Meet Mark Hill: Cake Artist, Owner Meraki Custom Cakes

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

Hi Mark, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I attribute any success I’ve had to my work ethic and my ridiculously high standards. Because I didn’t study baking, cake decorating or have any experience working in a bakery, in my mind I couldn’t be anything less that perfect if I was going to put myself out there. I’ve learned on the fly and taught myself everything I know which is the best way to fully know the ins and outs of my business. For the longest time I thought that I got lucky and my success was an accident. But it’s hard work though and it’s anything but an accident. An entrepreneur/mentor/friend recently said to me, “I hope you are proud of what you have built. It might be your “happy accident” but success is anything but an accident.” Ryan Moore – Putting Down Roots (PDR). It was such an amazing thing to hear and believe me, I am proud. That being said, I’m still and long way from where I’d like to be but my passion and drive are what I hope will ensure even more success in the future. 

Please tell us more about your career. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Naturally, I’ve thought a lot about how I ended up here. A middle aged man, starting over in life, making cakes with no baking or business/entrepreneur experience. Definitely was nowhere near the top of my list when I was a kid. Haha But I was also one of those kids who honestly had no clue what I wanted to be when I grew up so that’s fair enough. I was raised by a single mother and it was hard for her. Early on stability was an issue for us but I had a great upbringing nevertheless and my mom made sure we never wanted for anything. She’s honestly one of the strongest and most amazing women in my life (out of many) but every man says that about his mama, right? Anyway, the one thing I remember thinking about the future was that I wanted to have security when I grew up so I chose to go to college. I was a liberal arts major and had read several books: “What color is your parachute”, “Do What You Are”, “Strengthsfinder”, the list goes on and my results always came back the same: I should do something creative, work with my hands, artist etc. I thought to myself, first, I’m not an artist and if I were, artiststs and creative people who work with their hands are poor and don’t make money. What can say, I was young. Anyway after college I entered the corporate world and never quite found my niche. I went into advertising/sales to make lots of money and hated it. Something that always stand out in my mind is that every sales interview, I was always asked the same question: “What motivates you?” My bull shit response was always, “money” which I now realize is not true. And the reason I know that is because I’ve honestly never worked as hard as I have being an entrepreneur and been so poor. But that’s all part of it. No, it hasn’t been easy but I’ve honestly never been happier and one day I won’t have to work as hard and it’ll all balance out. I’m still in the early stages of my business and trying to operate during a pandemic. It’ a roller coaster and you have to ride out the ups and downs. As the saying goes, “Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy otherwise everybody would do it” or something like that. Through this whole experience I’ve learned what drives me, inspires, motivates me and most important, who I am as a human and an artist and I’m proud of where I am and how I got here.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
about 5 years ago if you asked me where to dine, drink and live it up I’d be able to tell you where and you’d probably see me there. Being an entrepreneur doesn’t provide a lot of opportunity for much fun. I’m also a different person as a result of the past few years of this journey and I’m much simpler these days. I would opt for a day of museums, specifically one of my favorites The Kirkland, grab lunch or coffee nearby after and wander around the city aimlessly. I love being outside in the Colorado sun as much as possible.

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?
Ryan Moore – Putting Down Roots (PDR)

Website: www.merakicustomcakes.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merakicakes/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merakicakesandbakes
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/meraki-custom-cakes-wheat-ridge?uid=DDNVJhbZQu9kMMp5QYQ5sw&utm_medium=s_nb_i_mg&utm_source=ishare
Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/meraki-custom-cakes-wheat-ridge-co-1085787

Image Credits
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