, or of the projects Share with our listeners. What projects are you? You know where where's Melanie from?
Speaker 3:Oh, I was born and raised north side Minneapolis and it was called the Sumner Field Projects, which, AKA the Red Brick Projects, which they have now of course torn down. It's not called Heritage Park, but it was called Sumner Field or Red Bricks Projects, and so that's where I spent like the first five years. Six years of my life was over North Minneapolis and so back then I just remember like community, I knew my neighbors. Nowadays I don't know my neighbors, but back then you knew the neighbors. I played with all the kids in the neighborhood. We all knew each other, went to each other's houses, knew each other's parents and again, over food, we would go to the store and get penny candy. You can't find penny candy now, but but something else, oh my gosh, it's like a dollar candy.
Speaker 2:How was that transition for you, moving from the North side to the South side?
Speaker 3:I think it was really different because I was, I was already, it was the kids in the neighborhood. So I'm just like nah, I got to make new friends and I'm kind of an introvert, so once I get cool with you, you can't leave. So moving Southside was kind of tough, just because I'm like, okay, now I have to make new friends and everything. But I was kind of young, so as long as I had five brothers and sisters four of the brothers and sisters, so they were my friends until I could like move around on my own. But other than that it was it was pretty cool. It was pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So you know, going back to you mentioning to your dad or to your parents that you wanted to be a cooker, right back to you mentioning to your dad or to your parents that you wanted to be a cooker, right. So for many of us, right present company included I didn't know that I could cook or had any passion or any drive towards the field of cake or baking or even being in the kitchen, right. So a lot of us bakers or artists, we typically pursued other disciplines or either, for me, vaccine science, some people are attorney at law, some people are physicians doing and dabbling into all of that, what? For me, I would love to learn about Melanie's evolution of wanting to be a cooker, and was it just? Was that it, you know, always for you? Did you do anything else or did you just pursue cooking? Talk to us about how that evolved.
Speaker 3:For you it's always been food, like even after, you know, grandma came, she left and now I love cooking. So as I got older my mom would show me both my mom and my dad cook. So that was the great thing. It wasn't just left up to my mom, my dad cooked as well, and so it was always just kind of looking at what they were doing and my mom would let me crack an egg or help her in the box brownies and the box cake. Back then it was that type of thing.
Speaker 3:So before I really got into making dinners I would start off with dessert, because that's what I love, because I get to lick the spoon and bowl and eat the cookie dough.
Speaker 3:But then I got interested in savory and so my mom, you know, showed me how to make spaghetti and you know different like lasagna and savory meals.
Speaker 3:And my dad I'll never forget it he had bought like these recipe card box where recipes came in a little with little cards with the picture, and he made like some kind of like chicken, orange chicken or roasted chicken or something like that, and I had never seen that before.
Speaker 3:So my dad was really famous for making things that were very different and he would go and get the recipe and like we're going to eat something different, and he would get tired of just eating the same thing all the time. So then he would make something different and so I'm like whoa, what is this? This isn't like regular old chili, you know. And so I think that's where I got the spark of try something different. And so when my father would cook, he would always, you know, we're going to try. And sometimes I'm like Dad, you want to go far, that's it, that's a stretch, you want to see that. But you know, I just know that the him implanting that in me of like just trying something different, like get your taste buds, get them challenged, that followed me to just getting into food.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I love that. Your dad, you know, had the. I would say your dad was able to listen to you, he heard you, and then he started to experiment in the household with food as well. How do you feel to, at five years old, to have impacted your dad in such a profound way that he heard you and he nurtured what it was that was born inside of you?
Speaker 3:I mean it was great and I learned a lot from him when he would take risks and pick a recipe card or a recipe out of a book that none of us in our household had ever heard of, and he went we're going to try something different. And sometimes it would go over well and sometimes it wouldn't, but the fact that he tried. And then you know my mother, of course too. She was huge in the kitchen, she did a lot of the Southern cooking, and so just the both of them together it was just, it was great, it was great.
Speaker 2:I had the best of both worlds. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I love that you had like a broad worldview in terms of food, you know, and your palate experimented early, so, which is a really, really good thing. And we learned from reading about you, as we were prepping for you, that you've worked in these world-renowned restaurants, right, yeah, you've worked in these world-renowned restaurants, let's talk about it. And you've gone from those restaurants to owning your own bakery, the perfect pea sweets co. I'm proud of you for, um, you know, before you start responding to this, I'm really I've gotten to know, I'm so proud of what this business is and what it means to you. But tell me, how did you go from working in the restaurants to starting the business?
Speaker 3:Oh, that was a transition. So restaurant was all I knew, and let's say I made like in restaurant. In my 10 years of restaurant I probably have done like maybe less than five cakes. And so cakes was was not my strength. Desserts were natural to me. And so when I started the business, everybody just expected me to make cake. And I was like, uh, no, I'm going to hire somebody else to make cake, because I was not confident in that area and I compared myself to other cake people and so I was just like my cake don't look like that, so we're just not going to do it. And so when I got into the business, they were like, oh, can you make me? No, I can't, but I can make you desserts.
Speaker 3:And so the first cake that I made was for my sister, um Stacy, her twins, and that was what really, um, kicked it off for me, cause I was, and I was so nervous oh my God, I was nervous, it was a trouble cake, I'll never forget it. And I was like I prayed all the way through that cake, cause I was like this is not a strength of mine. And so from then on it was just okay, you had to learn in restaurant about dessert and um, and especially not all these high end restaurants. So you're going to have to learn again. Um, when it comes to cake and, and so that's what I did, I just you know every cake that I did, I learned something new. I'd watch YouTubes, I'd read books, how to properly stack, you know those kinds of things. So it was a. It was a hard transition from commercial restaurant kitchen to now I'm working on my own, plus I'm used to people working around me, so it was just me myself and I.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. What are some of the lessons that you've learned then in one doubting yourself about making cake, and the lessons you've learned about transitioning, because I'm sure there was like a fear factor, transitioning from working for others and now working for yourself.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Fear was the biggest thing for me. I almost didn't even leave my job because of it. I just got a promotion at my last restaurant job and I was like I can't leave now and so, but it was just with praying and seeking God about the decision. It was just something I could not, just could not do. I just knew I had to go off on this new journey, go off on this new journey, and so I I'm thankful for doing that, because it really has opened up um parts of me that I didn't know I was capable of doing certain things. And so even now I get asked you know different opportunities? And I'm just like it's just like no, I've seen where God has helped me through things that I've never done before, so that can't always be an excuse, I've never done it before, so that doesn't mean you can't do it.
Speaker 3:And so I have learned to really push past the fear, really relying on trusting on God to like guide me through these opportunities he has clearly given to me, and so it really has opened up a a well of talents and gifts that I didn't even know I had.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so do you. Then let me ask you this do you now operate without fear or or by faith?
Speaker 3:Oh, I operate mainly by faith now. Yeah, eight years in the game, everything was operated by fear at the beginning, at the beginning, um, wanting to say no to things, and I'm just like, and always be like yeah, say yes. You're going to have to say yes, um, cause I didn't have peace with saying no and so I had to say yes. And so now it's mainly by faith, even when you know I get, you know orders or you know people. Hey, have you ever made this before? No, I haven't. But you know what? I'm going to figure it out, definitely going to figure it out. So I have a lot more courage now than I had when I first started.
Speaker 2:Yeah, courage, I like that word. Courage is important, especially when you're working for yourself. But you know, like, when you're working for yourself but you don't know everything, and sometimes we are not humble enough to say we don't know, we don't know, we can't do it, but we're going to find out, we're going to do it Right, absolutely. So, yeah, it's that spirit that's pushing us and propelling us forward. Pushing us and propelling us forward and you and I we've connected on that in this space, about doing the work with integrity and faith and not being afraid and always trying. So, like I mentioned at the top of the conversation, we really are kindred. We are two introverted personalities but when we get at the table, it's just we're like what, kiki the table, it's just like none stop. It just goes on and on. And you know what? I am absolutely proud of you.
Speaker 2:I'm sure Miss Mabel was also very proud of seeing the perfect it's called come to fruition before she passed. So you know, god rest her soul I didn't realize that your grandmother had actually passed. So how, how does it feel for you that she actually saw that?
Speaker 3:so it was. It was fantastic and fun story was that she the bread that she made was like super, it's a, it's a big deal in our. And even then my brother and my sister went to be with my dad. I had weddings to do so I couldn't attend, but my brother and my sister went and so the recipe for her famous rolls we thought was gone Because even when I went out there for her 90th birthday, nobody had written it down.
Speaker 3:Over the years of grandma making these rolls, nobody had written it down, nobody had saved it, nobody learned how to make them. I'm like what are you guys doing? So at her funeral my brother and my sister met cousins that of course we didn't know we had and come to find out they used to own a tea shop in Fredericksburg, maryland, and they had. She still had grandma's recipe. Oh, because I had. I was like, oh my God, grandma's passed away. Nobody has the recipe. It went with her and then here it comes. They're like, no, uh, she had. It was cousin Blanche Blanche, she has the recipe. So they got the starter and the recipe and brought it back here. So I have that now in my possession, because my dream was when I open up the retail shop I want to add her rolls. I mean they were just.
Speaker 3:She would sell them even after she retired. That was her way of making extra money. She would sell them. They used her recipe to make cinnamon rolls in their tea shop in Maryland. I had cousins that would in Texas that would make the rolls. They had the recipe as well. So I have her recipe and I have my other cousin's recipe. So it was a blessing even in that time of grief that to know that that recipe did not die with her and that I actually have it, and so that was fantastic. Like I could have cried.
Speaker 2:I know, I know, like when I have like a similar story, like my auntie Nelly she died maybe five years ago, like I'm like four years ago she's my favorite aunt and she usually make this perfect black cake. It's like this food jamaican fruit cake and she usually just wing it. She had that recipe embedded in her head and one christmas I wasn't traveling home, so I called her melanie and I'm like auntie daly, can you just give me the recipe? She gave me the recipe, I wrote it down in my phone and, girl, when my aunt died I was the only person with the recipe.
Speaker 3:That makes you look some type of way, you know.
Speaker 2:I was the keeper of the secret girl. I was like, yes, my aunt Janelle had one daughter and of course her daughter baked with her. So she had the recipe embedded in her memory too, Because she was always in the kitchen, but I was the only one who had it written down. So all of the girl cousins now who always relied on my aunt for Christmas cake are calling me in the holidays. Can I have the recipe? And I'm like no.
Speaker 3:That part. Recipes are everything. I had already told my sister had brought it home when she had emailed me both copies and I said, hey, I don't want to be the only one with this grandma's recipe, cause if something happens to me then y'all don't have it. So I told my sister I was like, when you send it out, let them know, do not give this recipe to anybody. I don't want to see no TikTok, no social media. You can make the rolls and sell them, but you do not sell that recipe. You don't share it with nobody. I don't care how close friends you are. This is a Lewis family recipe.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah, yep, I absolutely agree. So my, my cousin, who is my auntie nelly's daughter, she did share the recipe with them. After my, you know, she just debunked my little selfish action. No, it's okay, let them have it. So she gave it to them. But I was mad salty, you know, because I was telling everybody like I'm the only one with the recipe. Yeah, man, I was the only one with that recipe. No, you're not. No, no, I could walk you through it. But yes, I'm very overprotective of my Aunt Janelle's fruitcake job.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:So I want to know, like, what drives you? You know your creativity, your innovation, your pastry design, your flavor combinations, because, girl, those spreads. Ok, talk to me a little bit about you. Know your innovation, your creativity around those?
Speaker 3:So a lot of that comes from my years in restaurant, because it was all about flavor and flavor balance and learning new techniques. So, working under Diane Yang, who is the pastry queen to me, I worked with her my whole entire career and she has to just open up her own place called Diane's Place, and I had to go because it stays booked, diane's place, and I've yet to go because it stays booked, but but she always, um, really honed in on like flavor balances and it can't be too sweet and it has to be light, and so I mean, before I got in restaurant I didn't know about any of these flavors. I didn't know about passion fruit I didn't know about I mean, I'm from the projects, so there was no passion fruit in my neighborhood and and yuzu and prickly pear and all these different things that I learned as I worked in restaurant and so it really opened up a whole new world. Like wait, you mean to tell me what I've been eating at home isn't all there is to food, food. And so once I got enlightened about a flavor or a technique, I take it home. And so now my family is just like what's the one, what's one of them fancy restaurants that you usually go to. So they're like I said what did you have? We don't know, but it was good. Okay, well, at least you tried it, you loved it, you got the experience. That's all I care about. And so, because now I've learned about different flavors and different flavor combinations, I feel like it's my duty to share with other people.
Speaker 3:And in building a dessert table it always goes give them one or two basic things that they recognize, because people kind of go with what they know, because people kind of go with what they know. But then I throw in at least two to three things that they probably never heard of, but it may catch their eye. So that's my way of introducing like new flavors, different, because you'd be amazed that some people have never had passion fruit. Like that's one of my favorite things and I'm like I love passion fruit. Like how do you not have passion fruit? And so it's just I, I always so in building a dessert table it's always let's go with what people are going to recognize, but then we're going to throw in some things that they're gonna be like what it looks good, so I'm gonna try it anyway. So that's the way of like getting people to open up to different different things, different flavors, different techniques of how to get yeah yeah, and you and you know what I see, I see, I see your passion for pastry and desserts.
Speaker 2:It shows up in your work. You can't miss it. You cannot miss it. You see, you see that you know who they got it from. Oh my gosh, we see it. We know who they got it from honey. So you can't miss it. You talk about your fear, of your initial fear of diving into cakes, but now you're doing wedding cakes.
Speaker 3:That was a tough transition, tell me about that journey.
Speaker 2:What is the best thing about making wedding cakes?
Speaker 3:You know, I love wedding cakes, girl, I love, I mean I'm in awe of what you're like, whoa, and you're so tall and my nerves just be like, oh my god, and for me I'm just like that would. That sends me up a river. Um, but getting into weddings, I never thought that that was to be the direction that my business would go into, and so then, when I first got my first wedding cake order, I almost said no, because I was just like I don't even know how to transport it. That's too high, that's too big. Everything about it made me nervous, and so I literally did it with like a chunk in my throat. It was just like nerve wracking. And once I did it, though, I was like oh yeah, okay, yeah.
Speaker 3:I think a lot of times, if you do it that one time, it kind of just allows you to relax for the other times that you're going to have to do this, and so I did the one time, and I was just like, okay, sure, let's, let's try this again. And um, so the more I did it, the more I got comfortable with it, and even the more I even kind of changed up things when it came to delivering and transportation and all those kinds of things, and now it's not, it's not too. I don't get like the whole anxiety sitting on my chest only when I'm the hour drives to the venue. That can make me a little nervous. But now it's just. I look forward to it. I never thought I would look forward to wedding season and building a wedding cake. That's just not something I ever thought that I would be doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love wedding season. I'm very picky though. Oops, we can edit that out. You have to be, you have to be, you have to prove.
Speaker 3:That's all facts.
Speaker 2:I'm very picky about my brides and I love you know I take special care in selecting or choosing who I work with, because your peace of mind is very important, absolutely. Because, like imagine building this five to your six year cake and you know your peace of mind is, you're already nervous. So many servings of cake. You have to either put it together on location or do it half at home and finish it on location. But then you know like you still don't have peace of mind because of you know who you've chosen to work with you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So peace of mind is important, and you have to. At the end of the day, the cake has to actually feed your soul, and that's how I go into all of my cakes. If I don't like the cake, I'm not doing it. Um, that's how. That's where I am right now. Yeah, at the end of the day, my soul has to be fed. Talk to me about feeding your soul, as you're making your cakes, absolutely Like.
Speaker 3:It starts with the initial inquiry, and if it's, if they send me a picture cause I do require pictures, because sometimes I want it to match what you're requesting and so I've had very few clients that are just like you know what. I trust you completely. Just I know you're going to do something really cool. Have at it. And then there's others that may want exactly what's in the picture, and so I definitely know I've come to know my style of cake and, and so I'm. If I'm looking at a picture, I'm just like you know what. That's not me. And so, in a professional way, I let the client know. You know what I believe in giving the client what they want, even if it's not with my business, yeah. And so a part of customer service for me is also referring them to people that I know this is their style. I know that they can give you what you're looking for better than I can, and it's no shade to me or to anyone else, it's just I know what I can do. I stay in my lane.
Speaker 3:I know what I can do and I know what my style is, and trying to force myself to do a style that I know is not a part of who I am, I think would break my business and break my reputation, and so I'd rather hand that business off to someone that I know that can execute it than to just like, no, I can do it, and then don't give them what they want. And then you know, bad news travels faster than good news.
Speaker 2:Bad news definitely does travel faster. I have to say that I have been a recipient of those, a beneficiary and a recipient of those referrals.
Speaker 3:Because some of the pictures I'm like that ain't something I can do, but I can guarantee you. I know who can give you quality. You want a name, a number email.
Speaker 2:I know. Vice versa too. Yeah, I know I'm not gonna be here. Like, can you tell me who I'm like? Oh, yeah, I got you.
Speaker 3:You know, I know, I know and I'm super grateful oh, my god, I'm super, because I'm like, if you send me somebody, I'm like okay, I know this is a big deal, this is a big deal for me. So I'm like, if you send me somebody, I'm like, okay, I know this is a big deal, this is a big deal for me. So I'm like let's get this going.
Speaker 2:Let's make sure we execute this email. Yeah, let's get it, I know. So that brings me to this question. What do you say to our listeners? People tell people that women in the same industry can't you know they usually get along or don't do that. What do you say to those people?
Speaker 3:Find something else to do. It's just I feel like when you know who you are as an individual and when you know your style and what your style is a part of who you are, then you don't have to be intimidated or competing with whoever else is in your industry. And I have had to learn that. That's not something I came in here with. It was something that I had to really learn for myself and I remember when I first started the business and I was trying to pick out I want to be like this person, let me make cake like this, and I'm like well, you know, if she can do it, I can do it.
Speaker 3:That whole mentality of comparing myself. I went through that and I remember praying about it because I took it to the Lord. I was like it says, it takes out the joy of making cake, comparing yourself to somebody. I'm never satisfied with the end result because it didn't look exactly like theirs and I remember being in prayer about it and the Holy Spirit was like you be you, you be you, you be who I created you to be. And I was like, once I figured that out, I'm like and like you're. How you came into this business was very different. So you're going to have a different outlook on food and cake. Go with that, go with that. And so, during the course of the business, it literally has been about me finding what, like you said, what I know to be true for me, and so my style is not like somebody else's style, and that's okay.
Speaker 3:That's why I can support. That's why I can. If people can support me, I can support them, because we have two different styles, but the market is there for both.
Speaker 2:We going to be all right. Absolutely, we going to be all right. That's absolutely good. To me, it's like I hate competition in this space. Oh, I can't, I don't do it. I don't do it. Well, I don't want to.
Speaker 3:I can't function up here.
Speaker 2:No, no, it's like, it's almost like it's bad. It's bad for me. It's like the energy is not good. The energy is just not good. So if people reach out to me like I'm sharing, sharing, I'm only sharing. I'm like call me, I'll share. I'll tell you how to do it, Because I just don't like the spirit of competition at all.
Speaker 3:I don't even watch like competition shows Because that's not who I am. I'm like I do what I do and that's it, like I'm not trying to be in competition. I'm sure you have had people reach out to you from different food networks Like, hey, you want to do this competition, you want to do that one, and I'm like I wouldn't be good on that show. I'm literally like taking my time, that's how I work. I can't in the head space. I can't work in competition mode yeah, I know, I was just.
Speaker 2:I just made it to the third round of the casting girl and then they caught me. I was like what, it's a lot to celebrate child, to hunt my head girl, let's come, we want you to do this girl. Yeah, call me, call me, yeah, so yeah. My next question for you I know you do a lot in Minnesota. You bake for quinceaneras. You know weddings Parisian weddings, loatian weddings like different demographic backgrounds, you're immersed in these groups of people that live in Minnesota. Tell me about making treats for these different cultural celebrations. How much do you have to adjust?
Speaker 1:who.
Speaker 2:Melanie is, or do they just trust what Melanie produces?
Speaker 3:No, for the most part I listen. I know the one. I did a lot for a lot of like Somali or Ethiopian weddings. There's a lot of like, there's procedure, there's a process they have culturally. They have certain things that you just can't do, and so I'm like, hey, I don't come in this, I don't know about your culture, I'm learning as you're telling me and I want to be respectful. So that was my, that's.
Speaker 3:My biggest thing is being respectful of anyone's special dietary needs. Or when I can come into the space to set up Like, I want to be respectful of everyone's way of living and culture and things like that. And so always I make you know. If people say, hey, I can't have gelatin, you know, because you know, we know gelatin is made from, like you know, cow, bone marrow and stuff like that, and so, um, a lot of Somali um weddings, when they get the um, they can't have alcohol either.
Speaker 3:So when they get like desserts, I have to tweak the recipe to accommodate what they can and cannot eat. And then they have a certain time where I can go into the event space because their men are having some kind of cultural or you know ritual going on. So I'm very respectful of any culture and if this is what has to be done, then we'll do it. Certain colors I didn't know this, but like Laotian lavender or any shade of purple, is like a widower, so like it signifies death, so they can't use that color, and so I was like, oh, didn't know that, but I'll never forget it. So yeah, it's just about learning and being respectful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think your clients they respect that and they love that that you have taken the time to learn to immerse yourself, you know, in their culture, to be able to produce something for them. I think they'll even enjoy eating the dessert a little bit more once you're intentional about making any form of connection with them and their community.
Speaker 2:I particularly love your passion around your community, you know and food and making sure that you have, you know, local, sustainable ingredients. Can you share more about your approach to sourcing and why does this matter to you?
Speaker 3:A lot of it stemmed also from restaurant. When I worked in different restaurants they were very big on supporting the farmer and so with those connections I kind of kept those when I left restaurant. And so I reached out to those same people, some of the same vendors I still use to this day to get my chocolate, to get my edible flowers, if I'm going to use those things. So I still support those local businesses to this day and they give me exactly what I'm looking to use those things. So I still support those local businesses to this day and they give me exactly what I'm looking for, and so I always think that's important when it comes to you know, people support my business, I support others, and so it keeps it here, it keeps it local, keeps it in the realm of it, and so I just think that's really important to keep circulating that dollar right here locally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you get your chocolate locally from.
Speaker 3:Minnesota. I get it through a vendor that's based here in Minnesota. Minnesota got it. And so while in restaurants, I learned about chocolate and all I knew was Hershey's and Nestle Tollhouse. And when I got into a restaurant I learned about, like real chocolate, valrhona chocolate, which is based in France, but they have a Valrhona school in Brooklyn and vendors here, wholesalers here, they can get it in. And so I just go to their warehouse like, hey, I need this, I need that. And uh, they just, they give it to me.
Speaker 2:So I still get to these local vendors yeah, and you still get very high quality products, which is good. You use high quality products on on my podcast, or not my, it's the people's podcast, it's the girls podcast. We, we explore the therapeutic side of baking. You know I'm super passionate about this work, right, melody? We talk about this all the time. So how does baking bring you joy and relaxation, or does?
Speaker 3:it. It does. I think when I can introduce a flavor that someone has never tasted, that is what brings me the biggest part of joy, Because I think that is so important, coming from restaurant and I've always said like I may not ever be able to travel all around the world, but I can do it on my palate and so always looking to taste different things and I think once you open up somebody's mind on how they approach food and flavors and things like that, I've done my job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you've done your job. Yeah, that's huge. So Melanie's at home. You know she's solo in the kitchen. She no longer has a team around her. What's your go-to dessert to make when you yourself need a little cake?
Speaker 3:therapy Cookies. I love cookies. Out of all the cake and the many desserts and the tarts and stuff that I make, I'm a cookie person. I love a warm, soft cookie. I can't make too many of them because I'll eat them all, but yeah, that's my go-to. I love a good cookie you love cookies.
Speaker 2:Oh, I do. Is there a favorite cookie?
Speaker 3:Right now a brown sugar snickerdoodle. Okay, not brown sugar, I'm sorry, brown butter snickerdoodle.
Speaker 1:Brown butter.
Speaker 3:That has been my favorite so far, but of course you can never go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie, I mean that's just.
Speaker 2:I love an oatmeal, I love an oatmeal cookie, so I will make that too. I'll sit down and just get into it. Right now I am baking through, you know, my mom's dementia, so I'm like baking a lot of things. I'm experimenting a lot more. Yeah, so with that heavy thing that I'm lifting in terms of my mom's health, I find myself really in the kitchen a lot. I was in the kitchen a lot with her, yeah, so it's hard, but I'm making it through it. Yeah, I know that you've mentioned at the top of the conversation that you left your fancy restaurant job and is now on your solo entrepreneurial journey. What has this journey been like for you? I want you to speak specifically to the challenges and I also want you to tell me how you've navigated them.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, want you to tell me how you've navigated them. Oh my gosh. Leaving the comfort of a job where you're getting a steady paycheck every two weeks or every week and leaving the comfort of having medical insurance and dental and just the insurance, that is huge. And for anyone that's thinking about entrepreneurship, it is not for the weak, it just isn't. It's literally, if you know your why, I think, even when the times get dark, the money gets slim, the times get slow, I think, reestablishing and reminding yourself of your why is what?
Speaker 3:will keep you going, because if you don't have, if your only why is? I just want to make money, I just want to secure the bag then you're probably not going to last long. But for me it's the why I started this, why I left my job, why I didn't take back my letter of resignation when I put it in. And I think that also in entrepreneurship it's with anything. It's highs and lows, but even with all of that there's always something that I've learned about myself. And it's in those moments where I'm just like I can do that, or I didn't know I can do that, but I know now. And just the courage to keep going and people think courage is just not being scared at all no, courage is doing it in the face of fear.
Speaker 3:I may tremble, but I'm going to still trust and keep going.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I don't think people really realize that. But definitely working solo, not knowing anything about business, restaurant accounting and all that stuff was always taken care of for me. My job was just to make the plates good, get them out. So having to do all that social media and invoicing and just building the business on my own when I had no experience making a business, that was a challenge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but doing it in spite of. Yes, continuing to do it in spite of.
Speaker 3:Yes, when the money's there. And when the money ain't there, I'm still going to do it, because I know there's a bigger picture. I know there's a bigger picture too, and it's past just making money. I'm the going to do it because I know there's a bigger picture.
Speaker 3:I know there's a bigger picture to, and it's past just making money I'm the only entrepreneur in my family, and so I have nieces and nephews that are looking at me and I may be the only blueprint of starting a business that they may see, and so me keeping it going is I want them to be inspired. If Auntie can, if TT can do the business, so can I.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I like what you, you, you said about there. We're trembling. Even when we're trembling about what we know isn't working out, we're still doing it. But a lot of people don't realize how much we tremble behind the scenes as entrepreneurs, because we don't always have the answers, we don't know what the outcomes are.
Speaker 3:But can you say it again? It froze on my end.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I was saying that I like where you mentioned that we tremble right and a lot of people don't realize they see her beautiful work of art, but not realizing how much we're trembling behind the scenes, because sometimes we don't always have the outcomes. We know, we know what's going on. You don't know what that pretty picture on instagram is telling you, but this, this cake might have been paid for three months ago. That. So? So stop watching our instagram and assuming because, yeah, you know, we don't have it all, we do not have it all, we don't have it all the time, not anything, that's okay.
Speaker 3:um, I used to think that you know, I'm always scared of making the wrong choice and, uh, and of course, fear only does one of two things it either causes you to stop and pause and not go any further, or it causes you to retreat. And so once I was shout out to Joyce Myers for saying that in one of her sermons. Um but um. So when I looked at like that, I'm like, yeah, it's fear is either going to like make you retreat to go back to what you're comfortable with doing, or it's going to just stop you so you don't get to see what's on the other side of that obstacle or whatever is in your way. And I'm like, yeah, I don't want to live like that. I know, and it might not always turn out the way I want it. I've had that happen before. There may be some hiccups along the way and things like that, but just to stop or retreat back is not an option for me.
Speaker 2:It's not an option. It is not an option.
Speaker 3:Let's see what else is going to happen.
Speaker 2:We have to keep grinding 100. We have to grind today, girl Strong arm, I know we got the grind today.
Speaker 2:Girl. We're going to be on YouTube and I'll like face out like what are we going to do? We got the grind today. Oh Lord, let's talk about Melanie. Oh Lord, melanie, speak to the girl on the North side. Speak to the girl on the North side who's heard you that you too are the product of the North side. She's listening to our podcast. She's in her home, she loves baking cakes, but she does not think that going just baking cakes is sustainable enough to bring her out of her current situation. Speak to her anyway. Tell her about you, know, encourage her.
Speaker 3:There's more on the other side. What you see is not all there is, um. I remember my father when I first graduated from culinary school and I went to culinary school here at the art institute and I went to get my bacon and pastry degree at johnson wells university in north mi, florida. And when I first graduated from culinary school, my dad was like, when you first told me that you wanted to be a chef, he was like there's no money in that, and so for him to see me now owning my own business. And so for that five-year-old girl, there's more than what you see. What you see now is not all there is. Keep going. Keep going in the face of challenges, hardships, don't get comfortable. Celebrate the good times, celebr. Celebrate them as they come. Take time to sit in the good times, um, but then also learn from your challenging times. But there's more to it than what you see.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Like learn from your challenging times and then there's more to what more, more more there than what you're currently seeing. But also like whatever path you travel, whatever path you choose, you're going to have to work hard at it. Absolutely exactly if you decide to become a cooker, a chef or anything you know what I'm saying you're gonna you have to be a dj. You still going to have to work harder. Absolutely hard work is important in whichever path you choose and find your lane.
Speaker 3:Find your lane in this day and age where everybody's trying to be like somebody else on social media. Find your lane what is true for you, not what is working for this person or that person. Find what is the core of you, because then that makes, that's what makes you different, that's the niche, that's what's going to set you apart from anybody else. Doing what you're doing is the fact I'm doing what I know is true to me and not trying to copy someone else.
Speaker 2:We can't be using the same filter, child.
Speaker 3:We're going to all be using the same filter. Oh my Lord.
Speaker 2:We're going to look the same way.
Speaker 3:Because everybody's things look the same and it's like that's no fun. That's no fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So you've definitely put, I would say, your heart and soul into this company of yours, right? How do you hold the perfect piece? Suites will be remembered in this industry and by your clients.
Speaker 3:For one, that I gave great customer service. That has always been super important to me in this business. Not just giving a good product, yeah, but just giving the A1 customer service is first. Plus, there's this stereotype where black owned businesses do not and cannot give good customer service, where that is just not the truth, and so that has been the first thing is customer service, and then after that giving them a quality product, giving them what they asked for beyond what they asked for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, customer service and a quality product. Where can they find you? Tell our listeners where they can find you, yay so uh, I am on two, only two, social media platforms.
Speaker 3:That's all I can handle, um, Instagram and Facebook the Perfect Piece Suites on Facebook and then on Instagram it's at Suites the Perfect Piece. I have a website that I paid quite a bit of money for, so please go check it out. I had to update it to really let it. You know, to say that it's me, so it's a beautiful website. It's perfectpsuitescom. You can inquiries for right now are all done online or send me an email at info at perfectpsuitescom. Until I can do my dream and get a retail space over in North Minneapolis where it all started. Until then, orders are done through email.
Speaker 2:All right, girl, thank you so much for joining us. I want to encourage you, our listeners, to continue to support the Cake Therapy Foundation. We continue to do the work for the girl in. You know, in spite of, in spite of, keep sending us your donations. We value them, we welcome them, we appreciate them and, if you, you can even buy us a coffee. Everything that, every dollar you spend at buying us a coffee, goes towards the girl. We don't literally buy coffees with that. It goes towards the girl and the work that we're doing here at the Kick Therapy Foundation. Thank you so much. I want to big up our subscribers, but I want to give you, our listeners, a special shout out and I'm going to ask you to subscribe. I hope that you've enjoyed this conversation with Melanie and I hope that you received a slice of joy and healing from this conversation. Melanie, thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 3:On the Cake Therapy Podcast. Thank you, Can I just say that when I got the invitation I almost said no, what? Because I was just like you've had some major names on this podcast and I'm like me, and that was another negative thought, and so I said no, you're going to do it and I don't do it Like me in public speaking and doing interviews.
Speaker 3:I'm like, eh, but no, this is another thing of me Like no, we're going to do it, and so I am so grateful that you asked and it has been lovely seeing this foundation and I have told all my friends get her book. I was here and now she has this podcast. So, yeah, it's been wonderful getting to know you and seeing you like do what you love, so thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, thank you for thank you for saying yes, girl, I would have come over there and be like what. I'm so happy that you didn't. I knew that this conversation would be good and I'm glad that you showed up, because I knew it was going to be just us around the dining table.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I knew it was going to be that, so I wanted I need girls to hear from women like you. I need yeah, I do, I need our girls to see you and hear you and hear your story, and I want them, too, to believe that they too can. Melanie has done it. She's from the North side. You know, and you have a space and I'm happy that you've pulled your chair up and occupied that space with me today.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, I love you.
Speaker 2:You know I love you. It's a pleasure you are dope. I love talking to you. I love talking to you so thank you so much.
Speaker 3:Melanie yes, thank you, and we got to do something with some kind of brunch or something at some point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I have to figure it out. I have to eat wedding cakes, girl, because my July and August is like poof full.
Speaker 3:I mean, I mean, and I'm like somebody said oh, my birthday is next week, and they're like what are you going to do? I'm like I might have to postpone it until the week after.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we got the money. That's what happens. I'd rather make the money than we have to make money to spend it. You can't go to your birthday celebration, bro. What are we talking about?
Speaker 1:whatever it is, it's going to be low key thank you for tuning in to the cake therapy podcast. Your support means the world to us. Let us know what you thought about today's episode in the comment section. Remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcast and if you found the conversation helpful, please share it with a friend. Also, follow Sugar Spoon Desserts on all social media platforms. We invite you to support Cake Therapy and the work we do with our foundation by clicking on the buy me a coffee link in the description or by visiting the cake therapy website and making a donation. All your support will go towards the cake therapy foundation and the work we are doing to help women and girls. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you on the next episode.