BAKING HER WAY TO A BUSINESS DEGREE

By Jaylene Collins Story by Jaylene Collins

Photos by Ranara Lim

From a young age, Janette Chuuon-Chan has been exposed to the baking scene.

When Chuuon-Chan was 4 years old, her parents bought their first bakery in Bakersfield, California. Eventually, Chuuon-Chan’s parents came to own two bakeries here in Bakersfield, College Coffee & Donuts, and College Smoothies & Donuts.

Growing up around these bakeries and around her baker parents, Chuuon-Chan has always been interested in baking.

“When I was younger, my mom, she kind of let me help out decorating,” Chuuon-Chan said. “So, I always just kind of had a natural interest in it.”

Growing up, Chuuon-Chan said she’s enjoyed being creative. She had taken interest in painting and drawing. Soon, she began to channel her creativity into cake decorating.

Originally, Chuuon-Chan only made cakes for family birthdays and for fun until July 2020, when she created Sweets by Janette.

Chuuon-Chan is a local cake artist and student at California State University, Bakersfield. She has been running her business, Sweets by Jannette, for three years now.

When she first began posting cakes to her Instagram account, Chuuon-Chan started to gain local exposure. The sales followed shortly thereafter.

“I think people kind of just started sharing my page. So that’s kind of when I started getting business and it kind of turned into a full-time thing,” Chuuon-Chan said.

Running a small business by herself is no easy feat. Especially as a college student, Chuuon-Chan found a challenge in juggling work and school.

“I do social media, I do my own finances, I do pretty much everything,” Chuuon-Chan said. “It’s just a little challenging. Everything’s on me right now.”

Chuuon-Chan currently attends CSUB and is working towards her master’s in business administration. Going to school half-time eases some stress, but Chuuon-Chan still struggles to run her business solo.

Like her parents, Chuuon-Chan said she would eventually like to own her own store so she could hire employees and divvy up the work. For now, Chuuon-Chan said her boyfriend supports her and helps pick up ingredients from time to time. Despite these challenges, Chuuon-Chan’s desire to create things of her own keeps her going.

“It’s cool,” Chuuon-Chan said. “I’m having people ask me to make cakes or whatever for future events and I really like being creative.” was worried about the cakes staying cool and how decorations would turn out.

Chuuon-Chan said she enjoys creating her own aesthetic and style for her cakes. She enjoys that she gets to make money while doing what she loves.

“I kind of just went with the flow and I was like, ‘I don’t know if it’s gonna melt on the way there. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I’m just gonna go with my gut instinct. It’ll be fine,” Chuuon-Chan said.

Everything went smoothly, according to ChuuonChan. She said she decorated at the venue in L.A. and enjoyed the experience.

Out of all the cakes Chuuon-Chan has created, she said she doesn’t have a favorite. However, her favorite cakes to make are vintage-style cakes.

“I love doing really, really detailed cakes,” ChuuonChan said. “And I’m kind of like a perfectionist and I like doing, like, all the different details and piping tips.”