November 19, 2016

Meet Alpharetta Baker and Cake Decorator: Kelli Tucker

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelli Tucker.

Kelli, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I originally went to SCAD for Video Game Design since that is what I’ve always believed I would be doing with my life. After graduation during the job hunt period, I took up a new hobby of baking/cooking. The more I learned and practiced, the more I realized that this is what I was meant to be doing all along. So, I began studying, practicing, reading, and watching anything I could get my hands on to teach myself about the industry for another few years at an art school was out of the question. My first job in the industry was as an intern for a cupcake shop and I continued to move around different styles of bakeries until deciding to try to venture out on my own.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth ride the entire time. I’ve had to deal with starting all over from scratch in a different world of sorts along with the occasional judgments based on the fact I didn’t get a degree in that field. One of the biggest struggles, which is still a struggle, was finding the funds to get all the equipment and materials needed to start up and get to a point where I can comfortably tackle anything thrown my way.

So, what should we be on the lookout for, what’s next in store for you?
Hopefully, in the near future, I would like to turn CafeNoms into Atlanta’s first Cosplay Cafe which I’ve always wanted for it from the start. I have been a very big fan of all things nerdy and cosplay since I can remember and in a few short years, a lot of Atlanta has come to share the same interests. Taking the business from purely desserts to a full-service cafe for that specific market will be a huge and difficult change, but I’m very excited to continue taking that step forward.

Let’s go backward a bit – can you tell us about the most trying time in your career?
I’d have to say there were two major points in my career thus far that were very difficult. The first one being taking the step into the culinary industry in the first place after spending so much time, money, and energy in a completely different field only to start all over again in another. Every time progress was slow or seemed nonexistent I would question whether I made the right choice and if I should go back, but I stuck to it, continued to learn through failure, and pushed harder. The second was when I left my comfortable job to put CafeNoms as #1 on my priority list. Though it was providing me with steady money, I was too tired and unmotivated to try to put my all into my own business, so I made the tough decision to sacrifice the predictable paycheck to start pushing the business forward and getting people to see what I can do.

Do you ever feel like “Wow, I’ve arrived” or “I’ve made it” or do you feel like the bulk of the story is still unwritten?
I’m still very early in my career so I can’t say there are any “I’ve made it” moments. However, I definitely know I’m going in the right direction when I get high praises and compliments on an elaborate cake or a decadent dessert, when I win local baking competitions, or when a little girl looks at my cupcakes and asks if she can bake with me and teach her as if I were a celeb baker that came from filming on a cooking show. I just want people to associate CafeNoms with fun/delicious and when I see the look on people’s faces when they taste or see my desserts I know it’s getting there.

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