Meet Emperatriz Gonzalez | Home baker, specializing in Custom Baked Goods.

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

Hi Emperatriz, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Since starting my business life has been chaos, but a good chaos to say the least! I have 5 kids at home, they all range from the ages of 16 to 6 years old. I also have a husband who is constantly out of town or working long hours. I try and get most of my work done during the day while they are at school so that way my full attention is dedicated to my kids once they get home. The weeks I have a lot of work I stay up working late nights, but I have noticed that staying up late is not good for my productivity the next day. Organization is definitely key to maintaining a successful schedule, at least for my business! Having calendars, making invoices and maintaining a routine is crucial, especially when small businesses are one man show. So definitely balance for me is routines and planning ahead always, it makes life much easier!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Emperatriz, means Empress and when it came down to finding a business name I remember my husband and I were brainstorming. Our first thought was I wanted to be different and throughout the years I’ve always been told how no one’s ever heard of my name before. I figured why not call it ‘Emperatriz Baked Goods’. The uniqueness is one way my customers can see and recognize it when they see my name when they see it from a mile away. My style of cakes differs from others because I’ve always been attracted to simplistic yet colorful cakes. Less is always more when it comes to cakes, clean and smooth buttercream with sharp edges on the cake with a pop of color and/or decoration I feel like catches the eye of the customer on a different level. Florals are also my favorite accessory to add on a cake, especially because there is so many shapes, sizes, colors and types of flowers that can give the cake a different look. Since beginning my journey of being a baker it was so man trial and errors. I always thought this would only be a hobby, only because I took 2-3 decorating cake classes, posted my pictures for fun on Facebook and never thought it catch anyone’s attention. Since starting my baking business overcoming challenges was tough at the very beginning. It still can be but now I know how to maneuver around certain situations. I want my brand to represent hard work, but also let it be known that behind my small business I am still a mom and a wife that loves what she does and puts in so much love and dedication to every single order that comes out of my kitchen!

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.
For a delicious steak in Houston Texas would have to be at the Taste of Texas. That is one of my top steakhouses that has so many types of different cuts of meat and a salad bar! If you want something more relaxed but still good food then Pluckers is always the way to go, they have the best wings and drinks in town. A fun bar to go to would have to be Little Woodrow’s in EaDo but they also have so many fun bars around that area and everything is walking distance. You can never leave without visiting Discovery Green, it’s such a family friendly. They offer kayaking, there’s restaurants, splash pad for the kids and many more activities in that area!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Owning a small business comes with so many hardships! I knew nothing about owning a business in general so everything that I’ve learned has been through the jobs I previously had. I know for certain one of my jobs that taught me a ton was working at Imagine Lauren Photography. Working alongside Lauren helped me tremendously to say the least. I would bake and decorate all of the smash cakes for her customers birthday sessions beginning 2021 and throughout the years I officially ended up joining her team in 2023 and worked with ILP for a year. From working one on one alongside Lauren I learned how to manage clients, marketing for your business and also saw how much work she would put day and night. More than anything I learned discipline from Lauren, building a business is not for the weak and it won’t be built overnight, you need passion and love for what you do! I do have Lauren to thank for her guidance, knowledge and personal growth that I was able to do! Last but not least I do have to give my husband recognition, because although we both had no previous knowledge in this field his support never went unnoticed. I do think having someone in our corner is always a great push for motivation and that’s what he’s always been!

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