Meet Danicia Lee-Hanford | Wife, Stay-at-home Mother & Baker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danicia Lee-Hanford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danicia, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
As far back as I can remember I’ve been creating. It was an escape, a healing, and, as an introverted person, a place where I could leave little bits of my soul for safekeeping without judgment. Whether it was music, writing, cooking, or baking, I’ve always been my most authentic self when making something new. There’s an undeniable amount of joy in creativity; hours of tireless effort coming to fruition with something that I can truthfully say I poured so much of myself into. Especially now as a mother, my career means even more to me. The creativity I imbue it with is a way that I maintain my identity and share something I’m passionate about with my son.

Even though my career is baking, I make sure to stuff it with as much art as I can. Developing new flavor combinations like apple pie cupcakes with toasted marshmallow frosting or peanut butter monster cake pops, hand painting each decoration that goes onto my desserts, and making each and every treat that passes through my hands as personal as possible, is a way that I can take pride in what I do.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
The thing I take the most pride in is growth. I’m learning new skills to continue offering my absolute best to my customers. I’m competing with myself every single day to be better than I was the day before.

Getting to where I am professionally has taken resolve. Baked goods can be a bit finicky so developing and refining recipes takes a lot of experimenting and there’s a rather steep learning curve, but I did it. Then once I had some skills, it was a matter of convincing the public to take a chance on me. You can easily search on Instagram and find dozens of home baking businesses, so it can be difficult to stand out. Getting people to notice my business has involved a lot of what has felt like screaming into the void. I’m not very outspoken and therefore not the best at tooting my own horn, so I’ve been working on getting out of my own way and learning to be upfront and confident about the effort I put into my desserts.

It has not been easy in the slightest. A lot goes into running a business that you don’t think about until you’re in it. Besides creating the actual desserts, there’s marketing, running and maintaining websites and social media platforms if you choose to use those, customer service, material acquisition, time management, and anyone who has a baking business can tell you that the clean up time can be brutal. On top of all of those things, I have the joy and responsibility to be a wife and a stay at home mom. It is definitely difficult to find time to spend on my business with a three-year-old clinging to my legs most of the day. But I find ways to involve him and he finds it fun.

Honestly, like most amazing things in life, this business came about by chance. Yet it spiraled into something that I absolutely love doing with all of my heart. I care about the product I put out and I work with dedication from beginning to end. It doesn’t matter where your passion comes from or when you find it, just attack what you love doing with all your heart. Take a thousand no’s if that’s what it takes to get a yes. And that’s what my brand stands for in my eyes. Tenacity, reinvention, taking the chance on doing something that you love with no regrets.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There’s not a whole lot to do in West Palm. But heading down south, I would definitely take anyone I bring with me to Sugar Factory. Eating there is like being a kid again. Don’t get me wrong, the food is good, but the drinks and the gigantic milkshakes are 100% the reason I would go back. I would definitely take them to Zoo Miami, it’s huge. The Frost Museum as well, because I am a huge nerd. And honestly, in Florida as a whole, you can’t go wrong with any of the beaches. We’d probably just spend the week eating and exploring.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Every single person in my family has my undying gratitude and deserves endless accolades. From taste testing my recipes, helping set up for farmers markets and events plus offering me advice, support, your time, and your kitchens. I appreciate every single bit of it. To my husband especially, thank you, thank you, thank you for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. For listening to me ramble about my ideas for desserts and frustrations with frosting- even in the middle of the night. And ironically enough I’d also like to thank the University of Tiktok for teaching me more about baking than school ever could have.

Website: sugarpopsweets.com

Instagram: sugar_pop_sweets