Someone once told me that perception is everything.  The one thing a lot of people don’t realize about our company is that even though we have a very large presence in the bakery and wedding worlds, we are a VERY small company.  It’s Ron and 5 paid staff members that turn out all of that work.

We get many requests from people to stop by and visit with us, they would like for us to donate to their charity, they want to have private classes taught by Ron – the requests for Ron, his time and his products are endless. We appreciate each and every fan that watches his television show and applaud all of the bakers out there that strive to be masters of sugar work.  But Ron is one man, and before he has a television show or is a teacher, he is a business owner.  He only has so much time during the day to be able to try and fit it all in.  And believe me, we do try and fit it all in.  We never want to disappoint anyone and if we can, and we do try and take last minute cakes if it fits in the production schedule.

Here are a few of the questions and answers we give on a daily basis:

We get a lot of fans and fellow bakers that would like to “pop on by” for a visit.  Why is that not possible? The way our bakery is set up is the first room you walk into is the client meeting area.  So by just stopping by you could be interrupting a client or production meeting.  The production room and bakery areas are fairly small as well and because we are paid for each project it’s hard to stop and give a “how to lesson” on a very expensive wedding cake.  It’s not that we don’t mind teaching, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to use our client’s cakes as an example for a teaching lesson.

We get many requests for Ron to teach private classes, how come he does not? A couple of reasons – he really enjoys teaching in a classroom environment, and when his schedule allows he does book various teaching dates throughout North America. (Ron’s teaching info can be found on our Facebook fan page.)  Also, if Ron were to teach private classes, he wouldn’t have time to work with his staff, meet with clients or film his television show.

Is it possible to donate to my charity?  We have two charities that we support here at the bakery: City Harvest and Lambda Kappa Legal Defense Fund.   We get so many requests for donations, that if we were to fulfill them all, our clients would have no wedding cakes.  We do have to pay the rent, and if we were to accommodate every charity request we receive we would not have anytime to make our specialty cakes that Ron has become known for.  I am not saying that your charity is not a worthy cause; I am saying that we are a very small business and as much as we would love to donate to every request, we simply can’t.

Like any business, we have guidelines and procedures in place.  We need to work within the structure that Ron has provided for us so that we can get our jobs done to meet every deadline put before us.   For us that work for this very little company, that is our number one priority, we were paid to do a job and that obligation must be met. For me it’s a delicate balance of trying to help Ron figure out client meetings, how filming a TV show will fit in the work schedule, arranging the client meeting schedule so he has time to make flowers, decorate cakes and work with his staff and that is only the surface of what this man does – besides making cakes.

So please understand that if you walk in from off the street and have every intention of meeting Ron, when you open our bakery door (without an appointment) it’s quite possible that you will be interrupting a client meeting with a bride and her fiancé or a production meeting where Ron is trying to talk to his staff about next months wedding cakes.  Or if we tell you politely in an email that we cannot accommodate your visit, we are not trying to be mean, but we really can’t fit you in an already very structured work schedule.

Ron and his staff are not ungrateful – we are just a small little company trying to get it all done…

***Please note that this article is not meant to be condescending or unthoughtful in any way.  It’s very hard to convey in words how much we appreciate all the support, love and adoration of our fans and fellow colleagues – but we just simply cannot accommodate each and every request that we receive, we only have one Ron and we need to let the poor man sleep sometime. ***