Meet Tamara Cato of The Cato Cakery in Central Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tamara Cato.

Tamara, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I moved here from Bosnia with my parents and two brothers when I was two years old. It’s always been just us and I so desperately wanted a bigger family. I remember being eleven years old and discovering the show Cake Boss and just sitting in front of the tv for hours watching the show. I used to think “ How can someone have that much patience and trust in themselves to execute such a delicate task?” The end result was always full of smiles and cake, who could say no to that? Food is arguably one of the most effective ways we communicate. We do it through experimenting with ingredients and learning about ourselves and what pleases our own palates. We show our love by cooking for our family and friends and even sharing our dessert at a restaurant. I knew food made me happy and always had a way of bringing everyone together. That big family feel is what I appreciated most about it. I wanted to be able to express my creativity in a way that brought everyone together even if it was just for a couple of hours.

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?
I can safely say nothing I’ve ever felt passionately about has been a smooth road. I went through a tough time finding the courage to go after my dream. Between not believing strongly enough in my skills and also choosing to remain in a routine that was familiar I was doing myself a major injustice. I was halting creativity. I was missing opportunity for income and personal growth. I look back and am actually embarrassed by those missed opportunities but eventually, I learned. After me and my husband divorced I realized I had a whole lot of “new life” to live. It was months of being uncomfortable and scared. The option to put off my dreams was no more. The expectation of compromising my time and energy for someone else was no more. If I didn’t take advantage and shake myself then no one was going to be able to do it for me. Sometimes you just have to say yes and hit the ground running, you’d be surprised by what you’re actually capable of.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
When I was finally able to put my potential success in front of my potential failures then is when I grew a little selfish and in the best way possible! I was thinking about what do I want? What do I want to be associated with? What makes this all mine? I love cake, I wanted my name out there, and I wanted the opportunity to do something different all the time. That’s when The Cato Cakery was born. I first specialized in decorative cakes and mainly re-creating designs my customers would bring me but recently I have been expanding on my own creativity and trying to brand my style and vision. I truly do believe that what I do is enjoyable because I have a passion for it but I also believe the only way to keep that alive is to continuously exercise those new ideas and skillsets. I want to be the one to create a new genre, not just someone that can put a cake together.

What were you like growing up?
I was a bit of a weird kid. It took a while for people to get to know me and befriend me. I’ve always been comfortable saying what comes to mind, which I really believe helps with keeping your creative juices flowing. I always tried fitting in and with that came a lot of experimentation when it came to hobbies and interests. I almost felt like I was never really good at anything but then again if I didn’t devote enough time I would never get really good at anything. Once I discovered there was a class in school that allowed you to bake, the rest was history. I took every culinary class, I worked at my high school’s student ran restaurant and even participated in a couple of culinary competitions. I gained a lot of perspective and respect for people in the industry. To this day, I still keep in touch with my culinary teacher, Mrs. Heuer, you rock!

Contact Info:

• Email: catocakery@gmail.com
• Instagram: @thecatocakery

Image Credit:
Mina Cufurovic

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