We had the good fortune of connecting with Erika Knox and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erika, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?                                                                                                       I was in college when I got engaged and wanted decorated cookies for a wedding favor. I could not afford to buy them – so I decided to make them myself. That was a BIG mistake and an epic fail! I at least had the sense to outsource my wedding cake so I did. The cake was delicious and we were supposed to save the top tier to be eaten on our first anniversary but I didn’t wait. By the time our anniversary came around, I NEEDED a cake. I called a local cake shop and asked them to recreate our top tier. The owner of the shop told me the price of the cake and I jokingly said, “I’ll learn how to make this cake myself before I pay you that much for it!” The owner laughed and said, “we teach classes!” I took a class “just for fun” and started baking for friends for free. After almost a decade in business, I’ve grown my bakery into a successful home-based bakery (following the rules and regulations set forth by the Texas Cottage Food Law) but have yet to make the top tier of my wedding cake.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.                                            I like to think of myself as a confectionary artist. Though I bake delicious desserts such as cakes, cookies, and French macarons, I tell people all the time that baking is the easy part. It all starts with flour, eggs, and sugar, butter, and other fresh ingredients. I stand out in my art because I turn that “blank canvas” of cake into an edible work of art. From painting on cake, to making texture out of buttercream, I let my creativity speak. I pride myself on the fact that my creations not only look good, but they taste good as well.  I am also a “sugar angel” for a non-profit organization called Icing Smiles, that provides free custom and unique cakes for critically and terminally ill children and their siblings. That’s one of the things I’m most proud of as an entrepreneur and baker.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.                        There are so many unique and interesting things to do in a Metroplex like Dallas-Fort Worth that I haven’t explored. I’d love to take someone on a tour of the Dallas Cowboys stadium and take a trip up Reunion Tower. We’d have lunch at the food truck park or dinner at the Stockyards. We would visit a museum (there are so many to choose from) and get our adrenaline pumping at Andretti’s and ride go-carts.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?                                                                                                  My daughter, Cadence, is the best cheerleader that I could have ever asked for and when I’m in a rut, she knows exactly what to say to motivate me to keep going. My husband, Chris, is 100 percent supportive of my business. He cleans the kitchen when I’m too tired, builds shelves for additional storage, does last minute grocery store runs, and – HE.HANDLES.THE.ACCOUNTING!  If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their love and support.

Website: www.sweetcreationsbyerika.com

Instagram: Sweet_Creations_By_Erika

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sweetcreationsbyerika

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.