Today we’d like to introduce you to Briana Charles.
Briana, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up, I was always in the kitchen. I was raised by a single mom so we learned young how to cook, bake, and fend for ourselves. I always found it so fascinating how you can mix ingredients together and end up with so many different outcomes. One of my favorite childhood memories was the cookie party that we would host every year. The week before Christmas, everyone we knew was invited over and we would all bake hundreds of cookies for friends, family, neighbors, teachers, mail people, and first responders… basically anyone that wanted cookies! As I got older and started working, the restaurant industry was like a magnet to me. No matter how many times I tried to leave it or deny it, I kept being brought back in.
Once I decided to roll with it, the passion for it hit me like a truck. After unsuccessfully attempting multiple careers, including a cosmetology and a dolphin trainer, in 2015, I finally decided to go to pastry school…and it was one of the best decisions of my life. I am currently operating a cottage bakery, which is a fancy phrase for an in-home bakery called The Purple Sprinkle. I am also working as a dessert specialist for a local pizzeria, making the desserts for all four of their locations. On top of that, I am married to my best friend and we have a beautiful daughter together. Following my own path allowed me to spend more time with them while working towards a successful future. My life, and this entire journey, has been a very rocky road. Life throws a lot of curveballs at you, I learned that far too young. But now? Now, I can say that I enjoy my career, I feel safe and happy at home, and I love the path that I’m on. I worked hard to be where I am today, and little me would be proud.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m going to keep it 100% honest with you. No, life has not been a smooth road, but is anyone’s? We all have our battles and our own demons that we fight every day. I personally suffer from PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, dyslexia, and severe nerve damage. I have a past history with addiction and a traumatic childhood that I’m still healing from. I have a very, very small circle of people that I consider family, and other than my husband and daughter, none of them live in this state. We moved down here so that we could provide a better life for our daughter, but word of mouth is crucial for businesses, so that causes complications. If it wasn’t for social media and Google, nobody would know I exist. Fresh out of culinary school, I was so excited to start, but realistically, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing! Baking in bulk, creating and sizing recipes, decorating, how ingredients work, operating machines, food costs, supply and demand, these are all things you don’t learn overnight. There’s trials and errors you have to go through and so many different techniques to learn.
And then, you have to decide what works best for YOU. That was the hardest part for me, learning what I actually want and need to do and applying that in creating boundaries in my career. Not to mention the amount of money that you need to invest in yourself and your business. The biggest difficulty I’m currently facing is trying to price my desserts so that they’re fair to other people but also fair to myself. I need to make a profit when I spend 10+ hours on one cake, but if I charge a livable wage in this day and age, it’s not realistic. Running a business is never a smooth road, starting from absolutely nothing is not easy. If you’re going to start a business, your heart needs to be in it…but you also need to know how to keep your emotions out of it. If I can do it, anyone can do it and trust me, the ride is worth it. But in no way is it easy.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Wedding cakes and children’s cakes are my favorite! If your child has a crazy idea for a cake, I would love to make it! All of my cakes are made from scratch, most of my recipes are my own, and I will always choose quality over quantity or anything else. I choose the highest quality ingredients, and my recipes are tried and true. I specialize in custom cakes, but I make other custom desserts as well. While I can make vegan, gluten-free, keto, etc. I prefer to stick with old-fashioned pure cane sugar and flour. Anytime someone books a cake with me, I get SO excited. The fact that there’s hundreds of bakers nearby and you chose me to be a part of your special day, especially for weddings, it just means so much to me! It’s truly an honor to be able to make you smile with something that I created and I’m just proud to have the ability to do that. It’s a talent that I am forever grateful for.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I’m not sure if it’s fully surprising, but I’m a homebody. I like to just chill at home in my sweats with my family. Binge-watch shows, eat too much, play video games, color and just hang out. I really love Lizzo, Pokémon, and The Vampire Diaries, and you’ll pretty much always find us at the dog park and spending too much money at pet stores on our days off.
Pricing:
- Custom Cakes start at $95 for a 3 layer 6″
- Cupcakes start at $45 / Dozen
- Sugar Cookies start at $45 / Dozen
- Fudgy Brownies start at $38 / Dozen
Contact Info:
- Website: thepurplesprinkle.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thepurplesprinkle
- Facebook: facebook.com/thepurplesprinklellc
- Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/the-purple-sprinkle-llc-marietta-ga-2058991
