The Story Is More Valuable Than The Cake

Sometimes the most extraordinary business stories happen in the most ordinary places—like the back seat of a rideshare. This episode captures an unexpected conversation with a passenger who transformed pandemic boredom into a thriving custom cake business called "Yumfulness."

Our serendipitous encounter reveals how a simple Valentine's Day experiment with chocolate "breakable hearts" evolved into a specialized bakery creating number and letter-shaped custom cakes. What makes this entrepreneurial journey particularly fascinating is how it flourished without traditional marketing strategies. No website, no paid advertising—just Instagram posts and word-of-mouth referrals that organically built a loyal clientele.

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About: Foundation Digital Media | Kuna Video

Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Speaker 1 0:11

Welcome to another episode of Rideshare Road Talk Conversations in Motion, a podcast where we create unfiltered talk space that examines the meaningful lives of my passengers, while engaging in personal and topical discussions. I'm your host and driver, John Foundas, and we're cruising the streets of Washington DC. Buckle up, let's drive. Hello, hey, hey, come on in how are you how? Are you?

Speaker 2 0:39

doing. Thank you, what's?

Speaker 1 0:40

going on, ladies.

Speaker 2 0:41

Thank you, just, you know, enjoying the night.

Speaker 1 0:43

Excellent.

Speaker 2 0:44

Oh, just you know enjoying the night Excellent.

Meeting a Baker Entrepreneur

Speaker 1 0:47

Cool. Well, I am your unlikely rideshare driver, so here we go.

Speaker 2 0:52

You said unlikely.

Speaker 1 0:54

Unlikely. I just started doing this and we're producing a podcast. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 1:00

Wait, this is so weird.

Speaker 1 1:02

How? So?

Speaker 2 1:02

Because like what are the odds of you like saying all this, because that's like what I'm trying to do.

Speaker 1 1:05

Well, let's talk.

Speaker 2 1:06

Okay, so let's talk 18 minutes. So okay, wait. So why are you asking us strangers first of all to be on the podcast?

Speaker 1 1:13

Okay, here's the thing. So the podcast is called Rideshare Road Talk.

Speaker 2 1:19

Rideshare Road Talk Yep.

Speaker 1 1:20

It's up on Apple and all the platforms. We've got nine episodes up there right now and I think within two days we had like 170 downloads, which I think is okay. I don't know, but that was it.

Speaker 2 1:33

She sells beautiful cakes. Everyone follow her. What's the name?

Speaker 1 1:37

Yumfulness, oh I like it. I like it. Well, when we're done, give me the URL and I'll put it in the little show notes on the podcast.

COVID Origins of Yumfulness

Speaker 3 1:49

So done. Give me the url and I'll put it in the little show notes on the podcast, so you get a link or something out of it. So okay, so I want to know about the whole cake thing. How did it come about? Um, well, it started during covid. I was really bored and it was around valentine's day. It was early january at that time and I saw on instagram these things called breakable hearts, which are like hollow chocolate shells in a heart shape, thought it was super cute and I wanted to try and make it myself, and so I did. And then I started selling that for Valentine's Day. I did pretty well, and then some of the clients started asking me if I would sell things during the year, and I didn't know what it would be. So I was asking them what they would be interested in and a lot of them said birthday cakes and, obviously, birthday cakes can be purchased anywhere like from a grocery store to a really high-end Bakery.

Speaker 3 2:34

So I knew I had to make my cakes unique and special in a way so that I could somewhat market, be marketable. So the cakes I make our number and letter shaped. So, for example, if it's your 30th birthday I can make a big three zero. So it's pretty customizable and I can do fun designs, whatever you'd like, really. But my most popular flavor is strawberry crunch, which is kind of like the good humor ice cream bars.

Speaker 1 3:02

So I want to know how you make the jump between COVID making treats and now you are creating these and selling them, and people are consuming them. Fill in the blanks there. How did that happen?

Speaker 3 3:16

Just Instagram.

Speaker 1 3:18

Just Instagram.

Speaker 3 3:18

Yeah, I don't do it. I don't put my cakes anywhere else, just Instagram.

Speaker 1 3:22

Just.

Speaker 3 3:22

Instagram, social media marketing.

Speaker 1 3:24

Word of mouth and, all of a sudden, your cakes are.

Instagram Marketing Success

Speaker 3 3:27

Yeah, I don't pay for ads. I've never paid for ads or marketing. It's just people sharing my creations.

Speaker 1 3:34

It's funny how many businesses kind of thrive and evolve just that way yeah crazy, and they are good.

Speaker 3 3:43

I have yet to try a cake, though, so I need to do that soon, but I love her well now, now that you're coming over, I I'm sure there'll be more food, and you're a cook, aren't you? I do like cooking, for sure.

Speaker 1 3:58

So I mean, that's a skill right. Not everybody can make great cakes like culinary background confectionery like you just did it and that was it and it took off and you just naturally good at it, I think.

Speaker 3 4:09

I got pretty lucky. Yeah, my first one took over two hours and I think I cried a little bit, um, but then I kind of got the hang of it and it's like pretty easy to me now. Um, I mean, before I started making cakes, I'm pretty familiar with the kitchen. Like I loved cooking. I loved baking. I've always been baking for myself and my friends and cooking too, not just sweets. So baking cakes wasn't like a huge jump of, like foreign land.

Speaker 1 4:39

Yeah, so there was the passion there, right?

Speaker 3 4:42

Yeah.

Speaker 1 4:43

And then that turned into the idea.

Baking Skills and Passion

Speaker 3 4:45

Mm-hmm, I like that. Okay, stop talking about me, I'm done.

Speaker 2 4:48

Oh my gosh. I don't want to talk about this anymore. I don't want to talk about this.

Speaker 1 4:53

You know it's, the story is more valuable than the cake.

Speaker 3 4:57

I think a lot of it is luck. Like, if you guys ever listen to the podcast how I Built this, I love it because it's about entrepreneurship and the last question in all of his interviews is like oh man, it's been a minute since I've listened, but it's something along the lines of how much of your success do you attribute to luck and how much you attribute to hard work. And for me, like I think it's definitely has to play with some luck, it's not just hard work like I did work very, very hard to make it take off and try to be strategic and how I would get clients but of course it's also a bit of luck that.

Luck vs. Hard Work

Speaker 1 5:28

That's very helpful for you to say Always my only addition to that. For me, I think, luck is 90% preparation. You have to be in the right spot to get lucky, and that lies solely on your shoulders, with your idea and your drive and your passion to do that.

Speaker 3 5:49

I mean I also had a great support system. I don't want to just take all the credit, like I had at that time my boyfriend was super supportive. When I was crying over that two hour cake, like he was like no, you got it, you can do it. And Valentine's day, when I started selling those chocolate hearts, I sold too many. Actually, I sold too many. I ran out of these little cupcake liners I needed and he called Michaels and like ran there 30 minutes before closing I was like hey, please don't close. I need to get this for my girlfriend and like save my business. Basically, like I had a great support system too. Like so many people contributed to youngfulness and just everything that it's become.

Support Systems Behind Success

Speaker 1 6:28

Isn't that rewarding, though? I mean, look, you can be modest all you want. At the end of the day you sit back and go like, fuck yeah, I'm doing this. That's kind of cool.

Speaker 3 6:38

I think that's cool. I don't think I'm like, fuck yeah, you know, well, you should be.

Speaker 1 6:42

I'm definitely like yes, why wouldn't you, is it? The cursing that bothers you, or is this the of giving yourself that self-?

Speaker 3 6:48

Oh, I think it's just a little too much credit. I don't know.

Speaker 1 6:51

Who else is doing it?

Speaker 3 6:51

I curse all the time Fuck, you fuck fuck.

Speaker 1 6:54

I don't think you should ever be reserved about being successful and ambitious, about something that you're passionate about.

Speaker 3 7:01

Well, thank you.

Speaker 1 7:03

All off Instagram. No, is it just a landing page that you order from, or is it?

Speaker 3 7:06

just it's a Google form doc Cause I don't pay for a website.

Speaker 1 7:10

You know I don't. I run a corporate production company and so all my advertising and marketing is inbound, funneling, so I get it. Um, it's SEO, it's a it's. I'm not a hunter, I'm a farmer. I got people who need video come find me, and so I spend very little on my marketing and advertising.

Speaker 3 7:31

Yeah, so I get it yeah, I've had photographers and videographers reach out to me at least three now who were like in exchange for free content, we just want like to film you and your baking and your decorating to give you exposure, but also, let me like get my name out there, yeah, I would do it just for a piece of cake.

Speaker 2 7:51

I mean, I'm pretty straightforward, I have a lot of scraps. Photographers love food. I know Right, john, I used to be skinny before. I started shooting.

Speaker 1 7:59

Oh wow, Small world.

Wrap-Up and Destination

Speaker 2 8:00

A small world. It is so much fun.

Speaker 1 8:02

I'm so happy I met John. It's so fun. And we love your car.

Speaker 2 8:06

I appreciate that. Right when I called the lift I was like Regan, we're getting picked up in a nice SUV Some dude in a white SUV.

Speaker 1 8:16

Yes, yeah, you know sometimes that sliding doors moment happens in the most unusual places and ways.

Speaker 2 8:24

John, it has been a pleasure All right hold on a second ladies, where are you guys going?

Speaker 1 8:28

Where are we going? It says 1238.

Speaker 2 8:29

Oh right, here on a second ladies, when are you guys going? Where are we going? It says 1238.

Speaker 1 8:31

Oh right here.

Speaker 2 8:32

Oh, OK, cool.

Speaker 1 8:32

Blue wonders, here we are.

Speaker 2 8:34

That's what we're going to be doing.

Speaker 1 8:35

Those two girls are going to be our.

Speaker 2 8:38

That's going to be us.

Speaker 1 8:39

Catch us at the top of the thing, ladies, that was fun. Thank you so much for chatting. We'll have to.