We recently had the chance to connect with Nicki Ward and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Nicki, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Currently, Life is chaotic. In some ways, it’s the best type of chaotic. In other ways, I’ll be thankful when life calms down just a bit. I’m the mother of a 6-year-old and a 2 and 1/2-year-old. My wife is a firefighter for the city of Austin. When she is on shift, it is mostly 24 hours, but every now and then for 48. It’s almost like being a single mom on the days that she is gone. Balancing and being adaptable is part of my every day. Waking up early, getting kids ready for the day, and now getting my first grader to school, taking care of my 2-year-old, all while trying to maintain a house, and run my own business can be quite a challenge. When my two year old naps, I try to get some fondant sculpting done for my job. When the kids go to sleep at night, I try to get more fondant sculpting done for my job and answer emails, quotes, and design new cakes. When my wife is home, you can find me in the kitchen, baking and decorating. I absolutely love what I do, and being creative and artistic is almost therapeutic. But my day-to-day mostly entails the monotonous, everyday duties of being a mom, being a good partner, and running a business. And doing it all with very little sleep! There’s not much I would change, I feel extremely blessed to live each day with a new chaotic adventure.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello! My name is Nicki Ward, and I’m the Creator, designer and Baker at Designed Delights. If I were to be honest, I’m also the HR department, the graphic designer, the photographer, the office manager, the accountant, the content creator and I might even run the daycare. I work out of my house, and I am a licensed cottage Baker. I create custom cake art. I have a background in art and have been drawing and painting since I was a kid. I started sculpting when I was a teenager. I went to college and got a degree in graphic design. While growing up, my mother decorated cakes, and that was a very fond memory for me. Throughout my adult life, I’ve dabbled in cake decorating and I’ve always been interested in it. But the timing wasn’t right for different reasons. Once smartphones became a thing, I was constantly watching cake tutorials and videos, just for the fun of it. And when the time was right, I dove in. I told myself I was going to post up a cake once a week just as a piece of art. It only took a matter of weeks before people started contacting me for cakes. Now I have a thriving business and have been up and running only since January of 2024. My growth, humbly has been tremendous, and I’m very thankful. My favorite type of cake design is realism and sculpting. People often hire me to create realistic objects, or to sculpt figures. I create all of my own decorations using edible materials. Designed Delights motto is that every cake is its own canvas, and I’m going to dare to be different.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I suppose this question is asking who I was before cake. I’ve had several different types of jobs and hobbies over my whole adult life. However, I want to use this question to talk about sobriety. Having gone through a roller coaster of emotions and ups and downs early on in life and becoming someone that had addiction issues was who I became as a young adult. I recognized this early on, And I decided to put what I could fit in my car and move across the country to try to better my life on my own. I have been in the Austin Texas area since 2002. The journey has been long, but I’ve worked extremely hard on myself over the last two decades. I’ve learned to love myself and work through past trauma. The only thing I didn’t give up in the beginning of my journey was alcohol. Once I finally decided to give up alcohol, was when I started my cake business, which was 6 months later. I am completely sober these days, and there is no looking back. I don’t feel like I would be as successful, driven, or even just a good friend, mother, partner, etc without sobriety. Life is so much more beautiful, and I just want to share that with everyone through cake!
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I’m going to say anger. It was conditioned early on in my life to handle trauma or conflict with anger. I always felt like a victim. Part of my journey as a young adult was overcoming that victim mentality and learning to love myself. It’s important to let things go. I’ve cut out what is unnecessary, and I use the things that I’ve dealt with in my life as a way to be better for my own children. To be a good mom. To be a good spouse. To be a good friend, and to manage my business to and deal with customers to the best of my ability! I’ve had to recondition my brain to handle conflict in a different way. Even to this day, in my life, it is challenging, but it’s doable. Again, it’s sobriety that helps me maintain a more calm demeanor. Running a business, and dealing with customers means dealing with a lot of personalities. I am still growing and learning through that process as well. But I feel that I’ve had to learn over many years how to manage my emotions to be able to really get the most out of life that I want. I am human, and I’ve had to figure out how to forgive myself. Am I perfect? I’m not. Everyday, I strive to be the best version of myself that I can be. Everyday, I’m still working through demons that are still trying to hold on. I’ve slayed most of them, and I’m kicking butt these days. But I cannot stress how hard that I have worked to get to where I am. I deserve what I’ve fought hard for.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Bringing joy into the world by being the best authentic, artistic self that I can be. I think anyone in my life would agree that I am doing that by creating little moments of happiness through cake. I may not be curing cancer or ending world hunger, but what I’m doing is creating art. A type of art that will be remembered forever. You see, my cakes aren’t just any cakes, they are true experiences. My job is to create memories. I create these beautiful memories for families, for children, for people getting married, for people retiring, etc. These are beautiful, artistic cakes that will bring joy, even if for a moment; something that people can always reflect on. What matters to me most, is providing Joy, making small differences, and creating memorable moments that bring happiness.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope that people would tell a story of strength and determination. I am someone who has a strong willpower. I hope that the story that people tell about me is about someone that has overcome and conquered; Someone that worked really hard and became successful through that hard work. I hope they elaborate on all of the beautiful artwork that I’ve put out into the world. I hope they talk about joy and expression through cake. And I definitely hope they don’t forget to tell people just how yummy artwork can be!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designed_delights_?igsh=MW45YzloMDNidWR6eA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15BjkzMQb1/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/designeddelights
