Young entrepreneur opens 406 Cakes and Cravings in Polson
Aurora Doll stands behind a bakery display case in her business, 406 Cakes & Cravings. The 17-year old has been a lifelong Polson resident with a zest for serving up cakes in the Mission Valley. (Max Dupras/Leader)
When one girl's dreams of decorating cakes at Scottage Cakery were dashed when the owners decided to sell their business, she decided to start her own baking business.
“I like seeing everybody smile and for them to walk in and see treats and stuff like that and smile, that makes me the happiest,” 406 Cakes and Cravings owner Aurora Doll said.
The bakery and cake decorating shop in Polson. Doll, a 17-year-old Polson native, never could have imagined owning a business like this at her age.
She has always loved cooking and baking, even considering honing those skills to pursue culinary arts in college. However, she decided not to follow through with her studies after finding out how intensive culinary arts programs can be.
“My advisor was telling me all of the stuff it would take to get into culinary arts,” Doll said. “Basically, to sum it all up, I would have to quit my life down in Polson, move up to Kalispell and do nothing but culinary arts night and day and weekends.”
Instead, she decided to get a job at Scottage Cakery, a business known for decorating cakes in the Polson area.
She had worked there previously as a baker, but the business desperately needed someone to help decorate cakes. Even though she had never attempted it, she pushed through and found not only a secret niche but a passion for cake decorating.
“My boss thought I had worked for them as a cake decorator and not a baker and I had never decorated a cake before,” Doll said. “So, she threw me on this order of decorating a cake so I just decorated it and did what I did.”
After a year and a half of working there, Doll faced unemployment when Scottage Cakery decided to close.
But she did not give in. After some discussion with her family and help from her fiance, Caleb, she decided to purchase the business.
“In my mind, I never thought I would buy a business,” Doll recalled. “My fiance basically told me … he would buy me the business.”
She is now four months into her journey as a business owner and she already has three employees, who she refers to as her “girls.”
The lessons she has learned from years of cake-making have been amazing, she said. But the most important thing she picked up along the way is that you can not please everyone.
“That’s probably the biggest lesson that I’ve learned is you can’t make everyone happy, but you have to keep yourself happy,” Doll said.
This revelation, her goal of creating a positive work environment and her fiance's support — both emotionally and business-wise — are helping the young cake-maker grow her business
“I don't know how I would be here and I don’t know what I would have done without him,” Doll said of Caleb. “He has been so supportive since the first day we started dating.”
Her business offers everything from wedding cakes to pastries of all kinds. And, even if a customer suggests something that’s not on the menu, Doll said she is willing to take the risk and try her best to make it.
“Serving the community of Polson makes me really happy because I’ve grown up here,” Doll said. “I know a lot of people here — and I don’t know a lot of people here.”
She’s busier than ever with her upcoming wedding and a new business, but said she loves giving back to the community while also making some sweet treats for those around her.
406 Cakes and Cravings is located at 3 9th Ave W, Suite A, in Polson. For more information, visit www.406cakes.com.