Meet Diana De Leon | Baker & Blogger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diana De Leon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diana, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success is quality & integrity. I stand behind my products because they all are handcrafted and baked with fresh ingredients along with excellent customer service.

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 think I started my business in an unconventional way. I didn’t grow up baking or do anything related to cake decorating. In 2015, I discovered cake decorating when my oldest was a year old because I wanted to make him a specific birthday cake after a couple of bakers said they could not do a copyrighted Sesame Street cake due to copyright licenses. So while doing research on how to make cakes, I fell in love with the world of cake decorating and felt like it was feeding my creative desires in a way. I had a stable job in Information Technology which can be monotone at times, so cake decorating was my outlet for my creative ideas. A couple of years later, I became a stay-at-home mom when my youngest was born so cake decorating was put on the back burner. My husband was away for work for a year, so I was at home with an infant and toddler. I loved being a mom but I felt like I was missing something. I decided to start Find Your Cake Inspiration to mainly share cake ideas since I had my hands full with my kids. It was very difficult to do any baking, even keeping up with my blog was tough. It took a while to build my blog and brand. With time, I started doing content creation as time permitted. I’ve learned how to improve my SEO, Pinterest, Instagram, learned food photography, food styling, and photo editing. I secured a couple of partnerships with confectionery companies. Originally, I didn’t want to start my own cake business because I was hesitant about dealing with customers and disappointing them if they were unhappy with my cakes or service. People kept encouraging me to start a business, so I eventually started my own cake business, Buttered & Sugared in 2020. I love making cakes for my customers and hear positive feedback! I have made many mistakes but I am learning how to fix the issues. It has been a long journey to get where I am right now. I am happier doing both that I love! I’ve learned to adjust to challenges accordingly (i.e. I am Deaf so I am not able to choose music for my cake tutorial videos, so my husband does it for me). Dealing with my Buttered & Sugared customers while being Deaf is not an issue as long they email or text me. I require all of the correspondence to be through email, so there won’t be any misunderstandings. I let my clients know that I cannot hear before they pick up the cakes, so they won’t be so surprised. My current biggest challenge is balancing time and effort for my roles (blogger, baker, mom, and a wife). It hasn’t been easy but I love doing it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to Eleanor Tinsley Park due to amazing views and lots of green space, an Astro game, and checking out the Heights & Midtown scene for food and drinks. There are so many little cute boutique bars and restaurants, so I can’t just pick a few. All I need is to take them to Midtown and just walk around!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely want to give a shoutout to my number #1 supporter which is my wonderful husband who has been there from the beginning, my family & friends who always support my business by purchasing, sharing, or liking my social media, and my baker friends that I met in the baking community on Instagram.

Website: https://butteredandsugared.com/

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

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