Piece of Cake Invitations is a beautiful boutique studio that specializes in uniquely designed invitations, announcements, and cards. They offer a wide selection of gorgeous existing templates, and you also have the option to have a custom design created for you. From weddings to baby showers and most recently to Baby Milestone Stickers created exclusively for Ecocentric Mom, Piece of Cake invitations has much to offer in their innovative and sophisticated design options. Jessica Gheen is the owner and designer of Piece of Cake – she has a background in graphic design and has fallen in love with the creativity and flexibility behind owning her own business. We featured Jessica’s incredible work in our October 2016 Mom & Baby Box, and we are thrilled to now offer her beautifully designed Baby Milestone Stickers in our Ecocentric Mom shop! We had the pleasure of speaking with Jessica about Piece of Cake Invitations, so be sure to read on to learn more about this super sweet and talented lady!

What was the inspiration behind starting Piece of Cake Invitations? How did you get started?

I have a degree in Graphic Design and have been working in that field for the past 12+ years, but mostly with corporate clients. Over the years as my friends and family members got married, they began asking me to design their wedding invitations for them. I immediately loved working on these projects and knew it was something I wanted to do more of. For a long time I wasn’t sure what the best way would be to start an invitation design business, so I did a lot of research and a lot of preparation and eventually opened an Etsy shop. I quickly learned that having a shop on Etsy was going to be the best way to reach a large audience that I otherwise would not have been able to reach, and that that would be the best way to build my brand and grow the business.

Do you have a favorite product that you design?

I have mostly focused on wedding invitations and baby shower invitations (as the two go hand in hand!). Wedding invitations are a lot of fun because you’re creating something that helps set the tone for this very special day. Every bride has a different vision than the next, so it’s fun to work with them to design something new and unique. As for baby related products, those are always fun as well since I get to be a little more playful in the design than I would with wedding invitations. And of course partnering with Ecocentric Mom to create the baby milestone stickers has been one of the most enjoyable creative projects I’ve worked on recently. Seeing them in use is really special because those photos are going to be cherished and looked at for years to come, and knowing something I created is a part of that is pretty amazing.

What advice would you give to someone starting their own business? What do you wish you knew at the beginning of your journey?

I would say first and foremost that you have to be really passionate about what you are trying to create. Working for yourself is great but it’s also the hardest job you’ll ever have, so you have to really love what you do. For me there was never a question that I would be self-employed one day, but in the beginning I spent a lot of time talking about it, planning for it, and worrying about it before actually pulling the trigger and just going for it. If there was something I wish I had known early on it would be to not let worrying about being the best or being perfect hold you back from taking the leap and pursuing your goals.

If you were given a million dollars today, what would you spend it on?

Buy a house with a nice big backyard for my hard-working assistant, Olive (my goldendoodle), to play in.

Where do you see yourself in five years, business wise? Do you have any short or long term business goals with where you envision Piece of Cake Invitations?

Over the next five years I plan on developing additional products to offer. Designing the baby monthly stickers was a great start, and I would love to create more related merchandise. I would also like to expand into stationery items such as thank you, holiday, and birthday cards. Wedding invitations will always be an area of focus for me. My goal there is to design a larger catalogue of options with creative new designs for my clients.

Be sure to visit Piece of Cake Invitations to see Jessica’s gorgeous work!