Today we’d like to introduce you to Rita Avant.
Rita, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Ironically, my story does not begin with me always having a love for baking. As long as can remember, I always loved creating things from scratch no matter what the medium was. During my adolescent years, I tried many different hobbies. I took art classes, dance lessons, cooking classes, I was involved in the drama club and I even took up fashion designing.
My cake obsession began at the age of 15 when for a math project, I decided to make cupcakes instead of the typical powerpoints and posterboards. The subject of the project was based on circles so I made the cupcakes from a box mix and used canned frosting and candied toppings such as Twizzlers and sprinkles to decorate. I used the cupcake as a whole to represent the “circle” and I used the candies to show the “radius”, “diameter” and “circumference” of each circle. The next day when I presented my project to the class, I received a lot of compliments and request for more. Soon after, I was taking orders and baking every school day and I became known in school as “the girl who sold cupcakes.”
After a few weeks of me consistently baking and decorating only cupcakes, I got my first taste of cake decorating when my closest friend Ahmad asked me to make his birthday cake for him. To my surprise, it turned out just as I had hoped and I truly enjoyed making it. Ahmad was super surprised and delighted when I handed him his cake and I knew from that moment on that I wanted to be the cause of that same joy he was experiencing too many more people.
I started looking into culinary school to attend once I graduated high school. When I began taking tours of a couple of different universities, I noticed that cake decorating wasn’t the focus of these facilities and that they were only briefly touched on. I knew it was not the best option for me to enroll in a culinary school and spend so much money on subjects that were going to be taught to me that I would potentially never use. From that day forward, I was determined to teach myself everything there was to know about cake decorating and sugar art. I watched endless cake shows, tutorial videos and read many books to provide me with the knowledge I needed to be successful.
Once I entered college, I put a hold on my cakes to focus on my studies. While in school, I worked in a grocery store bakery part-time as their cake decorator. Quickly, I realized the difference in mass making baked goods as opposed to the time and attention to detail that it takes to make custom items. I became bored with how easy and repetitive the job became to me. I also became fully aware of the fact that I was being paid hourly and not per cake. I decided that making cakes for someone’s company other than my own was not an option. After a year at university, I decided to take time and work full time for an insurance company. With working 40 hours a week, I was taking a minimum amount of cake orders only to use as additional income. My vehicle at the time broke down and I no longer had transportation to work and I was forced to resign. When I no longer had a steady income, I used social media to promote myself more than I was before. I was able to pick up more traffic, take more orders and in no time Cake-a-Rita was providing me with the financial stability that I had recently lost.
Even after I purchased a new car and I was able to go back to work, I took a leap of faith and decided that I would stay full time with Cake-a-Rita and I would not be going back to work for someone else. Cake-a-Rita has grown so much over these past few years. I am so grateful and thankful for everything and that I get to live out my dream and do something that I love every single day. I now have almost ten years of experience and I have baked, stacked, filled, frosted and decorated over 100 cakes. Every day, I learn a new technique, I meet a new person, I perfect my craft a little more and it’s the greatest job I could ever have. I’m super excited about the future of Cake-a-Rita, the only way to go from here is up!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Running my own business has to be the hardest thing that I’ve done in my life thus far. There are so many sleepless nights, so many times I overwork and overwhelm myself and sometimes I want to straight up quit. I overcome all these feelings by thinking about the reasons I started in the first place. I think about how blessed I am to work for myself and how happy the daily stress of running a business makes me. I think about the amazing support system that I have and how proud my family is of me. How my dad is present for every popup event that I have, how my mom helps with all the tedious decorating, how my aunt delivers all my cakes, and how my close friend Totianna helps with anything and everything I could possibly need.
Facing certain obstacles have just shown me that it takes a village and even though I started this journey as a one women show, I don’t have to continue it this way because I have the support that I need to execute Cake-a-Rita the way that I intend it to be.
Cake-a-Rita – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Cake-a-Rita is a residential based bakery serving the metro Atlanta, Georgia area. We specialize in custom cakes, cupcakes (Infused and non-Infused) and everything sweet and decadent! Cake-a-Rita provides a chic creative design with a personal touch for each customer. Our over the top designs will fit beyond your expectations and we will work with you to create the cake of your dreams. We accommodate birthday parties, baby showers, graduations, and even weddings. Our creations not only look great but they taste amazing because every sweet treat is created with the best ingredients.
Cake-a-Rita is most known for our Infused drip cakes with lots of glitter and glam! We also offer a savory cupcake called Sunday’s Best (inspired by LA baker Bree’s Cakes) which is a cornbread based cupcake stuffed with macaroni and cheese “frosted” in garlic mashed potatoes topped with fried chicken and a gravy drizzle. With us being located in the south Sunday’s Best is definitely our best seller!
I am most proud of the growth that I see in my work from over the years and I am also proud of being a self-taught baker and business owner at such a young age. I believe that my age sets me apart from others because it takes most people a very long time and multiple trails and errors to figure out what they want in life. I was able to determine that for myself during my teen years and I began to carry out my plan immediately. This strategy has allowed me to have just as much or more hands-on experience as someone twice my age.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I like to call Cake-a-Rita success my “Mama, I made it” moment. Every new day is a marker of success for me. Every time I get a new order, a new customer, a referral or another day of being in business, I consider that success. These are examples of small victories that strive for every day but my ultimate “Mama, I made it” moment would be to have a brick and mortar within the next two years.
Pricing:
- Custom Cakes Starting Price – $150
- Infused Cupcakes – $40 a dozen
- Custom Cupcakes – $30 a dozen
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.cakearita.com
- Email: ritaavant@cakearita.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/cakearita
- Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/cakearita1
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