05/14/2026
This gal right here is the current OG employee of Little Sweets: Mary! To some of you, she needs no introduction. She has been in the cake universe longer than myself. (How many years has it been, Mary?!)
Little Sweets was a wee little bakery with 1 employee back in 2020, and I remember 2 things vividly: I know exactly where I was sitting when I saw Mary's work online for the first time. I was blown away and I thought - damn I have some work to do!! The 2nd memory is the HyVee aisle I was standing in when she sent me a message asking if I was hiring when I moved into the Milan location. I thought, are you serious?! She wants to work with ME? I fan-girled and then we met, and the rest is cake history.
When you work so closely with someone this long there is a friendship that isn't fleeting. We have been with each other in our worst and best times and still find grace and love for each other. There was a year where she explored some other employment options, but never fear, she is back and in action!
Our customers are always extremely impressed by her attention to detail and there is a large group of people that continue to order from us because they ordered from Mary before she came work here. With Mary, and all our other employees, there are countless hours and tired bodies behind the finished product you get to enjoy. The longer I own a bakery, the more I realize that this industry is not like others. We are mass producing commissioned art and we have to make it delicious on top of that! Exhausting. This is why I need the gals I have. They are LITERALLY the best!
Pro tip: you should subscribe to her YouTube page because you might see a tutorial on the decorating of a cake you ordered! www.youtube.com/
Questions for Mary!
1. If you could decorate the same cake design every day, what would it be?
"Horizontal buttercream texture...jk! Anything with modern textures and edible modern decorations. Or totally opposite with shabby chic flowers, ruffles, lace."
2. What's your favorite moment in the bakery since you started working here?
"Almost every day laughing until your face changes, you know, the ugly laugh!"
3. How you feel when someone says, "you must have so much fun playing with cake all day!" ?
"Yes, yes i do! And by the way... it is a lot of work!"
4.If you could see one cake trend banned forever, what would it be?
"Horizontal buttercream texture" (sorry guys, we do it a lotttttt 😆🥹)
5. What song would play every time you walked into your shift?
"The one the face!" (So, there is this song with a lyric 'anyone can tell you you're pretty' and the face Mary makes is pee-your-pants hilarious. Guess if it's pretty or not 😂!)
6. If your bakery life was a reality show, what would it be called?
"Sugar Coated Life" or "Daily Temptations" (lol)
7. What has kept your passion going all these years in the business?
"Something hard to put into words. The creativity and the friendships."
P.S. this post was too long for Insta, oh well! I can't take anything out!
