Katy did what everyone dreams of doing - she turned something she loves into her full-time job. She is now the successful owner of Katy’s Kitchen, creating bespoke buttercream cakes.
Cake-making was Katy’s escape from the pressures of being a student midwife. She never thought she’d end up swapping her scrubs for a spatula.
As a self-proclaimed "family person, who is a baker and a midwife on the side", Katy shares her recipe for running a successful small business - and why family values is always her first ingredient.
Katy attributes her successes to having a clear understanding of what she values.
By really knowing what is important to you, you’re setting yourself up with a strong foundation to do well. You’ll be less likely to make compromises or waste time doing things you’re really not that interested in.
Growing up in a small village, surrounded by family, Katy learned the importance of having a close support network from a young age. That feeling of always having a door to knock on, someone to turn to for help, has influenced many of the decisions Katy has made in her adult life.
Often, Katy has gone against the grain to prioritise being close to her support network. Despite peer pressure, she chose to stay at home to study for her midwifery degree. "Student midwife shifts are tough. If I didn’t have people to come home to for a hug, I wouldn’t have coped", Katy says.
And Katy has carried this mindset into the world of small businesses. She has connected with a global baking community via social media, sharing tips and learnings. And has built a strong network of local small businesses, who support one another by sharing posts and opportunities.
Think about things that really matter to you and base your decisions on them.
Building a strong support network and prioritising the things she values most enabled Katy to take a leap of faith when setting up a small business.
Accept that some things aren’t going to turn out the way you planned. Be open to making mistakes and learning from them.
"I don’t fix myself to plans", Katy says. Plans often just lead to disappointment. Instead, make decisions based on what feels right for you at the time. Then you can’t have any regrets.
Before launching her baking business, Katy worked in hospitality, retail and the healthcare sector. Her "favourite job ever" was as a Hospice Care Assistant, which cemented in her mind what she had always suspected: that she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare.
Katy attended a university open day, quickly realising that nursing wasn’t for her. But, by chance, she attended a 30-minute talk on midwifery and "it was a lightbulb moment".
Qualifying in 2020, Katy worked as a midwife for two years. She picked up baking on the side, as a way to wind-down after a long shift.
As she refined her skill, Katy saw more and more cake orders coming in. By early 2022, she realised she could sustain it as a full-time business.
I never thought I’d be a full-time baker. But you have to be open-minded about these things and do what feels right for you at the time.
Katy had found herself under mounting pressure in her career as a midwife. Baking was her release - and if she could do it full time, she was going to try!
By not fixing herself to plans, or feeling obliged to stay in a career she had trained hard for, Katy was able to turn something she loved into a successful small business.
"The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you can do these things", Katy says. "If you really want to do it, you can. I wasn’t great at cakes when I started."
Sometimes, part of the battle in starting a small business is convincing others that it’s viable. It can seem like an unrealistic option and a big risk. Katy never thought of cake-making as a realistic way of earning an income. But when orders started coming in and paying her bills, her mindset changed.
Just because not many people do it, there’s no reason you can’t. But you have to believe you are capable.
A big lesson for Katy was to trust in her specialism. At first, concerns around getting enough orders meant Katy took on designs she didn’t enjoy making - "I did all the rollout icing stuff, which I hate and they looked crap!"
But Katy’s confidence in her skill grew - she knows what she’s good at and is honest with customers about what she’s willing to make. She knows her brand and what she enjoys: "My cakes aren’t as varied now, but I don’t get stressed and I’m much quicker at producing them."
Katy’s golden rule is to not compare your life with anyone else’s. And this is a mantra she takes with her into business.
Appreciate the things you've achieved and the decisions you"ve made, and make sure your next step is one that works best for you.
"There’s so much pressure these days - to travel, to have an amazing career, to earn loads of money. We’re too quick to compare and wish we were doing something else", Katy says.
With social media giving us daily updates on what everyone else is achieving, we can quickly feel inadequate. "We just need to slow down and appreciate what we do have", Katy says, "you’ll probably find you’re pretty cushty!"
So, Katy’s recipe for success? Surround yourself with great people, make decisions based on the things you value most, be open to making changes, and take time to appreciate just how far you’ve already come.