Emily’s Cakes Magical Beginning

Where all the magic started

For months and months we’ve been toying with idea of starting this blog. We’ve had such amazing experiences and we’ve learnt so much over the last 6 years…but what do we share?

What we want to share with the world ia

• How courage and love propelled us into action.
• How nothing is impossible or silly, if you have the idea and passion.
• Love, a smile and kindness will help you achieve anything

Well I guess the best way to start is…to just do it.

So I had a spark of inspiration to share our story of the magic that is Emily’s Cakes from a different point of view. Not from “The Emily’s” point of view but from her trusted sidekick and greatest ally…Me.

Now I think a little introduction is in order.

Hi, my name is Adrian but you can call me Jack, as I am a Jack of all trades – or Batman( an officer’s personnel servant). The officers being Emily and Celeste. At Emily’s Cakes I am assistant decorator, idea creator, and marketing, social media and website manager. My jobs also include client relations and most importantly…TEA MAKER for Emily. I have tried to find a tea drip, but as yet haven’t been able to.

So here’s how it all started…

Once Upon a time, on a stormy night, there was a flash of light in the night sky……

Well not really…

Actually, it was one really cold July morning, six years ago.

We took the leap of faith to take our little table, adorned with our fabulous cupcakes, to the street. What happened next was magic and true inspiration.

Hope…

And an idea of starting afresh with something completely different after a not so successful real estate venture.

Belief…

Is what drove me.

Emily is one of the most brilliant, creative people I’ve ever known. I didn’t have much faith in me but in her I saw unlimited potential. So my mind started planning. She’d been learning how to bake and decorate cakes for years. Our mom being Portuguese, had great baking skills, which she imparted on Emily very early in life.

Determination…

To make something out of such amazing talent.

So I pushed us into starting our business. With Emily’s amazing skills and me being crazy enough to do anything, we did it!
However, the traditional methods of advertising didn’t exactly take off as well as we’d hoped.

So Now What…

Well Emily’s Cakes didn’t stop there. As Fate would have it, we’d just started watching Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares and as much as Gordon can be vulgar, his show was our inspiration!

My motivating thought was how much we love our cakes and I wanted the world to know what a great cake really is! So in the words of Gordon Ramsay, we decided to, “get out there and get the locals on our side”, by introducing ourselves and our delicious goodies in a rather unconventional way.

With our little table, the best cupcakes in town, a pavement for a stage, and hearts filled with love and passion, the magical future that is Emily’s Cakes began.

The First week…

Was the craziest and most exciting beginning we could have wished for.

People were shocked! It’s not everyday you drive to work and whilst passing through an up market area there is a young man on the side of the road, next to a table bowing, smiling and waving.

Drivers would gawk, laugh or turn their heads so quickly when they saw me and some would screech to a stop and reverse just to find out what we were doing and who we were. Others even drove around the block just to come back and be part of the fun.We had countless stoppers asking if they could take a picture with us. Within the first two weeks we’d created the biggest sensation the suburb had ever experienced.

So Much Appreciation…

To all our neighbours and supporters.

Our neighbours are amazing and were 100% supportive of what we were doing. In fact they loved it! And even though times have changed and people have moved on, we are all still good friends.

From our little table we have met thousands of wonderful contacts, clients and friends. And I am grateful for every moment of it – for every smile we made and every happy satisfied person.

Incredible…

How from so little we made so much out of it.

We had no idea how busy our street actually was. It was a major thoroughfare to universities, schools and business areas. And Gerard street became “The Cupcake Street”, that’s how people remember our road.

 

Recently…

We have moved and it has caused quite a depression, apparently. We keep being asked to come back and that really means the world to me. It shows that we meant to our supporters as much as they meant to us.

Here are some of the highlights over the years in picture form.

Our World Cup 2010 Theme Looking Spiffy for Valentines Day

You can see why Halloween was always my favourite. I got to dress up and be mad and have fun! Our Halloween days were always so well received. From people screaming in fright, to drivers hooting and laughing their heads off. It was always a day to look forward to.

Life after the Table…

It’s been quite an adjustment if I’m honest. The table no longer goes out, which leaves us with a lot of time to focus on other things. But business has never been better, which is the biggest relief for me. I was concerned changing premises but we kept positive and kept believing in ourselves and our amazing goodies and everyone was more than happy to follow us anywhere.

The Table Lives on…

It is our dream to open our own little coffee shop in the near future. But for now we have to focus on getting Emily’s Cakes THE name in cake and Pastries. This might even involve the little table gracing the pavement shores once again. Although our new road is a split level and narrower I’m hoping we’ll make it work.

Never let go…

It’s not all rainbows and unicorns or strawberries and cream. We’ve been through our share of tough times and ups and downs, including days of sleep deprivation, forgetting baking powder to many times to remember, stolen cars, broken ovens and geysers and way too many load shedding cake flops! But we’ve never let go because of a love and hope in our something so magical. And my wish is that our story will inspire you to never let go but to follow your love, your dreams, your magic!

We will continue…

It is our promise to ourselves and to everyone that Quality will always come first, you have our word.