What the world needs now...

On Friday afternoon I jumped onto Twitter and started seeing tweets about an earthquake hitting Japan. My heart sunk as I started seeing all the photos flow through the news & media. For the last few days I've been feeling so many mixed emotions - sadness, this sick feeling in my stomach, helplessness, thankfulness and wondering what I can do to help.  I'm sure you have all felt one or all of these emotions as well from seeing all those images of people that have had their lives just torn away from them, their whole world falling apart within minutes. It got me thinking that I'm just so thankful for my life. After a very difficult day of work on Sunday, I was extremely stressed out and frazzled.. but after I had a minute to sit down, I realised that all the those 'dilemmas' I encountered were simply insignificant to what the people in Japan are facing.

So in the next few weeks I ask you to join me, if you haven't already started, to have some compassion and send our love to those affected by the earthquakes & tsunami's. Let's not dwell on unimportant issues that we normally do. Don't get upset if someone put onions in your burger when you didn't ask for it, don't hold a grudge against someone that has made a mistake, don't feel angry because someone in front of you drives too slowly. Take this opportunity to be more compassionate and kind to those around us, smile more often and spread the love. Life's too short to be upset and angry over the smaller things. Embrace life and show the world what humanity is about.

- Green Tea filled with Red Bean paste topped with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting ($4) -

Cupcake Central will be donating 100% proceeds of our limited edition "Pray for Japan" cupcakes to the Red Cross Japan & Pacific Disaster Appeal from 15th March - 22nd March 2011. We will have them instore the whole week or order online at www.cupcakecentral.com.au or call us on 03 9077 4542.

Cupake Central is also participating in Plan's From Cup to Crop Dining to Donate campaign instore this month to help fight hunger. So if you have $3 spare, add it to your bill as 100% of this will go directly to help feed a child for 10 days in Africa.

Why you can't give up!

Ahh a blog post at 8AM in the morning, yet I've already been awake for 4 hours. Yes that is how early I start my days. Back in the corporate world days I would always rock up to work at 9.01 am, never earlier because I used to press the snooze button 5 times. Nowdays I press the snooze button 2 times, I must train myself to be like Julia Gillard and wake up as soon as the alarm goes off.

Limited edition Cherry Cola cupcakes! We used real Coca Cola in the base to create a fluffy airy cocoa and cola base. We cut the cupcake up and layered the cola cake with vanilla with Cherry buttercream. I managed to get hold of an American product of the super concentrated cherry essence so it would taste just like a Cherry Cola. I'm crazy about the smell & taste of it. Although some people hate Cherry Cola we did have heaps of customers that came by the store early just to grab this cupcake, they disappeared quite quickly.

Having a business is like nurturing a baby (not that I'm a mother but it's just an analogy), you have to look after it almost 24/7, you need to learn things along the way to ensure you care for it properly, you have to invest the most time and energy you've ever spent on anything in your life - just so it will grow. Without the proper nourishment and love, it will die! "If it's not growing, then it's dying. There's no in between" - Tony Robbins

I've been a bit frazzled lately, the business has been growing dramatically and adjusting from the quiet holiday period to being 3 times as busy is a challenge. This has meant long hours, lots of physical work and stress. Yesterday I had some downtime and after a good sleep in (which is rare for me), my brain was fresh again and I started reflecting on the last 6 months. Yes our store has only been open for less than 6 months! I can't tell you how overwhelmed I felt. WE have grown so much and every day feels like we're growing so much more. 

For the entrepreneurs that are just starting their businesses, especially on their own, I know you might be feeling a little isolated, uncertain and perhaps even a bit lost. I certainly did for the first 6 months when I started my cupcake business online and baking from home. I would feel so terribly lonely, wondering if what I was doing was going anywhere. But that period where I spent most days by myself, when everyone else was at work, was one that was insightful times I've gone through and made me more resilient. I learnt things about myself that I had been distracting myself from when working. I was honest to myself and I felt extremely independent.

So my thoughts are, enjoy being on your own and I'm going to sound a little wanky now but go and 'find yourself'. And some other tips that may help..

- Stay true to your passion, build a business on true meaning and value to you. Everyone will try to give their 2 cents worth as they want to see you succeed but at the end of the day the only person that knows what will work for you, is yourself. So don't feel obliged to listen to everybody's advice, opinion and suggestion. 

- Share what you're doing with others. Passion and energy is contagious! If you're doing something awesome then share the news through social media networks. Don't bombard your friends with marketing crap though. If you hate it when you see stuff like "Order blah blah from us today! And tell your friends" 20 times a week, then don't do it yourself. It desensitises people and sooner or later they will become disinterested in what you're doing because it's not engaging enough.

- Know your bloody product! If you don't know what goes into your product then you shouldn't be selling it. Know it inside out so that you are confident about it. Nothing more offputting then someone trying to sell you a product when they don't know what they're selling.

Oh and here's a clip of Cupcake Central on Coxy's Big Break which aired in Melbourne on Channel 7, 27/2/2011. Go easy on me, I was quite nervous and I do cringe a little when I hear myself. Also fyi, the last line was a script and I said "croquembouche' as it leads onto the next segment where Mel creates a croquembouche tower!

Cupcake Decorating Party!

"Frosting Time!" is one of the most awesome tasks here at the bakery for our team of bakers (yes it's grown to 5 and almost 6 now!). So imagine Maddy's excitement when her Mother organised a Cupcake Decorating Party for her 13th Birthday here at Cupcake Central! We were just as excited. I've only ever done this once, for my dear little cousin over at her house. Yes there was a lot of screaming, yelling, running around, fondant and icing sugar e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. but all the girls (and boys) had the time of their life and all squealed that it was the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

So I have been contemplating for a while to set up instore Cupcake Decorating Party packages but never really got around to it but as Maddy's mum was enthusiastic to arrange a party for her here, I thought this was a great chance finally implement the idea. It's also been quieter on the weekends over the holiday break so we thought it would be a good chance to roll this idea out so we don't end up ripping our hair out.

So the girls got 90 minutes in the Cupcake Central sleek open kitchen being taught & shown how to roll out fondant and create their own fondant cupcake toppers, practising their piping techniques and being able to show their creative flair of decorating cupcakes. They also got to take home their 6 cupcakes in one of our special gift boxes...and also another little surprise being one of the first people to get their hands on a Cupcake Central's Batter Up Cupcake Mix so they can bake them at home!

They sure had fun and the noise was bellowing out of our kitchen into the alley way, attracting the attention of passersby. Some even asked Tin what was happening down in the kitchen, seeing 10 kids busily decorating cupcakes - to which he replied "We've just hired new bakers and are training them up".

With some of the creative cupcakes that came out of the party, who knows there might just be an aspiring cupcake baker waiting to come out!

If you would like to hold your own Cupcake Decorating Party at Cupcake Central feel free to contact us at www.cupcakecentral.com.au

And this here is gorgeous Cooper showing off his fondant Teddy Bear, who knows he could become the next Adriano Zumbo!

Happy Baking!

Working in a cupcake bakery and losing weight? Yes, it can happen.

Happy new year everyone! Or more recently Happy New Lunar Year! I know it's been a while and one of my new year's resolutions was to blog a lot more and share more experiences with you all - there's still time...it's only February, already! Ok I promise to keep you all more updated on the happenings of Cupcake Central this year. For now, I want to put business talk aside and talk about something that is just as important, which is health and wellbeing.

- Come smell how delicious this cupcake is Tin...smoosh. World War III occurs when I need to elicit the help of my boyfriend in the kitchen. He is amazing at all the business stuff, but baking? Not so much -

So let's get down to business.. what's this about losing weight? Weight is such a touchy topic and I'm sure that 80% of ladies, if not more, have had a time in their life when they've thought about going on a diet and losing a couple of kilos. I think throughout my whole life I have pretty much been a chubby kid. I never felt as though I hated myself or my body though, I would've liked being skinnier but I never hated myself, I've always quite liked the proportion of my body. Anyhow, ever since I started working in my cupcake store I thought 'Yes, this is my chance to get skinnier' since I thought I'd be running around, being stressed out and all those kilos would fall off.

- Passionfruit cupcake. Tin was once asked by a customer how many calories was in a cupcake, he responded with "as many calories you want it to have, *wink*" lol -

I was wrong. Somehow waking up at 4am and relying on a soy latte as a means of breakfast has severely effed up my metabolism followed by 1 or 2 large high-carb meals during the day, such as the deliciously evil white crusty bread deli rolls filled with prosciutto, brie and basil pesto, several cupcakes (for tasting purposes), junk food (due to lack of preparation) and goodness knows what has made me put on 5-6 kilos! FML.

Since my store opened I had neglected my own health and wellbeing as I was busily working on the business making sure everything was doing well. I had neglected sleep, stopped going to the gym, eating unhealthily and ended up getting stressed out. So after the Christmas & New Year break I started getting this uncomfortable feeling every time I sat down. I realised that it was due to the rolls of flab *gag* I had for a stomach, I felt...utterly disgusted. I had to do something about it. I felt like s.h.i.t. there's no other way of describing it. So a week before I was going to be filmed for a TV segment on Channel 7's Coxy's Big Break, I ran out and bought The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss from Borders.

- On camera for Coxy's Big Break, I get to show you guys how to make Red Velvet cupcakes! -

As you know, I LOVE self-help books and I loved the 4-hour Work Week. I had stopped reading for a while and it's been difficult for me to start reading again and break my bad habit of watching YouTube clips at night. But once I started the book I couldn't stop. The excitement of putting everything the book said to work was amazing, the next morning I started the Slow Carb diet straight away, not on a Monday but on a Thursday!

Anyway, in short, I've lost about 4kgs in 30 days BUT it's much more than that, I definitely know that I've put on muscle and I've lost centimetres off my stomach, thighs & arms. I took before and after photos and the results are so visible...but the most amazing part is that I didn't starve myself nor did I have to exercise 2 hours a day. I think I've probably done 5-6 hours of exercise all up in the 30 days. Oh and I've also been able to pig out on Saturdays but I think my body is doing something weird and is no longer really craving for sugar and junk - just this Saturday past I was sure I wanted pancakes or something carby for breakfast but I ended up at High Tech Burrito and got a high protein steak, egg & bean burrito instead but then I ate frozen yoghurt afterwards.

So how the hell did I stay away from cupcakes whilst on this Slow Carb diet? Besides from knowing I was going to be on TV...

- Channel 7 Presenter, Mel Hetherington. Sitting with her cupcake tower at our store. Did I mention she also has an amazing to-die-for toned & petite figure? She did get to eat quite a few our cupcakes and loved them, she's also been to Magnolia bakery a couples months before visiting out store and definitely knew what she was talking about when it came to cupcakes -

I made sure I prepared what I had to eat for the week (eggs, tuna, fish, lentils, beans, beans and more beans) and I had to taste test cupcakes using the good old wine tasting method (a la swirl in mouth and spit). Even with a bite of a cupcake multiplied by 12 means I'm consuming a lot of wasted calories, I mean it's different when you eat a cupcake for enjoyment. Taste testing is wasted as it's part of a job...? I'm too focused on the texture, the sweetness and flavour to savour the moment, I guess. But don't you worry on my cheat-days I got my fix of cupcakes alright, I think it made me enjoy it all the more actually. Also when you're on a high protein diet, you start to feel as though you're eating so your body is getting fueled properly. Your energy levels will change and you won't feel bloated, I never even knew what it really truly meant to feel not bloated because I was always bloated!! I do sometimes crave for sugar and I've had a few lapses and ate banana chips or grapes but seriously I'm surprised how long I've been able to follow this diet and with such ease. I do want to lose another 5 kilos...of fat though and gain some kilos in lean muscle and have more definition.

I know I'm not fat or overweight but I'm aiming to be fit because I believe the healthier my body is going to be, the better I will be at running my business and achieving my goals a lot quicker. Without energy and vitality, it'll be harder to get to where you want to go whether it be mentally or physically.

- Presenter, Mel Hetherington and I after all the filming. She was so bubbly, friendly and gorgeous! She can really bake as well. This was only a week into my Slow Carb diet thus the flowy dress and still rounded face -

And yes, I KNOW that this is quite contradicting for someone that bakes and sells cupcakes for a living to be going on about health, weight loss and diets. But I still do believe that moderation is key. Food is there to be enjoyed and I think what I've learnt most from the Slow Carb diet is by being able to say to yourself that you want to fuel your body with the right foods, there will be days where you will need to fuel it with cupcakes! Cupcakes may not be too great for the hips but it's good for the soul.

I'll be back with some more posts on Cupcake Central and it's happenings next week and perhaps an update on my #4HB Slow Carb diet. Till then...

Happy Valentine's Day!
Order away at www.cupcakecentral.com.au

So now that I'm living the dream...what's next?

It's almost Christmas and boy am I looking forward to it. Working 7 days a week (with some half days off now though) is exhausting and I've heard too many "You look tired" than I can bear. I've realised that when you have to wake up at 4am to bake, every minute of sleep counts so this means that putting on make-up is not a priority which probably leads to all the "You look tired" aka "You look like shite" comments.

So this Christmas will be extra rewarding as we'll have 2 weeks off, this means time to regenerate, become even more inspired, read up on some great books and plan for the future of Cupcake Central. There's a point in the business' life when it will start to feel like it's stagnating and things start to become routine. According to Tony Robbins "You're either growing or dying...there's no in between", with that in mind I started to feel as though the business, although it was steady was not growing in leaps and bounds. I'm a self taught business owner, learning from the mistakes of my parent's deceased businesses, advice from successful business owners, my own research through the internet and books and observing other highly successful businesses. There is only so much you're able to teach yourself.

- Gorgeous cupcake toppers for COACH stores in Melbourne for their VIP night -

So where to next? A month ago I was on Facebook (I'm a slight addict but social media was where my business ultimately started to flourish) and I came across an advertisement for The Young Entrepreneur Unconvention run by The Entourage. Normally I'm not susceptible to cheesy Internet ads but something drew me towards it and I clicked on it. It was exactly what I needed! Some inspiration from other entrepreneurs who had become successful doing what they wanted! I could only attend the event after lunchtime as I had to bake in the morning and I had managed to drag Tin along also. We were fortunate enough to listen to Andrew Morello (the 23 year old who won the Australian version of The Apprentice) and he was fantastic. Such enthusiasm, passion and a great hilarious personality. It was completely contagious. With a huge personality like that, no wonder he won The Apprentice. I just still can't believe how young he is! It made me realise that you're never too young to start chasing your dreams & success.

- Handpainted cherry blossom branches and cherry blossom petals made from fondant -

Another speaker at the Unconvention whom was incredibly inspiring was Creel Price. I was particularly inspired by his vision of what entrepreneurs were about because although my dream owning my cupcake bakery was what I started off with, I wasn't sure what else I really wanted by having this business. Creel mentioned that "Entrepreneurs are going to lead the way with changing the world and making a real difference". I've always wanted to make a difference to this world, to contribute positively to our society. It occurred to me that the reason why I'm so passionate about cupcakes is nothing to do with the the cupcake itself but what it represents 'happiness'. It brings such happiness and fun to people's faces. The amount of lovely comments I receive day in and day out about what I create makes me feel fulfilled.

But I want to do more... and sometimes it is about the money. The reason why entrepreneurs and business owners need to be so focused on money is because without it, your venture will ultimately fail. Even the charities and NFP organisations rely on funding because without it, it would be extremely difficult to create a lasting effect. My view on physical money has changed entirely since we opened our store. Jack Delosa, from The Entourage, put it quite well, 'With more money, you're able to have more influence to do good in this world'. Although I would probably love a Chanel bag as any other girl, material things don't interest me as much anymore which is weird in some ways. My focus has changed to investing the money I have to create more wealth to hopefully one day live the life I want to help inspire other women in business and also make a notable positive contribution to society.

I realised that Cupcake Central is just a stepping stone to creating a Company that is not only limited to cupcakes, but to other retail ventures. I want to create a story that shows that with determination, anything is possible, especially for women. When it comes to successful business owners, women only make up a small percentage but it's starting to grow and I believe that there is so much more potential for new businesswomen if they are given the support. A lovely customer the other day mentioned to me that I should get nominated for the Telstra Business Women's Award (he was on the panel of judges), it has secretly been a dream of mine since I was 20 and was so excited at the thought but I don't think I am ready yet. So my journey continues to create a story that will one day be inspiring.

- Our little box of Christmas babycakes. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! -

I hope everyone has the BEST Christmas EVER and an even more exciting 2011.
Love you all!
Sheryl

- Holly Red Velvet Babycakes -

Living the dream and more

Our cupcake display is a specially designed glass cabinet that minimises airflow to make sure that cupcakes don't dry out. I actually dreamt about how this would look for at least 3 years. I still can't believe how it's turned out more perfect than what I envisioned.

We're onto our ninth week of trading and it feels like it has just flown by, yet at the same time I feel like I've been doing this for a lot longer. It doesn't really make sense but I feel as though my sense of time is a little warped, it's most likely because every waking minute (and even in my dreams) I am consumed with my cupcake store. The last two months have been amazing, the highs, the lows and the learning curves. There's so much I want to share and I have no idea where to start.

When it has quietened down and there's a few spare seats upstairs, I normally sit in the top right corner typing away and responding to emails, orders and preparing for the next day. I love that corner. Plus, I get to sneakily hear what my customers reactions are when they eat cupcakes and drink our coffee =)

Every moment that I am working, even though I may be far beyond tired, stressed out or frustrated, I love every moment of it. I finally have that fire lit again, that driving force that makes me want to achieve more and grow. I haven't really felt like this since I was 19 and started working in the IT industry...and even though I started my online business last year, I was doing it on my own from home so I never felt like it was a truly a real company as I got to make up my own hours and slack off whenever I wanted. Now, I have others relying on me to run this company properly, to grow this business, to take great care of my customers. I can't slack off at all because as soon as I do, there are repercussions. Each mistake I make is crucial for me to learn the lesson so I don't make it again. I have to learn the skills of being able to manage people and a team of people. I need to learn how to manage my stress levels and not become overly frustrated. I need to mitigate problems and solve them quickly especially when we have 10 orders to put out in a day, 2 weddings to cater for and also be able to cater for all the customers that come into our shop.

I always knew running a business wouldn't be easy but it's hard to prepare for it until you have your own business. But one thing I am grateful I did do when I was younger was to get experience working in different businesses and companies to understand how as an employee, we should be treated. All those horrible and pleasant experiences I've had, has given me that understanding and point of view that I need to exercise as a business owner and 'boss'. I'm so grateful that I have found some very talented, fun, extremely hard-working and honest staff that are working with us. I want to make our workplace a fun environment to work in and make sure that everyone that does great work is appreciated and fairly rewarded. I believe that most people don't work just for monetary rewards, it is about being appreciated, being able to learn and grow, a sense of achievement and contribution to the business. Would you rather earn a lot of money at a job you hate or work at a job that makes you entirely happy?

Enough biz talk, lets get to some photos. It seems to be Wedding season as it starts to (slowly) warm up in Melbourne, so here are a few Weddings we've created in the past month or so. Which one is your favourite?

Super Mario Bros. Cupcake Wedding Tower. Super unique and super awesome idea. I was so hesitant creating this for a wedding as I wanted it to look stunning, simple and not too... tacky. Dave & Kathy (bride & groom) were thrilled with it and everyone that has seen it has given so many compliments so I'm so glad it turned out well.

Rowena & Chris' Wedding Cupcake Tower at a gorgeous venue, Gum Gully Farm, that had a rustic farmhouse barn. One of the best parts of wedding orders is when I get to setup the towers even though it can sometimes take hours but I get to visit stunning venues and be able to take photos of the end result after all that hard work.

One of the most intricate wedding cupcake towers I've created to date. All the cupcakes were custom designed, some with intricate cherry blossom designs and others with flowers and hearts. Brendan & Elisa have been a pleasure to deal with and I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to work with their wedding tower as they had such creative ideas which in return allowed me to create this for them. The flower arrangement I created on the spur of the moment as the table turned out to be quite large and I wanted to make it stand out.

Thank you to all the lovely couples I've had the opportunity to work with to create something unique on their special day! If you're newly engaged and are looking for wedding cupcake towers, please feel free to contact me to arrange an appointment and have a complimentary cupcake tasting and to discuss your ideas - www.cupcakecentral.com.au

Back to work now but I won't be complaining. I still have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure I'm not dreaming this up because I am really living the dream. I'm excited about tomorrow..all the time, I'm excited about the future and I'm always dreaming big because I know that it can happen. I know a lot of you wonder if this could be you and I'm telling you now that it CAN. You can make up all the excuses up in your head of how it can't work but what if you started thinking about all the ways to make it work? There were so many odds against me when I started on this journey and really the only person that can make your own dream come true, is you. I know this all sounds corny and out of a Tony Robbins book but sometimes repetition is good. Keep doing it until you get good at it, stay positive and have complete belief in yourself.

Also I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before in my previous posts but on my vision board in my bedroom was this picture of Magnolia Bakery that was from a Cleo magazine many years ago. I believe my vision board works, most of the things I've pinned up there has come true...well except the Jessica Alba body but hey I'm working on that one right now. I'm going to have a butt like hers soon and I'll blog about it because I want to prove that I can defy the odds and achieve it - even when working at a cupcake store and eating so many cupcakes a day!

Welcome to Cupcake Central's first storefront!

Hi Everyone! May I introduce you to our first Cupcake Central storefront located Shop 7/672 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn VIC, Australia!

Yes, I know I've been MIA for a while here and I did promise I would do my best to update you all during the process of opening up the shop. And I thought about it many times, to update my blog but I honestly have been too exhausted. To give you an insight on my typical day for the last 3 weeks - I wake up at 4am (sleep in till 5am on weekends) bake for about 8 hours, running around manically trying to serve if a rush period occurs, then clean up, then try to do orders online, as well as manage everything else such as custom orders, scheduling, stock ordering etc.

PHEW! Then I get home at about 9 or 10pm and sleep for about 5-6 hours and do it all again. It sounds crazy I know....but the thing about it all is...I LOVE IT. Yes, it does get extremely tiring but when I feel like I'm so exhausted that I can't do it anymore, I remind myself that I am truly living my dream.
Can you believe it was only a short year ago when I set out on my journey alone to bake cupcakes for a living?


And now here I am, in my own, my very own cupcake store! And...

It's turned out more fantastic that I could ever imagine it to be.


Not only do we have the most amazing custom cupcake display that is taller than I am.

But we have some pretty awesome cupcake packaging as well. Custom designed and made in Australia.


My brother, Will is a great Barista and makes a mean soy latte (Bonsoy of course!) His latte's at 6.30am keeps me baking away until almost Midday. We've also been so so lucky to have been able to hire a fantastic Pastry Chef, Andy. Without him, I'd truly be a wreck in the kitchen. Boyfriend's that know nothing about baking should stay out of the kitchen or else you'll likely turn in to Gordon Ramsay. Anyway you can check out Andy's fantastic work here: http://andyfantastic.tmweb.com.au/


And here is my partner, boyfriend and biggest supporter, Tin. He's the one who's encouraged me, believed in me and stood by me. A lot of credit goes out to him for our first storefront because he's the one who's managed the project along the way, designed the most intricate details of our store, put so much thought about how it should look and feel, researched endlessly on the coffee, managed the finances, fixed problems and so much more. Even though we may bicker from time to time and have pet peeves with each other, at the end of the day, together our strengths and weaknesses complement each other and we're able to achieve so much more than one person could ever manage. Together, we will be moving this Company that is Cupcake Central to many more exciting places.

We hope that we're able to meet each and every one of you, if we haven't yet. We would love for you to see how we were able to hatch this dream and for all those people that are thinking about pursuing your own passion and impossible dream, stop thinking and just go for it. There's no such thing as failure, only progress. When I first set out to go out and do this, I had no idea how I would do it, yet here I am now. The little steps along the way may feel like forever but if you just keep going, you will get there. Believe in it, and you can do now wrong.

Although I'm living the dream now, there are so many more things I have to learn. To run a profitable and successful business takes a lot more than just knowing how to bake a good cupcake. But that's the challenge I'm prepared to take on. For me, it's never been about becoming a millionaire that made me want to set forth on this entrepreneurial journey but more so the idea of doing something positive in the world. Everyday I'm able to put smiles on people's faces. And I hope to be able to put smiles on faces in other ways too in future, in more philanthropic ways.

Well, I hope you enjoyed taking a look at some of the photos. As we get more processes in place & staff in the shop, it'll give me some more 'me' time again and I will update you all with some more news.

Go on and hatch that dream!