Meet Mark Hill of Meraki Custom Cakes in Wheat Ridge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Hill.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Mark. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I ended up as a baker/cake artist completely by accident. I was stuck in the corporate, 8-5 grind, Advertising Sales, Account Exec., Business consultant… and was completely miserable. I’m a Denver Native, graduated from Condordia University in Montreal, QC where I was accepted into the photography department based on my portfolio of work. I ended up with a Major in Anthropology because I thought that would be a Moved back home and started working for the Rocky mountain news where I eventually moved into sales because I wanted to make lots of money. At the time, I didn’t realize how unhappy that would make me.

Originally I had started at the newspaper because having studied photography, I thought it would be a great way to intern in the photo department or somehow get into that area, What I eventually realized was that as photography was evolving from film to digital, I was losing interest in it. I loved film and the process of developing it in the darkroom etc. I even tried taking a digital art course at Auraria to learn photoshop so that I could obtain skills required for the new digital age but that was definitely not my thing. I’m old school and like working with my hands.

The years passed and I grew more and more unhappy in my career. I was about 41 and because I dropped the ball on ordering a cake in time for my mom’s birthday, I decided to bake one instead. How difficult can it be? I had never baked anything before in my life but found a recipe online and gave it a go. Well I loved the experience and the cake turned out great and I became obsessed with baking and at every opportunity, I would bake and create things to nurture my soul. It was a form of therapy and an escape from my awful sales career.

I repeatedly tried to get out of sales by looking for entry-level positions to learn a new skill and grow within a company but starting over in your 40s isn’t easy. Employers interviewing me couldn’t understand why I’d take a step down from sales to something less lucrative. They didn’t understand that I was secretly dying inside and I was looking for happiness somewhere where I would never find it.

I was in a seven-year relationship at the time and I continued to experiment and bake and “perfect” my craft. I started making cakes for friends and family and would post them on social media. I started to realize that that’s what made me happy and needed to find a way to do it full time. I looked into going back to school for a baking and pastry arts degree but after learning that it would be around $25K for about a 1.5-2 year program, I decided that maybe I should work at a local bakery and figured that with my lack of professional experience the best place to start would be a grocery store. I submitted applications without ever being contacted for an interview let alone a job. So with the encouragement and support of my family and friends, I decided to start a cake biz in 2016. What was I thinking?! realized that it wouldn’t be profitable in the beginning and figured I’d learn as I go but didn’t really know what that meant.

I found a nearby farmers market where I set up shop and would sell various baked goods and would arrange cake pick-ups, consultations, etc. there. It was great but over time I found that the custom cakes demanded so much attention that I no longer had time to make the smaller, ready to go dessert bars, cookies and other treats for the market.

Six months into starting my business, my relationship of seven years ended. That was a big blow, not only emotionally but financially. I had thrown security out the window to start a dream and now had to decide whether to continue or go back to getting a steady income and leave that behind.

I decided to keep going but it was difficult. I now was not only teaching myself how to decorate cakes with practically every order but I was also learning how to run a business and had no clue what I was doing. Totally my fault but I now had no time to stop and figure things out. I was one guy flying solo and treading water ever step of the way.

In several ways (marketing) I was successful. I had plenty of biz and often times had to turn it away due to being fully booked but on paper, I was a mess. Let’s just say, numbers aren’t my thing and financially I had no idea what I had coming in or going out. The only thing I knew was that there wasn’t money much there. I worked practically 24/7 all of 2018, killing myself to take as many orders as possible and I was poor AF (sorry). It’s true. I couldn’t understand how that was possible. Everything I was making was going back into the business and there was literally nothing leftover.

By the end of 2018, I was exhausted, overworked, completely broke and depressed. My insurance expired so months before, I had run out of antidepressants and literally started losing my mind. I’d been on and off anti-depressants since my early 20s but this time I was balancing more than ever and the shit hit the fan! The withdrawals were more painful than ever and despite having a wonderful network of friends and family and an amazing boyfriend, I was more alone than ever and spiraling into a dark place that I hoped would consume me so that I didn’t have to endure the fact that I was broke despite all the sacrifices, hard work and beautiful (and delicious) creations. I felt like a failure and I didn’t know how or if I could even continue with this business. There was nothing left. No energy, no money and no hope.

I was creating wonderful memories for my clients yet I had no happy memories of my own. Whenever I had to scroll my cake gallery to find a specific picture, it was extremely painful to view those images. As beautiful and as amazing as they are, THOSE were my memories. Painful reminders of daily panic attacks, anxiety and depression that I had to overcome so that I could make other people happy. There are certain cakes that I still can’t look at because of where I was at that time or whatever. They’re too painful. I don’t say that to make anyone feel sorry for me at all but it’s just that I was seriously mentally unhealthy and needed a break. I was extremely proud of every one of my creations but it took everything I had to make them.

Anyway, the most amazing thing happened around that time. I found Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute (RMMFI), a non-profit that helps entrepreneurs and is dedicated to cultivating and growing small business in Colorado. I applied for their Winter 2019, 12-week Business Boot Camp and I was lucky enough to be accepted into the program which would start in February 2019. I already had some weddings booked for 2019 but decided that I needed to take on as little as I possible so that I could regroup and recover.

Long story short (sorry this is so long but wrapping up here), the boot camp ended mid April 2019 and I’ve been going nonstop working on my business as well as maintaining my excellent reputation and in six months, for the first time in three years, I’m a profitable business with money in my accounts and even money in my wallet. I owe it all to the dedicated team of mentors and staff at RMMFI because without them I don’t think that I’d be here today.

The adage, “Entrepreneurship is not for the weak” is definitely true. I used to think that being successful in business meant that you just needed to work hard, sacrifice and never give up. That’s only part of it. I followed that recipe but it truly takes a village and as crazy as it’s been I’m finally in a great place and I’ve honestly never been happier.

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?
Not at all but it was the only way I knew how to do it. Having a plan would have helped but I believe now more than ever that all the struggles I went through along the way were necessary to get to where I am today. That’s my own personal journey. I used to think how lucky I would have been had I figured out earlier that I wanted to bake and saved myself a lot of headache, heartache, pain, etc. but the truth is is that all of that shit made me so much stronger, a better baker, a better artist and a more humbled and grateful person. I couldn’t have learned that in any university.

There were financial struggles, mental health struggles, confidence struggles and because of all those it made me work harder because I’m a perfectionist. In the words of, FKA Twigs “If I was anything less than perfect I was going to be completely torn apart publicly”. I’m very hard on myself and strive for perfection. I’ve learned to be better about that but it’s a constant struggle but I think that’s why I have an excellent reputation and product.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Meraki Custom Cakes story. Tell us more about the business.
Meraki Custom Cakes is a by-appointment cake studio. Not a full-service bakery where you can come in and grab a cupcake off the shelf but instead I specialize in creating memories, edible works of art for unique people with a taste to match.

I’m extremely proud of what I’ve managed to build in a very short time with no formal education/training that relates to baking/cake art. Not only my beautiful creations but also having received various awards and recognition. Being a 2019 pick for The Knot Best of Weddings was an honor and I owe it all to the wonderful couples and customers who chose Meraki, to be a part of their celebrations.

It took me a while to find my niche, I started out providing pies, cookies and all baked goods but once I figured out that my artistic talents as they relate to cake is what my clients are looking for. I repeatedly get emails and messages telling me how talented I am and that my cakes are amazing and I say that in the most humble way. I’ve never been an arrogant person and in fact, it wasn’t until my boot camp program at RMMFI that I realized my worth, my value.

As an artist, a self-taught baker, a person who has experienced a lot in my 45 years, I have a unique point of view/ mindset that sets me apart from other people in my field. It’s not a good or bad thing but it’s just what makes me stand out in the crowd. As one of my wedding clients said, “Mark doesn’t have a cookie-cutter mindset when it comes to baking…” and that’s what my clients are looking for.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I feel that I’ve been very lucky because of the amazing people who’ve come into and blessed my life in one way or another. I feel like I’ve learned and taken something from every person or experience in life. All those miserable years I spent in advertising weren’t wasted. I actually learned something and applied it to my business. I was also lucky enough to make amazing, life-long friends as a result. Like my friend, Dave Schultz who I worked with for years. He started his digital marketing company a year or so before I started my cake biz and he was invaluable in helping with domains and all the digital stuff that I’m not good at. He also, built my website for free which was amazing and am so grateful.

I was completely lucky in my business otherwise. I’ve had great success and lots of support. As difficult as it was, doing it the way I did it, I’m incredibly lucky for the strong support network that I have. Not everybody has that and despite being completely broke I always had a roof over my head thanks to my family.

Contact Info:

• Website: merakicustomcakes.com
• Phone: 3038687835
• Email: merakicustomcakes@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Chelsea from Friends and Lovers Photography, friendsandloversphotography.com  (Main photo)

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