Piece of cake.
(I need to disclose to you that I’m actually eating a piece of ginger cake while writing this.)
Recently, I was at a wedding with my team and I had so much fun just being with them as I transition from being a leader in their lives to a peer or even just ‘someone they used to work for.’
Of course when I write about this now, so much is revealed. How much I care to be a part of their lives- to belong with them. To belong to them. It’s a common theme in my life, maybe your’s, too. I genuinely like these people, and being their boss has been both a great joy and big struggle. My people-pleasing, perfection-seeking, not-sure-I’m-good-enough nature can really make relationships excruciating for me.
So when Mackenzie and Liz (who really hit it off working for me) were dancing around and I asked them, ‘Do you think there’s going to be cake?!” and they both sort of laughed, I had to know why. They just point-blank told me I was super into cake and marking every moment with some kind of cake or sweet treat.
After I decided that being into cake was NOT a bad or embarrassing thing, I decided to recall the cakes of our collective past.
There was Sammy’s custom black birthday cake (by Canela of course), Sam’s Whole Foods Birthday Cake, cake for Krista’s arrival back in Cleveland, cake for Kat’s departure to San Francisco. There’s the cupcakes I had designed for each market of Season 6 at Flea Cafe and the (cake) donuts I had Erica make for 2018’s Holiday Market. There were Lauren’s cupcakes for the opening of Creative Clubhouse. So many beautiful creations.
So, yeah, I guess I’m into cake.
To me, it feels special. And I aim to make other people feel special. Especially since I’m certain working for me in a wild startup like ours is no picnic. And also because I want to build connection between us, to celebrate US and our bonds.
I want something to make us a group, beyond task lists and to-do’s. Beyond paychecks and job descriptions. Even if it’s not between 9 and 5 on a weekday, I want there to be something that connects us.
Maybe it’s natural to want to connect to humans in a way other than prescribed by your status as their boss.
And maybe cake isn’t just about eating but also about claiming that a moment is special, that a person is special, that a celebration is necessary to mark that.
There’s something I like so much about that and even as I begin my no-carb, no-sugar start to 2020, I’ll never be writing cake off as my preferred delivery system for making sure people know they’re special to me.
a perfectly beautiful Christmas cake from Canela.
Sammy’s custom-made black cake from Canela.
A post-holiday market brunch made sweeter by the addition of a Canela chocolate cake.
Confetti cupcakes for the opening of Creative Clubhouse made by artist Lauren Pierce.
Celebrating Sam with a towering cake (I think from Whole Foods? that was actually coordinated by Sammy and Liz)
Custom cake donuts by Coffee’s Cakes for Holiday 2018.
Halloween + Fall Cake Pops from Daisy Cakes.
A slice of heaven from Lula Cafe.
S’mores cupcakes from (you guessed it) Canela Bakeshop.