We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jennifer Wenderott. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Jennifer, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Typically my day begins after I take the boys to school. First thing first, is always making a cup of coffee! Once I have my coffee in hand I head to my computer to check emails, website inquiries, and work on social media posts. I try to respond to emails and inquires within 24 hours of receiveing. My goal is always 12 hours, but I have to be realistic! I also work on contracts and try to get them sent out as quickly as possible. I want my clients to know they are top priority. I know if it was me planning a wedding I would go crazy waiting on a vendor to get me a contract. I want to know my date is secure is on their schedule! I try to dedicate the first 30-60 minutes of my day to the computer. Once I start baking I don’t want to have thing about stopping to be on the computer. I like to be up and moving the rest of the day.
After I finish up computer work I move on to looking over my daily To Do list. This is my life line of the day! I make my weekly schedule on Sunday that includes a daily must do list. This keeps my not only on schedule, but insures I don’t forget to make something! I gather the ingredients I will need for that day and get busy on my list! Nothing is better than crossing something off and having that feeling of being accomplished!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Jennifer Wenderott and I am the sole owner of The Simply Sweet Bakery. You will find my little cottage bakery in my home just outside of Alma, Kansas. What sets me apart from other bakeries is the fact that everything I do is from scratch. I bake all my cakes, cupcakes, and cookies from recipes I have developed over the years. Now, don’t get me wrong, I started out with your regular run of the mill cookbook recipes when I was getting started. But after baking for so many years I started to understand the science behind it and I have been able to develop my own recipes to use. I am proud of the fact that I can say “that is my cake” and truly mean, it’s my cake. I have become pretty well known for my delicious, made from scratch buttercream icing. I use real butter, good vanilla, and heavy cream as the base, and then spend time whipping it to light and fluffly texture. I have turned people who used to scrap frosting off their cake slice to frosting lovers! Many clients ask for extra frosting because it’s that good!
My passion is wedding cakes, I truly love meeting and working with bridal couples. Hearing about the day they are planning, seeing their eyes light up as they tell me about their dream cake, and then making a bride’s vision a reality is so special. Driving away from a venue knowing I had the honor to be part of such a special day in peoples lives makes all the hot days at an oven, every dirty dish, and long nights worth it.
I still love doing all occasion cakes too. Creating a birthday cake, honoring a special anniversary, or celebrating a retirment is always a fun change of pace. Getting to use color is always a treat! Everyone deserves a custom cake for whatever they are celebrating.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I think covid really changed my view on the world. It made me realize how important it was to slow down and just live in the moment. I was always racing around to do as much as I could in the day. Always adding more and more to my list of things that needed done, but never getting everything crossed off. When we were all forced to stay home it made me see how important it was to just slow down. It made me realize how much I was missing out by always being busy. It gave me time to really think about my business, and what an opportunity there was for growth. Even during Covid people still celebrated birthday, anniversaries, etc. It was just on smaller scale, but they still wanted a special cake. I went back to my 9-5 job full time when the everyone else did, but I never felt the connection to the office I had before. I found myself constantly thinking about being home, building my own business, the growth potenial I was missing out on. I also noticed how much I was missing out with my kids. I realized how much better my family was with me at home. The decsion to leave a full time job was made easier by something that turned the world upside down.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Being a failure. Not ever did I want to hear, “I told you that would never work” or “everyone knew that would fail”. Not being the best at what I do or people not believing in me is also pretty high on the list of fears. I have always held myself at a very high standard. I even took college classes in high school so I could get help from my HS teacher because I was afraid of failing once I was in college. Fear of failing at what I am doing is always the drive behind doing it better.
When you decide as a wife and a mom that you are going to step out of the “normal 9-5” job setting to build a business from the ground up it is pretty scary. You have no idea if anyone is going to believe in you and your products. Failing at being my own boss, not having a more successful business, and letting my family down were all huge factors in not taking the leap sooner than I did. All the “what if’s” came to mind. And the fear of failure always looms.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
The wedding world is forever shifting and picking up new trends. The up and coming fad is slab cakes. Basically it’s putting several sheet cakes together length wise and then frosting it all togother to be one long cake. So instead of being a tall, grand cake, think long and sleek! Fads last a few years, then it’s something new. We saw the cupcake fad, we saw the dessert bar fad, now it’s on to slab cakes.
I think the biggest foundational shift we are seeing in the industry is bridal couples letting some of the traditional things go. Something I’ve noticed a real shift in is the tradition of cake cutting. Many couples are now doing it in a more private setting vs having all the guest watch. It’s often unannounced and done more quietly now. I am seeing more sweetheart tables (a small table for only the bride & groom) over a large table for the whole wedding party that includes the couple. The cut cake is being placed at the sweetheart table and the couple cut it as they finish dinner or go back to have a quiet minute together. This has meant a big difference in cake size and what is served to guests. Tradition was always a large, multi-tiered cake that the couple cut and served to guests as they watched. We now see small single tier, or small two cut cakes that the couple cuts together. Another tradition that is really a thing of the past is a groom’s cake. I have been doing wedding cakes for along time and I am not even sure the last time I did a groom’s cake. Another shift I am seeing is doing away with the tradtional keepsake cake. When I ask couples if they plan to keep the top tier, most now wrinkle thier noses and ask, “is that a thing?”.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I am most definitely doing what i was born to do. Not saying I was born to be a baker, but I was born to own a business and work for myself. I am a bit of a free spirit so working a structered job was always hard fo rme. I am not the kind of person that is made to work for someone else. That is pretty evident if you look at my resumé. I”ve held a lot of jobs and none of them for a long period of time. I was always itching for the next thing when I worked the 9-5 life. I was always dreaming of what else I could be doing. Building my own business gives me the creative freedom to take it in the direction I am feeling. I do believe I am doing what I am supposed to be doing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesimplysweetbakery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplysweetks/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-wenderott-918b4058
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simplysweetkansas
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/TheSimplySweetBakery
Image Credits
Stacey Beilman — staceybphotography
Leslie Iams – Willow’s Bend
Tricia Higgins-Novak – Cedar Lawn Farms
