Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Romero.
Hi Crystal, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Bronx, New York, until my teenage years when I moved to Port Saint Lucie, Fl. I am the eldest out of seven kids combined from both parents. My mother was and still is a Teacher and my father is now retired from the NYPD. Entrepreneurship was not something I was around growing up, everyone went to school for some kind of education and then started a career or job. Growing up my career choices always changed but it always involved helping/being a service to others.
After High School, I attempted college multiple times but it just wasn’t for me and I was left with student loan debt. I felt that there was so much to learn from hands-on life experience and as I got older, I realized that I didn’t want to be limited to certain hours or a capped out paycheck. Working for someone else just didn’t bring fulfillment to me. My work background since I was old enough to start working had always been Retail/Management. However, I’ve always had a passion for creating art and baking was just a hobby for me. It wasn’t until watching shows like “Cake Boss, Sugar Rush and Cake Wars” that sparked that interest in me to see what kind of art I could create with cakes. My mom has always told me that I can make money in anything I do, but to make sure I was passionate about it.
In 2017, right before my 27th birthday, I gave birth to my son. As a new mom raising my son I wanted to be able to create some kind of Legacy to look back on. Naturally, as a giver and disciple of the Lord, it was part of my mission to make sure that in building and establishing a business, I also wanted a foundation for serving and building relationships within the community. Moving forward with a business was extremely intimidating because I knew it was going to take a lot of hard work and dedication. Knowing that I didn’t want someone else raising my son, this option was all I had and I needed to make it work despite the challenges I know were going to arise. I initially called my business “Blissful Baking By Crissy,” and when I decided to legally claim my cottage business in 2019, that’s when I shortened the name to “Baked By Crissy”. Because I am a cottage business without a physical storefront, I started out selling at many local markets to advertise my business and meet new people. I actually started out with making dog treats and shortly after decided that I wanted to only specialize in Custom Cakes and Cupcakes.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not been smooth! As an Entrepreneur/Mom running a business can be overwhelming many days but having the freedom of working on your own time is a blessing. Many days are long and sometimes I feel like the days kind of roll into the next without a break. I am a one-woman show and I do it all. Lots of footwork has gone into social media advertising for me with posts and SEO optimization to have my business seen. That’s one thing I don’t think people think about is all the behind the scenes work. Better time management is definitely one thing I am working on so that I don’t always feel like I’m attached to the business in a sense.
One of the bigger challenges for me was that there is not much information on cottage businesses. I did take a small Business class through IRSC in the first year of business that helped with the overall structure of running a business but there were many things I didn’t know about taxes. I would say the first year is always hard for any business starting out because you have nothing to project your business on necessarily. There is no boss to answer to besides yourself so you have to have short and long-term goals in place to keep yourself accountable. Being a business owner can feel lonely at times and throughout this entire process, it has actually increased my desire to help other small businesses to be a soundboard for when they may be going through the same thing. Community is so important!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Baked By Crissy is a Cottage Food Business located in Port Saint Lucie, Florida also serving other cities along the Treasure Coast. We specialize in Custom Cakes and cupcakes, servicing all kinds of events, small and big, from birthdays to weddings and everything in between. On top of our regular cake options, we offer limited vegan cake options and are also Food SafeServe certified. We do many beautiful themed smash cakes collaborating with a local mama who runs a photography business that you might see on our pages and another local mama who does our custom cake toppers. We believe in keeping our small businesses thriving within the community! Recently added as an online order feature is some amazing coffee!
We partnered with a company to sell “Together Coffee,” which happened to align with our mission of community and togetherness. This coffee is some of the highest-quality and best-tasting coffee in the world. When you purchase it you’re also directly contributing to dignified, fair-wage work for a farmer and a university education for a female scholar in East Africa. I am most proud of the growth I’ve seen in my craft and being able to teach others what I know. I have now reached my second year in business as of January 2021 and I am proud to say that my business has not only increased financially but gained so many relationships along the way with clients and other small business owners. When you are self-taught with little guidance, every win has such a wonderful feeling of gratitude! Within the past two years, I have grown confident enough to start teaching cake decorating classes, step out of my comfort zone in certain areas, collaborate with other local businesses and have been blessed to be able to give donations to local charities/organizations.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Honestly, there are so many people who have been a part of this journey but God gets all the glory first! I have family and friends who have encouraged me to step out on faith and talent since the beginning. Both family, friends and clients who have been there since day 1 to where I am today have helped, whether it be word of mouth/referrals, sharing my photos/events, paying full price and not asking for discounts to just showing up when I needed help! A huge shoutout goes to my significant other, who behind the scenes took on the financial responsibility of all my personal bills the first three years after our son was born so that I can pour into my business! It definitely has been a blessing.
Contact Info:
- Email: Baked.by.crissy@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baked_by_crissy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blissful.Baking.Bycrissy
- Other: http://ssekodesigns.com/CoffeewithCrissy
Image Credits
Some professional images provided by Jennifer Escalante (Justamomwithacameraphotography)
