Meet Anastasia Barnes | Chef & Baker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anastasia Barnes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anastasia, looking back, what do you think was the most difficult decision you’ve had to make?
The most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make with my business is quitting it for a couple of months. I had just graduated a couple months ago and school was starting back so summer was finishing and all my clients that I had before we’re all basically in school all day so I wasn’t making that much sales as I used to. I went out and I found a job. At first it was a temporary job just until I started getting my clientele back and started getting back into my business but then I ended up really liking my job, my coworkers, the environment, the job itself and I ended up staying a bit longer than I planned to. I stopped my business for a while because of that and that was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make .

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I think what sets me apart from others is that I really do everything. I bake, I cook, I cater, I do luxury arrangements, I do pretty much everything. At first I just started in high school at 15 making ugly cakes in a jar and selling them for three dollars each, meanwhile I was buying the ingredients for about fourty dollars. as the years went by I developed, I got my cake cups recipe on point, I started trying new things, such as cupcakes, brownies, Cheesecakes and chocolate dipped sweets. I got so booked with everything and I started watching more TV and I started seeing people cook, so I started cooking as well. I took a break from baking for a couple of months and started to cook. I started making luxury plates, such as, steak plates, steak and lobster plates, seafood boils, different types of tacos, burger entrées, and so many other varieties. It took me a couple years to ace everything and to also ace my photography skills because you need everything to look good when you post it. I definitely am not the best yet, but in only three years, i am very popular in my county. It’s gotten to a point where I go out in public and people notice me and call out my business name and say you’re stasiassweets or they would see me and just walk up and say by the way I just wanted to let you know I love your food and sweets. i’ve only been in this for three years and having people come up to me in that little bit of time, noticing me probably one of the best feelings because that means I did something right with my business and I just want to make everybody happy while making everybody full.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
On the weekends I have this thing with my boyfriend where we try one new restaurant every weekend or two every weekend, just so we can try everything and we do this thing where we rate all the restaurants and post ratings with pictures of the food for people to see. I would definitely take my best friend to one of the restaurants that was at 10 to 10. I also love museums, I love lighting museums, I love museums where you can take good pictures of what’s in the museums. I would definitely take them to a museum then to dinner. I would do different things on different days, like day one would be simple, day two would be may be a helicopter ride over the sunset, breakfast on the beach, feeding animals, hot air balloons, and much more. I love nature, I love taking pictures of nature, I have over 100 sky pictures in my phone, so anything that includes a nice scenery, I want to go.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
there are a few people in my life who deserve massive credit for me even starting my business. The first person I I want to credit is my boyfriend. from the first day of me even creating an Instagram page he has posted me, re-posted everything I post, shouted me out and has been supporting me since then. I also wanna give credit to my stepdad. I used to love watching cooking shows, but I never really wanted to be a cook, until I used to cook in the kitchen with him, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I started to get really into it, he started teaching me new recipes, I started to create a passion and then went on my own to create my business. He always gave me advice whether it was something I had to change or whether it was something I did change and I needed to change back. He was never afraid to let me know if something was good or bad and I appreciate that because it help me grow and develop my recipes the right way. I also want to give credit to one last person, my mom. First starting my business, I probably had $10 in my pocket. When I told her I wanted to start a business she bought everything for me, she gave me advice, she gave me money handling advice, and she would help me when I was overwhelmed. I used to make so many sales when I started, so I started to overdo it and overstressed myself and she never let me do it on my own when she saw I was stressing, she always came to help no matter what time of day I appreciate her so much for that .

Instagram: @stasiassweets

Facebook: stasiassweets

Other: My website and everything is in my instagram bio!