When Lana Smith likes something, she learns how to make it. Smith is the owner of Lana Luvs Confections, which she started after learning how to bake lemon bars (her favorite).

“My son and I were addicted to eating them, we ate them so much our throats were burning,” Smith said. “I decided to take the bars to work to share and my coworkers said ‘You have got to sell these,’ and that’s where it began.”

Smith eventually added cakes to her roster after the woman who was originally supposed to bake her son’s birthday cake wasn’t able to. Her son’s father encouraged her to start baking cakes and she’s been doing so ever since.

Smith talked to me about early baking memories, her worst baking disaster, how the pandemic has affected business and more.

1. How long have you been in business and how/why did you decide to start a business? 

It’s been a few years since I began my business. I started [it] because baking was always something I loved and people around me had been saying that I need to start selling my baked goods, so I decided to take a leap of faith and start the business.

2. What’s your 9 to 5? How do you juggle that with baking? Do you bake full time? 

I am a preschool teacher with the Petersburg City Public School system. It is a struggle some days juggling all the hats that I wear: aside from teaching, being a mother, and running my business, I’m also in graduate school working on a second master’s degree.

3. What was your favorite thing to bake? Most challenging? Do you have a specialty?

My favorite thing to bake is lemon bars and cupcakes. The most challenging thing to master (which I am still working on) is macarons. My specialty [is] my lemon bars.

4. Has COVID affected your baking/sales? If so/not, how? 

I think COVID heightened my business in that it created such a strain and limit on what people could do for special events that customers seemed to order more in attempts to make occasions in their lives still feel special. Instead of sales decreasing, they actually increased.

5. What’s your earliest memory of baking? 

My earliest memories of baking include my brother and I making pies or pizzas in the kitchen with my father when we were children.

6. Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to start baking and may find it intimidating? 

You just have to take a deep breath and jump out there; it’s truly a leap of faith. Allow people that believe in you to offer support, and if you [don’t] have [anyone] to offer that support, believe in yourself enough to simply push yourself to achieve the dream anyway.

7. What was the greatest challenge you faced while starting Lana Luvs Confections? Can you describe your worst baking disaster? 

The greatest challenge I faced while starting was trying to figure out how to set up a menu and price cakes and treats. My worst baking disaster was when I first started making cookies. Ironically, I’m not great with cookies! I have some tried and true cookie recipes I’ve developed, but outside of those, I’m not great with cookies.

8. What is the most rewarding part of Lana Luvs Confections? 

The most rewarding part of my business is how my treats and cakes affect the people I bake for. The smiles and feedback that I receive make me light up inside.

9. What are your plans post-pandemic for your business? How do you hope to see your business grow within the next year? What are your goals? Are there any new things on the horizon? 

In the future, I plan to find a brick and mortar location to have my business in, however I’m in no rush to transfer to that just yet. At this time, business is pretty good; within the next year, my only hope is that the momentum stays the same. The main goal in the future is just to find a building eventually and have a nice quaint shop that customers can visit.

10. How would you describe Lana Luvs Confections? 

My business is a place where you can expect delicious desserts and try new pastries and confections that you may not be familiar with. To me, Lana Luvs Confections is a business that offers cakes, cookies, tarts, truffles, and more; I’m always open to experimenting with new things and making something memorable that makes people smile when they bite into it!

You can find Lana on Facebook under Lana Smith and on IG at @Lanaluvsconfections