Meet Tammy Hayes of Little Dream Bakery in Willis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tammy Hayes.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Tammy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Some of my best memories as a kid were of my mom baking amazing decorated cakes and cookies for the holidays. When I was a newly married Coast Guard wife stationed in Puerto Rico, a friend asked if I wanted to attend a Wilton cake decorating class with her. We ended up not finishing the series of classes because she ended up having her baby a bit early. So, those two or three classes were the extent of my official training. From then on, I enjoyed making cakes for friends and family and eventually was selling them in my free time from my career as a registered dental hygienist. While I loved making cakes, delivering them stressed me out. After watching hours of Instagram cookie tutorials, I decided to try my hand at cookies. I haven’t looked back since. I no longer work in the dental field as cookies have become my full-time passion.

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?
Thanks to the power of social media, the transition to doing cookies full time has been a natural one. I posted a couple of cookie sets I had done for fun on my personal Facebook page and shortly after a neighbor contacted me asking if I would make cookies for her beach wedding. After that, orders consistently came in and increased in frequency. Working from my home kitchen under the Texas Cottage Food Law has been an amazing opportunity but also it is sometimes difficult to prioritize time when running a business from home. It is hard to step away from work completely when your office is in your kitchen.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I create specialty custom decorated sugar cookies for all special occasions and holidays. I also teach fun relaxed public and private cookie decorating classes. I am known for creating beautiful cookie art that tastes just as good as it looks. With my classes, I am most proud of the pride and satisfaction my students feel in their finished product in class. The best compliment I can get from a student is when they send me pictures of cookies they have made and decorated on their own after the class. I am also always humbled when I see students returning for a second or third class, or booking a private class for their family and friends. I also love being a part of a customer’s pregnancy announcement, then a gender reveal, then the first birthday! I have become a part of my clients’ most important life events and I appreciate how special that is. I have customers that greet me with a huge hug at pickup and even bring me gifts. I will never stop being surprised by things like that.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was always an extrovert. I was embarrassingly loud. I loved being involved in my high school theatre productions. I have always valued the importance of encouraging creativity, especially in youth. I passed that theatre nerd gene on to my daughter who is now a Theatre Education major at UT Austin. The highlight of my year in cookies was holding a fundraiser decorating class to benefit our local high school’s Theatre program. I donated all proceeds from the class to the Willis High School Fine Arts program that had just opened their new performing arts center. I was thrilled to be able to gift $750 to their deserving program.

Pricing:

• Custom cookies start at $36/dozen
• Classes start at $50/ person
• Holiday sets available at smaller price points

Contact Info:

• Phone: 310-683-9049
• Instagram: @LittleDreamBakery
• Facebook: @Little Dream Bakery

Image Credit:
Little Dream Bakery

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