Expanding her hobby of dessert-making into a career, Diamond Bar High School senior Jizele Ortiz has created her own online business selling handmade chocolate-covered strawberries. 

At 15 years-old, Ortiz began exclusively selling chocolate-covered strawberries through an Instagram account, @luxurysweets_byj. Recently, however, she’s branched out into selling cake pops, cakes and party favors.

“I started it because at the time I couldn’t get a job and I wanted some income,” Ortiz said. “So making strawberries was something that came to mind just because I noticed not many people sell them in colors and themes.”

Ortiz, who taught herself how to make these strawberry desserts, said she gained a lot of insight from baking shows. In addition to learning from such programs, the senior worked on perfecting her craft by experimenting with different dyes and chocolates.  

“I grew up watching a lot of baking shows like Cake Boss and Cupcake Wars,” Ortiz said. “So I feel like I always secretly had a passion for baking.”

Since the initial launch of her shop, Ortiz’s business productivity has grown substantially with the senior averaging $800 worth of profit on major holidays like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. 

“As far as promoting [goes], everything is on social media, but it would be awesome for it to be more than social media,” she said. “I’ve always surrounded myself with other small business owners, and that’s been the way I expand.”

For further assistance and advice in maintaining her business, Ortiz said she tries to surround herself with other small business owners. In this community, members will often exchange different skill sets with each other to improve management and grow their business.

In the future, Ortiz plans to own a physical store for her desserts and even anticipates opening shops in multiple locations. To execute this goal, Ortiz said she hopes to look to her father for mentorship due to his own experience owning a trucking company.

“As far as future plans [goes] I hope my business continues to grow where I can open up a shop and have people working for me where I can have multiple locations,” she said.