Meet Cynthia Nardulli | Custom Cake & Dessert Artist, Wife and Mother

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

Hi Cynthia, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?

Starting my own business was not really a long term goal for me initially. It was a process that evolved over many years and through a few different career paths. I have always been creative and used that aspect of my personality as an outlet to calm my mind and express myself. In high school, I would create elaborate full page doodles and from there it evolved into a variety of other creative outlets (sewing, baking, dancing). I never put a major focus on that part of myself though and always regarded those aspects of my personality has hobbies. In thinking of a career, I decided to go after a business degree and actually concentrated in IT. After working in a few jobs that were IT focused, I realized that it wasn’t going to fulfill me long term so I pivoted that knowledge into sales positions. I ultimately ended up at a large pharmaceutical company in specialty sales for over a decade. It was a very rewarding career and I learned so much about myself and interactions with other people. The skills I learned during all that time in sales were immeasurable. I use them in my current business and even socially every single day.
When I got married and decided to have a family it changed my personal and professional goals considerably. I think this is a struggle for many parents but women in particular feel the pressure to do it all. For me personally, I did not want both my husband and I to be far from our children every day for our jobs. I decided to work part-time so that I could be present on a more daily basis and closer to home. After the birth of my third child, I took the opportunity to become a stay at home Mom. I absolutely loved the four years I spent exclusively being a homemaker as it allowed me precious time with my children when they were young that I would not have experienced otherwise. I was however feeling that I needed something for myself outside of taking care of the needs of my loved ones. I needed a way to channel my mind and focus on something that was exclusively for me. My creative and mental well-being needed some balance. It was a natural progression that led me to start selling my cake creations and other desserts.
When my oldest daughter turned one year old I wanted to get her a beautiful birthday cake. My Mother had always made great decorative cakes for my brother and I growing up and it was a tradition I wanted to continue. I ordered one from a local cake artist at the time. Upon picking it up and paying for it, I thought to myself that it was something I thought I could make with a little more knowledge on cake creations. Things like layering cakes, making my own buttercream and sculpting with fondant were beyond my scope of abilities at the time. I asked my husband to get me a cake decorating class as a birthday gift that year. I took a three hour course in fondant and then three more one hour courses on cake making basics and off I went. I spent the next 10 years making cakes for friends and family. Each year my children would pick a theme and I would challenge myself to learn something new and make an elaborate design. My children now have high expectations for their birthday cakes! Friends and family would always tell me it was a talent and that I should use that gift to make cake designs for others.

It wasn’t until I found myself looking for a new personal challenge that I started to think this could be an actual path or business. After almost 10 years of teaching myself to expand my knowledge, I had a conversation with a friend. She knew of all of the cakes I made for my kids and asked if I would be willing to make a cake for her sons Bar Mitzvah. I agreed to take it as a way to figure out if this was something I wanted to pursue as a business. It was during this process I used all of my previous business knowledge to track how I would establish costs for time and supplies. It was a good learning process and it was the launching off point of taking my well established hobby and turning it into a profitable business.

A short time later my girlfriend was looking into getting a cake for her daughters birthday and I put myself out there to kick start my business. She showed me a picture of what she wanted and I said “Oh I can do that for you”. I think she was a bit taken aback at my confidence. When another friend showed her a bunch of the cakes I had done, she offered to pay me to make it. While I was in the store shopping for supplies with a picture of the cake I was making in hand, a random customer asked if I made cakes and if I had a webpage. It was the final straw that caused me to go home and start researching how to start my business. Another local mom and friend who has her own artistic business gave me a ton of important and helpful information in those early days. I got my social media pages setup and began posting pictures of all of the cakes I had made over the years. None of those cakes were well lit or staged photos but it was enough to get the ball rolling.

My husband was so supportive of me during this time. I was really scared to pursue starting the business. He did a lot of the research around opening an LLC, looking up tax specifics and how to pursue getting my Cottage Baking Permit with the state. We like to joke he is my silent partner but he is so much more than that. I ask for input on my designs and feedback on flavors when I try something new.

When I launched those social media pages and started sending them to friends and family to begin a following I was overwhelmed with positive feedback. It appeared that many people in my life had thought I should have been sharing my creative talent with others for a long time. I had dozens of messages from people saying that it was about time and they were so happy that I was pursuing this avenue. These same people were some of my first and best repeat customers. I have been given a gift of support by so many in my local community. They helped me to grow an idea into a business by sharing my information and recommending me to anyone looking to do custom cakes or dessert spreads for parties. When I started this I thought it would take time and be a slow roll to get going. But with all these wonderful people supporting me it went from an idea to express myself creatively to a profitable business within the first few months. I could not be more grateful for the interest and support.

What I expected to be a slow build suddenly exploded quickly. It’s been an exciting and rewarding process. At this point, word of mouth is spreading my business on its own. I have many repeat customers and I am getting to do something I love on a daily basis. Like I tell my kids, the more you practice the better you get. So I now continue to push myself artistically to expand my capabilities and create unique cake designs.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I spent over a decade in pharmaceutical sales for a big company. Before that I did direct business to business sales. I think what set me apart in my current industry is my customer service and attention to details. My background in corporate sales helped to build a start to finish process that feels easy to my customers in my sweet treats business today.

I use my sales background to help my customers transform their ideas to a finished product. It is a collaboration process with each client and customer service is a main part of what I do. We use those ideas to create a design they like, agree on a price point for the products and then deliver a delicious and beautiful design for their celebration. I also believe that packaging and presentation, in a business such as mine, is important for the overall experience for my customers. From initial contact to delivery, I try to make it a polished and easy process. People want to have a unique custom design for whatever occasion they are celebrating and I strive to achieve that mission

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My mother inspired my love of baking. She is extremely and naturally talented with baking in her own right. She made cakes for family functions throughout my childhood and taught me to bake in our home kitchen. I have many memories of baking cookies and other dessert treats with her. Her decorating skills inspired me to think that maybe it was something I could do as well. It was with the foundation she gave me that helped me to expand to where I am today.

I took a few classes at NY Cake a decade ago to learn some fondant skills and enhance what I had learned when I was young. More recently I took a class with a local baker to enhance a few specific skills.

My knowledge has expanded greatly in the past few years due to the wealth of shared knowledge from fellow cottage bakers on Facebook around the world and YouTube tutorials. I consider myself self taught as I was never formally trained in a culinary setting.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mother inspired my love of baking. She is extremely and naturally talented with baking in her own right. She made cakes for family functions throughout my childhood and taught me to bake in our home kitchen. I have many memories of baking cookies and other dessert treats with her. Her decorating skills inspired me to think that maybe it was something I could do as well. It was with the foundation she gave me that helped me to expand to where I am today.

I took a few classes at NY Cake a decade ago to learn some fondant skills and enhance what I had learned when I was young. More recently I took a class with a local baker to enhance a few specific skills.

My knowledge has expanded greatly in the past few years due to the wealth of shared knowledge from fellow cottage bakers on Facebook around the world and YouTube tutorials. I consider myself self taught as I was never formally trained in a culinary setting.

Additionally, on the business side of things Kelly Sinnk-Brown and my husband, John Nardulli were instrumental in getting things up and running. Kelly provided invaluable insight on getting a business started using social media. Additionally, she designed my logo and has promoted me using her own platform. John did all the background research to help me become a legitimate business owner. He assisted in the legal aspects and got me up and running on an order and invoicing system. His support on a daily basis has kept me moving forward when I get frustrated creating designs and I could not do this without him.

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