Today we’d like to introduce you to Juliene Fornazari.
Hi Juliene, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in a small town in Sao Paulo, Brazil and my dreams were too big for this place. As soon as I graduated from Graphic Design School in Brazil, I moved to San Diego. My goal here was to get a Master’s in Business Administration and go back to work for my family company.
After my graduation, I had the opportunity to go to The Art Institute of California and get a degree in Baking and Pastry and follow a passion that I had discovered while living in San Diego. So I never moved back.
I worked for many restaurants and bakeries until I decided that I wanted to be my own boss, thats when I created my own cake company The Honeybee Baking that later it changed to my name Julienne Cakes (my actual name is Juliene but I added an extra “N” so people could pronounce correctly).
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There was many challenges along the way. My biggest challenge it was to accept that the cake business is a saturated market and in order for me to have success in this field I have to stand out, and how to do that? I have to offer to my client something unique that they won’t see it anywhere else and find my niche in the market.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Julienne Cakes is specialized in high-end weddings and events cakes. Our cakes are modern, artful and unique. Our mission is to bring to our customers a terrific experience that will be forever in their minds. The flavor of our cakes and desserts is definitely something that we are really proud of, we only use the best ingredients resulting in the best product every time. We don’t copy or repeat designs, every customer tells us their story and based on that we create a sketch and offer a tasting, if they like it we bring the idea to life.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I always reached out to people that are really close to me, that I can trust and have experience in business for mentorship. Fairs, expos and small Bridal events are great for network, not so good for sales but great to get to know other vendors like photographers, wedding planners and other bakers in your area. Social media is another way and the one I use the most to connect with other businesses.
Contact Info:
- Email: juliennecakes@gmail.com
- Website: www.juliennecakes.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/juliennecakes
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/juliennecakes
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/julienne-cakes-san-diego
