"You mean I have to Start Paying?!"
/At this point, after dropping out of Cupcake Camp and sacrificing some family members during the recipe testing phase, I’ll pick up in the middle of my 13th year of life. A thriving businesswoman, if you will.
Jorie, circa 2003, practicing on a rare sunny day in Dublin, Ohio.
I was thriving mostly because of the deal I had with my parents—I got one year of 100% profit from each cake sale. That was awesome! No rent, no utilities, not even ingredients and supplies expenses. This whole business-owning thing really isn’t that difficult, people.
And then that year ended. Well actually, I was able to stretch it to 14 months through some eye-batting and “accidental” charges to my parents’ credit card. And then those extra two months ended.
And then…
“What do you mean I have to keep my receipts? And pay you back?” I couldn’t believe that my own parents actually made me start paying for my own ingredients. I’d be left with hardly anything after deducting all the expenses from a cake sale!
The audacity!
Okay, so maybe they weren’t totally in the wrong to actually teach me budgeting and responsibility and accountability and all that stuff. But seriously, cake-baking is expensive, especially for a thirteen-year-old! Somehow, I must have found a way to pay off my expenses, because now I’ll fast forward a little bit to high school, when things really took off.
I was baking steadily for friends and family (and science projects) and even had a company name and business cards and a magnet on the side of my car (which ironically ended up on a dumpster at the local park, but that’s a story for another day). On top of the new merch, I also finally made products worth buying—no more mouthfuls of sand!—which was a lot better for business.
I became known around school as the cupcake girl, and my friends knew that when their birthdays came, my gift to them would be a cake. Thus, the saying:
“Everyone wants a Jorie Cake!”
which quickly became my slogan.
Jorie, circa 2013, on the cover of Dublin Coffman High School’s magazine. (this was also before I discovered the miracle of blonde highlights, contact lenses, and quality photography). Please withhold judgment, and if that’s difficult, imagine publishing pictures of your 15-year-old self on the internet. *shriek*
Running a home bakery business was the optimal solution to surviving Ohio winters. If you’re not from the north, consider yourself blessed, especially if you enjoy leaving your house between the months of October and April, let alone playing golf year-round. I spent my summers and falls playing on my high school golf team but found myself hibernating and bored to tears in the winters and springs. I also tend to get angry and complain a lot when it’s cold outside, so my parents were desperate for me to find a hobby that would occupy my time.
Conveniently, cake-baking has its busiest seasons when I was stuck indoors, so just as I’d get tired of playing golf, I’d switch to baking, and then vice versa.
During my freshman year, I found myself published in our school magazine and airing on the local news channel with a segment about my business. So much fun! I mean, I always knew I was celebrity material, but wow!
“But wait. Maybe, just maybe, I should look into actually getting a business license and paying taxes and, like, being covered legally,” was a thought that had never—and probably still would not to this day—crossed my mind. Thankfully, however, my mom worked for a CPA, who obviously knew business law, and kindly set up an LLC for me so my parents wouldn’t lose everything they had if someone were to sue me for any reason. Thank you, Mr. Jacob!
So now I’m established and legal and paying all my expenses (boo) and *actually* running a business. I was beginning to do weddings and street fairs and silent auctions throughout all of central Ohio. I never really imagined anything past making a few extra bucks to spend at the mall, but due to the generosity of the people around me, I became a household name for cakes in Dublin, Ohio. It was the perfect scenario upon graduation for running a full-time bakery, right?
I won’t spoil too much, but I’ll sign off here from my home near Atlanta, Georgia, about 10 hours south and 17 degrees warmer than Ohio at this exact moment. Miracles never cease!
Until next time!
jorie
If you’ve made it this far, you deserve the option to watch this video from 2014 on our local news channel. I thought I was very cool at the time, but now that I’m past this very young stage of life, it’s clear that I was very wrong. See the link below for this gem!
