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

Hi Krista, can you tell us the story of how you started your business?
My business started kind of accidentally! I started making cookies so I could win the bake-off at work. I was terrible and became obsessed with cookie decorating! I practiced all the time and started having friends/family ask for cookies. From there, I decided to start selling cookies and offered Easter sets online. The demand was high and orders just started coming in after that! After about 2 years of working as an elementary teacher during the day and a cookie decorator at night, I decided to take the plunge and become a full-time cookie artist!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
All the Sugar offers custom sugar cookies and cookie decorating classes. I absolutely love being able to create custom cookies that make your events even more special. I also LOVE cookie decorating classes! When I started teaching cookie classes, it was a new thing in my area and I had almost no people sign up. Having 1 or 2 people (total) in a class was normal for me. I recruited my neighbors and friends to fill in the empty spots A LOT! But I kept scheduling classes and kept posting pictures on social media and (very) slowly they started to fill up! Being in a room full of people eager to learn decorating techniques is just the best. My heart is always so happy when a cookie student leaves a class with cookies they are proud of! Decorating is tough – it takes a lot of practice and hard work. The number one thing I hear in my classes is how my students don’t want to eat their cookies because they worked so hard on them!

Any great local spots you’d like to shoutout?
Food/Drinks: – HG Sply – Nick and Sams – Babes Chicken – Public School 214 Visit: – North Park – The Dallas Arboretum – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza – The Dallas World Aquarium

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 family. They have been everything during my cookie journey! My husband has been so supportive. When I told him I was thinking about quitting my full-time job to work for myself, he was all in! The transition to being self-employed has been a little tricky, but it has been so amazing! I also would not be where I am today without Sally Bounlutay. She owns Wood & Vino and approached me a little over a year ago about using her space for my cookie decorating classes. I used to teach these classes out of my home, and with young kids it was a challenge (to say the least)! Being able to transition my classes to Sally’s commercial space was a game changer. I was able to accommodate more people per class and everyone is able to be in one large space! It is amazing! I am so thankful for her!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allthesugartx/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allthesugartx

Image Credits
Ann Starkweather Photography