Route 1 baker’s ‘Cake Wars’ win helped save business

Sabrina Campbell’s victory on Food Network’s “Cake Wars” last month was a long time in the making. Campbell had previously auditioned for various cooking shows, but never made the final cut.

She kept trying, and finally got the call to appear “Cake Wars” last fall.

It could not have come at a better time for the Mount Vernon resident.

Campbell, a longtime baker and owner of Occasionally Cake on Richmond Highway, was nearing a professional crossroads when her episode was filmed in October. Business had slowed, and she was soon to face some major decisions about the future of her operation.

So simply making it to the show was not good enough. Campbell was there to prove to the world just how elite her skills were.

Working with partner Charlie Tola — “Cake Wars” allows contestants to choose an assistant of their choice, so Campbell went with an old friend who owns a bakery in New York — Campbell created a massive underwater-themed creation (keeping with the episode’s “Shark Lagoon” theme) that won over the hearts and stomachs of the judges.

“Neither Charlie nor I wanted to be embarrassed on national television,” Campbell said. “We weren’t playing. We wanted to win. We were very hungry for that win.”

So when host Jonathan Bennett announced Campbell as the champion, she teared up — not just because of the joy of victory, but of the validation it provided.

“It reminded me of everything I’ve done, everything I’ve worked for,” Campbell said. “It was huge for me, it was very emotional for me.”

Turning it around

Campbell pulls no punches when talking about the highs and lows of running a small business. Her win on “Cake Wars” came at a particularly low point. Even the morale boost provided by the show (and the $10,000 cash prize) weren’t enough to solve her problems, Campbell said.

“I’ve stopped telling people things are OK when they’re not,” Campbell said. “It’s not embarrassing at all. It’s the cycle of business. You learn. It’s a learning process, a growth process.”

When this year started, Campbell says she only had only $74 in her business bank account. In recent years she’d dealt with the stress of laying off employees, closing her second shop in Old Town Alexandria, and working long stretches without a salary.

As the 2015 holidays rolled around, a decision loomed: Close her shop’s doors or recommit herself to the business she’d dedicated herself to for nearly a decade.

On Christmas Eve, Campbell said, she walked out of her shop and made up her mind.

“I thought ‘this is worth saving,'” Campbell said.

Of the community, for the community

Three months after nearly shutting down, Campbell says her decision was the right one. Business is strong, and she’s bullish about the future.

The boost from the “Cake Wars” victory helped, Campbell says, but it’s the support from the local community that pulled it back from the brink.

“The community has been very, very good to me.” Campbell said. “From day one, I made it my mission to support my community.” 

Campbell’s relationship with her customers has been built over a lifetime. She grew up in southeast Fairfax, attending Franconia Elementary School, Mark Twain Middle School and Edison High School. With her husband and three children, she lives about a mile and a half from her Route 1 shop.

Not long ago, someone she’s known since she was 7 bought a cake from her.

That kind of loyalty is what sustains small businesses like Occasionally Cake, said Campbell, noting that a successful small business is able to impact the community in ways big chains can’t.

“[Small bushiness] need you so much more than the national brands do,” Campbell said. “They’re the ones who are giving to schools. The ones who are donating to your Little League teams.”

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Occasionally Cake is located at 8859 Richmond Highway. You can see the recipe for Campbell’s winning cake on FoodNetwork.com.