This season, Cake Done Right celebrates 10 years in business. That’s T-E-N years! 10 years of amazing opportunities to create beautiful art for spectacular people. Whether you once ordered a dozen cupcakes as one of my first customers, or you order elaborate, sculpted artwork year after year… If you’ve randomly stumbled upon this site during a bout of insomnia at 3am, or you visit regularly to check out new cakes and their stories… Maybe we have met in person, or perhaps only through our respective social media platforms… Each and every one of you has helped shape Cake Done Right into what it is today, and I am truly grateful for all of you.
Today, I am reflecting on the past 12 months which lead up to this milestone turn of age.
There are so many stories I wish to share with you all, and I will get to them. But for now, for the sake of simplicity, let’s just refer to this year as the “Upward Spiral.”
The first thing to understand about an Upward Spiral, is that it (like it’s counterpart, the Downward Spiral) is comprised of a series of events. These events shape us, our outlook on life, and our opinions of ourselves. The second thing to understand about an Upward Spiral, is that it can often be as painful as a Downward Spiral.
The difference between these two spirals, is that Downward takes us nowhere. It keeps us stuck in our old belief systems, fears change and growth and lies to us about ourselves in order to maintain the status quo. Downward seeks isolation, vices, and survival.
Upward on the other hand, gives us the ability to look at the bigger picture of our own journey, and understand why some things didn’t work. It seeks knowledge, perspective, and growth. Upward is where doors are constantly closing, but the RIGHT doors are also opening. It is the power to choose action in favor of what is most important to you. An Upward Spiral is acknowledgment that change is hard, but happening because better things are in progress.
In between all of the difficult transitions and growth periods, there have been some very important milestones. Most of said milestones are not cake-related, but one in particular rang deeply in my entrepreneurial soul.
It was one of those moments when I felt $#!% getting more real than it had ever been before.
San Francisco City Hall’s Preferred Vendors List opens up to new applicants only once every few years. The application is multiple, multiple pages long, requires references, and a lengthy list of venues at which companies have provided their services. A panel of reviewers then scrutinizes the list, and award points based on each venue’s perceived merit.
With Beth‘s encouragement, I decided to throw some hope at the idea of having Cake Done Right legitimized by the City of San Francisco, and filled out the paperwork. Kara and I chatted about the new and interesting thing I had just done. I expressed that with such a busy season ahead of me, I would not have been sad if I did not make the list. “What happens if you do?” she asked. I didn’t have an answer.
The updated list was released a few days later, and it’s official…
Cake Done Right is now part of the San Francisco City Hall Preferred Vendors list.
This means that San Francisco City Hall only allows certain vendors to do business with their clients, and Cake Done Right is one of them.
To anyone who has ever had second thoughts about taking action in the name of progress, I say do it. You’re going to be uncomfortable either way, so choose YES. Spiral upward. Your future self will thank you.
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