I am now in the running for the 13th spot (lucky 13!) to compete against 12 other bakers on TLC’s Next Great Baker! The last spot is chosen by YOU, the public and is based solely on votes! Winner gets $100,000!!!

This is where I need your help! Please PLEASE click the link, scroll to the bottom where you see my face and vote. Easy as that. Takes two seconds, no signing up, no spam, and you will literally be helping me reach my dream of competing on the Next Great Baker, winning and bringing the 3D cake world to PDX!

VOTE HERE

A little more about me…

For those that don’t know much about me personally and know me only by my cakes, I want to share a little more about me so you understand why this is SO important to me. In a nutshell,  3/4 of my family including my mother, two sisters and a brother have suffered (my mother and brother have already passed) from a rare disease called DRPLA. It’s a HORRIBLE and little known genetic disease that debilitates you over a very slow and agonizing process that first affects you physically, then mentally until it eventually kills you. It wasn’t until 1996 that doctors even knew what this disease was and was often mistaken and misdiagnosed as Huntington’s disease (as was the case for my mother and brother). This was very hard over the years to deal with, especially trying to get medical help for a disease that isn’t really well known.  One of my sisters lives with me where I care for her and I am thankful that I have a job working out of my kitchen so we can be together every day. My older sister has recently become so ill, she will need to leave her kids behind and be placed into a 24 hour care home at the age of 41. This breaks my heart more than you can believe. Every day I am reminded that life is very very fragile and you must make the best of it.

Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about what I just said. Yes this is a horrifying situation but I am not telling you this so you feel sorry for me and you vote, I’m telling you my story so you can see why I’m working so hard to achieve this dream and why I will never give up. Whenever I feel like giving up, I think about my family, and how hard they have it and it puts everything in perspective. It’s right here in my house, it’s real. And it’s a reminder every day to work my ass off to achieve my dreams because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Some people are afraid to try and fail. I have lived my whole life afraid that I have not tried hard enough. I’ll never stop, I’ll never give up, I’ll never lose hope. That is why I KNOW I will win the Next Great Baker if I can only get on the show and have the chance.

You can watch my audition videos here as well as my PR video that TLC has put together. I’ll be keeping you all updated throughout the week (voting ends in one week) and obviously let you know results as soon as I do!

5 Minute Challenge!

TLC’s Video Spot for me, check out the page and vote here!

When I win (you like my optimism there?), I plan on using the winnings to finish my Savor Cakes cart and get it launched and open a custom cakes bakery where I can sculpt all kinds of crazy and creative cakes here in PDX!

I can’t wait to start the legacy of my bakery that was founded on blood, sweat, tears and lots of persistance. One that I can pass onto future generations. A bakery that taught them the meaning of a dollar, the value of hard work and the love a family business can give you (just like Buddy’s family business, Carlos Bakery). Most of all, one day, my great great grandkids will talk about how their great great grandmother entered a show on TLC, won, and opened this bakery. They’ll talk about secret recipes to the perfect lemon cake (my favorite), why you always wipe down the mixer and how crazy busy we are every holiday and they won’t ever mention anything about DRPLA. That is the legacy I want to leave my family.

Thank you for reading and thank you for your votes!