From Kitchen to Conversation
Join us for a chat with Gab, the owner and cake maker of home-based business, The Sweet Spot by Gab.
Discover how Gab changed career path and decided to invest in her other passion, creating cakes! Learn how she’s grown her business by connecting with the community and building strong relationships through local business networking groups.
Let’s start off with a little bit about you
I’ve always loved baking and enjoying it from a young age. When I started high school, my two favourite subjects were Music and Food Technology. I loved them both so much that I studied both for the HSC and had a bit of a conundrum on which path to choose when I left school. My passion for music was strong by then, so I explored the music path. I set out on a 6 year study journey exploring all aspects of music from performance to audio engineering and then finally settled on becoming a high school music teacher.
During all this time, I would bake every now and then for family birthdays, work colleagues birthdays and just loved seeing them all enjoy the end result. This wouldn’t happen often as my teaching career consumed an enormous amount of time. While I was on maternity leave with my first born (2012), I got back into baking and decided to sign up and do a beginners cake decorating course. I figured I could bake, so why not learn the decorating part too and then I could make my own children’s birthday cakes. I learnt fondant techniques, covering cakes to making fondant toppers and decorations.
In 2016, whilst on maternity leave with child number two, I then had this strong urge that I did not want to return to the classroom. So whilst on leave and raising my newborn, I decided to dabble in making cakes again and expanded to making these for my local community. I did this for several months but then decided it was time I returned to full time work as it wasn’t financially viable for our family. Unfortunately the creative baking process barely existed as I worked my way up to an executive position at the school I was working at.
Tell us about your business?
The Sweet Spot by Gab began in November 2021 after I took leave from my teaching career of 18 years. In 2022, I made it official and left my teaching career and decided to invest in my other passion, creating cakes! I noticed in my local area (Wilton) at the time there was one person who was making cupcakes but I recognised the gap straight away – there was no one local who was making celebration cakes. So whilst getting the business off the ground, I discovered a free online bootcamp in baking cupcakes and decorating using buttercream (buttercream was my arch nemesis back then). I loved the one week bootcamp so much that I invested in a 12 week better baking foundations course. I discovered the most amazing cake recipes and I fell in love with working with buttercream, which is now what I specialise in when creating cakes.
I’ve always had a philosophy that making everything from scratch tastes better than a store bought packet mix. I love to know exactly what I am eating and putting into my body, so I have instilled the same value for the business. Each custom cake that is created is made from scratch, with quality ingredients and no added nasties! I also believe that no person should miss out on eating sweets, so I offer allergy friendly and cater for dietary requirements.
I’ve also been running market stalls for over a year now and have really defined my own market brand (selling stuffed cookies and brownies/blondies), which has become it’s own niche from the custom cakes side of the business.
What I love most about running my business is being able to be creative and bringing a customers vision to life. Seeing their reaction when the cake is collected is absolutely priceless and hearing how much joy it brings to their celebration certainly leaves me feeling elated.
What is a must-try specialty of The Sweet Spot by Gab, and why?
Ummm…everything! Cake flavour: currently my go to would be white chocolate mud cake with passionfruit curd. Most people would pair passionfruit with vanilla, but it’s a massive flavour bomb with white chocolate mud. Apple Pie stuffed cookie, my kids have deemed this their new favourite!
What makes your business successful?
Being able to invest in things I value, like business mentoring, has been incredibly rewarding. Over the past few years, I’ve connected with other local small businesses through the Wollondilly Women in Business Network and the Wollondilly Empowerment Project. More recently, I’ve also benefited from new networking opportunities through the Wilton Business Network.
What has been your proudest accomplishment so far?
Each year in business is an achievement in itself! I'm proud to have loyal, returning customers year after year. My most recent accomplishment is winning the 2025 Wollondilly Local Business Award for Outstanding Bakery/Cake Business, after only entering for the first time in 2024. On a personal level my proudest accomplishment is raising my two beautiful daughters.
Who has been a great influence on you or the business?
Oh wow, I’ve had many great influences over the years. On a personal level, my family has played a huge role; from my mum, who raised me to be strong and instilled in me good ethics and values, to my sister, who sees strengths in me that I don’t always recognise. My husband has taught me to stand up for what I believe in, and my kids are my biggest cheerleaders. I love that I also get to show them that hard work pays off and that they should follow their dreams.
In business, my cake and business mentor Maggie from Adelaide Bakes has been instrumental in my journey. Her wealth of knowledge and experience in both cake decorating and running a business has been vital to where I am today.
What did you want to be when you were young?
When I was really young, I wanted to be an optometrist. In my teens, I wanted to be a chef by day and a musician at night.
And just for fun…what was your first job?
My very first job was making Quarter Pounders at McDonald’s. I learned the importance of working to deadlines, especially during busy periods when burgers needed to be ready quickly. When I later moved to the front counter and drive-thru, I gained valuable experience in customer service. Making customers feel valued, treating them with respect, and working efficiently are all lessons I’ve carried with me throughout my career and continue to apply in my business today.
Other than your own business, which Dilly business is your favourite?
Let’s start with coffee – Picton Social, as they make the best Biscoff latte and they also add in a shot of coffee for me!
For my business – I love supporting Sista Mac (they create my custom cake toppers) and also Andie’s Pantry because I love supporting other fellow cake makers in the Wollondilly. Andie’s Pantry now prints all my edible images for my custom cakes and it’s great to be able to refer on customers to someone I know if I am booked out with orders.
What do you love most about the Wollondilly community?
I just love that locals LOVE to support small local businesses. I see this through the cake side of the business and all the returning customers at my market stalls.
Do you have any new plans for your business you would like to share or a dream for the future?
In the near future, I’m planning to offer my stuffed cookie range online with nationwide shipping. My vision is to open my own studio where I can continue creating custom cakes and sweet treats, while also providing a space for the community. I’d love to run decorating classes for both adults and children, and who knows, maybe even baking classes one day!
