Meet Vanessa Sidara | Surgical operations supervisor/Baker

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

Hi Vanessa, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My thought process of starting my own business was on the whim. Believe it or not, I baked my first cake for my husbands birthday and posted it to social media. Immediately after, I had an outpour of requests for the same cake. I was so scared to put my work out there for the world to see and try. After about a week, my husband convinced me during the middle of a pandemic to utilize what I had and start up.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business is ran out of my home. I live in a small house in North Denver with a tiny kitchen & 1 oven. I work solely alone other than when my daughter is helping me bake. Some days I have no idea how I do it, but when I have a week full of orders, my organization is what sets me up for success and where I am now. I have learned to be very responsive & kind to my customers. I try and envision exactly what they are looking for in a cake for each occasion. I have learned that being very communicative is a huge key factor. One huge lesson I have learned along the way is to never over book myself. I did it one time & the feeling of not giving each order my all was horrible. I couldn’t focus thinking I sold cakes I didn’t feel were a 100% great in my eyes. If there’s one thing I would want the world to know about me, its that I pour my heart into each order & that when you support my small business, you are supporting a family with dreams.

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.
If I had a friend visiting for a whole week, these spots would be my number one go to. – Red rocks for movie on the rocks or Live concert. Amazing experience for someone not from Denver.
– Happy Camper, the name speaks for itself & head to Avanti.
– Breakfast at Wendell’s, and also at the Cozy Cottage on Tennyson.
– Dinner at Izakaya Den for some sushi.
– Drinks of course at Retro room (pickle shots), before a Rockies game.
– Our neighborhood bar almost a couple times that week at Rocky top Tavern.
– Angelos Taverna for some oysters & Italian food.
– Chubby’s on 38th for a late night snack after being out.
– Off roading trip to spend a night in the mountains next to Chinns lake.
– All of south broadway with all the shops, especially Terra Apothacary.
– Ice cream at Highpointe creamery and the whole eating experience at the Denver central market.
– Explore the whole Rino area of the art, end at Recess beer garden & Poke House.
– I would end the trip with a lake day to Soda lake with some paddleboards and dinner at Texas de Brazil.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family! My daughter has learned about starting a business with me & she actually helps me when she is not in school. She’s 13 and has learned about hard work & what it takes to run a business. She see’s me running around after my full time job to get orders in place & ready for customers. My husband is a huge part of my success as he is the one that pushed me to start in the first place. While he runs his own business, he is constantly helping me with mine & being available everyday for cake pick ups while I am not home. They keep me going no matter how full my plate is.

Instagram: Highlands_Bakeshop