Beth Sanchez of Beth's Cakes - OKIE Magazine

Oven’.” So she was somewhat
surprised when her mother-inlaw
gave her a cupcake pan she
had found at a garage sale, and
encouraged her to try baking.
While she was not a complete
stranger to a kitchen, having
young mouths to feed, Sanchez
nonetheless literally started from
scratch, in her baking
endeavors.
As was becoming
the tradition in
Sanchez’s life, each
time things began to
move in a positive
manner, much like the
yeast in a cake falling,
she found herself
facing obstacles. The
stresses of a large
challenges were
creating a strain on
her marriage, and
reached a point that
she loaded up her
children, and moved
to Grove, Oklahoma,
to stay with her father.
But, as in every other
aspect of her life, Beth Sanchez is
not a quitter.
Deciding they would make the
marriage work, Beth moved back
to Lawton and she and Michael
recommitted themselves to a life
together. “He’s my rock,” Beth
says of Michael. “There aren’t a
lot of men who would push and
encourage their wife to shine like
my husband has. If it weren’t for
him, I don’t know where I would
be. He gave me this life. He gave
me the family I hoped for.”
It was during this time that Beth
began experimenting with baked
goods, encouraged by a gift from
Michael. He had given her some
cookbooks, a rolling pin and
other accessories, along with two
Pandora beads: one for cupcakes,
and one for wedding cakes, a
symbol of their recommitment.
“He told me the cupcake bead
was to encourage me to get
better at something that he really
thought I had a knack for.”
Although she was enjoying her
new hobby, she also pursued it
with the same zeal and diligence
she had used in facing the
adversities of her life, which
meant if she was going to do it,
she was committed to doing it
right, and the best that she could.
The Sanchez Boys: Rocco, Manny,
and Nesta
In March of 2010 she felt
comfortable enough with her
creations to start a Facebook
page called Beth’s Cakes, so she
could post photographs of her
more unique baking creations.
Little did she know, she had just
turned up the heat on her hobby.
“People started ordering
almost immediately. Things got
hectic quickly, and in the fall of
2010, I found out I was pregnant
with Rocco.” Sanchez was
homeschooling her children at
the time, and with the pregnancy,
a decision had to be made as to
whether she would continue the
homeschooling, or the business,
as time would not allow for both.
She and Michael discussed it with
their children, and they decided
they would enroll the children in
public school and this would allow
Beth’s Cakes to continue.
Her success on the social
media network continued, and
with other local publicity, she
found herself, once again, up
against adversity. The Health
Department was knocking at her
door.
“I never realized what I was
doing was illegal,”
Sanchez remembers,
referring to the fact she
was selling her goods
from her home kitchen.
“We were just trying
to make enough to
buy a car seat for the
baby and buy formula.”
Nevertheless, Beth
Sanchez had committed
herself to doing
whatever she did, in the
right way. Beth’s Cakes
was on hold.
As if her life was being
written for a Hollywood
drama television show,
it was only a few days
later that she received
word that her beloved
Grammy had passed
break.
Her absence was noticed in
the social media world, as well
as by people who recognized her
from her Internet page, including
one of the nurses in the delivery
room when she was giving birth
everywhere who knew of Beth’s
Cakes,” she said, “and we began
to feel like we should try to make
a go of it”.
Following the birth of Rocco,
Beth and Michael took the money
from Michael’s 401k and invested
business venture. That venture
failed, even before it opened. “It
was a hard lesson learned,” stated
Beth.
Once again, Beth was faced
with giving up on another dream,
but deep in her heart, she knew
she had to continue somehow. “I
love my husband so much, and
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