Meet Lupita Balderas de Chavez | Cookie Artist & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lupita Balderas de Chavez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lupita, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
When I started my cookie business, I never thought that it will take a turn into an artist or creative career. Being a food Engineer I enjoy so much the biochemistry part of making cookies, it is really interesting to learn all the reactions that need to happen to make a delicious cookie, but after years of mastering my cookie and icing recipes, I started to focus more in the artistic part of making cooking per se.. And very recently I have discover that one of my top character strengths is Creativity and how important is to use your character strengths in your daily job.. When you have a job where you can use your top strengths you are able to enjoy more the time you spend working and that also helps you to feel more joy on what you do. I feel so privilege to have the opportunity to share my creations on YouTube and inspire others to be creative. I have a very creative mind and I am so happy that I can channel that in my cookies.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
When I started learning about cookie decorating I was very careful of not to share my recipes and cookie decorating techniques with others, I am a self thought cookie decorator and it really took me several years to finally nail the right cookie and icing recipes and it was tough for me to share them with others, this was before you could ask google “What do I need to know to start decorating cookies?” or Pinterest and Instagram. But later on when I did not have too much free time to decorate cookies a friend of mine suggest me to start a cookie decorating blog, in the beginning I was not sure about the idea to share everything you have learned to everyone, and also I did not know how hard is that people can find your blog in the internet and even more, how hard is to make money blogging. So for many years I worked very hard on my blog and did not see many results, but I really enjoy writing my post and more than that I enjoyed so much creating unique cookie designs and take pictures. In 2018 I started with the curiosity of starting a Youtube channel, I thought if someone can make it I can make it too… not knowing how hard this will be …I did not knew anything about how to edit a video, upload it or anything related on what goes behind on having a Youtube channel. Also in 2018 Youtube make some changes on how to monetize your videos. So there I was with my phone filming my self making cookies and uploading not the best quality videos on Youtube. I really like it and started learning about what is necessary to survive on Youtube and also started learning how to upload and edit videos. The first goal was to have 100 subscribers, that in the beginning I thought it was not going to be hard, like I have a big extended family, but I think that was the hardest part, because I don’t like to be pushy and feel a little embarrassed to ask for subscriptions, but I got my 100 subscribers and then my next goal was to have 1000 and 10, 000 views in a year to be able to monetize, so I continue with the hard work and got to the 1000 subscribers within a year. It was very hard, and sometimes I wanted to give up, but my family always encourage me to continue and help me a lot in order for me to continue. I overcome the challenges with patience and perseveration. I am really proud of having my Youtube channel and although is a very small channel, I can reach people all around the world and share with them my passion on cookie decorating. What is unique of my channel is that I share ideas on how to start decorating cookies with very basic materials and equipments, not all countries have the accessibility to specialized materials like we do, so I gave them practical options on how to do cute cookies with materials you can easily find everywhere and also I share what I have learned having an Etsy shop and a Home based bakery. I also like the idea of inspiring young people that if you have a passion for something you need to work hard, learn from others, be open to criticism and never give up!; It is important to let them know that success is not always on how much money you make but how happy you are doing what you are passionate about and how rewarding is to share your knowledge and experiences in the area that you are working on and also how many people you have touched or inspired to follow your steps. I am very satisfied that I can make people happy through my cookies as I still have my shop up and running on Etsy for all my Texan friends and customers!

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.
On Sunday after picking up my friend from the airport, I will take it to Houston’s Downtown, On Sundays downtown is so nice and quiet and you can stroll around and admire the beautiful buildings and go to Discovery green to enjoy a nice causal lunch with the great variety of food trucks. In the evening I will like to take her to The Sacred Heart Cathedral, it is beautiful and we can enjoy a peaceful time at Church. For Monday I will take her to the Waterway in The Woodlands, take a ride in the trolley enjoy a nice lunch at Tommy Bahamas at Market street and later on the day we can enjoy a nice drink at Local Pour in Hughes Landing. For Tuesday we will relax and enjoy a delicious family meal and enjoy peaceful walking in The Woodlands’ trials. On Wednesday we will drive back to Houston and visit the Museum of Arts, then go to the happy hour at Salento’s at Market street. Later we can visit Rice University and take beautiful pictures and end up at Xochi’s Mexican restaurant. On Thursday we will stay in The Woodlands and enjoy a delicious lunch at Fogo de Chao and end it up in a concert in The Cynthia Woods Pavilion. On Friday we will go bak to Houston and stay there over night, we will visit the Natural Science Museum, enjoy a delicious ice cream at Jeni’s splendid ice creams, for later eat a late lunch at Chinatown. for the night we will go to watch a Houston’s ballet show and after that ended up at Yoyo’s hot dogs in Rice Village. On Saturday morning we will visit the botanical gardens and later enjoy a lunch at common bond and do some shopping at Highland village.. I really enjoy living in The Woodlands and be so close to Houston, a weak visit is not enough to enjoy what Houston has to offer.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband and my daughter deserves all my recognition, because they have been from my sensory evaluation team, my Guinea pigs to my more devoted fans. My husband has supported me all the way, from understanding why our kitchen is so messy to how much time you need to dedicated to something like this to see results, He also has help me a lot to improve my recipes, he pay attention to detail and gave me his sincere feedback,, he has help me to improve the quality of my cookie decorating skills. And my daughter, she also have a very analytical eye and I she has being my main inspiration to make cookies, she is a very talented dancer and all her performances had inspired me to make cookies. In her dress rehearsals I get a lot of inspiration and try to make the cookies based in the show or the costumes. This is why I love to make ballerina cookies and definitely she is my best ballerina creation!

Website: https://www.thecookiecouture.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lupisthecookiecouture
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-g-balderas-de-chavez-44abb814b/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cookiecoutureTW
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThecookiecoutureFB
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/thecookiecouturechannel
Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thecookiecouture

Image Credits
All the pictures were taken by Michael Perea Photography