Meet Sierra Horsey | Owner and Founder of Song & Sugar Sweets

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

Hi Sierra, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I have always been pretty calculated in my risk taking. When I accepted my first job after college, it took me all the way to Oregon from Alabama, and I told myself that I would stick it out until my bank account reached below $1,500. I knew no one in the state and arrived after a week long, solo road trip with a weekend hotel reservation, a week long Airbnb reservation after that, and several room tours lined up in order to hopefully secure permanent housing. I knew moving across the country was risky but I told myself that I would leave the job and the state if my bank account dropped below $1,500 (I estimated $1,500 would be more than enough to pack up and move again). Fortunately, my time in Oregon was great. I secured a furnished room just outside of Portland and loved my job.

Looking back, I have hesitated to take risks that I viewed as extremely risky…and somehow moving across the country didn’t seem too risky. Probably because I was already mostly living along in a
new state while attending college, so moving to Oregon was just another move in my eyes. However running a small business was a risk I never foresaw in my future and it’s thrown me for a HUGE loop. I never imagined or intended to have a business, and having to do something that I’ve never planned for is extremely challenging.

Starting my business was a risk but I still had a full time job to support me, so I could run the bakery without a lot of financial stress. Then out of pure exhaustion I quit my full time job and moved into part time work. This meant I now have to support myself, albeit partially, on the money I make from my bakery. As my bakery continues to grow, I am forced to assess the next risk: moving into a commercial kitchen. This would force me to quit my part time job and put all my eggs in my small business basket. So is this a risk I am ready to take? I’ve been trying to answer that question for the last two months and am still no closer to definitely saying yes or no.

So I guess the answer to this question is, risk has played a huge factor in starting a small business and it was completely unexpected because this business was completely unexpected. And, unexpected risks are much harder for me to process and make informed decisions. I think I’ve done a great job in taking it slow and making progress through baby steps, but the next step in my business isn’t something that will be a baby step. It will be a huge leap of faith and trust in myself that I can do it…and I honestly can’t say if I trust myself to not fail and lose everything in the process. It’s actually quite scary.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Song & Sugar Sweets is a home based cottage bakery where I specialize in custom made cakes, cupcakes and cookies using fairly traded ingredients. I started out as a hobby baker but decided to become a legal business when my baking expenses outgrew what I could afford. I don’t think people realize how expensive baking can be, especially cakes which can require a lot of specialty tools. Before I knew it, I was creating cake for others at my own detriment and after 6 months, it was time for a change. And Song & Sugar Sweets was born!

Having my own business is quite the journey. It poses a lot of challenges which I think I struggle with more because I have a hard time planning for them. And when things arise that I haven’t planned for, it takes me longer to process and find solutions that I feel 100% confident in. I wish there was a manual for exactly what I was doing but, that’s the beauty and challenge of having your own business, you are making a path that no one else has.

The hardest lesson I’m learning right now is having confidence in myself. It’s tough because when I look at my metrics, my business is doing fairly well. I’m increasing my customer base, I’ve streamlined my baking process to accommodate more orders, I’ve received great feedback about my product, and I’m making enough money to actually pay myself a small wage. I feel like most people would be thrilled with this amount of progress in their business. And when I talk to others, they view me as a well put together baker and businesswoman, but that’s not how it feels on my end. So, while I logically know I am doing okay and the business is doing okay, emotionally, I feel very inadequate and that I’m not doing enough. But slowly, I’m working on more positive self talk and reassurances that I a on the right path and doing just fine. So hopefully one day I’ll believe in myself just as everyone else around me believes in me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
You’d think living in Tucson for 5 years I’d have explored more. But I’m a huge theater lover so I’d take people to a Broadway in Tucson show if there was one in town; and I’ve heard great things about Gaslight so maybe we’d take a trip there too. I like to include something outdoorsy in my itineraries so a trip to Biosphere 2 or Mount Lemmon would be nice.

When it comes to food, I have been craving Indian food lately, so we’d definitely need to stop by New Dheli Palace. I could live off tikka masala and garlic naan for the rest of my life. I’ll also never tire of the streets of gold burrito from El Toro Loco, the guacamole from Guadalajara, and the Charlie’s chicken from Beyond Bread so I’d add those to the list too. When it comes to new foods, I’ve been wanting to try the brunch spots Prep & Pastry and Toast 101.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think I will dedicate this shoutout to all the YouTube bakers and content creators who are so willing to share their stories and success on a free platform. When I made the decision to turn my hobby of baking into a business, the first place I turned to was YouTube. Bakers like Erin Jeanne McDowell, Liz Marek , Jemma, Sally, and Dane from Crumbs & Doilies, and Janie from Janie’s Sweets really guided my journey. They not only share phenomenal recipes, but they share insights to running a bakery, tips, tricks, and techniques they’ve learned in pastry school, pricing help, and a lot of other amazing content.

Starting a bakery would have been much more chaotic, stressful, and unproductive without the amazing artist on YouTube. While living in the information age can be overwhelming, it also gave me access to a whole new skillset, hobby, and eventually, a paying job that I don’t think I would have had access to without YouTube.

Website: shop.castiron.me/song-and-sugar-sweets

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

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

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/song-and-sugar-sweets-tucson-2

Other: TikTok: @ songandsugarsweets