Today we’d like to introduce you to Blaire Ehret.
Hi Blaire, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Baking has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’m an only child and didn’t grow up in a baking household, so my gateway was my Easy-Bake Oven. I always tried to be the family pastry chef, even if I didn’t have the skills or patience for it back then.
In college, I kept baking simple treats for my roommates, but in graduate school, my passion for baking grew. Stepping away from studying to bake became a really grounding, mindful outlet for me. When my husband later gifted me a KitchenAid stand mixer (basically the adult upgrade to my Easy-Bake Oven) it opened up so many new possibilities. I loved challenging myself with tricky and creative recipes just for fun.
The real turning point came when I took a cookie decorating class from a Food Network champion. I had never been exposed to decorating cookies with royal icing before. This class took the creative possibilities of decorating to new level for me. After years of baking for friends and family, I made treats for a friend’s yoga studio opening in early 2024. Seeing people out in the world enjoy what I made gave me the confidence to officially launch my business, & everything nice.
Baking is all about connection, creativity, and spreading joy for me. Joining in on people’s celebrations through my treats brings me so much happiness, and in a day and age where joy can feel hard to come by, I love that my baking can put a little extra sweetness out into the world.
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’s definitely had its ups and downs! The actual baking side is still the wonderful, joyful outlet it’s always been for me. I love stretching my skills to bring a client’s vision to life. Some custom orders come together smoothly, while others bring a few kitchen frustrations, but that challenge is part of the fun. It constantly reminds me that I can do things I didn’t think I could, which feels like a great life lesson in general.
The real struggle has been the business and administrative side. Starting a small business isn’t cheap or simple, and navigating cottage food laws was a steep learning curve. One major obstacle in California is the requirement to put your personal home address on every product label. Privacy is a big concern of mine, so that rule has actually been a barrier that keeps me from doing large public markets, though I really hope local advocacy efforts change that requirement down the road like in other states!
Balancing customer demand with a full-time job has also been a real juggling act, not to mention how surprisingly physical baking can be on your body; I rely on regular massages now! And of course, there are the inevitable baking mishaps, like dropping finished cookies right before an order is due. I’ve learned to always make extras now, though my husband isn’t complaining about eating the leftover mistakes.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At & everything nice, I specialize in custom royal icing sugar cookies, French macarons, cakes, cupcakes—treats for all kinds of celebrations. Along with custom creations, I bake classic favorites like chocolate chip, sugar, and snickerdoodle cookies, blueberry muffins, and black-and-white cookies.
A big priority for me is balance. Whether it’s my brown butter sea salt chocolate chip cookies, seasonal peppermint or pumpkin spice macarons, strawberry buttercream, or my chocolate cake (which is honestly so flavorful and moist it doesn’t even need frosting), I prioritize simple, quality flavors that are not overly sweet.
What sets my bakery apart is the personal collaboration behind every order, as well as how active I am across different San Diego communities. Instead of just waiting for orders to come to me, I love meeting people where they are. I’ve made floral cupcakes and cookies for a city-wide native garden tour, baked custom treats for local Pilates studios and CrossFit events, popped up at local wellness spas, and even connected with fellow animal lovers at our local Zoom Room. Dessert is often the center of a celebration, and whether I’m working with a fitness studio or a private host, my clients are a part of the creative process. They know exactly who is making their food, and they can trust that it will taste as good as it looks.
I am proud of so many moments since starting this business, but two things really stand out. First, I love hosting cookie-decorating classes at my favorite bookstore, Meet Cute, and local libraries. Teaching community members across the lifespan the same skills I once learned and watching them unlock their own creativity is endlessly rewarding.
Second, I’ve loved combining my passion for reading with baking by creating custom book-cover cookies. It has allowed me to connect with some of my favorite authors and give back a little bit of the joy their books have given me.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk is inherent to living a full life; at the same time, I tend to be a very thoughtful and deliberate risk-taker. When I evaluate a big leap, I weigh the potential drawbacks against the rewards, knowing that staying comfortable often means missing out on meaningful growth and rich experiences.
When I decided to launch & everything nice, I realized starting a small business touches almost every category of risk at once.
Psychologically, putting something you created out into the world for critique takes real vulnerability. I had to quiet those internal doubts, asking myself what if I couldn’t execute, what if people didn’t like my treats, or what if I burned out trying to balance this alongside my full-time job. Financially, investing my own money into equipment, supplies, and licensing without any guaranteed return was intimidating. There’s even a physical and personal safety risk involved. Baking takes a real physical toll on the body, and under California cottage food laws, having to put my personal home address on every product label was a privacy hurdle I had to think through carefully.
Despite all of those layers of uncertainty, the reward of building something of my own and bringing joy to people made the risk worth it. Taking that risk taught me that fear and excitement usually live on the same spectrum, and working through that uncertainty was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.andeverythingnicesd.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/and__everything__nice
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/And-Everything-Nice/61575097856457/
