Self-employment
Recipe for successDeidre Herosian and Heather Stewart took a cake recipe and turned it into an empire. |
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 [ 2004-11-17 ] |
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Heather Stewart, right, and Deidre Herosian with their Lilyfield cakes, boxes and bags.
The Manitoba women, best friends for years, have been written up in the New York Times and Us, Flare and Elle magazines. They've done the Today Show. In February, Bon Appetit will feature their luscious cakes and the elaborately decorated hat boxes that hold them.
Lilyfield and Company cakes, averaging $200 a piece, are a sensation in fashionable circles across America. The only problem? They just can't seem to catch on in their own hometown.
"It's the strangest thing," says Stewart. "We're thrilled to just have any Canadian business. We ship all over the States, in Asia, you name it, but we have next to no local business."
Not that Herosian and Stewart are crying the blues. Their profits will top $700,000 this year and their list of fans just continues to grow.
Last month, their cakes were the only Canadian products featured at the Beverly Hills Carousel of Hope Ball silent auction in Los Angeles. They shared prime table space with booty from Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Their cakes, which are sold online or by telephone order, are made in Winnipeg by Goodies, using the original Lilyfield recipe. The women contract out the hatbox making and use a Winnipeg florist.
Carousel of Hope is the fundraiser to beat all fundraisers. Nancy Reagan and Gerald and Betty Ford are the honourary co-chairs of the ball, which raises money for research into childhood diabetes. Oprah Winfrey presented Halle Berry with the High Hopes Award.
Seats are available by invitation only and the best tables go for $100,000. The event is held every two years, and since 1978 it has raised over $60 million.
Herosian and Stewart did not attend in person, but they don't mind.
"As long as people see what we can do, that's what's important," says Stewart. "The brand recognition is terrific for us and we're always all for charitable events."
They donated two packages. One, valued at $1,154 US, gives gala-goers a chance to take home three plush pillows, a fresh Lilyfield cake, a gift certificate, two flower-covered purses and five signed copies of Jungleville Tales, a children's book written by Herosian's adult son, Ben. The second item is a $200 purse.
Lilyfield was chosen for the event for a couple of reasons. The Us magazine feature did wonders for their profile. But the company is also dedicated to supporting children's charities and that impressed the gala's organizers.
In Jungleville Tales, Ben Herosian shares his experience of living with and overcoming a disability.
"It was a natural match," says Stewart. "The event works for juvenile diabetes, and one of the side-effects can be limb loss. That's what the book is about. That's Ben's experience."
Both Ben Herosian and Stewart's son, Jeffrey, were born missing limbs.
Stewart and Herosian have also been asked to donate a cake and gift certificates to this month's Country Music Awards. They have been invited to the Nashville event.
"We'll get to met country music stars. It should be fun," Stewart says.
So why haven't Winnipeggers caught on to Lilyfield cakes?
Stewart and Herosian can't figure that one out. Given the way business is going, they're not too concerned. These enterprising women are laughing all the way to the kitchen.
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