TELL US THE STORY OF HOW YOU GOT INTO CAKE DECORATING AND HOW YOU GOT TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY ? I started baking in the 2nd Lockdown of 2020 . I was furloughed from my full time job as an aircraft engineer and my wife was pregnant . We had been watching The Great British Bake Off and I was inspired to give it a go just for fun as I had plenty of free time ! I brought my cakes along to friends and family events and then before long , friends of friends were contacting me to make a cake for their event . I set up an Instagram account , had some fun making some reels and throwing cakes and it snowballed from there ! It ’ s been a quick and very fun journey which I ’ ve loved .
DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST EVER CAKE THAT YOU MADE AS PART OF YOUR BUSINESS ? Yes ! It was a chocolate overload cake with lots of chocolate bars and piping . A friend of a friend brought it , for no special reason apart from just wanting cake ! I hadn ’ t quite found my own HarryBakess style yet but I ’ m still quite proud of it considering how new I was to the baking world !
WHAT DO YOU FEEL HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES SO FAR WITH RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS ? I didn ’ t know when I first started baking that it would become a business so when it all began , I had a newborn baby boy & a full time job working 12 hour shifts and night shifts . Trying to juggle it all is by far the biggest challenge still . I foolishly believed that I could bake at home with the baby asleep or playing nicely in my free time ! He ’ s nearly 2 now and anyone with kids knows what an impossible task that is ! It ’ s involved a lot of sleepless nights which I couldn ’ t have done if I wasn ’ t so passionate about it .