Meet Naina Ingleshwar | Cake Designer & Artist

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

Hi Naina, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk for me, means doing something that’s out of the box in life. It means being unconventional and different. Though there is comfort in being safe, it’s always great to keep stirring up change. It helps you grow mentally and also changes the way you think, in turn you learn new stuff. For me, learning is always fun.

Risks are what make us as an individual; your choices in life define you and your personality. For me, risks mean choosing a path uncharted and when it’s feeling scary to take the leap, leaping at the opportunity is a risk. If you don’t, you end up staying in the same place, in the same comfort zone of typical routines. Sometimes, people are also afraid of their own power and they are afraid of change. Sally Ride, the first woman astronaut to go in space had a famous quote “I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do. I would like to be remembered as someone who took risks along the way in order to achieve her goals.”

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

After my son was born in 2012, baking helped me deal with the Post Partum depression that I experienced. I saw cake decorating classes in Delaware and decided to register for it. I realized soon after that I had only baked a few times and nothing from scratch. After gradually starting with experimenting in the kitchen with recipes, I taught myself how to bake as well as decorate cakes and cupcakes.

Through my trials and tribulations, I have mastered my current cakes. The techniques I learnt in class were not very useful for me as I was a beginner, and I also felt I needed to have the prerequisite of baking cakes before taking the decorating classes.  After taking the classes, one of my classmates encouraged me to start my own business from home. That is when “Sweet Sensations” was born. The following summer was filled with orders from friends.  Over the past decade, my baking skills have gotten better with practice, persistence and determination.

Sweet Sensations is based in Prosper and I run it from my own home. I bake everything from scratch and make customized cake toppers such as figures as well. I make cakes for special events, and carved cakes. Over time, I’ve had interesting requests from clients such as hyper realistic cakes as well as carved cakes in the shape of dinosaur heads, strawberry, and the lion king.

Prior to Covid, I started teaching in Delaware baking and decorating classes and in Summer of 2021 I started teaching classes at my home in Prosper. So far, I’ve had private sessions with adults as well as kids classes. In 2018 & 2019, I began baking classes for cupcakes and cakes to help other like-minded locals in DE learn the art of baking. My students were varied in ages from 9 to 13 to senior citizens, and others but the enthusiasm from them was amazing. Baking is also therapeutic for many people, as it’s been in my case.

We moved to Dallas in December 2019 from Delaware. In 2020, I had my first virtual class with a few students. It’s been a lot of fun teaching and I truly enjoy it. My favorite cakes are animal face cakes. They are diverse and I love creating textures with fondant or modeling chocolate.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take my friend through the downtown area, and visit the JFK memorial as well as walk around the historic monuments as I enjoy history.

Another day would be Fossil Rim as the wildlife and the one on one with the giraffes is amazing.

I would take my friend to Legacy street in Plano and do window shopping and end the day with eating at Sabaidee, which is a Lao & Thai street food place.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

If I had to recognize people in my life who are important to me, it’s my mother, my sisters, my kids, my husband and of course myself.  I have had to work hard at my life goals. But I suppose that hardship in hindsight is the best part. It genuinely makes you stronger and more focused. It wasn’t easy but I was zealous and passionate about my goals. Maybe, I’m over-ambitious. As for obstacles, life is never smooth and if it was, there wouldn’t be much joy in it. “Success isn’t attaining your degree in college and working in it. It is anything that you are good at.” This was the quote and the thought someone in my family once said to me, and it has stuck with me. There were loads of times when it got difficult, and I wondered what I was doing and questioned myself about my path. But I weathered through the tides and can safely say now I feel good about where I am currently.

Last year, I also took formal sculpting classes from Zoe Hopkinson, a cake professional in England. Her cake tutorials have helped me tremendously.  I practiced sculpting religiously and now I’ve quite a collection of figures ranging from animals to children to humans. When I present the cake to my client in the end, it makes me happy to see their smiles over the product. That’s what makes it all worthwhile. When I initially started, I really didn’t know where I was going; there was so much unknown. Somehow life helps you figure it out. My mom always says, “where there is a will, there’s a way,” and I followed it. Because what’s the point of life if you are not always learning? In the process, I learnt how to make custom cakes and cake toppers. I’ve made a custom cake now every birthday for my family.

For a long time, I’d see people entering contests and think I wasn’t good enough for them. But last year, I gathered up courage and thought I should enter and see where it goes. And I’m glad I did! 2020 was the year I entered my cake work in several contests. One of them was Cake Masters, which is regarded as one of the prestigious cake contests in the world. It was very nerve-wracking, but I figured it out. In fact, I had never worked with modeling chocolate, but I wanted to give it my best shot. I made a bust of Freddie Kreuger with his iconic red sweater with a scarred face in the theme of Nightmares. To my surprise, I got a certificate from the Head Judge commending my work as it was in the Head Judge’s wild card category. I cried the day I saw the certification as it was a professional validation of my hard work. It felt so good to see it.

I also entered The U.S. Greatest Baker competition in which I came 5th in the entire nation. Not bad for someone who didn’t know anything when she started out. All these little wins have fueled my growth and passion immensely. I’m still not at the top, but I am very happy and content with where I’ve come in this journey. There was a time when I would compare my work to others and felt low and even worthless, but I’ve learnt to compare my present work to my work from the past. You will only get better at art if you push your boundaries and horizons. I have also believed in choosing a path that is different, someone encouraged me and I hope to bring the same spark in others. My goal in life has always been having no regrets and Carpe diem – Seizing life! Ten years down the lane, I want to say I did it, not I could have done it.

My husband, my parents, my sisters and my family are incredibly supportive of my work but also keep me grounded. My family is also my critic; they tell me what is good and what needs more work and attention. This helps me focus on my weaknesses.

As a business entrepreneur and manager, I’ve gained an understanding of business more practically than theoretically. I’m a marketing major yet, I struggle with marketing my business online. Starting my business with just word of mouth was not enough, so I have now ventured into marketing it on social media. I have learned how to market on Facebook, Instagram and have created a website on WordPress as well. The opportunities are always there if you are willing to learn and research. Basically, having a business will consistently give problems, but it’s up to you to find the solution, and that quest is where you are constantly growing and evolving. I feel I’ve learned a lot from my business too.

After many long years of caring for my kids, I have also achieved a certain state of mind when I realized that the capabilities I learnt raising them were the very same skills that would help me in building a successful business. To be resourceful, tireless and adaptable are great skills to have while running a business.

Website: https://nainassweetsensationscakery.wordpress.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nainassweetsensations

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NainasSweetSensations