How it all began

One thing I've never really shared is my story, so buckle up and get ready as it's a long one!

Baking has always been something I have loved to do. I have very fond memories of baking with my grandparents when I was young, but that isn't actually the reason I began my baking journey back in 2020.

First came lockdown. When baking was almost the only thing to do. I would make cheesecakes and cupcakes for my boyfriend (who highly rated them and fed my fuel to make more). Then I began baking for family and friends at work. This slowly turned into people asking me for birthdays and celebrations, making me feel like a business was going to work. I was off work most days due to being a teacher and my 'bubble' bursting nearly every week. I had to set up an online classroom but apart from that my time was free to bake! I really enjoyed this stress free period where I was just making things that made people feel good. 

Then the grey area hit. We decided to move cities, back to my partner's home town and away from our university city. This was great, but sadly I lost all of my fantastic customers. We were lucky enough to have family that would accommodate us while we looked for a house. We were at his parents for 9 months and as amazing as they were, it wasn't fair to run a business from their kitchen. So I quickly lost momentum and began to put my full energy into my job as a teacher. 

We finally got a house! I felt like I could finally pick up my baking again exactly where I left of! This now feels so naive. I had no customers and had also created a list as long as my arm with things I wanted to do in the house. We went away for our first holiday in years and in my head I had planned for me to begin baking as soon as I got back. Although, while we were away we found out that we were pregnant which was so amazing but also meant I did not have the energy to work, decorate a house and start a business again. 

Then it really got bad. Unfortunately my pregnancy was less than easy. From our first scan the doctor could see problems and told us we were unlikely to make it to full term. This stage of our lives was extremely up and down with glimmers of hope every now and again. Sadly, at 5 months we had to say goodbye to our baby girl. This was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever had to go through and it took me a while to get the confidence to do anything again. 

I quit my job. I tried to go back to work as a teacher and 'get back into teacher mode' but I very quickly realised this was not going to help my healing process and needed to do something just for me. So I logged into Canva, made a new logo uploaded it to Instagram and felt like finally I was doing the right thing. 

Ups and Downs. As you can imagine, quitting your well paid job and starting a business while still trying to get by every day after trauma is not easy. Some days I really wondered why on earth I had done it, I had a comfortable life where I earned a decent amount and could go to work every day knowing what I was facing. However, I knew deep down that that life was not meant for me. So I kept going. Some days were hard and some days were amazing. I started to get customers in Nottingham, began to trade at local markets and received amazing feedback. 

Where I am now. So after a few risks, some blind courage and a lot of support from family and friends I was finally in a position where I was able to sustain my business and really create the life I had wanted.

Where I want to be. There are still so many things I want to do with this business and so many lessons still to learn. I would love to one day combine my teaching and baking skills and help people learn how to bake! I am always looking for opportunities to grow and develop, as a person and as a business. 

I hope this is just the beginning for Totally Baked and soon it will be something spectacular. For now, I will keep going and keep making delicious treats for you to all enjoy. 

Katie x  

Some of the OG bakes... in chronological order

Moving in and finding out.

Ruddington Christmas Market, which was on the anniversary of saying goodbye to our baby girl. Making it all feel like it was supposed to happen.