Today we’d like to introduce you to Silvia To.
Silvia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Since I was a child, I wanted to be in culinary. When I was as young as eight years old, I would be in the kitchen cooking full meals for my family and I would do this as much as my mother allowed it. I come from a big family, three brothers and three sisters, but it was also a single parent home. My mother is the strongest person I know, and she passed that trait onto her kids. She made sure she taught us all the skills we needed to know to make it on our own including working hard to earn our own income.
I had my son when I was 19 years old. I was working at Sonic America’s Drive-In with a couple that had a similar background and started their family young. Rich & Dara told me all about their struggles as young parents and how they did things because like all parents, I wanted to give my son great experiences, such as birthday parties, so I started baking to gain experience. I would make all my families birthday cakes or look for any excuse to bake! I had found something that I was good at and truly enjoyed.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely wasn’t a smooth road! Soon after I had my son, his father and I split – I was 22 years old & attending Lone Star Community College (Montgomery College at the time) to get my Bachelors in business, I was still working at Sonic & now I was a single mom. After my initial shock, my mom’s words ringed in my head… “I’ve prepped you for this all your life!” Which gave me comfort day in and day out as I studied and continued to teach myself how to be a “caker.”
Please tell us about The Cake Lady CTX.
The Cake Lady CTX ñame came from all my introductions and associations Ha-ha People would come up to me and be like “You the cake lady!?” It would make me laugh because it was slowly becoming my “nickname” everywhere I went.
I make themed custom cakes! If I were to say I specialize in anything, it would probably be fondant children cakes, but I am starting to add in a lot more wedding cakes since that’s my ultimate goal. I love the elegance and simplicity of wedding cakes.
My proudest accomplishment is being able to say that I’m self-taught. 100% trial and error – making mistakes and learning that to get a perfect recipe, design or detail is patience and tons of practice.
I believe what sets me apart from other cakers is using my mind, as in, by using my own designs and ideas.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I wouldn’t have taken any breaks. I understand we all need breaks, and Lord knows I needed them, but if I could start over or go back, I wouldn’t have taken the ones that lasted longer than they should have.
Contact Info:
- Email: thecakeladyctx@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecakeladyctx
- Facebook: @thecakeladyctx
Image Credit:
Sydney Baker
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