17/06/2023
G E O R G I A S B A K E S . . . 🌸
You have been everything I could have dreamed of, and more. It all started in early 2019 when I started baking to sell to you lovely lot, instead of just a hobby like it had been since I was 4 years old. As some of you will remember, I started off at Scunthorpe Market, on the little sweet cart by the doors, and then I moved in to a stall upstairs… then an old flower shop came up for rent in Ashby, my dad had this crazy idea to convert it into a cake shop/tearoom💡 He had always said ‘When I retire I’d love to open a tearoom down in Devon for an easy life’. Well, not quite Devon… but you can’t have it all 🤷🏽♀️ I’m sure he will now agree that there is no such thing as an ‘easy life’ when running a tearoom😅
By August 2019, I’d left my full time job to go self employed, and bake from home full time.(This took a lot of persuading with my mum.. I can only imagine, as a mother you feel it’s your job to worry!) But we went from strength to strength!! Being in an industry such as food.. there is SO much competition around you and it’s so hard to know of there is room for you, but there so was!!
In December 2019, Georgias bakes and tearoom opened its shutters for the first time, what a daunting time that was! Not knowing if anyone will show? Will they like your products? Will they recommend you? Will they come back?
Just as we was getting ourselves known… covid-19 hit.. and wow it hit hard! We had to close with immediate effect, but we powered through both lockdowns with doorstep deliveries, and what a huge success these were too! I was very apprehensive about reopening, would people be too wary about coming out to visit us due to the ongoing pandemic?? There was no need to worry.. you all came out in full force!
Sadly in late 2021, I found a lump, and after back and forth hospital appointments, in July 2022, I was diagnosed with cancer. I thought my whole world had come crashing down. I was 25… we’d only just started to get back on our feet after covid, and now cancer?? I had no option other than to close the tearoom whilst I underwent 6 months of chemotherapy. Going from running around like a headless chicken several days a week.. to nothing was driving me crazy so I started doing fortnightly pancake/dessert evenings🥞. We reopened in February, three weeks after I finished treatment, and again, you guys all came out in full force.
However, couple of months ago I made the difficult decision that I would close the tearoom for good, and that’s where we are today. After months of being ill, I had come to realise that work is not everything.. even if you do love it! I had no work/life balance and I’ve been working 6 sometimes 7 day weeks, sometimes 12-15 hours days.. for the last 4 years and missed out on so much.
I have absolutely loved my time at the tearoom, there have been highs and there have been lows.. I’ve met so many new, amazing people, some friends for life and on this journey I have learnt so much about myself. But I have learnt that one person can only do so much. Health is wealth.. and that will be the one thing I prioritise over anything in future 🥰
So, as one door closes, another one opens.. a new chapter in my life is on the horizon and I’m looking forward to seeing what my future holds.
But I want to say a huge Thank-you to each of you that have ever supported me into making Georgias bakes into the successful small business it is today, I wouldn’t be where I am today without you guys.
To the amazing Georgias bakes staff over the years, Ashley, Lucy, Chelsea, Abbey, Summer, Rose, Shakeelah, Macy, Jade and my Mum and Dad, you have been my absolute rock. You have helped turn a dream into a reality and I will always be grateful to you all for that.
Lots of love, Georgia 🤍🤎
