Today we’d like to introduce you to Monty Garside.
Hi Monty, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Confectionist Bakery’s origin story begins with my paternal grandmother (Ruth Burns Garside). She cooked and baked for every family holiday and special occasion. She was known throughout our family, church, and community for her skills in the kitchen. She was a hood legend! Food was her love language and she was FLUENT in it! In a perfect world, she would have owned a restaurant or a catering company, but her world was anything but perfect, so she never got the chance to try.
My grandmother refused to teach any of the boys how to cook or bake, but I was with her in the kitchen countless times throughout my childhood and saw her bake hundreds of cakes. When she passed away in 2003, I promised myself I would learn how to bake a proper pound cake. It took about 10 years to get serious about it, but when I did, I took it very seriously. A friend encouraged me to turn what I thought was going to be a hobby into a business, so we started Confectionist Bakery in 2014. Eleven years later, we’re still going strong.
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?
Smooth? Definitely not. Growing up, I had no aspirations of being a business owner. I wanted to be a lawyer and I became one (that’s still my day job). So starting a business was totally out of my comfort zone. I didn’t know the first thing about sourcing, scaling, marketing…even pricing. I’m still learning, but each year I get a little better at it.
We’ve been impressed with Confectionist Bakery, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Confectionist Bakery is a dessert delivery and catering company serving the entire Metro Atlanta area. We use quality ingredients, craft quality desserts, and provide quality service. We take great pride in preparing our desserts with the care and attention to detail our customers enjoy and appreciate. We offer delivery within 25 miles of our baking facility and we ship most (but not all) of our items to all 50 states and U.S. territories.
Although we have over 40 items on our menu, we are best known for our ‘Nana Puddin’ Layer Cake, our Sweet Potato Pound Cake, and our Death By Oreo Cheesecake. We also have a cake of the month subscription service (the Confectionist Club). Members get exclusive, off-menu items delivered every month, free delivery, and discounts on all orders.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Good luck and bad luck are as inevitable as sunrise and sunset. Like it or not, you have to deal with both. For example, our biggest year of growth happened in 2020. That was an awful year for the entire world because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But our business thrived because, as luck would have it, we were one of the only businesses that delivered food exclusively. People couldn’t travel, but they could send cake to friends and loved ones. While many restaurants scrambled to adapt, we were perfectly positioned.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.confectionistbakeryatl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/confectbakery
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConfectBakery
- Twitter: https://www.x.com/confectbakery
Image Credits
Monty Garside
Troy Bell/Neisha Tweed Bell
