Girl Gang Craft Podcast Episode #79 “Fake Cakery”

Phoebe Sherman interview with Julie Nguyen

INTRO
Phoebe Sherman:

Welcome to the Girl Gang Craft Podcast where we dive in deep to all things business, wellness, creativity, and activism for artists and entrepreneurs. We talk with impactful female driven companies and founders for an inside look at the entrepreneurial experience where you'll come away with tangible steps to elevate your business. Are you ready? I'm your host, Phoebe Sherman, founder of Girl Gang Craft artist and designer, and marketing obsessed. We're here to learn together how to expand our revenue, implement new organizational techniques, and cultivate best business practices as we work towards creating a life doing what we love. Let's get started.


Phoebe
Hey Hey, creatives. Phoebe here. Welcome to another episode of Girl Gang Craft. Today we have Julie from Fake Cakery on the podcast, and she has a lot of insight to share about going viral and building a product based business. Her Fake Cakes are really cute and functional, and we go into details about social media and manufacturing and making sure your product is usable and etc. etc. so we'll hop right into the episode today when this podcast is released, what is going on in our world? We have all of our apps. All of our spring apps closed so that’s Salem, Sacramento and Oakland is closed and Providence closed. And a mother's day guide. All of our over spring and summer apps are closed. Our apps are still open for our winter events. If you are local in the Bay area, our next event is May 18th at Oakland's Scottish Rite. Please come out. Come support your local fem small business owners, do a little shopping, do a little cocktail sipping, do a little dancing. It’s a good time. So May 18th is our next event on the horizon. And then June 8th is our Providence event. Our Salem events are June 22nd and July 27th, and that is what's going on in our world for the next little bit. You can follow me personally @PhoebeSherman and follow us at @GirlGangCraft. And if you need some help with the craft fair world, we have a free e-book for you. You can go to GirlGangcraft.com/ebook, download our e-book All About Craft fairs and display and must have items and a little bit of help. A little bit of help for how you can have the best craft fair ever. We also, of course have classes and courses. You can check them out at girlgangcraft.com/classes. We also have a new voicemail situation. version. So if you want to phone us, leave us a little voicemail. You can ask us anything. We're hoping to answer questions, maybe like a full episode with a bunch of questions. Or maybe we picked a couple of questions here and there. So our phone number at Girl Gang Craft is 413-961-0855. You're just going to leave a voicemail. Give us your name, your business name and ask us anything about small business, creativity, wellness. We'll answer it or we'll pull someone in who can answer it for you. Okay, that's it for now. Let's hop into the episode.

Hello, hello. Hey, creatives, welcome back to Girl Gang Craft the podcast. Today we have Julie from Fake Cakery on the podcast. Hey Julie, thanks for joining us.

Julie
Thank you for having me.

Phoebe
Thanks for being here. So Julie did one of our GGC’s, I think our first Salem one or our second one. And it has been such a pleasure to watch you grow. Why don't you tell everyone listening a little bit about what Fake Cakery is?

Julie
So Fake Cakery started in my bedroom in my parents house. It was basically just kind of a hobby making sculptures that look like realistic cakes. And it was just something I kind of just did for fun. And I started selling them on Depop and basically I realized I was kind of growing out of Depop. I eventually moved on to make my own website. That was kind of it from there, and it's now my full time job, so yeah, this was not like planned or expected at all. It just kind of happened. But I'm lucky I get to do what I love for a living, so that's awesome.

Phoebe
So what were you doing for work while you were starting this side hustle?

Julie
So I was working at a bakery. I think when I first started, I was just a dishwasher and then later on I loved cake decorating and eventually I became a baker when fake cakery was kind of like starting to hit off. And I just really struggled with balancing both of them. So I was like, okay, let me just see how it goes. And I continued to have both jobs for, I would say about a year. And then kind of when things really like really got really very viral and successful, I was just like, I think I'm going to have to quit this baking thing and focus on my business because it was just not working out for me. I'm really bad with time management, so it was kind of like the only option.

Phoebe
So do you like decorating fake cakes more or real cakes?

Julie
I would say fake cakes are a little bit more forgiving. It's not edible. So I think if you know you make a mistake or something, you can kind of always start over and reuse like the material. But I think with edible cakes, it's like you kind of messed up already. And if you try and scrape frosting off, you're getting cake crumbs in it. If you put like toppings on it, it's getting mixed in that everything. With like the fruit I have, it's plastic, so I can always just like rinse it off if a lot. I think better in my opinion. And it's really good practice as well. If you do decorate like real cakes.

Phoebe
And your fruits not going bad or anything.

Julie
So yeah, a little bit of.

Phoebe
A longer timeline.

Julie
Yeah, yeah.

Phoebe
So funny. So what was your first product that really took off?

Julie
I think in the early stages I kind of transitioned from just like sculptural pieces to boxes, and that was me kind of just starting to really feel like the hype kind of building up of like, oh, people like functional things rather than you know, just, you know, a piece of decoration. And then I think out of the blue, I just the idea of like a grinder just like popped in my head and I was like, you know what? Let me try it. And I posted a few photos just like on my Instagram story. And I never received so many DMs in my life about wanting to buy it. And I think that's when I first was like, oh, so this is the thing. And it just it kind of just went on that path from there. And, I never really looked back. So. Yeah.

Phoebe
So I think when you did our GGC, I remember following you and you must have had under 10,000 followers, something like that at that time. And now you have, what, like 3 or 400 K on your Instagram.

Julie
Yeah. It's slowly getting to 400 K. It was really I hate to say this, but it was literally overnight like growth essentially it was an Instagram reel that I posted. I was about I was at 10 K followers. And then I woke up the next morning and it was 30 K, and then the next morning after that it was 70 K. And I think it started to slow down around 150 K. And it was a lot of attention that was definitely unexpected. So but it was also great at the same time because at the time I didn't have the grinders like fully released on the website yet, but I had a bunch of old products and a lot of people are buying those, so it really helped me kind of clear up that inventory and make room for new things.

Phoebe
I mean, incredible. So let's see, how did you start to deal with all that attention and like, how did you sort of capitalize on that attention to make sure that you were making sales?

Julie
Immediately I was really on to promoting, you know, blogging craft because it was I initially I had it planned where I would be releasing these grinders at the event first and then whatever was left after that would go on the website. So anytime anyone would buy anything, I'd be like, oh yeah, I'm at this market in Salem. If you want to stop by and get them, you know, buy them before they sell out because whatever's left is going to be on the next day and it's going to be on the website. And it brought a lot of people coming in person, which was really nice because I got immediate feedback on the product, which was great. And then after that I realized that I had like no stock left. So I was like, okay, let me try a preorder. And I had done preorders before that in the past and they went pretty well. But my business was also not on the same level, so it was a little bit different. And I think I put up preorders maybe like 50 per design, and they sold out within like two minutes. And at that point I was like, I have to quit my job. And I did. Like the next day.

Phoebe
That's amazing.

Julie
Yeah. Immediately I was like, my apartment's too small for this. I was living in like a studio apartment at the time. I was like, I need to get a studio space. I need to get, you know, a bunch of furniture and equipment. I need to start getting things set up because I was like, this is gonna be my life for maybe at least the next year or so. So I really wanted to kind of try to get ahead of things.

Phoebe
So and then you sort of expanded beyond just grinders, though. Can you tell us a little bit about like what your product line looks like today?

Julie
So today it's still like fake cake sculptures. And then we still have boxes. We still have jewelry boxes. It's also become like smaller things I've started to do like compact mirrors. So it's a little bit more of an affordable option and also kind of just something a little bit for everybody. And then along with the grinders, I love, you know, making ashtrays, we do just kind of tubes to like, you know, store stuff in like cigarette boxes. That's kind of like a new, like big thing and also just bigger cake boxes, essentially cake boxes, but bigger and a little bit more durable for actually like storing stuff in it. And actually it's big enough to store, like if you wanted to put an ashtray in it, it would fit that. And then, you know, maybe a grinder would fit in there as well. So kind of curating sets essentially for people who kind of want to replace whatever they're currently have in their collection and just, you know, make sure everything matches. It's really great for that, too. Or if you're just getting into it, it's also something where you, like, you can buy everything off the bat and you know it fits your aesthetic. So it works. So yeah, there's that I'm working on like a bunch of new stuff as well. Cameras have been a new introduction as well. It has been more of like a passion project for me. It doesn't fit in with the rest of my stuff at all. But I love film photography, so I thought it would be fun to kind of add into it.
Phoebe
Cool. So okay, let's go back to Instagram a little bit because that was sort of the big catalyst for success. What sort of magic did you put in that first viral reel? What is your secret to to getting all these views on your work?

Julie
The secret is growing up with social media. A lot of people ask me this all the time, and I hate to say it, but like I'm Gen Z, I grew up with Instagram, I grew up with YouTube. It's just it came really naturally to me. But before I started Fake Cakery and everything like that, I ran a YouTube channel very briefly and it had some mild success. I think at my peak it was like 22,000 subscribers, and then immediately right after that, I just quit very quietly and I just, I kind of got tired of it. But YouTube taught me a lot about just making videos that people want to watch and will kind of retain people's attention span when I was making YouTube videos is around the time where, like, ASMR was getting really big and just kind of a lot of videos where it's just showing people doing stuff with their hands. And that kind of became all the content that I made, essentially. And it still kind of is what I still do. But it taught me a lot about like, what people like to see. And I learned a lot about how to edit things like very quickly and kind of like, you know, keep people still watching.

Phoebe
So are you doing long form videos on YouTube?

Julie
I was, yes.

Phoebe
So how did you sort of take what you learned for longform and turn it into these, you know, 7 to 12 second clips on Instagram?

Julie
I think the process was very similar. It just kind of the way that I work typically is I edit along to music that's going to be in the background. So it worked the same way with long form and short form as well. I think with my form I chose very slow, like ace, more kind of beats and with long form. It was just taking you know, whatever trendy pop music was going at the time. And just like listening the way that like the music goes and edit it with that. So yeah, it was like the same thing, but just kind of pivoting the style essentially.

Phoebe
And so what's your strategy for actually filming content? Are you someone who's like filming content every day or like once a week? Do you have a routine for it? What is that like for you?

Julie
My routine is very chaotic. I don't plan anything out. I probably should, but I have some background in filmmaking, so it's a lot of I think it kind of just comes to me at the moment when I'm making something and I'm like, oh, this would look good. And then I'd kind of just like bust out the camera. And that's when I start shooting. I always keep in my studio space. I always have like a tripod set up. I always have like a rig for like an overhead shot. So anytime, if I, you know, think like something needs to be filmed, I can always just like set it on the camera immediately and then just start and any other issues with it. I kind of take care later in post. So it's a lot easier that way.

Phoebe
And are you using like different sort of backgrounds each time or what is that sort of set design look like for you?

Julie
I think for process work, whenever I'm shooting, you know, making something, typically I don't really care too much about that, generally because people are more interested of what the outcome will be at the end. When I'm doing like product work, it generally depends if I'm like really excited and then there's like a theme or something like that, or if I need a model, I'll actually rent out like a space on peerspace and, you know, spend an entire day, get a bunch of content done in one go. For like smaller scale stuff. If I'm maybe just announcing a resort or something like that, or just like one individual products dropping, then I'll just I usually have a bunch of like colored, like paper. As for like the backdrops, and then I have a few lights that I also use if there's like no sunlight at the moment and just kind of work with that.

Phoebe
So you've mentioned launches a couple times. Do you have items available on your site at all times, or are you only working with launches right now or doing like a little combination?

Julie
It's a combination of both. There are like a lot of so not a lot, but there's a few products that I try to keep on the website consistently. It's generally a lot more of like the hands off stuff that I have, anything that I design and just get manufactured. It's always something that I try to keep available for anyone who wants to still buy something, but doesn't need it to be particularly like 100% handmade, and then everything else, especially like the more detailed pieces. Those definitely are like launch only. I think if I were to open the ability to have it like made to order, I am worried that like the wait would take too long. So I think it's just kind of a way to work with that.

Phoebe
That makes sense. Okay, so you mentioned manufacturing and some of your items are not you're not hand making all of them in-house. What was sort of that process exploring the manufacturing world?

Julie
It was very tricky at first. I was definitely very scared to talk to people. It's just like a lot, especially with the language barrier. It's hard to kind of convey, like what the vibe is in the conversation. So a lot of it was just messaging a lot of people at once and basically ordering samples and seeing how everything is. And then I was lucky to kind of find a few manufacturers that I've really settled on for specific products where I know I can trust them and they trust me. And it's a lot of, you know, just making sure that, like, we're on the same page for everything. But I've also had moments where I've had manufacturers betray me and, you know, take my designs and, you know, put them up for sale. So it's a lot of just kind of putting my faith in their hands and hoping that it works out.

BREAK

Phoebe
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Phoebe
What advice do you have for, you know, business owners navigating that space for the first time? I know we've sort of– I haven't done manufacturing in a while. I mean, our pens have always been manufactured, but I'm sort of toying with some new items right now. And it is it's a long process, first of all. And then there's this, you know, language barrier and then there's, you know, screen shots galore and then, you know, there's samples and shipping and I don't know, do you have any sort of key takeaways that you've learned from that process?

Julie
I wouldn't say I'm an expert because I'm still learning myself as well. But I think if there's like a product out there that, you know, you see somebody else making and they seem to be kind of willing to open up about, you know, their manufacturers or maybe point you in the right direction. That's really great, you know, resource to just like, make friends in the industry that, you know, can help you out, you can help them out, that type of thing. And also just looking for just be on the lookout for red flags essentially. You know, some people, if they're sketchy, they'll be sketchy. Like they will lie to you if they need to. If you are like, hey, like this product, this sample you sent to me looks a lot different from the photo. And they're like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's how it is. Typically that's a red flag. So I think just try to be confrontational and you'll pay off. It'll kind of they’ll weed themselves out slowly.

Phoebe
I think that's great advice. So okay you have, you know, your website, your launches, you have some manufactured products available all the time. You're launching things. Are you doing wholesale as well?

Julie
I don't do wholesale at the moment. I would really love to, but I think because of the handmade aspect of things and that generally is what sells best. It's just a lot harder because I like myself. I am really struggling to keep up with the demand. So I think wholesale will be just another problem added to the pile.

Phoebe
Okay. And is it just you and your business right now?

Julie
It's me. My boyfriend helps out, he does customer service and he does packing orders. And then I also have a friend that comes in occasionally just helping out with like sculpting or any kind of like really hands on artsy stuff.

Phoebe
Cool, and are you doing markets anymore or just online sales right now?

Julie
Just online for now. Markets are great, but they can be exhausting.

Phoebe
absolutely.

Julie
Yeah.

Phoebe
Fair. And then okay, so you do international shipping with some of your items except your grinders. Can you tell us a little bit about figuring out international shipping? Because I know it is challenging.

Julie
With international shipping. It really comes down to, I guess, kind of learning the shipping platform that you're working with, whether or not you're shipping like directly through like UPS, or if you're using like a third party service, generally it all depends kind of on the platform, and they have their own rules of how to go about stuff like that. But it's really easy to kind of once you kind of get accustomed to those services, then it's really easy after that. Generally with most products they usually have like a category that you can put them in for, like a specific code for taxes or tariffs or something like that. What I do is I just assign them to every product that I make whenever I put it on the website and the system will usually take care of it for me. After that, if I'm using like a third party service, that's typically what happens. With UPS It's a little bit more complicated. I think kind of just translating whatever address that is given to you and kind of making sure that it's readable, you know, on your side. And also when it gets to that country that they can also kind of understand it as well.

Phoebe
Cool, cool. And then you use Shopify for your website.

Julie
Yeah, I use Shopify and then I use Pirate Ship just for shipping. It's very simple to do international through them, so I definitely recommend those.

Phoebe
I haven't heard of Pirate Ship. That's cool. Okay. And what ways are you actively marketing right now besides Instagram, or is Instagram your main focus?

Julie
Instagram is my main focus. Everybody always tells me oh go on Tik Tok and then you know, they're banning Tik Tok anyways, so not really something I'm too too concerned about, but Tik Tok does terrify me a lot. I even though like it, is kind of the social media platform that everybody my age is using. I think I'm just– people are a lot more honest on TikTok and they can be very brutally honest. And it's not something that I think I have the mental capacity for. Instagram whenever my like reels, they go to like the wrong audience, it already becomes a lot. And with Tik Tok, it's such a large platform and you know, everybody's just like very free and open on there and it's a good thing. But also, I think as an artist and a creator, it can be very overwhelming.

Phoebe
Yes. So how do you take care of yourself when you get some trolls or, you know, something weird happens on Instagram? How are you taking care of yourself?

Julie
I generally assess the situation and kind of determine if it's worth worrying about in the first place. I think if it's like a comment that like, you know, they don't even follow me, it just, you know, popped up on their For You page or something and they're like, you know, saying something rude. Typically I won't respond. If it is like a customer and they're very open about like purchasing something and they've had an issue, then I'll, you know, take it a lot more seriously because it's always something that, you know, I should be worrying about. And it's good feedback. There's like very few instances where, you know, people have like kind of blown things out of proportion and made it a really big deal. I think generally what I found is most people who do have an issue, they just block me and move on with their lives. And I mean, that's a good rule to go by, so I have no issues with that.

Phoebe
Perfect. I love it. How are you taking care of yourself in general with all of this? Because I know that, you know, you have tons of orders. You're saying that you know your content’s going viral. How are you sort of balancing and taking care of yourself while wearing all of these hats?

Julie
I do take a lot of social media breaks. I like to take a lot of time off and just kind of remind myself that, you know, this app is not my entire world. There's a lot more to it. I think starting hobbies and just kind of being interested in things that don't have anything to do with your work is also like a really good stress reliever. I think it just kind of reminds yourself that, you know, there is more value to what you do. Besides, you know what you can monetize and what you can profit off of.

Phoebe
What is your go to? Do you have an art practice that's not decorating fake cakes?

Julie
I love ceramics, I think it's so fun. I absolutely like getting into selling it, but it's there for like every ten pieces I make. I look at it and I go, this is not good enough to sell. And that's a good thing for me because I get a bunch of pieces I get to keep. I love kind of just organizing events in general. I love just kind of inviting my friends over to have like a game night or something. It's a really good stress reliever, not just for me, but for all of us who you know, especially if we have, like, very stressful lives, it's a good idea to just kind of take time and connect with each other.

Phoebe
What advice do you have for product based business owners who you know are feeling like their content isn't being seen by enough people?

Julie
I definitely think that perseverance is really important. It took me about a year before mine really kind of started to take off, and I think a lot of it was just experimenting with what worked until I kind of hit something. It's really good to also like look at what your peers are doing as well, and just seeing and using that as an example to kind of find a style that really aligns with not only you, but like what your work is and what your products are. There's like a lot of ways to kind of go about, you know, video content and, you know, social media in general. And there's like so many different ways that you can approach it. But I think maybe keeping in mind, like what your target audience is and what content typically you consume is also a really good idea as well. Thinking about like, you know, who's in your age, demographic and what they're typically buying and consuming as well, looking maybe at those brands and being like, okay, well, you know, this company makes these types of TikToks, maybe I should kind of pivot and do something similar and maybe you'll attract the same people.

Phoebe
Yeah, I think that's great advice. And how are you getting people from Instagram to your website?

Julie
I always tell people everything's for sale on there. You can't purchase anywhere else. You got to go on the website anytime, announce anything or launch anything. I'm always like, sign up for the email list. Everything will be on the email list. If you can't find it, it will probably be on the email list. And that kind of reminds people that I have like a presence outside of Instagram as well. But even on there, I'm always like through the website and everything, I'm always emailing people about Instagram and just kind of making sure that, like, both platforms are very well connected.

Phoebe
Yeah. So your email list or what is your strategy for your email list?

Julie
I think a lot of it is just pushing people from Instagram to go for it, especially because everything is launch based. It's a lot easier to incentivize people to sign up for it because typically any time, like, you know, an announcement happens or something like that, I always email people first before I make the post on Instagram. So generally, you know, it's not guaranteed that like the post is going to end up on your feed, but you will get the email that is guaranteed. So that is something that people typically think about whenever it comes to launches. And because everything is so limited quantity and there is definitely a demand for products, typically it's a lot easier to sign up for an email list than just to keep looking out for a post.

Phoebe
That's good advice, right? Let's say that again that not everyone sees your Instagram posts, but everyone will get your inbox. Whether or not they open it is a different thing. Whether or not it goes to a promotions tab or a spam or whatever, that's a different thing. But everyone will get your email in their inbox. So are you only emailing folks about launches, or are you doing sort of like once a week, or what is your cadence with sending out emails.
Julie
At the moment, It's currently launches any product previews that are up early, so people get early access to those and any sales that are going on. I try not to crowd people's inboxes too much because I do know that, like, you know, if you can email once in a while, it's like, oh, this is exciting. So I don't want people to get too used to the emails, but I also still want to maintain it as like a form of contact that's a little bit consistent.

Phoebe
I love that, and then also just backing up a little bit too. You also mentioned that you send emails before you post, so you're sort of creating like this little community on your email list, making the email list like the first, I don't know what I want to say, first responders first. First, people that, you know, get the information. They're like, you're a little club. They're the people who are your number one fans, right? So just reiterating email is important. Y'all list the name you want to give your customers a reason to sign up for your email list. And the launch phase is great. The first to like, know about things going on is really important. And maybe your email subscribers, you know, get discounts that your Instagram folks don’t, but making sure that you're creating a special sort of space or an incentive in your email list.

Julie
Yeah, I absolutely agree. I didn't do emails for the longest time, and then I think it was like one day I got an email from you from your email list and it was literally like, start an email list, guys. And I was like, I think I need to do it now, and I did.

Phoebe
I love that we love that so much. Yay. Okay, I don't know. I think we've covered a lot here. So what sort of last advice would you leave listeners with?

Julie
Oh my God, there's so much.

Phoebe
You can give it all to us if you want. Give us all of your advice.

Julie
I feel like I suffer from like, imposter syndrome. I don't know, it's hard for me to kind of, I guess, like associate and connect myself with the person that I feel online because I feel like we are not the same person sometimes and just kind of I like speaking from like, oh, what would Fake Cakery say? And I have to go, oh, I'm Fake Cakery. I think a lot of it is just perseverance is really important. I see a lot of small businesses, fellow creators, artists who kind of give up after maybe like a month or two of lack of success. And I think any sort of growth, whether it's small, you know, slow growth or, you know, virality, it still comes from somewhere. And I think it's really important to kind of keep on pushing. And, you know, a lot of famous, you know, creators and artists out there, they never really hit their big break until really later into their career. And it's not because, oh, well, you know, it's not that they're not good, it's just because it hasn't hit the right audience yet. And I think it's better, in my opinion, if I could go back and get a little bit more organic growth and, you know, kind of cultivate a community rather than going off of virality, it definitely would feel a little bit different because you have a better idea of like who your audience is and you really kind of connect with people rather than, you know, a bunch of people coming from nowhere and being like, oh, you know, where can I buy it? And then not really caring much after that.

Phoebe
That's fascinating, because of course, I'm someone who talks about how slow growth is a good thing. So I think it's been a really interesting perspective to hear. First of all, you say that I mean to tell us about your experience and for you to say that you would prefer slow growth. I mean, I think, you know, if you're listening and you feel jealous about this virality, first of all, listen to that.
Right. Like that's not a bad thing. That's like, okay, you want this thing. And that's like, for me, when I think of jealousy, I'm like, okay, well, that just means I'm on the right path. Like, I want this thing that's a new goal to work towards. But like you said, you were really overwhelmed right away. And, you know, there's merit to slow growth because then you can get your systems in place and you, like, know what your shipping is and all those things. Obviously, you've had a ton of success and you know, you've been rewarded for that. Obviously it's been, you know, fruitful and also slow growth is cool too.

Julie
Yeah, I agree, I think a lot of people really try to go for virality. And I think it's a really good thing. Don't get me wrong. Like you have a bunch of eyes on you all at once, but another part of it too is you have to think to yourself if that's what you're going for. Are you prepared for it? Because I wasn't. It just kind of hit me out of nowhere and I think when, you know, the grinders really started being super successful. I had to kind of had to sit down and have a conversation with myself and go like, well, this is a really good opportunity, but like, am I ready for it? And you know, if I'm not, then should I keep on going? Should I kind of like pursue this opportunity or I could, you know, go back to the life I had before and, you know, kind of forget about it and let go of that opportunity. And it was just basically me going like, I have to quit my job. I have to kind of set everything aside for right now. I took some time off school and just basically told everyone, like, I'll be back in a couple months. But for now, I really need to focus on this and just kind of really making that pivot when necessary. But it was definitely still a very stressful process. It was very mentally draining and overwhelming, but it was also a part of me was like, I don't want to be like a starving artist either. And this was like a really good kind of gateway out of that stereotype.

Phoebe
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I think a lot of us still don't feel like we should charge or get paid. Like I still get comments like things are scams or like an MLM, like just because I'm charging for something doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing like I'm like, I'm giving you value back. But I think a lot of us like, are really, you know, in a space where we're critical of capitalism. And that's a great space to be in. And also we still live in capitalism, so we have to pay our bills and feed ourself and, you know, and take care of ourselves and, you know, maybe have a little extra money to live on. It's wild. And so like, you know, we've all been programed into that way of thinking in various capacities. And we have to, you know, we have to overcome that for sure.

Julie
Yeah, I absolutely agree. There's like a trend going around right now on TikTok where it's like, oh, if I won the lottery, I wouldn't tell you, but there would be signs. And it I just resonated that with that so much because I was like, if, you know, if I won the lottery, if I had like unlimited money, I would still be doing this. Don't get me wrong. Like, I would love to still, you know, make fake cakes for the rest of my life, but at the same time, like I need to pay my bills. I, you know, need to fund this somehow and kind of keep it going. I think a lot of people don't really see it beyond that, which I understand not everybody has like an understanding of, you know, how running a business works. But I think there's also like a lot of people who feel like they do, even though they have no experience. And it kind of comes from a place of ignorance, but also not really, I guess, like being in touch with like the way the world is today.

Phoebe
Absolutely. So what's next for you? What's next for Fake Cakery?

Julie
I have a lot going on that I cannot talk about. Yeah, there's a lot of collabs that I've been working on. It's in the works. I have a really exciting one coming soon that I just kind of like finalized everything with the person I'm working with. I just got samples and I'm so, so excited. And then there's also like a few other stuff I like. There's like a few products that I have kind of really been struggling with demand with. And the idea of trying to get that specific handmade product manufactured was always like an idea that I never really thought I could do. But I've been working with somebody with that and I've been getting some really promising results, so I'm excited to kind of be able to, like, bring back the specific product. And you know, when people say, oh, when are you going to restock? I finally get to say, oh, on this day you can buy it at this time. That's really all that's been going on.

Phoebe
That’s so exciting. Okay, where can people find you Julie?

Julie
I'm on Instagram @fakecakery so that’s fake cake r y, my website is also the same thing. fakecakery.com I have a TikTok account made but I don't use it. But you can follow me on there if you want to, and it's also under the same username as well. There's also Facebook, but again I don't use that wither. There's so many places are the website and Instagram. That's where I'm most active.

Phoebe
And we'll put all those links in the shownotes okay. Thank you so much Julie. This has been such a treat and so educational for all those other all the products based businesses listening.

Julie
So thank you for having me. I'm so excited to talk about it.

OUTRO

Phoebe
Thank you so much for listening to the Girl Gang Craft Podcast. Head to Girlgangcraft.com/podcast for show notes and more. See you next time.