Meet Katelyn Wait | Owner

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

Hi Katelyn, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
My work-life balance has been constantly changing from the start of creating Tier One Cakes. When I began Tier One Cakes out of my house in 2017, my husband I had just moved to Cypress, we had been married for only a year, and I was desperate to make this business work. I needed it to work because I had a long term goal to stay at home with our future children, but I also wanted to contribute to our family financially. Starting out, business was slow and it was easy for me to balance both the household and the business. In 2018 I started devoting more time to making sure that each customer’s message was responded to quickly, donating products to get my name out there, and participating in various vendor fair opportunities. In turn, I picked a consistent amount of orders per week in quantities that I could barely keep up with. I was suddenly working/baking/decorating at all hours of the day and night. This obviously was not a great work-life balance, and my relationship with my husband suffered because of it. It took me another half year to figure out a break-down for the week that would keep me on schedule and more available for the “life” part of the balance. Mid-2019 my daughter was born, and completely swung my work-life balance toward the “life” side. She is now almost a year and a half, and I just now feel like I might be finding a happy medium in work-life balance. It has been quite the journey, and I am sure it will continue to swing back and forth between “work” and “life”. My work-life balance is so dependent on the season that I am in. I do not think it is something that can be truly balanced without making sacrifices on one side or the other.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am so excited and proud of how much Tier One Cakes has grown in the past 3 years. I am booking more wedding cakes than ever. I have started introducing flash sales, selling out in the span of a day. I am booking up weeks in advance with consistent orders for cakes, cupcakes and cookies. It is truly amazing. These victories have not come easily though. It has taken time to build the customer base; to build the reputation that people can trust. It has taken a few tries and a lot of research to figure out the best way to create and sell a flash sale. I have learned that the customers are truly what makes my business, without them and their recommendations I wouldn’t have any orders.

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?
If I had a friend coming into town to stay with us in the Cypress/Tomball area, I would definitely be excited to take them to a few different spots! For weekday-daytime activities, I would take them to the Cypress area. As a stay-at-home toddler mom, the Play Street Museum offers a nice get away from the house, while still keeping my daughter occupied and learning. On a Saturday I would be excited to take them to the Tomball Farmer’s Market. For an evening outing, I would take them to Gianna’s in Tomball for dinner and Tiramisu, followed by some drinks at The Empty Glass in downtown Tomball.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Tier One Cakes absolutely wouldn’t be as successful as it is today without the help of others, and narrowing down who to thank is a monumental task. The obvious answer is God, as he is always at the top of my list to thank. But for this shout-out, I would like to thank my family for their love and encouragement. If not for them, I would not have had the opportunity to start this business, and even if I had started it, I would have quit by now. It is an undertaking that can burn you out so quickly… but with the support of my family I can keep it going and continue to grow. Specifically, I would like to thank my husband Jason, my mother Patti, my father Brent, and my aunt Shevaun. They have all supported me and helped me though this business owning journey.

Website: tieronecakes.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tieronecakes/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tieronecakescypress