Life and Work with Heather Suhr

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Suhr.

Heather, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have always had a love for baking. My very first job was in a local bakery, where I was able to watch the baker every morning when I came into work. Being very young and inquisitive, I would ask lots of questions. I in turn took what I had learned and started to hone that into my own work. Many years later, a family friend who owns her own Wedding Rental/Styling company called me. Out of the blue, telling me she had heard I made amazing sugar cookies and would like me to have a booth at her Open House in the upcoming weeks. I was floored. I never thought in a million years that what I LOVED to do, would ever turn into a business. I gave it some thought and decided that it was the best thing. So I did, and almost 5 years later I’m still grateful for that phone call.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh, heavens no. LOL! Nothing comes without its fair share of difficulties. I remember first starting out thinking…’Man, this is gonna be awesome! I take care of my kids, my house, my “mom duties” AND work at home this is awesome’ uuuhhmmmm WHAT?! I hit a big fat wall and fast. I have 4 kids, their schedules, my husband, his schedule, and then my business was (and still can be) nuts sometimes. I really struggled to find a balance that worked. I finally after 4.5 years FOUND my balance. But it took many years, many late nights, early mornings, lots of days where I spent crying because I didn’t know if it was worth it anymore.

YOU CAN DO IT!!! No matter what anyone tells you, no matter your journey. You can do it! Stick with it! It’s never going to be easy, if it was it wouldn’t be worth fighting for. It’s still not easy for me. I fight for my little business every damn day and I’m grateful for it.

Please tell us about Sugar Lane Bakery.
I specialize in Custom Sugar Cookies, Custom Cakes, Cupcakes, and other assorted baked goods. I am mostly known for are my freaking amazing sugar cookies and cakes. My cakes and cookies are so different from the normal because I do everything in buttercream… and I am very detailed oriented, so I will take the extra initiative on certain things if I feel it’s needed. I feel that the love and genuine care I have for every single client that comes to me. I have genuine friendships that have been created all because of a cookie or cake order.

Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
When I was young, I was bullied… always… I can still hear them to this day ‘freckle face, chicken legs, your so ugly, let’s play connect the dots on her face to see what we can make’ it goes on… when I was in my early teens, I had a physical altercation (which I did not start) with another older teen that lead me to have a lot of emotional trauma. From the age of 14, I pretty much stayed home most of the time. Ok, other than school, I would say 99% of the time. I didn’t date, hang out with friends much, I was a homebody. Which in return gave me plenty of time do bake. It was therapeutic, so I did a lot of it, and I just got better at it.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2607 N Raven
  Mesa, AZ 85207
• Phone: 480-228-8558
• Email: sugarlanebakery@gmail.com
• Instagram: @sugarlanebakery
• Facebook: Sugar Lane Bakery

 
Image Credit:
@simplemeansevents, @tellthebirds, @thelaurenstyle, @noblephotographers

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