Today we’d like to introduce you to Felipe Barajas.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Felipe. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am 19 years old. I started baking and cake decorating at the age of 11 years old. Of course, they were not professional, nor they looked nice, it tasted like an ordinary cake from a mix. The reason why I started baking in the first place was because my mother used to make cakes for us but all of the sudden, she just stopped. So, I decided to start practicing on my own and look at different cake videos and baking tutorials. After watching several tutorials, I found this lady named “Rosanna Pansino”, whom she had very interesting videos on her YouTube channel. She now has over 11.7 Million subscribers. One day she launched her cake book and did a world tour. I was so excited to meet her in person; the day finally came and to me that’s an experience ill never forget. I knew that cakes and anything pastry related was my thing, so I decided to start a small home business called Felipe’s Creations. In the beginning, it was a bit difficult since it was hard for an adult to trust a teenager with a cake. As time went on, I started getting customer’s trust and more orders started rolling in. Everything was going great.
Later I started to look for a job which I then met wonderful people who helped me out so much and they were truly there to help me and guide me throughout the way. I started working at a bakery where I worked for around four years and I had to let it go (May 2019) because I had other plans for my business and my career. But until this day I am very grateful for them. And well as time went on, I had more clients and more recognition. On my junior year, I was at different events around Houston as well as presenter for several shows. Also, that was the year where I was in a High school competition where we competed at the Houston annual gingerbread build off. We received 1st place in best decorated gingerbread, tallest structure and most original high school structure. Thanks to that competition, I was featured on the Houston Chronicles newspaper. The newspaper had information about me and my business and how I prepared my teammates for this competition.
Also during junior year I met my idol, “Buddy Valastro” known as the “Cake Boss.” When I found out he was going to open a bakery in the Woodlands area, I started to plan everything for that day. When I met him that Saturday I was in shock, didn’t know what to ask or what to say! It’s like if my brain had just stopped working. Time passed and around January (2017) I receive a call from a guy named “Fabian”. He explained that he worked for Telemundo Houston and that they wanted to do an interview about me and my business. I accepted immediately and started to plan the day for the recording etc. Telemundo Houston television anchor “Esmeralda Medellin” and her videographer showed up that Saturday morning to film the interview. Everything went great and they told me that it was going to be aired that Monday of the coming week. Thanks to that interview it helped me out so much, I gained so many followers and likes and beautiful comments. I honestly felt like a celebrity, that gave my business a huge boost.
Finally, during my senior year everything was going great. I had all my ap classes in good grades, my business was getting better, and I also got elected as class president. My senior year was so much fun at the beginning, as class president, I had so many responsibilities and tasks to achieve. Finally, prom, senior trip and graduation happened. I felt such a huge relief after knowing I was over everything. I continued with my life and my job. Until one day, I receive a call from a producer from a radio/television show broadcaster telling me that they were interested in having a cake, pastry show. I was shocked, didn’t know what to respond. I told my parents about this and we had a meeting with the producer to give us all the information for the show etc. We accepted and well our show started on Monday, June 3, 2019. It was originally going to start on Monday May 6, 2019 but since we had my sisters quinceañera on the 17th of May it was difficult for us to film and have a show ready. So we decided to push it back to June 3.
Thank god I’ve had so many great shows, so many guests and so many great and memorable experiences that I will never forget. The love and passion I have for cake decorating and for being in front of cameras and lights its unreal. I absolutely love what I do and I wouldn’t change it for anything. My biggest dream is to be a well-known baker worldwide, have a famous television show and have multiple bakeries worldwide. Thanks to these great opportunities and experiences I’ve had in my life whether they are good or bad it has helped and shaped me into who I am today. I have also been in different Television shows, radio shows and digital shows where I’ve been a guest to share my life with so many people and hopefully inspire other that no matter what you go through or your age you’re able to accomplish anything in life. And well now we just wait to see what the future holds for me.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely hasn’t been an easy road but I always find a way to get through it. Some struggles that I have faced have been to get customers trust at the begging. Also being involved in school with so many events going on and making time for my business, also when I had my job and being able to manage everything at the same time, School, work, and my business.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Felipe’s Creations story. Tell us more about the business.
My business is named Felipe’s Creations, we make cakes for all occasions, weddings, quinceañeras, baptism, baby shower and much more. We work with all types of icings such as fondant, buttercream, whipped icing and much more. I’m know for my elaborated cakes and techniques on my cakes. I always have clean work and very delicious cake to be served at any special event. I am mostly proud of everything that I have accomplished for my age, I’ve worked so hard on growing the business and it’s slowly going there. I believe what sets me apart from others is the time and dedication that I put into a cake, whether it’s a small or huge cake it doesn’t matter to me.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I believe I’ve had good luck on my whole journey. Everything that I have accomplished and what I still have to accomplish. I am very grateful to every single person who has been there for me since the very begging.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 832-790-6945
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @Felipes_Creations
- Facebook: Felipe’s Creations
Image Credit:
Credits: Felipe Barajas
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