Growing up in Ottawa, Miss Kate never had any inclination toward baking or decorating. It never even occurred to her that cake decorating was a hobby that one would pursue! Her love of animals brought her to the University of Toronto where she achieved her Bachelor of Science in Animal Behaviour and Political Science. Her ambition was to work with animals in conservation, rehabilitation and reintroduction.
In 2008, Kate moved to the UK and was living in South Central England in an annexed flat… in the countryside. It was a beautiful location, but as she didn’t yet have her driver’s license, she was a bit stuck for transportation! The closest bus stop was a 40 minute walk away, and the bus only came around every few hours. Unfortunately, due to the lack of public transit, and the fact that the local sanctuary she had hoped to work for had changed ownership and gone extremely downhill, her ambition to work with animals was put on hold.
She managed to get a job at a local shop (“local” in this case meant a 2.5 hour round trip public transit/walking every day!), which, in early 2009, closed down as the recession claimed another victim. At this time, her amazing 2nd cousins (Joan & Dave) took her in as a lodger, and together they spent many days watching numerous shows about antiques (Dickinson’s Real Deal was her favourite). Eventually, Joan persuaded Kate to accompany her to her “flower classes” that she attended every Tuesday at a local community centre with a group of fellow older ladies. These sugar flower classes had a loose structure, where the teacher, Sue, would just help wherever she was needed – everyone worked on their own projects, and if they needed a hand, Sue was there to help! Sue took Kate under her wing, and showed her everything she possibly could in a matter of months. Having always been relatively artistic, but never committing to one art form, Kate was surprised at how dedicated she’d become. When it came time to move back to Ottawa, she was armed with everything you need to know about sugar flowers… but not very much about cakes themselves!
After being requested to put together a few cakes for people upon her return, Miss Kate started to learn as much as she could about the art of cake decorating. It was through a lot of reading and practice that she taught herself the basics. She realized it was time to get back into the working field (those new sugar art tools weren’t going to pay for themselves!) and came across an ad looking for a cake decorator. She still doesn’t know how she brought herself to apply for the job given her lack of experience, but after meeting with Mandi Loo, a new chapter of Auntie Loo’s Treats was born!
Miss Kate is now known as the director of operations, and continues to run the wedding/specialty cake division – she is also a part-owner, and couldn’t be happier! In her spare time, she plays with her kitty (Mack), listens to punk rock (Propagandhi can usually be heard at the bakery on wedding cake days), and watches (or listens to) anything Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant/Karl Pilkington create. She is incredibly excited to attend Monster Bash this year with her brother Chris, which is 3 days straight of classic horror and sci-fi films … and David “The Rock” Nelson. One day, she hopes to put her Bachelor of Science to good use and will do what she can to contribute to animal conservationism.
