How baking a cake for Indigenous day jump-started this Behchoko woman's business

Chelsey Daniels started baking cakes from a box at just eight years old.

A few years later, she started baking from scratch.

Baking had been a longstanding hobby of hers, until this June, when her common-law partner convinced her to enter a cake contest for National Indigenous Peoples' Day — and she ended up with a business instead.

"[He] told me to just give it a try," said Daniels, who calls her partner her biggest supporter. "It, like, kind of went on from there."

Daniels baked a teepee cake with decorative fire on it. She ended up winning a silver medal, which sparked community interest in her skill.

"People around town in Behchoko started messaging me about birthday cakes and stuff like that," she said.

"So it just happened."

Since June 21, Daniels says she baked and sold more than 30 cakes. Her at-home cake business launched organically.

Her strawberry shortcake is a classic that everybody loves, she said.

But her personal favourite: the paw patrol cake for her friend's toddler.

"It was so cute," she said of the cake that's a splash of vibrant primary colours.

Daniels said she learned most of her decorating from watching videos online.

She said she gets some of her inspiration from community members who share their cake ideas with her on Facebook.

Daniels said she has just one tip for those who are learning to bake, or starting a business: "Go with the flow, I guess." 

With files from Katie Toth & Mark Hadlari