Kakes By Krista turns a passion into a business.
Krista Kronlokken has been surrounded by baked goods all her life. Her mother took baking classes when she and her brothers were young, and for as long as Kronlokken can remember, she’s been watching her mother bake treats.
Eventually, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota, teen started making them herself, especially around the holidays. Pastries for Easter. Pies for Thanksgiving.
“It’s always something I loved doing,” she said.
Three years ago, she made her passion a business, called Kakes By Krista, and she’s now a full-on caterer. Her first booking was at a friend’s graduation party in June 2012, but it didn’t take her long to get more clients.
“I told him I would make cute cupcakes for his graduation party,” Kronlokken said. “At the party, a woman that was involved with the Raspberry Festival in Hopkins asked me if I could make cupcakes for her event. From then on, I started baking for more and more people and events.”
In April, Kronlokken was awarded a college scholarship, the NFIB/Avionte Young Entrepreneur Award.
Time management has been the hardest aspect of the business for Kronlokken. Because the food needs to be made the day of the event or the night before, she’s found herself up as late as 3 a.m. baking. But the biggest lesson she’s learned through her business is how willing people are to help.
“My parents have shown a lot of support,” she said. “Whenever I go to business events and talk about myself, people always ask if I need anything. I have a friend that made a logo for me, another one is now my assistant baker, and there are so many more things that people have done for me, it’s incredible.”
She’s become so busy that she hired another senior to help this year. Kronlokken will attend University of St. Thomas and plans to double major in entrepreneurship and marketing. But that doesn’t mean Kakes By Krista is coming to an end—she actually hopes to build on it in the future.
“My plan would be to find a job in marketing and save up as much money as I can,” she said. “I would like to open a storefront for a bakery when I have enough saved up, continue Kakes By Krista and keep flourishing as a small business.”
