Today we’d like to introduce you to Funke Ayo.
Funke, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have always loved baking. I can remember as far back as when I was 8 years old, fiddling with flour and sugar in my mom’s kitchen with my sister. It always gave me such joy creating something yummy that people could actually eat! This love continued well into my teenage and college years and I sort of became the go to dessert person among family and friends. To be honest, at this point I simply enjoyed making desserts and doing it as a career was not even on my radar. I wanted to be a lawyer, and so that’s what I did- became a lawyer and practiced law. I relocated to the U.S. for my Masters, and then got married. I worked in the legal field for some time, but after a while I felt like I needed to make a change. Then I started to think about this passion of mine and pursuing it as a career. I mean it was a scary proposition- leaving the security of what I had known for something totally different. But I thought that if there ever was a country where I could pursue my passion wholeheartedly and be successful, it was the United States. So after much deliberation and prayer, I went to culinary school! I worked for a little bit in the industry but quickly realized that restaurant life was not really for me nor my family. I needed something that would work with my role as a mom. So I branched out on my own. My orders were sporadic at best for a while. Fast forward to two years ago, I got a clear vision of the type of company I wanted to run, and so I established Sweet Inc. with the aim of creating not just beautiful looking cakes and desserts, but really delicious and great tasting ones too.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well the journey is still going, with a lot of prayer, hard work and sacrifice! And I’m still growing and evolving. What culinary school did for me was to give me a strong foundation in pastry arts, and I’ve been excited and happy to build on that foundation over the years. Cake decorating is quite a different story. Much of what I know is self-taught and I’ve learned from the generous cake artists who share their talents through classes, workshops and tutorials. The journey has been challenging, stressful, messy, joyful and happy. It’s not always been easy, but it has always been rewarding. I’ve made many mistakes along the way, but I’ve also learnt from them. I’ve developed great recipes, but also thrown out really bad ones. Through it all, I can honestly say I’m enjoying the process. Most importantly, I’ve been blessed to have the support of my husband and children. I couldn’t do this without them being on board. I mean they’ve had to taste test a lot of not so great sweets in the quest for the right recipe, and for that alone I’m thankful! And I keep learning along the way, attending workshops, seminars, and taking classes. Also, in a very saturated industry, I’ve struggled in the past with my identity as a pastry chef. However, I think that I’m finally at a point where I know what kind of pastry chef I am; my style, my approach to my craft and making it better. I’m finally where I don’t feel like I need to be like other cake artists or pastry chefs and I’m okay with that! I certainly haven’t achieved even half of where I want to take Sweet Inc. but I’m on my way there!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Sweet Inc. – what should we know?
Sweet Inc. is a custom cake and dessert company. We make wedding and special occasion cakes, but we also make sweets and desserts, ranging from cookies to pies and cheesecake. Our company is based on the philosophy that your cake or dessert should taste as good as it looks. So not only do we strive to make your cake aesthetically pleasing, but we are committed to ensuring that it tastes delicious. So really we believe that the only way to achieve that is to use the very best ingredients we can find. So we use simple high quality ingredients like free range eggs, unbleached unbromated flour and sweet creamery butter. We also try to try to keep our ingredients local to the New England Area, and honestly you can taste the difference in the products we make. Every cake, cookie or tart is a result of perfected recipes and a lot of love! This really is the hallmark of our business- making desserts and sweets that look AND taste amazing. We also cater to gluten free and vegan diets and we feel that taste does not have to be sacrificed because you have dietary restrictions. We are very proud that our clients are associating our name with deliciousness!
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
I can’t speak to just one single proudest moment, but every time a client tells me, or writes me a note or email about how they loved their cake or other desserts, and about how good it tasted, it’s a proud moment, a happy moment, a thankful moment.
Contact Info:
- Email: sweetincdesserts@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sweetincdesserts
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