Today we’d like to introduce you to Pooja Naren.
Hi Pooja, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Pooja and Pooja’s Patisserie (best custom cakes in Katy, Houston and greater suburbs) is named after me. I used to bake as a teenager and had discovered the magic of baking, but never in my dreams had I thought I would become a cake artist and self learn it. After I made a cake for a personal event in 2019, I felt a rush of accomplishment. I, meanwhile, began to bake cakes for friends and family whenever I could. If there was a party or celebration, I’d turn up with a cake!
I would like to give a bit more on the background story – I have a bachelor’s in computer science from India and I was a software engineer before I took up the self-taught baking profession in Houston, TX. As I mentioned about my baking enthusiasm in the early stages, studying and exploring it was one of my passions. I also grew up watching Master Chef America, The Great British baking show and other online baking artists, which brought so much influence on me. I can say and believe all of that has helped me culturally and artistically, because I’ve been able to collect knowledge from all the places and different people I have come across.
After moving to Houston, TX with ample time to nurture my baking and decorating skills, it started to make sense that I could sell these beauties, @poojas.patisserie was officially born with immense support from my husband Narendranath R and my amazing family back home and support from my friends. It takes so much sweat and effort to create those cakes, but seeing our customers(my extended family) react to our custom cakes and the love and support our creation gets makes it all worth it. Believing in yourself with constant learning and enhancing your skills and gut feeling are very important aspects of an entrepreneur or family-owned small-scale business which I learned/earned over this journey and this is also a message to the young artists out there.
We’re still at the beginning of this incredible journey and have so much to learn and explore.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wouldn’t say it has been smooth, as a self-taught person, I had so many doubts and doubts about myself. I wasn’t sure if I could actually sell my cakes to strangers who had no idea or trust. Believing in myself that I could make something which was delicious to eat as well as to look at was a challenge. The next thing was how to approach someone and introduce yourself to them in business. It wasn’t an easy road for sure, especially for someone who is an introvert to new people like myself. But the hardest of all was the thought about loyal customers and having them come back to you and trusting you that you can create magic for their special event once again, but either the road was bumpy or rocky I had my amazing family and friends who stood by me rock solid when in time of doubt and made me what I am today. I would specially thank my wonderful husband who helps and encourages me every step of the way; he has been an inspiration and motivator who makes the bumpy ride smooth! To be very honest, currently this is my steady source of income and my everyday job, so making sure I have orders for the week or month and having consistent work hours every day was hard at the beginning. Also, how to prioritize the work-life/family balance early on.
Also, transitioning from a technical background to a completely different career path and being a first time entrepreneur among your circle with little or no guidance and to start from scratch and applying it to reality was never an easy ride. But with self belief, passion, patience and constant support from my husband, I knew I could bail this out and today I feel anything is possible.
One more thing was trying to procure the best and rich quality ingredients, as I couldn’t compromise on anything in my end product and I do remember I had to make a few flavors try out several times although my family and friends appealed this was the best they tasted. I had to learn everything on my own and did make a lot of mistakes, but constant learning and relearning from them is something I am proud of and what makes us standout today. Especially on this, I am the most satisfied and feel the best part of my business when I hear such great testimonials and applause.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Pooja’s Patisserie?
Pooja’s Patisserie(A Texas Limited Liability Company) stands out as a premier family-owned (Certified and Registered) go to place for your celebrations for Custom designer cakes, Wedding cakes, Indian fusion sweets/cakes, Cookies (and seasonal speciality breads), quinceañera specials, Sweet treats(Macarons, Cake jars) and a wonderful experience. Each indulgence is hand made (scratch baking) at home with the highest quality ingredients as we take pride in our work and feel truly blessed to be a small part of your memories. Our assortment and flavors rotate to highlight the best of each season. Currently, it is just a one-woman team and is planning to expand in the coming months.
I specialize in customizing your celebration needs to the core by understanding your likes and dislikes for your special memorable event or even for your small cozy family gathering. Everything I do is with love-care and handmade; they are personalized and uniquely-specially created for each customer and also take a step further to match the theme or decoration of the celebrations.
What is also that sets me apart from others is that I imagine all my beauties in my mind from its color to contrast of the themed celebrations before I lay-out the design in scratch; I then present this to the clients with additional suggestions or modifications and help them to visualize and start creating them and match with my customers’ needs. To add on, as these are crafted and created to each individual’s needs of taste and design requirements, it will help me to stand out when compared to the bigger companies.
Our brand was built just on passion and dreams and we are proud of what we create.
Clients do love all of my brands, either wedding cakes or any occasion custom cakes or even seasonal special pumpkin breads too! One thing in particular is the, gum paste figurines (I also make my own fondant!), with the cake where I can create fine details for any occasion/celebrations (example, for a 10th year wedding anniversary – I can create the bride-groom and their skills or hobbies with all edible art).
There are a couple of flavors which we offer that bring into our culture from India and combine them with western flavors which are one of a kind and delicious.
We deliver the cakes or desserts to Houston and all suburbs with the most care. There is so much already mentioned about my brands and servings. I would like to add a note on the offerings as we scale to introduce several pick-up locations including Heights Houston and Richmond. For another convenience, we offer same-day delivery for small gatherings as well.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Our clients are the most integral part of the brand and the feedback, both good and bad, helps us always do much better. As we mentioned, our motto is to always create something artistic for your special occasion which not only looks unique and beautiful but also tastes great at the same time. Making sure this doesn’t hold good, not only during the occasion but every time the client or their friends talk about the party, they talk about the memory of my beauty created for them! Also, each customer is your family and their needs are your utmost priority, also to be genuine and humble in whatever business you’re in. It has not been so easy learning these because I had to learn these the hard way through my journey because I had no such prior experience.
I want to give an example – I got a call from a person staying outside of the United States and wanted to surprise her sister living in the town. She had a fair idea of what she needed but she didn’t know whether she had chosen the right artist to do this and make it memorable for her sister. Prioritizing and understanding their needs for the loved ones, either for wedding or custom cake for all celebrations and assuring them to create that beauty and getting the feedback below makes me very delighted and encourages my work. This person is a great client of mine and a wonderful friend now.
“Needed a themed cake as a surprise for my sister’s birthday. Sourced from other shops however they decline due to limited time. Came across Pooja’s with a stellar review so I messaged them. In no time they replied and called to check more on the details. They were very accommodating and I loved how everything turned out. From the cake design, to the timely delivery and especially to its delicious flavourful taste, it sure was perfect. My sister was so delighted for the surprise and I can only thank Pooja’s Patisserie for this.”
As a one-liner “Being customer centric is of the utmost importance”
To anyone who’s ever bought a product or given me support in any kind of way, know that I’m so very grateful to you. I truly cannot express how thankful I am to have the opportunity to continue to share what I love because of your support and prayers. Whether it was your feedback that let me know if something was great or needed tweaking, it helped shape me to become a better professional baker and a business owner.
Contact Info:
- Email: poojas.patisserie9@gmail.com
- Website: https://poojas-patisserie.business.site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poojas.patisserie/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/poojas-patisserie-katy
- Other: https://g.page/r/CZLAucBd1gZCEBA
Image Credits
Naren R
