Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Gardner.
Hi Tara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn NY. I graduated from the high school of art and design in Manhattan. I moved to Atlanta GA after high school and went to college for fine arts & graphic design. Art has always been a huge part of my life. I got into cooking extremely early. I was cooking at the age of nine as far as I can remember. I learned mostly from my mom and grandmother who were both Jamaican. Cooking has always been comforting for me. I later went back to school to study culinary arts focusing on baking and pastry.
I’ve always been very inquisitive and that’s where my love for baking came in. I like to know how and why things happen and I would just get lost in the science of baking. Eventually, my love for baking and my love for art had a baby and that’s when Sweet Tower Novelty Cakes & Desserts was born. It wasn’t exactly intentional. Someone asked me to make them a designer cake. That turned into another, and so on. Before I knew it I looked up and I had created well over a hundred cakes and I guess I had a business before I even knew it.
When the pandemic hit, business slowed down for a bit which for me was a blessing in disguise. It helped me to slow down and I made a few life changes. I just wanted to make more intentional decisions about my health. I do suffer from PTSD due to a series of events in my life so I have been focusing more on my mental health as well. This inspired me to create Mind Right Foodie which will just be a space for me to share vegan and plant-based recipes and to inspire intentional care regarding our mental health.
I decided to go vegan in may of 2020 and have been creating in the kitchen again. I have created my first cookbook “Home Cooked Vegan” featuring vegan savory and dessert dishes to be released this year. Though I took a break to change direction, Sweet Tower Novelty cakes & desserts is still alive and kicking… and no it’s not all vegan now. I am actually working on a dessert recipe book based on the many desserts I’ve created at sweet Tower, that I hope to complete before the end of 2023.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been an easy road. I’m a single mom of 2. My “babies” are 19 and 14 and I have a lot of shoes to fill every single day. It’s heavy. In addition to my small businesses. I also work full time and I realized that I’ve lived most of my life very busy. In the process, I have somewhat neglected a lot of self-reflection which caught up to me when our lives changed in 2020.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an artist and a baker. I love to bake because I get lost in it. It’s my happy place. I feel the same way about drawing though I have not devoted much time to it recently. I guess I specialize in novelty cakes but really, I love baking absolutely everything, even if it’s savory.
I love creating new recipes and I especially love teaching others which is what inspirited me to start writing. What sets me apart, I think is that everything I create is a part of me. It is very personal. I need to be inspired in order to create and it shows in my work and in my food.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I think when it comes to finding a mentor, it’s important to be true to yourself and to what really makes You happy and let it lead you. Follow that with intention. Try to get into the spaces physically and virtually where that thing you love is celebrated.
You may have to get a little uncomfortable sometimes by talking to people and asking questions and staying in contact. Be humble enough to learn. Be hungry for it. Sometimes it takes practicing what you do and putting it out there for people to see and sometimes that mentor will see it and find you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MindRightFoodie.com
- Instagram: @MindRightFoodie & @SweetTowerNoveltyCakes
- Facebook: @MindRightFoodie & @SweetTowerNovelty
