Cakeworks

Brian Klassen and Brenda Walker started working together in September 1993 in a health-board-approved, home-based business and relied heavily on advertising and word of mouth. These long-time high school friends were the perfect business pair — Brenda an artist and former cake decorator at a local grocery store and Brian, a business school graduate anxious to run his own business. It was the perfect pairing.

The two pretty much did everything alone in the beginning: bake, decorate, clean up, deliver and of course all the back-end things it takes to run a budding bakery. But within 18 months, the demand was so great, they expanded to their first retail location. A year-and-a-half later, they expanded again, and yet again 18 months after that. These days, they make upwards of 300 custom cakes a week ordered from as far away as Toronto, Grande Prairie and Vancouver. Those who know about this gem have taken their cakes as far as they’ll go.