Those who attended the 2022 CA Regional Congress will recall the wonderful Subud symbol cookies made by Haryanti Jones, Chair of the Los Angeles Subud Center. The cookies were both beautiful and challenging to make! However, Haryanti’s special joy is making cakes – and now she has founded her own company based on this passion. Here’s her story.
After graduating with a degree in pharmacy from University of Indonesia, Haryanti realized that her interest and talent was in marketing. She enjoys marketing’s dynamic quality, which arises from understanding the psychology of people to achieve persuasion. And, she loves that it involves both art and business acumen.
When she and Luke Jones were married in 2019 and she moved with him to the US, Haryanti joined Luke’s business, Advocate Travel Marketing, which serves global customers such as the Kenya National Tourism Board and the Hilton Moorea Resort in French Polynesia (aka Tahiti). Although the Covid pandemic reduced demand for travel services in 2020, they picked up clients in Africa and the Middle East.
Haryanti got intrigued by videos of cakes posted, and was inspired to try her hand at cake decorating. When she made her first holiday cake, friends and family who saw her photos on social media were amazed that she could do this creative work. Haryanti realized that she had discovered a talent that both she and others could enjoy. By mid-2021, she
began developing a business. She started thinking about how to build a brand and find the right name. In Indonesian, the word “lezat” means “delicious” which perfectly describes her cakes. She built a portfolio of cakes for special occasions: anniversaries, birthdays, and all kinds of holidays.
In October 2021, she procured her license to sell cakes as a Cottage Food Corporation in the County of Los Angeles which permits her to bake and sell from home. She developed her website to showcase her creations and manage online sales, baking to order for pick-up or delivery.
Although she offers cakes, cupcakes and cookies, most orders are for cakes, which offer the biggest canvas for creating something unique and customized. Customers may have an idea for a cake format or design, or they may ask her to create one. A key selling point is that all products are made using more than 90% organic ingredients. With a focus on customers aged 30-50, being visible on the internet is crucial to growing the business. Customers find her via Google search, as well as on Instagram and Facebook.
Haryanti uses what she has learned about building an image and reaching a target market to communicate based on the customer’s “side of the table”. Her “brand house” (above) is an important baseline tool, which encompasses the key messages and goals of the enterprise.
While she is currently able to meet most challenges and opportunities, Haryanti anticipates needing to hire staff to expand in future. At that point, she will need to figure out what can be delegated vs. what she must do personally.
Haryanti recalled that Ibu Rahayu has talked about understanding your talents, and that to know your talent takes time for the soul to progress. She provided reference to Ibu’s talk 99 NWH 01 (excerpt below):
With her skills, focus and talent, it will surely be an exciting and satisfying journey!