Soft Peaks Cakery

Soft Peaks Cakery

Growing up Shelly Pruitt watched her grandmother make baking powder biscuits perfectly without a recipe. Light and delicious, she was enamored by the skill and expertise it took to know the art of baking so well. Throughout the years, she stayed by her grandmother’s side learning and watching in order to perfect her own artful skill. She grew up loving to bake, under the watchful eye of her grandmother, but she admits she still can’t make those baking powder biscuits like Grandma did!

It was no surprise that Shelly went on to work in the food services industry, and her twenty-five year career landed her experience in just about every aspect of the trade. She worked in fine dining, cafes, bakeries, fast food, and the University of Oregon’s food services department. Over the years Shelly baked on the side keeping her passion alive here and there. She even made her own wedding cake!

In 2004, she officially opened Soft Peaks Cakery, but was still juggling her other job and the new business. This year, when she retired she was able to dedicate her full attention to the love of baking and her business. Years of experience taught Shelly that before starting anything you should “gain all the knowledge you can about what you want to do.” Knowing she would need more information to help her business be successful, she attended a Lane Small Business Development Center open house and has since utilized the services she learned there.

“The biggest assistance has been in the Business Plan Accelerator class. It helped me get my plan on paper and now I have a blueprint for where I want to be in the next few years” says Shelly.

And, what does Shelly have planned for the future? A lot! She wants to grow her wholesale business by focusing on small cafes and coffee shops as well as hone in on her target-market by bettering her understanding of her customers’ demographics.

Shelly has a true passion for making people happy, and putting a smile on her customers’ faces. She has drive and commitment and with the Lane SBDC’s help she has a true recipe for success!

Soft Peak Cakery