Liv for Sweets owner Olivia (“Liv”) Jessup has been gracing Pilot Mountain locals with intricately designed cupcakes, custom cakes, and fruity sweets since the ripe age of 20. For Liv, baking and decorating cakes transformed from her adolescent, after-school hobby to the thriving career of her dreams it is today.
Tasty cupcakes are a dime a dozen, but Liv for Sweets specializes in unique flavors that change with the seasons. In fact, every sweet sold in-store is handcrafted completely from scratch. Each month brings a new menu to the bakery, including the much-loved alcohol-infused cupcakes every Saturday. If you’re 21 or older, line up at Liv for Sweets Bakery on the weekends this summer for cocktails such as pina coladas and blue Hawaiians in cupcake form.
Ever since Liv opened the doors of Liv for Sweets, she has been the sole cake decorator for the shop. As her business quickly grew, she adopted the concept of creating standardized party cakes for large events such as birthday parties, anniversaries, and more. Party cakes can serve anywhere from 8 to 24 people, and only require a week’s notice when ordering. While party cakes are not as unique as custom orders, each party cake is beautifully designed and sure to impress party guests.
Liv for Sweets lovers know that when they bite into one of Olivia’s cakes or cupcakes, they won’t have to tear past layers of tough, flavorless fondant. In fact, Liv bakes with a strict no-fondant policy. Although she dabbled with fondant as a child, she did not enjoy the process of decorating with fondant and noticed that many people often choose to eat around it. Liv takes decorating cakes and cupcakes seriously, but wants her creations to be delicious and simple to eat before anything else.
When Liv was in high school, she experimented with baking cakes in her free time with the help of Betty Crocker cake mix and YouTube tutorials. When family and friends began requesting that she bake them cookies and cupcakes for birthday parties and family events, she soon discovered that she had a passion for doing so. While she attended college to study business in order to open up her own bakery one day, her college career came to a halt after she attended for a year-and-a-half. Liv realized that she could no longer contain her passion for baking and opened Liv for Sweets with only $800 in her bank account.
As a self-taught young business owner, Liv has seen tremendous growth not only in her customer base and expertise as a baker and cake decorator, but as a businesswoman as well. Over the years, she has learned the importance of fiscal responsibility, especially during tough COVID times when business owners have been plagued with uncertainty and inflation is on the rise. Additionally, as a true introvert at heart, Liv is impressed with how her ownership and management of Liv for Sweets has instilled in her a new confidence around others, and strengthened her ability to lead. Prior to opening Liv for Sweets, Liv never saw herself managing a team of employees, but she can no longer picture herself doing anything else.
If you want to try your own hand at Liv’s style of cake decorating, sign up for Liv’s monthly cake decorating classes. Children’s classes fill up quickly, so don’t hesitate to register. On June 11th and July 2nd, Liv will be hosting buttercream painted cake-decorating courses for those ages 14 and older. Visit livforsweetsbakery.com to sign up for Liv’s Christmas in July cake decorating class on July 23rd. No experience is required and spaces are limited, so visit the Liv for Sweets website to secure your spot.
Pilot Mountain locals also look forward to participating in the Liv for Sweets Bakery’s Gingerbread House Contest, with voting taking place on the first Saturday in December. Gingerbread house submissions will be accepted the Thursday and Friday prior to voting. Check the Liv for Sweets website to stay updated on the team’s event calendar and info, and follow Liv for Sweets on Facebook and Instagram at @livforsweetsbakery.
Call the bakery at (336) 444-8400 or visit Liv and her team in-person at 134 West Main St., Pilot Mountain, NC 27041. For questions and custom orders, visit the website or email Liv at LivForSweets@gmail.com.
