Notes from Chris

Episode 972

Anamaria Morales has been a side hustler since she was six-years-old. When her grandparents sent her birthday money, she would buy card stock, make greeting cards, and then sell them door-to-door. When she was seven, she would go to her town’s weekly summer-in-the-plaza festivals and offer custom pedicures with rhinestones and painted flowers. Then, at the old age of twelve, she started her Soggy Doggy dog-washing business and sold dog-friendly popsicles she coined “pupsicles.”

Her latest hustle has been the most successful of all. It’s called College Confectionista, and just as we were working on this story, she appeared on GMA.

This hustle is all about cheesecake! Handcrafted cheesecake, that is. So far she’s sold about 1,500 of these handcrafted cheesecakes.

It all started four years ago, when she made a cheesecake at home with no business plan in mind….

The next day, her mom took some of it to work to share—and a co-worker liked it so much, it gave Anamaria an idea. She said, if that co-worker … or anyone else … wanted that cheesecake bad enough, she could be persuaded to bake and sell it to them.

This happened during her senior year of high school when college expenses were weighing heavily on her mind. To avoid accumulating debt, she held off attending a four-year university right away. Instead, she enrolled in a local community college.

Her goal was to transfer to a four-year institution only when she had enough money to pay for it.

With that in mind, she wrote a Facebook post that said, “I am going to be making my New York-style cheesecake for $40 per cheesecake. All of the proceeds go towards college. Message me if you are interested.” By the first month, she had an order every single day. Clearly, she’d hit upon a “recipe” for success.

Anamaria soon started working in a friend’s commercial kitchen so she could be compliant with local regulations. She also starting offering four flavors per week: three seasonal or holiday flavors plus her Sonoma County Style, which is a variation of a basic New York-style recipe with her personal tweaks.

Examples of holiday offerings include red velvet and eggnog at Christmas, Bailey’s Irish Cream for St. Patrick’s Day, and salted caramel pecan for Thanksgiving. Summer seasonal selections include peaches and cream and blackberry cobbler. (Are you getting hungry?)

After countless cheesecakes, the 21-year-old bakerpreneur is preparing to head off to her dream school, the University of California at Berkeley. She has enough money socked away to cover her educational expenses, without having to rely on student loans. It’s a cream come true.

But her fans don’t need to worry—she won’t “dessert” them when they need her the most. Her customers can still order cheesecakes when she goes back home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, although she may raise the price. The holidays are her biggest selling season by far. Last Christmas, she sold a record 324 cheesecakes in one week.

No matter how you slice it, Anamarie’s cheesecake side hustle is a big success.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• College Confectionista: Eat up more about this decadent side hustle over on Anamaria's Facebook page!
• Ten Years a Nomad: A Traveler's Journey Home: Part memoir and part philosophical look at why we travel, filled with stories of Matt Kepnes' adventures abroad, an exploration of wanderlust and what it truly means to be a nomad

  SEE ALSO:

• National Pie Judge Spreads Gospel of Sugar, Butter, and Flour: This lifelong baker was afraid of pies—but when she overcomes her hesitancy, she undertakes a baking adventure that leads to hundreds of satisfied customers. Get rich or pie tryin’!
• Toronto Startup Employee Bakes Custom Cakes: A Toronto startup employee (and powerlifter!) ices her way into a sweet, profitable side hustle that bakes up an extra $600 per month
• Delicious Cookies Arrive at My Door in Portland, Oregon: A late night craving evolves into a cookie delivery service spreading chocolate chip goodness throughout the land

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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