Meet Jessica Schiappa of Jessie Bakes in Marietta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Schiappa.

Jessica, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My name is Jessie, and I am a 31 year old mom, wife, UGA graduate, and cookie decorator. I’d have to say that my passion for creating in my kitchen stemmed from my mom’s love for cooking. She is a total foodie and lived in the kitchen, but she didn’t really bake. She has a passion for cooking, grilling, trying new things, mixing flavors, and gets so much joy out of people’s reactions to trying her food. I think that’s the reason why I enjoy being in the kitchen too. I have a total sweet tooth and a love for all things frilly and pretty. So, that’s why I enjoy baking and dessert decorating more than cooking. I started baking cupcakes in my early twenties just for fun. I loved trying new techniques with the icing and decorating, and it was a very therapeutic and creative outlet for me. Any excuse I could find to make cupcakes, I would. The more I baked the more I learned, and my confidence grew. So, I started branching out and trying new things. I am somewhat of a perfectionist and love a challenge. So, I would find a new recipe and just tackle it. Trial and error is definitely how I learn best, and the challenges I’ve faced while baking have helped me learn and grow.

In October of 2018, I made my first set of Halloween royal icing cookies. I had never worked with royal icing before, and it was a bit of a challenge. So, I stepped back and did some research about what went wrong and how I could execute them better. I watched videos, read blogs, followed a lot of prominent cookie decorators on social media for inspiration. Then, a couple of months later, I attended a cookie decorating class hosted by Kristi Latzak of Summit Sweets. That class definitely sparked a fire in me and gave me a little more guidance and confidence. I felt like I had finally found my medium in royal icing. Since then, I’ve been decorating cookies non-stop. It’s been a very challenging, fun, and busy last 14 months! I feel that I still have so much to learn, and I am perfecting my skills a little more with each new set of cookies that I make, but it is truly a labor of love. It’s given me the creative outlet that I’ve always needed.

Has it been a smooth road?
When you are working towards bettering yourself in anything you do, there is going to be some struggle. All of the best things in life are won by hard work, persistence, and dedication. My dad taught me that. He’s the hardest working person that I know, and I get my strong work ethic from him. I am a perfectionist and my own worst critic. I would say that that has been my greatest struggle in this journey. I’m always asking myself how I could have done something better. Time management was a balancing act for a while too. My family will always come first, and trying to navigate being a mom, wife, homemaker, budding cookie decorator, and well rested person was a struggle! I only decorate cookies when my son is either at school or asleep. I don’t let it interfere with our time together, because I feel that he is my biggest priority. I take care of myself, my family, and my home during the day, and make cookies late into the night. It is still a struggle sometimes, but the joy of creating and doing what I love makes it well worth it. I’m very grateful for this chapter in my life.

Please tell us about your business.
My home baking business is called Jessie Bakes. My first name is Jessica, but since as far back as I can remember, everyone close to me has called me Jessie. I bake. My name is Jessie. So, Jessie Bakes was born! I make and sell custom decorated sugar cookies for any occasion. I love how many interesting and fun themes that I have had the opportunity to make into cookies.The creative planning process has been a lot of fun with each new set that I make. I think a lot of people associate those types of cookies with the hard and flavorless ones that you find prepackaged in stores. My cookies aren’t like that at all. They’re made with real butter, vanilla, and sugar. So, they’re quite soft and flavorful! I’ve gotten consistent feedback about how soft and tasty they are from my clients, and that has been so rewarding and encouraging. They’re made fresh in my home kitchen just a couple of days before pick up, and I seal them in airtight bags to lock in the freshness. My husband and four year old son are quite pleased with their roles as taste testers! I’m proud of how my cookies taste, and the aesthetic appeal of them. I work very hard to deliver picture perfect cookies to all of my clients, and I think that it comes through in the finished product. I am the only one who bakes and decorates my cookies. So, I am very limited with how many orders I take each week. This is great because I pay close attention to each cookie that I make from start to finish. I feel that being small-scale allows me to create a higher quality product for my customers.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Marietta is my home, and I love it. There is so much that this city has to offer in the way of local cuisine, historic sites, and a diverse and neighborly population. I live in East Cobb, and I feel that it has been a wonderful place to raise my family. There is also a local group of women who make cookies out of their home. They have been such a great support system when I’ve needed help figuring out how to succeed with my home business. We lend each other helpful advice, cookie cutters, and even refer clients to each other when our calendars get a little too full. We are all moms, wives, and cookie decorators. So, having them as a support system has been invaluable. The only complaint about my city that I can think of is that they don’t yet allow homeowners to own a small backyard flock of chickens. I’m kind of a closet crazy chicken lady. Haha! I spent a couple of summers with my grandmother and she kept chickens. I loved collecting the eggs and watching them scratch and peck around. They’re funny little critters, and the fresh eggs can’t be beat. I feel that owning and raising your flock of chickens can bring so many benefits to people’s lives, and I hope that the laws will change sometime soon.

Contact Info:

• Website: Facebook.com/JessieBakes2
• Phone: 678-656-3545
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: Instagram.com/JessieBakes
• Facebook: Facebook.com/JessieBakes2

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