Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariella Murillo.
Mariella, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started culinary school right after graduating high school and decided to choose the baking and pastry path. As I was working on my culinary degree, never had I thought about opening my own cake shop. Though, I did great in culinary school, never receiving any grade below As, and graduating as a valedictorian. After graduating from culinary school, I kept declining job interviews and offers, I was convinced of starting my own business. I knew I had lots of great ideas that I was excited to share, but not under any other name or company other than my own. For the next six months, I look throughout town for the perfect spot to lease. After touring South San Diego for a couple of months, I settled my bake shop on the first spot I visited six months prior. Six months of endless paperwork, blueprints, construction, and without a single customer, Sweet Revenge was ready for business. Delicious, cute, trendy, colorful, treats, kind customer service, hard work, and lots of word of mouth from lovely customers have taken us to where we are today.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
After finding the right spot to lease, I went through six difficult months of county and city paperwork, permits, licenses, and inspections. This was a complicated stage, as I had no legal or construction knowledge for the requirements of opening a bakery. During that time, I hired a general contractor and architect, which abandoned the job after a couple of months of construction, stealing blueprints and several thousands of dollars, and leaving behind a half-built bake shop. We ended up in court, which was a long and daunting process. I decided to step out of the trial, I did not want to start my business with a negative and tired mind. After opening Sweet Revenge, it was pure bliss. My only advice is hard work!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Sweet Revenge Bakery – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
We offer a daily case including cupcakes, bars, macarons, parfaits, and cookies. On holidays and special occasions, we carry specialty menus which include festive cakes, decorated sugar cookies, themed beautiful treats, cheesecakes and crepe cakes (best seller!). Though, what we are known for and what I put heart and soul, are our custom cakes. Tall and huge cakes made with lots of sprinkles, candies, treats, colors, flowers, cookies, textures, and sparkles to name a few. Sometimes, cakes are simple yet fancy, but our favorites are colorful, indulgent and fun.
What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
My advice would be to be prepared and informed. I spent many hours in county and city offices waiting for blueprints approvals, talking about construction, mechanics, electricity, etc. Sometimes, I was not taken seriously due to my age. I was 21-22 during that process and was always asked for the business owner or boss. Learn about all the aspects of your business. I thought that when opening a bake shop, I only needed to know about baking and customer service. Little did I know, I would be reading about plumbing, volts, drywall, grease traps, and cement.
Pricing:
- Cupcakes $2.75
- Macarons $1.25
- Parfaits $3.50
- Crepe Cake $65.00
- Custom Cakes $50.00+
Contact Info:
- Address: 3319 Palm Avenue San Diego, CA 92154
- Website: www.sweetrevengesd.com
- Phone: (619) 621-0668
- Email: info@sweetrevengesd.com
- Instagram: sweetrevengebakery
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sweetrevengesd
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
