Today we’d like to introduce you to Lina Pepe.
Lina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It all started July of 2018, I remember sitting at home, I didn’t have any clients that day, and I was scrolling through Instagram and found this local baker in Boca, I won’t name her though. She was making decorated sugar cookies. I was so impressed by her handwork that I decided to send an inquiry about a custom order, but I honestly was just craving the cookie. Haha, I really should’ve just went and bought it at Publix.
So I sent out an inquiry about it, I requested a dozen cookies, one color, no design. So basically a simple cookie. I’ve never really been big on sweets, so I like to keep it minimal. The lady got back to me, and quoted me $60.00… for a dozen. I WAS SOOOO baffled. I was so baffled by the amount she quoted me that I didn’t stop thinking about it. I kept thinking, “wow. Is this lady serious? I COULD DO THAT, wow she’s really making money off this”. That night I did my research. I started following every cookie decorator that had decorating tutorials, I started recording baking shows on Food Network. I was buying flour, sugar, butter, everything by the pound.
I knew at that moment, this was going to be my hobby, I’m going to learn this. I was going to try my hardest to accomplish this goal, just to prove to myself that I can do it. Well… fail. Complete fail. And you know what I knew going into this it was going to be so complicated and complex. Baking is hard. It is extremely hard and whoever tells you it’s not and that it’s a gift. They are lying to you. It’s not. It’s science. One step could mess everything up. One teaspoon less will make the biggest difference. It takes a lot of patience, a lot of hours, a lot of practice.
I remember it was about early August, I had spent well over $400 on ingredients, and well over $300 in the basic supplies. I spent HOURS, and when I tell you HOURS, I mean waking up to bake, throwing it away, skipping dinner because I was so frustrated I forgot to eat, staying up pass 3 AM. Just so mentally drained because you’re like 1 cup… 2 cups. It got to me. I took a week off and told my husband I give up on the whole baking experience, I told him it was so not for me. But he literally lectured me for about a good 2 hours how you can’t ever quit, and this and that. He told me a story that will inspire me every day, he told me how he would literally throw a ball against a wall at his parent’s house every day when he was growing up, because he wanted to play baseball and wanted to have the best hand-eye coordination, and all that worked, but with much more got him drafted to Texas Rangers and later to the Toronto Blue Jays. Hearing that, I couldn’t give up just because it was getting hard. He worked hard every day to get where he is today, and I didn’t want to be the wife that just gave up so easily. So, I took out all my baking supplies, I sat there, cried a little, and then I pulled out my MacBook and started the research from scratch.
A week passed, and I got the recipe down, I got the shape down, I got the icing to the T. I started making dozens of dozens of cookies and giving them to friends, and my husband, telling them to taste test them for me. I got my first order two weeks later for my photographer’s baby gender reveal. I’ve always been artistic and creative but never really had another outlet for it besides the beauty industry so once I found one, I ran with it. I did it with my other job. I made sure to have a business model set up first- a name, a logo, a price list and then I started sharing my work to family and friends and on social media. It was almost instantly successful. It’s now become a passion and a relaxing hobby for me which I try to make evident in my work and I really think that has been a huge part of where my business is today. It’s been a solid seven months of hard work, but it’s been really worth it.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s never a smooth road when you first start your business. There is a lot that goes into it. A lot of time and effort and of course some sacrifices. I think one of my biggest struggles along the way has had to be time management. I remember I was starting to pick up during Thanksgiving and Christmas time, I was getting orders every day; it became overwhelming. I even set a deadline for people to place their orders by, but that failed. I kept getting them. I really struggled to say no to every request I would get at the beginning because I was trying to build my portfolio. I was so overbooked and tired; I started walking around the house like a zombie covered in crusty icing that was stuck in my hair, airbrush paint on my forehead, I think I even found icing on my little Frenchie’s head one day, I had a sink full of dishes and piping bags on every surface of my place.
I would work during the day time and bake at night. I remember November and December, I would come home, start baking and decorating around 3:00PM, and there wasn’t a time in those two months that I didn’t go to bed before 5:00 AM. It was really hard to go from having a job I made the schedule of, to working hours on hours. I was trying to complete as much as possible so I could rest, but the minute I had time to rest, I got another order request that was submitted. Without my husband’s support and help, I wouldn’t have been able to survive the cookie holiday season, it’s so crazy. And let’s be real -the constant dishes are the worst.
The Pepina Sugar Co. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company’s name is called The Pepina Sugar Co. I picked the name honestly because my husband came up with it. We got married in December 2017, I took his last name, which is Pepe, and my first name is Lina. I wanted his last name to be in it, so he came up with Pepina, combining my first and last name. And Sugar, because I am working on a few new projects with cotton candy and other sweets, but we can get into that later when I launch it.
I am a home-based bakery that specializes in custom made decorated sugar cookies for all special events and occasions. I offer eight different flavors, including two that are gluten-free and vegan.
I’m best known for all the unique and detailed decorations on my cookies. I try to make it as personal and fun as possible. I think what really sets me apart from others is that I really put my time into the cookies. I don’t rush the drying process, I don’t rush the baking, etc. I want everything to be perfect. I mean I have to put myself in the client’s shoes and think, I need to make these unbelievable they are paying top dollar for these. If I can’t do it, I will figure it out. I once had to make three dozen Disney cookies for a client and I absolutely hated the decoration, so I started over from scratch. My name is on those cookies, and if I’m not proud of it, you bet I’m going to start over and make them perfect.
Creating personal relationships with my clients is also important to me. I don’t just want to be someone they order cookies from once or twice a year. I want to be their cookie gal who they tell all of their friends about.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were just starting out?
I don’t think I would have done anything differently, to be honest. Things happen for a reason, and it’s something you can’t really control. If I had 100% full control of everything and having it perfect from the get-go. I wouldn’t have stumbled upon different flavors, and met any of my clients the way I did. It’s like raising a child. No one knows how to raise the perfect child, you go through trial and error, and that’s the best part, it makes you stronger as a company.
Contact Info:
- Address: 413 E Palmetto Park Road
Boca Raton, FL 33432 - Website: www.thepepinasugarco.com
- Phone: 561-212-6425
- Email: pepinasugarco@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/pepinasugarco
- Facebook: @pepinasugarco
Image Credit:
By Pepina Sugar Co.
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