Meet Emily Retamozo | Custom Cookie Business Owner, Mobile App Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Retamozo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, how do you think about risk?
If other people look at my life they would probably think,” wow she has no fear and just goes for things!” I mean within the past year I launched a mobile app, quit my full time teaching job, and have traveled more that I ever though possible. But in reality, risk scares the heck out of me and all of those big life decisions came with A LOT of tears. If it wasn’t for my husband, I can say with certainty I would not be where I am today. He is the risk taker and the one who encourages me to go for “it”…no matter what “it” is. Slowly (very slowly) I have learned that most of the time taking a risk is the first step to creating the life you’re dreaming of and the risks you take now make taking future risks a little easier.

I honesty feel like my entire business has been built off of risks. The risks started out small with little to lose, but in the moment felt huge! The first risk was, of course, simply starting. I have always cared (too much) about what other people think of me. So, for me personally, putting my work and myself out there felt like a huge risk. I look back now and laugh at how worried I was that some random person from high school might see my instagram page and think I was weird or think that my cookies were ugly. Taking the risk and going out of my comfort zone made me grow in ways I never expected. I have finally learned (for the most part) that it truly doesn’t matter what other people think…and in reality, most people will actually cheer you on, not tear you down.

As my cookie business grew, so did the risks. The frustration and overwhelmed feeling I had while trying to manage the administrative side of my cookie business on top of my full time job and actually producing the cookies led me to my next idea…a mobile app, now known as Sift. This idea started out as wishful thinking. That was until I casually told my husband about it. He thought my idea to create an app that would help creative small business owners automate and manage the administrative side of their businesses was great. So, he called up a developer friend to see what it would cost to bring the app to life. We just about fell out of our chairs when we learned how much software development costs. Immediately, my mind went to “well that will never happen.” But my husband wasn’t giving up so easy. He put it all into perspective for me when he brought up college tuition. He said, “we didn’t blink an eye at dropping thousands of dollars on a college degree because we knew it was an investment in our future. Why is this any different?” I learned that perspective is everything, especially when looking at something that seems pretty risky at first glance.

I thought the decision to develop an app was the biggest risk I would ever take. That was until the time came for me to say goodbye to my full time job which meant losing a significant amount of our income. I was teaching high school physics full time, had a booked calendar of cookie orders each month, and was now working on launching my mobile app (which was far from the point where it could make any money). We knew that if we were going to grow Sift (and continue to have a happy marriage) something had to go. That thing was teaching. Until this point, teaching had been my safety net. If the app was a huge fail, I knew I had my teaching salary to offset the loss. So saying goodbye to that safety net was the most terrifying thing I had ever done. There were so many unknowns financially that came along with this decision, but we knew it was the right call for not only our business, but for our marriage. Without our faith that God would provide, I don’t think that this was a risk we would have taken. Sure enough, each month there were new opportunities to make extra money and pay the bills.

Sometimes the biggest risks you take lead to the best outcomes. Quitting my teaching job has been the best thing I ever did. I have been able to grow Sift and my cookie business while still having time to invest in my marriage. Risks are scary. The risks I have taken have brought me way out of my comfort zone, but have shown me the goodness of God and given me a life so much better than I ever dreamed of. So take the risk! You never know where it will lead you.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I make custom decorated cookies for all types of special occasions and also created a mobile app for creative small business owners. Growing up my mom was ALWAYS baking and even had a custom cake business that she ran from our home kitchen. Needless to say, baking is pretty much in my blood. To this day, I still use the cookie recipe we would make together when I was little! After I graduated college I was working as a high school physics teacher and decided to start posting some of the cookies I was decorating on instagram. Pretty soon I started getting orders and from there my cookie business grew! That part of things came pretty natural to me. When my business really took off, I began feeling super overwhelmed with needing to keep track of so many orders while working a full time job. That’s when I came up with the idea for Sift, my app! Developing and launching an app was definitely uncharted territory for me. I did tons of research and took online business courses which really gave me a great starting point. Although creating an app is not the most normal thing in the world, at the end of the day, I am just a normal girl who decided to post cookies on instagram. I never thought my little cookie hobby would turn into what it is today, but I am learning so much and loving every minute!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was visiting the Philadelphia area, our first stop would be seeing the city from the sky! My husband is a pilot and we love renting a small 4 person airplane from the local airport to fly around in. We would fly down to Cape May and walk the town and get some time on the beach. Then, back to the plane to fly home and maybe grab dinner at my favorite local Italian restaurant, Marzano Ristorante. That is pretty much a perfect day in my book!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have endless support from my husband, Alex. He is the crazy one who says “let’s do it” to pretty much any idea I have. Without encouragement from him, there is no way I’d be where I am. My family also deserves a shoutout! I come from a family of entrepreneurs who taught me the value of hard work and using my gifts! Last but not least, my brother. He gets the credit for coming up with the name of my app, Sift!

Website: www.emilyretamozo.com

Instagram: @emily_retamozo

Image Credits
Photos by Mona Madl Alessi & Emily Rogers