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Meet Kelley Prather of Kelley Kakes in Metro

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelley Prather.

Kelley, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Kelley Kakes honestly started out of boredom, and a deep need to get my creative juices flowing again. In 2001 my family moved from Colorado Springs to Denver for my then husband’s job. I became a stay-at-home mom of two littles, which I really loved, but I was losing myself in there. I started making insanely over the top birthday cakes for my kids and then for the kids of my neighbor’s and my ex’s co-workers. In 2002 the magic moment happened and I was asked to make a wedding cake for an old h.s. Friend.

To this day, it is one of the most elaborate cakes I’ve ever made and it took me a month to create all of the sugar flowers and sugar castle for the top. I spent hours in the library pouring over how-to decorating books and our dining room table was covered in hundreds of delicate sugar flowers I spent late nights creating. I successfully delivered it to a venue 75 miles away and I was hooked. Now, how do I make this real? Soon after I made another wedding cake for the sister of a neighbor who had befriended me. Again, those feelings of excitement and desire hit me hard and as I stood back admiring the cake (which I delivered all the way up to Black Hawk), I actually cried a bit. I had found something that made me feel alive. I love my children with all my might, but creating edible art made me feel whole again.

Now, this was before the internet had really become how you find everything, so I made mini wedding cakes to take to wedding venues, hotels, wedding shops, etc. I must have passed out 100 little fancy cakes. It worked, though, and soon I was interviewing with The Oxford Hotel to become their preferred wedding cake baker. My test was to make the wedding cake for the head chef, who’s wedding was coming up soon. I nailed it!

In 2005 my life abruptly changed when my husband left in the midst of our daughter’s 9th birthday party. He vanished for several months and I had to quickly figure out how to keep our lives afloat. More magic happened, I swear. The Knot had become this incredible source for local brides and grooms to find info and vendors, and a client I had just worked with wrote about me in a post. I went from making a dozen or so wedding cakes a year to 62 by the end of that year. The following year was even better. I sectioned off two rooms of our house for my workspace and would work at night when the kids were asleep. My neighbors pitched in to watch the kids when I was off on deliveries, or I’d bring them with me if we were going someplace fun like Estes Park, and we’d go hiking afterward.

As my kids got older and more independent, I was able to focus more on my business and I started renting out a commercial kitchen to work from when I needed it. I partnered up with another baker for a few years, too, until she moved to another state. I briefly considered opening a storefront, but I feared how many hours I’d be away from my kids, and how much of their lives I’d miss out on. They were now heavily into soccer, and girl scouts and having slumber parties on the trampoline, hiking dates with mom, and so I decided to keep things simple.

In 2009 I remarried and became mom to two bonus kids and I got really good at functioning on two or three hours of sleep. Drive kids to school, work for a few hours, take a quick nap, pick up kids, take kids to their after-school things, dinner, bedtime, work until around 3 am. This husband is incredibly supportive of what I do and understands it is not a hobby:).

I joined up with an incredible group of wedding and event vendors called Trulife Studios and it helped me refocus my energy and figure out a way to rework things so I was working smarter, not harder. I network with a small group of custom decorators and bakers and together, we have continued to grow and learn and make beautiful cakes for special occasions and weddings.

Now the kids are adults and three are in college, and I am revamping the company a bit. There will be a name change and a refocus on the details that make my heart swoon. I’m taking more time for me and have rekindled my love for hiking and have discovered the glory that is hiking in the snow. I’m excited for the future and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and managed to bloom from a fancy cake for a preschooler.

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?
Gosh no 🙂 Unfortunately, divorce was not an easy one and did a lot of damage. There were ugly battles and lots of hiding in the garage to cry. My ex had convinced me I was not worthy, nor smart enough to succeed without him. I was angry and lost me in there for a bit. But, I was determined to put on a brave face for my children and held a lot in. I forced myself to join a hiking group and it gave me an outlet to release all of that negative energy and also gave me a new thing to do with my kids. Making myself do new things changed me and I was able to let go and move on. And I could once again sit across from folks in love who were excited about their big day and truthfully feel excited with them!

Kelley Kakes – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Kelley Kakes specializes in custom wedding and event cakes. Most of the focus is on wedding cakes, and this is where I’m most passionate. I love the process from the very first meeting with the couple to standing back and giving the finished product the final once over before calling it complete.

I’m known for really delicious, beautiful cake and my personality. I’m proud of both. I adore the relationship that develops with so many of my clients and that they want to share their excitement and joy with me. I think what sets me apart is that I make the process of ordering a fancy cake an enjoyable one. Cake should not be stressful, and I love it when I get a big hug at the end of a cake tasting and am told how much fun that was.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Just one? Oh goodness, I would have to say it was the moment I decided to make this a full-time gig and sat down to chart out how to do that. Realistically, this was made up of several key moments that culminated in the big one, but I can still remember how that tingling in my head and chest felt as I sat there staring down at this big dry erase board filled with bullet points and dates.

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