This is an exciting blog post to write! 2023 was a year of growth, challenge, and stepping outside of comfort zones for me + Sugar Flowers by Kelsie Cakes.
I started off the year strong by attending the Elevate Summit put on by NAPCP in January. I flew to Nashville, leaving Ryan and Theo to fend for themselves (they did great, Ryan actually cooks real meals unlike me who just makes frozen pizza & mac n cheese when he's out of town) and spent a long weekend learning about business, doing social things, and meeting new friends!
(It's low key embarrassing that I was surrounded by mostly photographers, considering how well I take photos lol!)
To capitalize off my warm fuzzy feelings after the conference, I decided to do more comfort-zone leaving things. Like enter a competition and throw my hat in the ring for industry awards!
3rd place – SoFlo Cake & Candy Expo Sugar Flower Competition
I knew I wanted to enter the sugar flower competition at So Flo as soon as I heard about it. It was being held in honor of Nicholas Lodge, an industry icon and mentor who passed away in 2022. I write more about my experience in this blog post. Needless to say, achieving third place was so amazing.
American Cake Awards Sugar Flower Nominee
I was also nominated for the ACA awards! I did nominate myself, but I also had many friends and peers nominate me too which was an incredible feeling and honor. I didn't win but I was a finalist! Ryan and I went to the awards gala and danced the night away! Just kidding, I had just found out I was pregnant and was so exhausted that we left early. I had cravings for cheesecake throughout my pregnancy and the cheesecake at the dinner really hit the spot, ha! It was fun while we were there, though.
Babe Crafted Best Sugar Flower Artist Award
I did not nominate myself for this award! My fellow Tampa women business owners nominated me, and winning the Best Sugar Flower Artist award was a wonderful surprise! I've followed along (from the outskirts) with Babe Crafted's journey, but finally decided to join in 2023! I'm so glad I did; they are a wonderful, supportive community.
Best of Zola 2024
You know what else is out of my comfort zone? Marketing. But I signed up for Zola and asked previous clients and industry peers if they could please review/recommend my business so that other engaged couples can find out about me. And they did! Zola awards their highly reviewed businesses with their annual ‘Best of' award.
Featured in the January 2024 issue of Cake Masters magazine
Okay, yes, this is in the 2024 edition, but I submitted my entry in 2023, so I will sneak it in at the end of this list anyway!
You can see a sneak peek of my contribution on their Instagram page. I shared my 2024 goals and some cake photos that I'm really, really proud of.
And that was the 2023 recap! I might be starting the year “late” in March (since I was on maternity leave in January + February) but I can't wait to see what's in store for 2024! Thanks for following along on my journey 🙂
