Meet Bella Sanchez | Home Bakery Owner

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

Hi Bella, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It wasn’t until I was involved in the Baking and Pastry Arts program and GRCC that I truly found my passion for baking. I decided to start posting my work on Instagram, and after a while I started getting requests from friends and family for birthday cakes and other treats. After a while I decided – why not make this a little side gig? And so I came up with a name and obtained an LLC. This was back in 2020, & since then I’ve been trying to find exactly where I want to be in the baking world. I had a few bakery jobs here and there, but I kept feeling the urge to try and make a name for myself – my work, my creativity. Within the last year or so, I’ve been working towards really honing in on what kind of business I want to have, since I wasn’t finding that externally.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Baked By Bell is all about creating customized treats for all of life’s special occasions. From cakes & cookies, to entire dessert tables filled with personalized treats. I’m here to help with curating delicious confections that are unique to you.

I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking – the last few years have made me realize how important it is to celebrate the small things. If I am able to make someone’s day by baking them their favorite treat just because, putting together a dessert table for their child’s birthday party or graduation, or even creating their wedding cake that they’ll remember for years to come, there’s no way I’d pass up that opportunity. For me, it’s not just transactional – the surprise, excitement, gratitude, & overall happiness is what I look forward to.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many fun and interesting places to go in West Michigan, where do I even begin?

• You can’t go wrong with a couple Ultra Dogs from Yesterdog in Eastown.
• Le Bon Macaron is THE spot for coffee and macarons.
• Rebel over on Wealthy Street is my favorite store of all time. It has the cutest and most unique stuff – I can spend all day in there.
• Wanderlux Salon and Spa is the place to go to get your hair looking right or if you want to do some other self care.
• Social Misfits has the best waffles in town.
• Tippy Cow Ice Cream has a billion flavors to choose from – all delicious
• Kollen Park & Holland State Park

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate my shout out to Professor Heckwolf & Professor Barajas at the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at GRCC! They both have such a passion for baking and pastries and I immediately started to look up to them as chefs, and as people, from the moment I walked in to their classes.

Also – shout out to my parents, Jose and Andrea – for constantly supporting my dream of baking and dealing with the endless messes in our kitchen.

Website: https://www.bakedbybell.com

Instagram: @bakedbybell_

Other: [email protected]