Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzette Gonzalez.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Suzette. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Ever since I could remember, I had a love for baking. I used to help my grandmother and mother bake since I was able to reach up to the kitchen counter. My love for cake decorating began when I was 13 years old. As an after school treat, I asked my mother to sign me up for the Wilton Cake Decorating classes. Needles to say, I was the only child surrounded by women in their 30s and 40s. By the time, I was 15, I had already decorated a 3 tier fondant cake on my own. With the pressure of high school and SATs, I put my cake decorating hobby on the back burner to start focusing on school.
I graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelors in Biology and went on to pursue a career in medicine. While studying for my MCAT exam, I opened up SweetSuzettes June of 2014. I started the business focusing on intricately decorated sweet treats and dessert table spreads. SweetSuzettes was thriving by the time that I received my acceptance letter into medical school. While in medical school, I found myself coming up with cake inspirations, baking in-between study breaks, and being the go to person in creating classmate’s birthday cakes. It was one night where I spent over 2 hours not being able to focus on my class material and coming up with dessert combinations that I realized that my passion and calling was in the realm of cake decorating and dessert table coordination. May 2017, SweetSuzettes reopened with a fresh new look focusing on modern cake designs with only the best quality ingredients.
Great, 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?
I believe that every business has their “struggles”. I like to think of them as learning lessons. One of the most prominent lessons I’ve learned is time management. I have learned to allocate my time properly so that I have time to do all marketing/social media needed, respond to inquiries, bake and decorate, deliveries and all accounting that is needed by the business. As well as in my life a whole. The biggest struggle was time management in not giving myself time to have a life outside the business. I have learned to maintain a good balance between my work life and my personal life.
SweetSuzettes – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
SweetSuzettes is a custom dessert bakery. We specialize in modern cake design. Clean and crisp cakes. We also create dessert table spreads taking care of every detail in those show-stopping dessert tables everyone loves. My personal specialties are my tall cakes with different cake flavor combinations and my favorite- the French macaron. My personal favorite cake combination and one that is loved by many clients- my red velvet cake with cheesecake filling and edible cookie dough chunks. All of our cakes are custom made. No cake is ever frozen. Our clients love us for our attention to detail and the freshness we take pride in regardless of how big or small the order is. Our cakes are baked within 48 hours from the day of delivery. We only use the best quality of ingredients to ensure that we get the best product. We put all heart and love into the whole process, from discussing dessert inspiration and sketching out a cake vision to spending hours on tiny sugar details to complete the perfect cake/desserts for client events.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
As cliche as it sounds, my proudest moments are when all the weeks of planning, the many hours creating intricate dessert pieces and all cake details come together. The smile and faces of my clients when they see their vision come to life- that’s my proudest moment. Getting recognized by blogs bring satisfaction but ultimately the happiness that my sweet creations bring to clients is what makes me the proudest.
Contact Info:
- Website: SweetSuzettes@gmail.com
- Phone: 786-499-1843
- Email: SweetSuzettes@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetsuzettes/
Image Credit:
Suzette Gonzalez- SweetSuzettes- all desserts and cakes and decor, Erica Melissa- photo of the pink, blue, and purple cake with macarons, Jesglafe- IG @Jesglafe (unicorn backdrop), SparkleWithLoveInc – @sparklewithloveinc (backdrop for Alessandra, Fabiana and Omar’s First Communion pictures)
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