From Baking at Home to Running a Production Powerhouse

Summary

Living Your Legacy – From Baking at Home to Running a Production Powerhouse

Podcast: Living Your Legacy
Host: Rudy Mawer
Guest: Castle Sorensen (Castle's Creations, Pink Cadillac Bar)
Date: October 22, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode shines a spotlight on Castle Sorensen, an innovative food entrepreneur who took her love of baking from humble home beginnings to building Castle’s Creations—an award-winning bakery recognized on national TV. Host Rudy Mawer guides a lively, transparent discussion about Castle’s journey, the growing pains of food-based entrepreneurship in Alaska, scaling to wholesale production, and the key lessons she’s learned along the way. For anyone seeking motivation, practical startup guidance, or a candid look at the real challenges of building a legacy in a tough industry, this episode delivers thoughtful insight and contagious inspiration.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Home Baking to Food Truck Success

• Early Days: Castle began baking as a hobby after struggling to find teaching jobs as a young Spanish teacher. Baking for her dad’s office led to word-of-mouth orders.
  • “I just kind of started baking for fun. I worked with my dad in his office and I would bring treats... Before I knew it, people were calling me asking to get more.” (04:00)
• Finding the Niche: Inspired by Cupcake Wars and noticing a lack of cupcake-specific bakeries in Alaska, she pursued cupcakes as her specialty.
  • “When cupcake wars came out, there wasn’t cupcake shops in Alaska... That kind of gave me the thought, like, well, cupcakes are so simple, but they can also be super extravagant.” (05:20)
• Food Truck Focus: Opted for a food truck over a storefront to create demand, reduce overhead, and allow freedom and flexibility.
  • “I chose the food truck route… once it’s paid off, you have no overhead… I wanted to create more demand.” (06:34)

2. Scaling Up—The Realities of Growth

• Transition to Wholesale: As her family life evolved and demand increased, Castle shifted from food truck sales to wholesaling with local businesses and larger outlets, notably Three Bears (a mini-Costco).
  • “Now the food truck is out very limited… So now people can find my product in gas stations, coffee shops, restaurants.” (08:22)
• Supply and Demand Challenges: Rapid sell-outs proved market fit, but growing pains included equipment, staffing, and supply chain issues—particularly tricky in Alaska.
  • “Before I could get on the plane the next day, they were sold out of all those cheesecakes.” (10:35)
• Managing Volume: Production jumped from a few hundred cupcakes to thousands of cheesecakes per order, necessitating larger mixers, more staff, and serious logistical foresight.
  • “I think we've done about 2,000 cheesecakes in a day… We could work eight hours and probably make... five or 6,000.” (12:03)

3. Entrepreneurial Lessons & Hard Truths

• Letting Go of Control: Moving from a one-woman show to a team required personal growth and delegation.
  • “When I got to the point of growing, I realized, you know, I can't do this by myself.” (12:50)
• Logistical Hurdles in Alaska: Shipping delays, supply shortages (like running out of cream cheese), and high costs forced creative problem-solving and backup planning.
  • “Sometimes... my products, they'll say, these are special orders only, and it'll be here in two weeks.” (14:12)
• On Investing Wisely: Attempting to save money with a used food truck led to larger expenses later—a warning on false economies.
  • “Cheap is always going to cost you more.” (15:10)
  • “My last problem that I had with that truck... cost me $16,000. And it was like, either I fix it... or I don't fix it, but then I can't run my business anymore.” (15:08)

4. Memorable Moments & Business Milestones

• Major Milestone: Selling out 1,000 cupcakes in an hour at her first food truck event.
  • “But I went out the next day with a thousand cupcakes, and I was out in an hour… look, everyone showed up to support me and buy out all these cupcakes.” (17:47)
• Disaster Story: Accidentally toppling racks of cupcakes—a testament to resilience in the face of setbacks.
  • “I went to open up the refrigerator door and it bumped into it. And it was like a domino effect… five, six hundred cupcakes... they all came crumbling down.” (18:32)

5. Practical Advice for Entrepreneurs

• Start Small & Research Carefully: Castle emphasizes thorough market research and incremental growth.
  • “Definitely start small. You know, research your area, see if there's a need.” (19:57)
  • “If you don’t do your research thoroughly... maybe it wouldn’t be something that would even go anywhere.” (20:23)
• Scale Responsibly: Be prepared for volume; don’t overextend before systems and capacity are ready.
  • “Being able to keep up with it... I see a lot of businesses have these big ideas and they just go for it... and then you see them fail.” (21:04)
• Resourcefulness: Rent freezer space to conserve capital for other needs.
  • “I could just rent freezer space for $150 a pallet... as I grow for other things.” (22:31)
• Learn from Others’ Experience: Engage with people who have tackled similar scaling challenges, like hiring logistically-minded staff from bigger bakeries if needed.
  • “Maybe this tip for you. Go hire an ex Cheesecake Factory employee...” (25:53)

6. On Legacy & Motivation

• Aspirational Goals: Castle dreams of supplying desserts to Alaska Airlines—ambitious, yet rooted in her local identity.
  • “I think it'd be super cool, you know, to have a local business be distributing their desserts for the airline.” (23:31)
  • Acknowledges this would require up to 250,000 cheesecakes a month (24:59)
• Believing Against the Odds: The importance of self-confidence and tuning out naysayers.
  • “You just have to believe in yourself… I had people tell me that I was crazy and I was like, well, we’ll just see what happens.” (24:33)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Starting Small:
  "You sold your first cupcake for a dollar or two, right? You gave a few away before that. And now you get purchase order for 400 or whatever. Thousands of dollars." — Rudy Mawer (00:00, 11:42)

• Facing Doubt:
  "I had people tell me that I was crazy and I was like, well, we’ll just see what happens." — Castle Sorensen (00:46, 24:33)

• On Alaska-Specific Challenges:
  "Being from Alaska, you know, it’s harder getting supplied... sometimes it’s like, some of my products, they’ll say, these are special orders only, and it’ll be here in two weeks." — Castle Sorensen (13:57–14:18)

• On Learning—and Failing—Fast:
  "Cheap is always gonna cost you more." — Rudy Mawer (15:10)

• Why Start With Research:
  "If you don't do your research thorough, then it's like, well, maybe it wouldn't be something that would even go anywhere… there's time and money involved." — Castle Sorensen (20:23)

• Planning for Big Growth:
  "I wonder if I could actually do this... I took how long it took us to do this many in a day and times it by 24 hours... there's no possible way that I could make that many cheesecakes in a month." — Castle Sorensen (25:16)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Castle’s Origin Story and Cupcake Wars Inspiration: 03:08–05:17
• Choosing the Food Truck Model, Early Challenges: 06:13–08:09
• Transition to Wholesale, Major Client Orders: 08:22–11:25
• Rapid Growth: Producing Thousands of Cheesecakes: 12:00–12:33
• Supply Chain Nightmares in Alaska: 13:05–14:18
• Key Business Lessons (on investing, learning, adapting): 14:54–16:35
• Big Milestone: Selling Out 1,000 Cupcakes Fast: 17:46–18:08
• Nightmare Story (Cupcake Rack Accident): 18:32–19:23
• Actionable Startup Advice (research, start small, scale carefully): 19:57–21:15
• Scaling Operations Logistically: 21:37–23:06
• Future Aspirations, Building a Legacy: 23:31–24:59

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Where to Find Castle's Creations

• Facebook: Castle’s Creations
  "Facebook is the best way to find me. Unfortunately, Instagram got hacked, so you can still find my Instagram, you just... I don’t post anything up to date." — Castle Sorensen (26:40)

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Final Thoughts

Castle's journey illustrates the power of experimentation, resilience, and staying close to one’s roots, even when scaling for national ambitions. Her down-to-earth advice and Alaska-tested tenacity offer honest encouragement and vital lessons for food and beverage entrepreneurs everywhere.

“If it's something that you love to do, you can do it if you really want to... believing in yourself and knowing that you have what it takes to do it is super important.” — Castle Sorensen (24:33)

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

You sold your first cupcake for a dollar or two, right? You gave a few away before that.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And now you get purchase order for 400 or whatever. Right? Thousands of dollars. Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

It feels crazy to like start at like such low amounts and then be, you know, not even being able to make, you know, 300 cupcakes all day. And now we're making thousands in a day. Like, it's been hard because I like to be in control of everything that I'm doing. And when I got to the point of growing, I realized, you know, I can't do this by myself.

[Narrator]

Castle Sorensen is the owner of Castles Creations, an award winning bakery, recognized on Food Network and crowned champion of cupcake wars. She's also the co owner of Alaska's first and only country bar, Pink Cadillac, which she runs alongside her partner, Rico Agudelo. With every creation, Castle is proving that creativity and community can thrive anywhere.

[Castle Sorensen]

I had people tell me that I was crazy and I was like, well, we'll just see what happens. And I think believing in yourself and knowing that you have what it takes to do it is super important.

[Podcast Host]

So any tips? Someone's listening and they're growing a, you know, food and beverage based business. Any general entrepreneurial tips you'd give them.

[Castle Sorensen]

I would say.

[Podcast Host]

It spans the globe like a super high. Is called Internet Elvis.

[Commercial/Promo Voice]

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[Podcast Host]

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[Commercial/Promo Voice]

It's not over until I win.

[Podcast Host]

The Living youg Legacy podcast. For those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary.

[Commercial/Promo Voice]

The impossible has happened. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan Open Chicago. With the lead, Usain Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.

[Podcast Host]

What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Today we're talking about possibly my favorite subject in the world, food. Castle is joining me today. Food and beverage entrepreneur, multiple brands working to expand nationwide with one of my favorite brands, desserts. So welcome to the show.

[Castle Sorensen]

Thank you.

[Podcast Host]

So I know, you know, you're really trying to grow this brand nationally, looking at getting it on major airlines and really fun stuff, really unique stuff. And if anyone else listening is, you know, a fan of food and beverage like I am, do you mind just breaking down what you do? Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

So I own a bakery business called Castles Creations. I don't own a brick and mortar store. So I'm all. I actually started as a food truck. And so customers find me on Facebook or Instagram where I'm going to be parked with the truck. And that's how they can follow me. And then as I've grown the business, I'm now into the wholesale world. So now I'm in coffee shops and gas stations, restaurants and whatnot. And, you know, continue to grow it There's.

[Commercial/Promo Voice]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And I would love to dive into all that. Like, I love how, you know those startup entrepreneur businesses, right. You go from your kitchen. Right. And then the food truck expanding and who knows where. Right. Long term, massive warehouses. Factories, I'm sure. But where did this idea come from?

[Castle Sorensen]

So I actually went to school to become a Spanish teacher. And when I got done, I had just turned 21, so I was super young, got a job teaching high school students. And I was really close to their age, so it was a struggle with, like, respect from them and everything to like do this job. And I'd go home crying and I'm like, I don't know if this is meant for me.

[Podcast Host]

Well, I remember especially languages. Like, no one in my class ever wanted to learn the language is right. I think that's the hardest teacher.

[Castle Sorensen]

Well, and you're required to take it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, exactly.

[Castle Sorensen]

You want to be there.

[Podcast Host]

In England, you had to pick French or Spanish. It was like you had to pick one of the two. And no one liked.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah, exactly. So I decided maybe I should get a little bit older. And then came back to Alaska and I couldn't get a job doing what I wanted. I substitute taught for three years. And they're just. There was only like one or two jobs here, there. Everyone was fighting for them. I'm not. I didn't grow up speaking Spanish. So people. That. That was their first language. Yep. They got the job over me and stuff. So I saw Cupcake wars air on TV and I was like, look at all these people, you know, that they don't have a business yet. They love baking and whatnot. And I was like, maybe I could do something with it. So I. I just kind of started baking for fun. I worked with my dad in his office and I would bring treats to the office and let people try them. And before I knew it, people were calling me asking to get more of those cookies or brownies or whatever.

[Podcast Host]

Well, food and beverage and like baking, it's such a big industry. Like, you see, you know the TV shows now, right? And now on Instagram, you see like these whole furniture pieces made out of cake and like the crazy cakes. And it's just wild. And it's. It's wild how profitable and big it can one day become. And I don't think people realize because you See it as, like, a little, small bakery. Right. But you get, you know, a contract with a big American Airlines or whatever. Right. Hundreds of thousands of cakes that's set shoe for life, basically. So I don't think people realize that. So tell us about the growth, right, from making a few cakes, taking them in, you know, to a local office, earning a few hundred dollars, to where you are today and then where you want to go.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. So when I first started, like I said, I was, you know, just passing them out for free. And then people started calling me for them, and I'm like, I don't even know what to charge. I don't even have containers to put into. Five dollar ten. Yeah. And then I started looking into, like, what is something? You know, bakeries are everywhere, but, like, what is something that's not everywhere? And so being from Alaska, you know, we're not as up to the trend as, like, other places. And so when cupcake wars came out, you know, there wasn't cupcake shops in Alaska. There were bakeries, but nothing. So that kind of gave me the thought of, like, well, cupcakes are so simple, but they can also be super extravagant, so you can make a ton of stuff with it. And so I kind of ran with the idea that when I started that business, I was going to be cupcakes only. And so, yeah, made. You know, I'm working out of my house. I can only bake so many cupcakes at a time. So I was like, okay, I'm going to make 100 cupcakes for this market and go out and sell them, and they were gone in an hour. And I was like, all right, well, I guess people like cupcakes and they want them, and there's a. There's a niche for it. And so, like, let's just run with it. And so just kind of went from there and learned as I went along, and, you know, the next market, I made a couple hundred cupcakes, and I got to the point, you know, I was making, like, three to 400 cupcakes, but it was taking me all day because I can only cook so many a time. And I have one little mixer that I'm doing it out of. So I took a whole summer, and I kind of tested out the product, you know, went to different cities, saw what people liked, didn't like what I could charge for them. You know, when I ran out the first time at $2.50, I'm like, all right, well, obviously this is too cheap. Like, let's up the Price on it and whatnot. And quickly found that I was not going to be able to, you know, working out of my house and doing this. So I decided when weighing out the options. Do I want a storefront? Do I want a food truck? I chose the food truck route just because, you know, once it's paid off, you have no overhead. Also, when you have a storefront, I feel like you're more glued to the business. You're paying for rent. You feel like you have to be open and whatnot. And I wanted to create more demand. So if the truck's only out once or twice a week, they're like, this is my only offer.

[Podcast Host]

Gimmicky too, right? You can have cool ads of it. Drives around and sees it. You can go to the hot location. It's cool.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah, yeah. So I visited Portland because that's the food truck kind of capital of the US and stuff. Went down there to figure out how I was going to build this food truck and how I was going to get it back up to Alaska and everything. And thought like, oh, too. You know, if I have my kitchen here, when I run out of cupcakes, I can just make more. And I quickly found out you are not going to make cupcakes on the spot if you run out. Like, it takes too much time. You know, you're baking and they're cooling and you're frosting and everything. So, yeah, so I went with the food truck idea. And then as I've grown, I think within the first year of that, I was like, this is not going to work. Like, it's cold. I had people unplug my truck on accident. My pipes burst. I had. I had to ship a new hot water heater one time for 400 bucks overnight, just so that I was down.

[Podcast Host]

It's not like, Miami food truck. No. And Hawaii shrimp cocaine.

[Castle Sorensen]

No. And then you'd bake and, like, the windows would freeze, and so I would be locked in my truck and I couldn't get out. And so there were so many challenges.

[Podcast Host]

All the things you don't think about in business, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, so, so, so where is it now?

[Castle Sorensen]

So now the food truck is out. Very limited. Just because I'm so busy. You know, I have kids too, so they're in school. And so I used to go sell on Saturdays because they were young, they're at home. Someone could, you know, be with them and whatnot. Now that they're in school, I have to go out on Fridays. People are at work on Fridays. They can't come out to the truck as much. So once the kids got into school, I decided to transition more to the wholesale world because then, you know, I can still make my product, I can get into people's hands, but I'm not having to do as much of the lab, be on the truck and, you know, use my time for that. So now people can find my product in gas stations, coffee shops, restaurants. And now I've expanded into one of my biggest wholesaling accounts so far. It's called Three Bears and it's basically a mini Costco, but it's local. They actually buy all their stuff from Costco and then they upsell it because there's so many, you know, there's all these people that want bulk stuff, but they have to drive an hour in. So they actually have a deal with Costco where like Costco can't build within so many, you know, I don't know, miles within their locations or whatever. So. So now my cheesecakes, I've transitioned in a lot of products and cheesecakes are now one of the things that I wholesale. And it just has a longer shelf life. I was gonna say easier to not get destroyed, you know, packaging smash. Yeah, the product will still look nice and everything. So I kind of transitioned into lots of different products, but that's the one I focus on for that. So we are in, we just up to nine stores now. I think they have like 40 stores. And their plan was to start me in all of them and I'm super glad they didn't.

[Podcast Host]

Is it a fulfillment?

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. Well, so their first order came in and they're like, here's our first month's order. We're going to do just four stores and we're going to do 176 full size cheesecakes. And our second order will be the same. Depending on sales, it'll go up or down.

[Podcast Host]

And what does the cheesecake sell for?

[Castle Sorensen]

So the cheesecake sell sell at the store for like $34.99. Which another thing too, like I direct sell those cheesecakes to customers for $60.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, wow.

[Castle Sorensen]

And so for them to sell them for so low, I was like, these are going to fly off the shelf. And they're like, well, we really want, you know, being in the wholesale and especially like a Costco, like they want everyone to be able to buy it. And so they're like, no, I think this is the price we need to sell it at. And I was like, all right, well, these are going to fly off the shelf. So I made their first order, and then I was actually leaving on vacation for a week. And before I could get on the plane the next day, they were sold out of all those cheesecakes. Was like, well, I'm leaving for a week. I'll see you when I get back. So it's been crazy. Their. Their next order was for over 400 cheesecakes. And I think it lasted maybe two weeks.

[Podcast Host]

And you're gonna be selling thousands to them eventually.

[Castle Sorensen]

I would assume. So. I mean, so they sell the whole size cheesecakes and then they were doing slices, and I convinced them to. So we make a mini size. It's already, like, packaged in a little cup, like grab and go. And so I convinced them to go that route because they look nicer, they can't get messed up because they're contained in a container and stuff. And in February, I think up until like Valentine's Day, already gone through 1500 of them.

[Podcast Host]

So. So talk about. Because I always love on this, you know, podcast, obviously, we're all building a legacy, trying to impact the world, make the world a better place. And most of us are entrepreneurs to do that. Right. And I always like to savor the moment of. You sold your first cupcake for a dollar or two, Right. You gave a few away before that.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And now you get purchase order for 400 or whatever.

[Castle Sorensen]

Right?

[Podcast Host]

Thousands of dollars. Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

Right.

[Podcast Host]

How does that feel, that, that, that transition?

[Castle Sorensen]

It feels crazy to, like, start at, like, such low amounts and then be, you know, not even being able to make, you know, 300 cupcakes all day. And now we're making thousands in a day.

[Podcast Host]

Like, how many is the most you made in a day now?

[Castle Sorensen]

So I think we've done about 2, 000 cheesecakes in a day. I had to get a second mixer, and then obviously more people and stuff. And still, like, it's not a full day. Like, we can still, you know, if.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

Orders come in, you know, we can. We could work eight hours and probably make, you know, five or 6,000 doing.

[Podcast Host]

You'll be at 10,000 one day. Yes.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. Probably have to have two.

[Podcast Host]

Is that crazy? I did it is 10,000 cheeseburgers.

[Castle Sorensen]

Well, and I think about, you know, if I want to expand even further, like, I'm going to have to produce that many in a day.

[Podcast Host]

It's a lot of calories. 10,000 times 500. That's a lot of calories. Yeah. So what's been the growth, like, going from, you know, making your. In your kitchen, making a couple of cupcakes to thousands of, you know, cheesecakes. And a staff and a team. How's that been as an entrepreneur?

[Castle Sorensen]

It's been hard because I like to be in control of everything that I'm doing. And when I got to the point of growing, I realized, you know, I can't do this by myself.

[Podcast Host]

Staff don't show up. Supplies don't come in time. You're missing the cream. It went off. The freezer broke.

[Castle Sorensen]

Oh, my goodness. And all those kind of things happen, too, you know, like, there were times where there wasn't any more cream cheese.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

And I was like, what am I supposed to do? Like, I have these orders to fulfill.

[Podcast Host]

You go to the store, empty all the shelves, right?

[Castle Sorensen]

Well, I did, and I had. It's funny, I have one person that I know that works at Costco, and I'd be like, do you have cream cheese? I need to know as soon as it gets in. And then he'd be like, okay, it's in.

[Podcast Host]

I'm like, like a secret stash.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. But sometimes, you know, which really hurts. You know, when. When I was doing direct to customers or restaurants and stuff, it's not as big of a deal. But now being in these bigger wholesale accounts, like when you can't find your products and I have to go to other distributors and stuff, like, there were times when there was no cream cheese, and I had to pay double the price of cream cheese.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Really, it's your margins on the following.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. And I was like, I mean, it's one time right now, and it's either I keep producing cheesecakes or I can't fulfill their order.

[Podcast Host]

You have to, because you have to, like, take the hit or you lose the client.

[Castle Sorensen]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

They cancel. You see it. Yeah. Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

But. Yeah. And I think, too, being from Alaska, you know, it's harder getting supplied.

[Podcast Host]

I was going to say, in Miami, if you're missing something, the food depots are here. Yeah. Calling a favor or whatever.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

In Alaska, I can only imagine it's like, oh, yeah, it'll be four days on the next truck.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. No, sometimes it's like some of my products, they'll say, these are special orders only, and it'll be here in two weeks.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

And so I always have to stay on top of, like, my ordering. And I'll even say, I'll order, like, 10 of something, even though I don't need that many. And I'm like. And as soon as it comes in, just go ahead and order it again. Because.

[Podcast Host]

And I imagine as you get much bigger, like, you might go down, like, hey, we're going down the west coast and you get a warehouse in Seattle, you know, whatever. Right. Like a more central location. But it's always fascinating to think it's like, started as a hobby, basically making a few cupcakes. Yeah. You're gonna have this warehouse and trucks coming in and out, you know, and it's wild journey. Right. So what. What were a couple of the best lessons for anyone listening through that journey?

[Castle Sorensen]

So one big lesson I found with the food truck is, you know, food trucks cost a lot of money to build, and so I thought, I'm gonna save some money and get a used truck. And so I bought a truck for like $5,000, but then you put like 75, 000 into it.

[Podcast Host]

Cheap is always gonna cost you more.

[Castle Sorensen]

And you know, my last. Last problem that I had with that truck before I sold it cost me $16,000. And it was like, either I fix it and I sell the truck so it's usable.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

Or just scrap it. Yeah. Or I don't fix it, but then I can't run my business anymore. So it was like there wasn't an option to not fix it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I mean, that's always a. Like, I've made that mistake so many times. When I was younger, like, I had a cheap attorney one time, lost me 100 grand deal because he did the contract wrong.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I could. And I had a big law firm at the time, but they were like, like three, four grand. And I was mid-20s and this guy was like, basically for free. And I was doing some website work for him, so I was like, yeah, whatever. And unfortunately for me, the deal went bad and the guy basically tried to steal all the money.

[Castle Sorensen]

Oh, wow.

[Podcast Host]

And because I didn't have a good contract, I couldn't. And so when he stole the money, I took it to my law firm and said, how do I get. What can I do?

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And they said, well, sadly, not much because your contract's not right and it's not set up properly and you didn't do all these things. And I'm like, Well, I saved two grand and it cost me 150.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yep.

[Podcast Host]

So you always learn. Yeah. It's a great business lesson. Like, you always want to cut corners when you're, you know, short of cash and you're new and you're scared to spend it. But on the big things, taxes, legal, manufacturing, things that really matter, it's going to come back and bite you. Oh, yeah, we've seen so many clients with websites, cheap ones, they start running ads. Right. So these cheap websites, website breaks, they lost all their leads and ad spend, you know.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yep. Yeah, exactly.

[Podcast Host]

So that's a key one. What about what were a couple of the best, like, maybe you already talked about it moments, you know, and obviously you're not. You've got so much more to do, but, like, okay, this is a real thing. I mean, this is working. I mean, you know, I'm making a business here.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

What was some of those highlights?

[Castle Sorensen]

So I remember when I got my food truck, it took about a year to build because we had to go into a lot of things of how can we make this truck usable year round? You know, most food trucks in Alaska only run during the summer. They do special events and stuff because.

[Podcast Host]

Of our extreme weather forest or whatever. Right?

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. Yeah. But I really, really wanted to, you know, if I'm going to take on this task, like, I want to do something that I can do year round, you know, not just work for the summer and be done. So it took a while to get done and we had to ship it up to Alaska and everything. And I remember the first time I was like, okay, I've got this food truck. I've got these huge ovens. I can bake 250 cupcakes at a time. I can bake a thousand cupcakes, and I'm going to be so fast at it. And I wasn't like, the space to create a thousand cupcakes. And like, every, like, it wasn't anything I thought about it. But anyways, I. I end up having my mom, I think, come in there and wash dishes and, like, help me with things to get done with the day I was calling people, like, can you just, like, help me push down the holes in here so I can fill them and stuff?

[Narrator]

And.

[Castle Sorensen]

But I went out the next day with a thousand cupcakes, and I was out in an hour and I was like, wow, like, all the work that I put into, like, getting this food truck built and taking the time that it's, you know, it's taken a long time, but I'm finally here and I'm producing it. And like, like, look, everyone showed up to, you know, to support me and buy out all these cupcakes, and I was like, how am I gonna keep up with this?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I think food and beverage people don't appreciate how hard it is. I'm glad I sell stuff more digitally, you know, But I'm. I. I know the founder of Blue Apron and he interviewed on my podcast.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And I asked that. So I'm gonna ask you the same. I like the food nightmare story. I mean, every food and beverage owner has one food nightmare story they'll never forget. Yeah, right. What was it?

[Castle Sorensen]

So one that I can think of off the top of my head is whenever I make lots of cupcakes, I have a baker's rack, and I stack all the trays of, like, once I fill them with the batter, I stack them in this rack, and then I just roll it all the way over to the oven. Well, I was like, kind of like a little unsteady. So I'm just going to keep it here and I'll just bring the trays over to it. And the whole entire rack was filled with I don't even know how many trays of cupcakes. Like five, six hundred cupcakes. And I went to open up the refrigerator door and it bumped into it. And it was like a domino effect. It was like. And they all came crumbling down. And I was like, I just sat there for a while and I was like, what do I even do? Like, I already have cupcakes made. So do I just, like, wash all these pans and start over or do I just, like, give up for the day? And I'm like, people are already expecting me tomorrow with the truck. Like, so we cleaned up the mess, and I think I sat in my refrigerator for a little bit, just, like, calm down and, like, collect myself.

[Podcast Host]

Cool down.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. And then we remade all the cupcakes and went on with it. But, yeah, that's the one thing.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, he has a wild one, too. I won't share it here, but it's like, once you get really big, stop sending stuff out.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Like, people were saying, you know, there's like, things in the product that weren't really there. And like, you know, like, yeah, you get all sorts, right. People, you know, make stuff up to try and get money.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Food and beverage, definitely a really tough, tough business to crack. So any tips? Someone's listening and they're growing a, you know, food and beverage based business. Any general entrepreneurial tips you'd give them?

[Castle Sorensen]

I would say definitely start small. You know, research your area, see if there's a need for.

[Podcast Host]

Seems you did a great job. Like, I really admire how you were flying around. I would never have done that. I'm just like, let's Google it and get, you know, I'm. A quick start. Yeah. Yeah. So it's great because I start fast and build so fast. Like I miss on the research and I figure it out the hard way. Yeah, but you seem to have done that, you know, going around, traveling, researching.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah, yeah. I felt like it was really important because like, you know, there's time and money involved with it and so if you don't do your research thorough, then it's like, well, maybe it wouldn't be something that would even go anywhere. So I felt like if I'm going to dive into this and make it something I really wanted to, you know, I didn't know anything about what I was doing. So there was a lot of research, you know, involved with it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. So doing the research, anything, any other.

[Castle Sorensen]

General tips, Starting small, making sure like you can handle the next step.

[Podcast Host]

The volume. Yeah, because volume for us, like when we would sell agency stuff, coaching, it's, it's much easier than like, you know. Yeah, we might have to hire a new employee, but like it's very different to hiring a bunch of employees. Getting the space to make it, ordering the ingredients. Yeah, right, well.

[Castle Sorensen]

And just being able to keep up with it too. You know, I see a lot of businesses have these big ideas and they just go for it right from the start and then you see them fail and it's like you didn't have all your things in place to be ready for that next step. So.

[Podcast Host]

Well, and then you have to just even get in it to the customer. Like we, when we make something, we email them. Yeah. Here's the link. Right. Yeah. Whereas that's a whole business in itself. Logistics. Right. Like trucks. What? You know, getting out there and keeping it cold if it's a fresh item. Yeah, right. Yeah. So any, any, any lessons there from like that logistics side?

[Castle Sorensen]

I don't think.

[Podcast Host]

Are you just using a company? They come gr.

[Narrator]

No.

[Castle Sorensen]

So I actually still do all that stuff myself. I do have to rent freezer space now at one of my distributors because I have six or seven freezers in my garage. But at the volume we're creating at one, I can't stay ahead if I don't have like my freezer will be full in a week.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

So then, you know, as I grow and to be able to show that I can grow, I have to always be ahead of the game. So we're just non stop producing stuff.

[Podcast Host]

What's hard with your business too is you like growing and then big companies. Right. Like if you get in with an airline or even a Costco.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

They're like, oh yeah, the 2000 orders was good, now we want 20,000. Yeah, right. It's not like 2000, 2,400, 2008. It's like, yeah, let's just do 10,000 now, right? Yeah. And then it's like, totally. It's not even like you got to get a warehouse and stock it and get licenses and 20 staff.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

How do you plan, like, you're going to have that moment? How are you going to tackle it?

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. So I just, I looked at like the resources that I had, and then I'm like, what would it cost to me to build, you know, a walk in freezer? And it's like 35,000. And I'm like, well, I could just rent freezer space for $150 a pallet and I could save my money, you know, as I grow for other things. So in the meantime, I'm just using storage at someone else. So we make everything up, we deliver it there, we package it all on the pallet, wrap it up, and we just come and go as we do it. And then even when we deliver the orders, you know, either myself or some of the other people that work for me, they do all the deliveries. But. But my food truck is only so big. It's a smaller one than the one I started with. Well.

[Podcast Host]

And eventually, you know, when you got a million sat in a savings account, you might go, let's buy the freezer.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah, right, Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

And you lose and those things. But, yeah, it's great to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just grow slowly like you said, and. Yep, good. So the last couple of questions, right. We talked a lot about food, made me hungry. I want. I'm on a diet, so I can't have cupcakes, sadly. But what is the legacy side? Where do you want this to go? What do you want to be known for those sort of things? Yeah.

[Castle Sorensen]

I think that my end goal that I'd really love to see is being from Alaska. And because there's Alaska Airlines, I think it'd be super cool, you know, to have a local business be distributing their desserts for the airline. So I think just showing people that, like, even if it's not something that you thought you would ever do, but finding passion and being able to be creative and just like running with it and knowing that life is always going to be a journey and you're always going to be learning and that even if you don't know what you're doing, like, like you're gonna learn a lot.

[Podcast Host]

That's. I mean. Yeah, that's true entrepreneurship. What I love, what many people that sit in that seat Right. We all come from that starting thing, right?

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

This idea, we've, you know, start $10 an hour or $ a cupcake or whatever. And then, you know, if we work hard enough and fail enough and believe in ourselves enough, one day we can hopefully get thousands or tens of thousands on American or Alaskan. Yeah, that's right. So, so what would you say to someone that's motivated by that, that their, they have their cupcake idea but they're afraid to pull the trigger on it?

[Castle Sorensen]

I would say you just have to believe in yourself and know that if it's something that you love to do, that you can do it if you really want to. And to also, you know, I had people tell me that I was crazy and I was like, well, we'll just see what happens. And you just really, I think believing in yourself and knowing that you have what it takes to do it is super important.

[Podcast Host]

Love it. And out of interest, how many cheesecakes or cupcakes or whatever for Alaskan Airlines, how many would you have to make?

[Castle Sorensen]

So they told me that they would need 250,000 cheesecakes a month.

[Podcast Host]

Wow. And that's your full time business right there.

[Castle Sorensen]

Well, and I tried to figure it out too, because so my biggest contract that I ever had was for one of our railroads up there, and we made 50,000 cheesecakes for the season. And so I was like, okay, so.

[Podcast Host]

The season, you just got to do 5x that in a month.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah. And I was like, I wonder if I could actually do this. So I took, you know, how long it took us to do this many in a day and times it by 24 hours. And I was like, okay, we could have three teams of people in there for eight hours at a time. And I was like, there's no possible way that I could make that many cheesecakes in a month. So, like that goal of wanting to go there, you know, I know it's there, but like, you know, I have to, you know, I mean, it's because.

[Podcast Host]

I imagine Cheesecake Factory makes.

[Castle Sorensen]

Right, Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

Right. So I always say if someone else is doing it out there, then it's.

[Castle Sorensen]

Definitely, you know, you can just takes time and money and like preparing for it and knowing that it's going to take a lot more steps to get there.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Well, I would say the hack too. And maybe this tip for you. Go hire an ex Cheesecake Factory employee, like a logistics employee. Just hire them for a day. Say, what am I missing? Yeah, yeah, that's a great way to learn. So Last question, then. What can they expect from your episode if they've not watched it yet? And where do they find you?

[Castle Sorensen]

You can expect to learn about myself and, like, the journey that I went through, you know, starting one business and then later on in life, I had kids, and so, you know, things didn't work out. So I'm a single mom, and then later moving on to owning a second business and trying to, you know, juggle those responsibilities and still have a life and, you know, have time for myself and everything Good.

[Podcast Host]

And where can they find. You know, they want to try cheesecake, right? Or at least see a cheesecake. Maybe they can't try it. Where do they. Where do they go?

[Castle Sorensen]

So Facebook is the best way to find me. Unfortunately, Instagram got hacked, so you can still find my Instagram. You just. I don't post anything up to date, but that's where I post where the truck's going to be. I post where my cheesecakes are available to buy across the state.

[Podcast Host]

Love it.

[Castle Sorensen]

It.

[Podcast Host]

What is the Facebook just sitting and search it.

[Castle Sorensen]

Castle's Creations.

[Podcast Host]

Castle's creations on Facebook should come up.

[Castle Sorensen]

Yeah, both K's. Both plural.

[Podcast Host]

Both K's good. All right, guys, well, there's a wrap. I know. I got to go find some food now. This episode made me hungry as always. Keep building a legacy, and I'll see you guys soon.