After six years of juggling her specialty cake business and an office job, Kelsea Duncan has achieved her goal of being a full-time baker with the opening of Wildflower Bakery in Chatham.
“I’ve been baking ever since I can remember, starting in the kitchen with my mom when I was 5 years old,” she said. “I always wanted to be a cake decorator or baker.”
Duncan worked in several different offices over the years, but said, “I wasn’t happy with a desk job, I was always thinking about cakes.” She started a side business six years ago making customs cakes for weddings and other special events and said the business grew every year.
At the beginning of the pandemic, her entire department was furloughed. She was at home for several months with her daughter and then found a new job, but she realized that it was time to make a decision about what direction she would go with her career.
“I kept getting busier and busier, so I needed to decided if I was going to keep going with the cakes,” Duncan said.
She and her husband have lived in Auburn for the past two years, but spent five years prior to that in Chatham, so Duncan decided to purchase a building there to open a retail location for her bakery.
Last summer, Duncan purchased the building at 101 W. Locust St. She leases a suite to The Rebel Rainbow Salon and she renovated the other portion for her own use, opening Wildflower Bakery on Jan. 8.
In addition to custom cakes and specialty orders, Duncan has a variety of items available for walk-in customers. “We offer muffins, cookies, cupcakes, turnovers, crumb cake…I try to mix up the menu every day,” she said.
Wildflower Bakery is open Wednesday through Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
