Single mom Jenna Tlusty turns passion project into side business

www.SouthernMinn.com | Wednesday, March 30, 2022 | Page B27 as seen in the People’s Press OWATONNA localmatters

Single mom Jenna Tlusty turns passion project into side business

By ANNIE GRANLUND annie.granlund@apgsomn.com

One cup of sugar, half a cup of butter, two eggs, two teaspoons of vanilla, some flour, milk and baking soda, and a heaping helping of giggles – that’s the basic recipe for a Blonde Cakery cake.

Over the last two years, Jenna Tlusty and her young son Tucker have been spending free time in their Owatonna kitchen making cakes, memories and sometimes a mess. The fun way to pass their time at home during the pandemic eventually morphed into its own business, but Tlusty said it continues to be about a creative outlet for the blonde duo.

“At my full time job as a nurse, I started seeing more and more mental health concerns coming in, so I was well aware that it was something to watch for,” said Tlusty, who works as a family medicine nurse at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Owatonna. “One of my biggest mottos in life is ‘mindset is everything,’ and if I don’t have a good mindset and I’m not being positive, that will rub off on Tucker.”

Not wanting to fall into what has commonly been referred to as COVID fatigue, the single mom decided she needed to find an outlet to keep her mind both busy and inspired. Somehow, she landed on baking.

“I just whipped up a cake one day and started decorating,” Tlusty laughed. “When you’re decorating, I realized quickly that you have to have your mind 100% focused on exactly

that, so it was a fun way to focus my energy.”

BLONDE CAKERY

Mistakes aren’t a big deal for these bakers. When they happen, Jenna and Tucker Tlusty simply have a good old fashioned cake fight. (Photo courtesy of Lauren Everhard Photography and Design, LLC).

For more information on Blonde Cakery, visit the Facebook page at Facebook.com/blondecakery

Hobby to business

Tlusty quickly enlisted Tucker as her sous-chef and the pair began embarking on a journey of colorful confections in many shapes, sizes and flavors. Admitting that Pinterest can be a bit of a “wormhole” when it comes to finding ideas, Tlusty said that she has had plenty of failed experiments when it comes to extravagant decorations.

“When one doesn’t work out – it’s fine. We just have a cake fight instead,” Tlusty said. “We have had many cake fights in the beginning.”

Prior to turning their hobby into a business, Tlusty said the baked goods typically ended up in the hands of her family members. Whether it was as a form of payment to her father – her go-to Mr. Fix-It – or a surprise gift to her sisters or nieces, Tlusty always had a very willing audience at her disposal.

Coming from a family of creative individuals, Tlusty said she isn’t too surprised that a creative outlet is exactly what she needed to make it through 2020. With one sister into photography, another into music and a mother who used to paint murals, Tlusty said having a unique and artistic flair is just part of her genetics.

As Tlusty and Tucker continued to experiment in the kitchen, Tlusty’s photographer sister asked if she would be willing to bake a “smash cake” for a 1-year-old photoshoot

Tlusty

Continued on page 28

Custom Framing, Unique Gifts, Home Decor, Great Art & so much more!

JACK ELLIS SERVING OWATONNA FOR 45 YEARS! TRACY ELLIS

Full-time nurse Jenna Tlusty has been moonlighting over the last year as a baker with her son Tucker. (Photo courtesy of Lauren Everhard Photography and Design, LLC).

Tlusty

Continued from page 27 she had booked. Happy to provide the family with something bright, cheerful and tasty, that one cake opened the door to what would become a lucrative hobby.

“After her clients had their session they took the leftover part of the smashed cake home,” Tlusty said. “The reached back out to my sister and asked who made the cake because they wanted to book the person for their child’s birthday party.”

Though more of an introvert at heart, Tlusty said she was a bit apprehensive about embarking on something that meant dealing with clients and customers. With her entire family rooting her on, however, Tlusty felt empowered to take on the challenge. In September 2020, the Blonde Cakery was officially born.

At her shop – which is primarily run on Facebook – Tlusty offers cupcakes, jumbo cupcakes, cakes of various sizes, tiered cakes, and cheesecake. Her cake and cupcake flavors include vanilla bean, chocolate fudge, peanut butter chocolate, marble, almond, strawberry, red velvet and more. Events she typically gets booked for include one-year cake smashes, birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, gender reveals, and most recently weddings. said the best part of the cakery continues to be the time she can spend with Tucker. Though she said he isn’t great at being the designated egg smasher just yet – despite how much he loves to do it – the baking and decorating holds his attention quite well.

“When I do my fondant work he’s usually next to me and copying me with Play-Doh and when I’m frosting a cake I give him a cup upside down that he can frost and put his own creative twist on things,” Tlusty said, adding that he just loves to be next to mom. “And he is a very good taste tester.”

Money made through the baking business goes into a special “play money” fund, Tlusty said, that the duo can use to find more fun and exciting things to do together. Being big into the outdoors, they recently purchased a camping set and have made reservations in a couple state parks to explore throughout the summer. Next, Tlusty said they have their eyes on a two-person kayak.

“Just knowing that it’s something Tucker and I can do together is definitely my favorite part,” Tlusty said. “The giggles that come out of this kitchen are the best thing ever.”

What started as a way to spend time with her young son Tucker has evolved into Jenna Tlusty’s side business, Blonde Cakery. (Photos courtesy of Lauren Everhard Photography and Design, LLC)

Reach Associate Editor Annie Granlund at 507444-2378 or follow her on Twitter @AnnieGranlund. ©Copyright 2021 APG Media of Southern Minnesota.

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