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Meet Trailblazer Audrey Gebhardt

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Audrey Gebhardt.

Audrey, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I was a 14-year-old beach bum in New York, I came home one day and told my parents, “I’m going to start selling birthday cakes.” They sort of scoffed and thought it was a cute idea- little did they know I had already secretly created a WordPress blog and ordered myself business magnets! At first, I was like the cute kid with a lemonade stand, walking through the halls of my high school with my teacher’s kids’ birthday cakes every Friday that I would sell for about $30-40. I was OBSESSED with baking. I handed out fresh baked cookies and cupcakes and scones every other day to teachers and classmates without realizing that I was doing an excellent job of marketing myself. I grew up baking and decorating cakes with my mom and when she passed about a year after I started the business, I threw myself into it. Having something to do with my hands was what helped me work through my grief, it was like I had a place to put the overwhelming love I had for my mom when I could no longer hold onto her. I’m pretty sure that love and care are what made me so successful- I had nothing to be afraid of. I was a 15-year-old kid who had just lost her mom and all I knew is that being in the kitchen made me feel like I had a place again. I didn’t know about bills and taxes and that running a business is scary when I was so young, I just knew that I needed to bake cupcakes. Before I graduated high school I had graduated from birthday cakes to wedding cakes, which led me to run the business full time instead of going to college and growing way too fast for what I could handle at that time.

Nearly ten years and a cross-country move later, I’ve relaunched Sugar Mountain Catering out in Colorado-serving up whimsy and beauty all over the state at baby showers, weddings and just about any celebration you can think of! We now specialize in Grazing Tables, Artisanal Fairy Floss, and Popcorn but to be quite honest that changes frequently. I never want to burn out, so I’m constantly reimagining what Sugar Mountain is about.

Has it been a smooth road?
Ooooffff. Smooth road. I’m not sure any small business is a smooth road and if you’ve found one that is TELL ME HOW! I think the biggest struggle for me has been commitment. There were at least four storefronts that I was minutes away from signing a lease on and turning into a full-scale bakery over the years and every time when it came down to it, I had to really evaluate what I wanted my life to look like and most times that didn’t include waking up at 3 am every day to bake scones. Ultimately every change I’ve made for the business has been positive- I think it comes down to one of my favorite quotes from Abraham Hicks, ‘Make a decision and then make it right.’

Moving across the country and starting from scratch was no joke. I think I took for granted how important it is to have a built-in network- I came out here and felt so tiny! But again, doing the scary thing has led to countless friendships and connections.

I wouldn’t call it a struggle per se, but the latest challenge I’ve overcome with Sugar Mountain has been giving up control. For the first time in ten years, we catered two parties at the same time a few months ago and having to hire people and trust them to run things while I went to the other event was one of the scariest AND most rewarding things I’ve ever done for this business. I’m sure that most people that find themselves running their own business have a bit of control-freakiness to them and I think learning to tame that beast and just trust that everything will work out even if you didn’t do 100% of the work has been the thing that’s helped me grow the most.

We’d love to hear more about Sugar Mountain Catering.
We specialize in Grazing Tables and unique food experiences for events. When I was back in New York, we did everything from a dozen cookies to full-service buffet dinners for 100. What I realized is that at a party, nobody really needs to eat the trays of pasta and chicken parm- most of the time they’re just eating it because it’s there. I stumbled across the idea of a Grazing Table back when only Australia was doing them about three years ago and thought it was SO brilliant. It’s a way of feeding people that fosters the movement of an event. It creates an immediate ice breaker, everybody loves to talk about food that is over the top and gorgeous. Also, it’s a really excellent way to cater to everybody’s needs in the time of dietary restrictions! I love being able to offer something that everybody can enjoy in some way or another. What we’re noticing about Grazes is that they translate well across any mealtime- we love doing them for brunches the day after a wedding and tweak them to be a bit more breakfasty but they’re also so so great for any kind of a cocktail party or cocktail hour!

We also expanded this year to offer super upscale concessions. We have Fairy Floss that comes in crazy handmade flavors like Chili Mango, Pear, and Lemonade. We have a matching popcorn machine and we make flavors like Truffled Pop and Coconut Lime with clarified butter. We built a doughnut wall that can hold up to 50 doughnuts plus custom florals this year which has been a hit! What we noticed about doing the Grazing Tables is that at a big event like a wedding, people love having something to do aside from hitting the dance floor. It’s now our goal to serve food that’s as much of an experience as it is a meal. I’m a circus artist and we are working on offering Aerial Bartending in the next few months as well as creating other unique ways to serve food that will have guests talking about the party for years.

Something I’m extremely proud of is the quality of our food. Having attended many events where the food was sort of lackluster, we’re constantly trying to rewrite the narrative on caterers and come up with ways to keep our food fresh and bright and flavorful. We do almost all of the prep for a Graze on site so you don’t end up with dried out vegetables or soggy parfaits. Another thing that is cool about what we do is that we do not need a kitchen. We can make a meal for hundreds just with what we show up with- so no venue is out of the question for us!

We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
Honestly, I find it so inspiring that the event industry is so female dominated (especially out here!) I am constantly overwhelmed by the support and community of the women in the Colorado event industry.

I kinda felt like the only barrier to female leadership is telling yourself that there are barriers to female leadership. Like I mentioned earlier, when I was in high school, running this business it was SO easy because I had nothing to be afraid of. I was completely unaware of the scary realities of running a business so it was easy to look past them. I think if you decide that you are a leader, it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female. All it takes is a conscious decision to step into your own power and you’re off to the races!

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
First Portrait: Cait McCarthy, Food (some of them): Sarah Hill

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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