Meet Micki Klawes | Owner & Baker at The Petite Cakery

We had the good fortune of connecting with Micki Klawes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Micki, what matters most to you?
The principle that matters to me most in my business is customer satisfaction. Every item is made to order and is designed to tell a story based on my customer’s vision and specifications, and my role is to create each item to surpass their expectations. I pride myself on following up with every new customer to ensure they were satisfied with their order and to find out if they have any suggestions for improvement, as this provides feedback for continued success. The flavor, the design execution and my interactions with them – those all make an impact and are critically important to ensuring every single customer is beyond satisified with what they ordered.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My ability to connect with people, along with my creative flavor combinations & my decorating skills, are what set me apart from others. I am most proud of how much my business has grown purely through word of mouth. The hardest thing about getting to this place has probably been self-doubt. I don’t know that moments of self-doubt will ever go away (don’t we all question ourselves and our abilities at times?), but I work to overcome this by gaining a better understanding of what I’m really good at, by pushing my limits to improve my ability in other areas, and by gaining the confidence to say no if there’s an order inquiry that I know I just don’t have the skillset to achieve. I want the world to know that when you place an order with The Petite Cakery, I will give 100% every time, and I care just as much as much about your cake as you do.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I have several favorite spots I’d take my best friend – the Highlands, Golden, Evergreen & Olde Town Arvada. These areas would give her a taste of all the great things I love about living here – a trendy food & drink scene, phenomenal breweries, Clear Creek path, the views from North & South Table Mountain, Elk Meadows, Evergreen Lake and vanilla scented Ponderosa Pine trees; you get a little taste of everything in these areas. Here are a few of my faves (although not enough space to list them all): Sweet Cow ice cream, The Golden Mill food hall, Sassafras American Eatery, Willow Creek Restaurant, Golden Moon Speakeasy, Cannonball Creek brewery, Barrels & Bottles brewery and Bonfire Burritos. Yum yum and fun fun!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Wow – who would I like to dedicate my shoutout to? If I can only pick one, without a doubt, I’d pick my husband. If I can pick a couple, then there are a couple other people who deserve credit in my story. –My husband Stephen; he plays pretty much any role I need him to when it comes to the bakery – cheerleader, business promoter, grocery shopper, post-baking cleaner, counselor, porter, etc. You name, he does it, and with a smile everytime. And all the same applies to my kids too.

–Joy Opp – rockin’ friend and rockin’ woman entrepreneur who is a realtor with West + Main. She has supported me from day one on this journey, has picked me up when I’ve been down and has helped me believe in myself even when I wondered if I was an imposter in this incredibly talented baking world.

–Sarah Knapp & Erin Williams – owners of Oh So Fancy Party in Lakewood who opened their business around the same time I did, and who have been incredible at encouraging me & spreading the word about my bakery .

–A local women’s networking group I recently joined – it’s full of incredible women entrepreneurs who provide all kinds of support & guidance.

–My other friends who have been awesome cheerleaders (Ebie, Brenda, MariLynn, Jane & Debbie).

Website: www.thepetitecakery.com

Instagram: @the_petite_cakery

Facebook: @thepetitecakeryByMicki

Image Credits
Personal Portrait: Kapture the Moment Photography Cakes & Cupcakes; images taken by me