The Mag Women “Signature Spotlight Series” Ashley Dwy

THE MAG

INSPIRED WOMEN IN BUSINESS

May 2024

Signature

SPOTLIGHT -Ashley Dwy

Creating a Sweet Life with Sinfully Sweet Catering Founder and Chef Ashley Dwy

Baking in the kitchen as a little kid with a parent, relative, or even a babysitter is a fond memory of many people. For Ashley Dwy, it was a sweet moment that drove her to become more than just a child at play.

Instead of watching cartoons in her youth, she was busy taking in television shows that starred world-class chefs like Jacques Torres, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse. The Food Network was her learning platform and the knowledge she gained from early on helped develop a rich passion for her future life as a chef and owner of Sinfully Sweet Catering.

Food became a tool to Dwy that helped shape her destiny all while realizing the power of what she could do with a carefully curated culinary experience. She realized that food is more than just something you put in your mouth. Sinfully Sweet Catering became a sounding board that gave way to the fact that she felt great food did good things for people. The joy she gives all comes from dedication and passion to make a sweet treat the best thing of a person’s day.

Beginning with making cakes for parties, it was then in 2020 she started supplying a local coffee shop with muffins and other goodies. The muffins became incredibly popular and from there Sinfully Sweet Catering was born.

Over the years, the business has evolved into not only a food company, but a place kids can come and learn new skills. Dwy now makes specialty orders for many people and businesses while teaching kids in the community and helping them develop their own love for the art.

We recently sat with Dwy to learn more about her business and her road to success.

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Q&A Tell us who your biggest influences that drove you to be a successful female business entrepreneur.

What is the hardest thing about being a woman in the field?

My grandma is the biggest influence on the type of woman I am today. She was always very independent and not afraid to do what she wanted in life. She would always tell me if I put my head down and focused to get something done, I would not only do it, but it would be better than planned.

Another influence was my house growing up. I'm the oldest of three girls so I was responsible for a lot growing up.

For me, the hardest part of being a woman in the field is more of the business side of it. I find it's harder to work with certain individuals because they feel as a woman, I don't know what I'm doing. I am always told how to price things, what my marketing should be, why my ideas are so terrible, and so much more.

The worst part of all this is that most of the criticism is coming from people that have not been in the field or know enough to feel as if they know it all, but in fact don't. I could easily listen to all the advice I'm given but then my business wouldn't be mine or how I see it shaped out in the future.

I was taught early how to be resourceful and to get my creative thinking skills mastered. If one way doesn't work for something, there is always another. I was known as the little mom because I took care of my sister and pretty much all the kids around town.

What is the best thing about being a female in the industry?

The last influence on who I am today is the people I went to school with. While I was in school, I was miserable because of other students always being horrible to me as kids can do, but I stuck to my goals of getting as much as I could out of the culinary classes. I was able to take without letting others see how much they were getting to me. Looking back on that experience now, I see that I can tune out negativity to stay focused on what is important to me.

What really helps in this field, especially being a woman, is my ability to appeal to a large group of people. I am a mom of four who is not only getting a business off the ground, but I work a full-time job and I'm in school brushing up on my business and culinary arts. People have mentioned it many times that they have no clue where I find the time, but they are amazed at how good their order is once they get it.

Where does most of your business come from in the market?

People seem more comfortable revealing to me when we are going over their order and giving me the details of exactly how they want their order to be because I am a woman. I feel like I get more support too.

Most of my clients lately have approached me for orders because they have been to a place where I supply a variety of products. They will go and order a muffin from the coffee shop or a bagel and then ask the owners of the place how they can reach me. Another big place for orders is social media. I get a lot of people commenting on a picture of something I post, and they then message me with an order.

I feel being a woman in this field gives me a competitive edge because people are more likely to check out what I have first over a man. I say this because women have that feminine touch that can be very welcoming and warm.

The man may have a better product but because they are wired differently. They lack that welcoming comfort people are drawn to over time.

What are you most proud of today?

“I was taught early how to be resourceful and to get my creative thinking skills mastered. If one way doesn't work for something, there is always another.”

I am most proud of how far I have come not only in my business since becoming an official LLC in 2023, but as a person. I have made so many changes on how I view myself and life in general. I have more self-confidence than ever before in myself and my abilities. I have learned how to set boundaries for myself, so I do not get overwhelmed. This new chapter in my life is way overdue and I am so proud of the person I am becoming.

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Tell us what you are excited about in the future.

One of the first things I am excited about soon is getting to participate in my graduation ceremony for my pastry arts degree. I finished class on February 20 on the President's List with a 4.0 and graduation is a few months away. I finish my other degree next April. When I get that tall chef’s hat, I will be the happiest ever.

“I finish my other degree next April. When I get that tall chef’s hat, I will be the happiest ever.”

With the nice weather coming, I am super excited for the possibility of finally getting my food truck and setting up at festivals to get my name out there for even bigger crowds to learn about me.

The last thing I'm excited about has nothing to do with the culinary world at all. I am a huge Marvel nerd and cannot wait for the new “Deadpool” movie to come out this summer.

What are your favorite things to make?

There are so many things I make and love to make, but my absolute favorite top three that I make are bagels - all bread really - tiramisu, and opera cake. I bake what I love and what I am in the mood to make unless I have an order for something specific of course.

These happen to be my favorite because they are so elegant and look hard to make but are very simple. These recipes just have multiple steps to take to make them and I enjoy watching all those steps coming together to reveal something beautiful.

Tell us something else about you and your incredible work.

I want to continue to grow my business not only by filling orders, but by teaching others how to be successful in the kitchen and giving other females the opportunity to also learn the business and gain the confidence to venture out on their own and create their own adventure in their story. In a mostly male dominant world, we know as the business world, it is important to get more women excited about carving out their spot and shining for the world to see.

For more information on Ashley Dwy and her fantastic business, please visit https://www.sinfullysweet.shop/

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