Meet Katie & Eddie Medina | Owners & Operators at Lyla Lou’s Cakes & Cookies

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie & Eddie Medina and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie & Eddie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
To our families and friends, we’ve always been the cake, or dessert, people. When we first met over eight years ago, we immediately connected over our love for food and deep down we’ve always known that we aspired to have our own business. We ultimately started Lyla Lou’s on a “now or never” whim when we found ourselves without jobs. It was the perfect time to start getting our names out there and hone in on our craft. From there, word of mouth helped us the most in gaining new clientele and keeping a loyal customer base. We would complete an order for one event and then get a few people saying “I tried your cookies at my friend’s party and loved them!”, which is always awesome to hear. We are grateful thus far for how much support we’ve seen! We’ve had the opportunity to do what we love and make people happy throughout that process and really, what more can you ask for?! Some may wonder where our name, Lyla Lou’s, came from, but if you know us personally, it was the easiest decision. Lyla was our beloved 10 year old Boxer mix who came to us as an 11 week old rescue from a Rhode Island animal shelter. She immediately stole Katie’s heart with her sassy personality and undeniable underbite. She did everything with us, including, but not limited to, making a cross country drive from Pennsylvania to California to start our future on the West Coast. For 10 short years, she made the rules in our house. She was always the best part of our day, so we felt it appropriate to name a business dedicated to making everyone’s days sweeter after our own sweet girl. Even though the name came to be before she left us, it is now so much more special that we get to honor her in the best way we know how.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
At Lyla Lou’s, we specialize in custom cakes and detailed decorated sugar cookies. We think that our precise attention to detail is something that sets us apart from others. Whether the event is a baby shower, a milestone birthday, a wedding or whatever the celebration might be, we take our time to go over everything thoroughly with our clients to make sure that everything is exactly what they are looking for. It takes time to understand what details are most important to our clients, and then on top of that, to make each design ‘ours’. We want to make sure that people know when they receive our cookies or cakes, they are getting a work of art that truly embodies the dedication we have to our craft. We wouldn’t say the road to becoming the professionals we are today was incredibly difficult, but it didn’t come without its challenges and bumps in the road. Every experience has helped shape us into who we are and who we strive to be everyday. We have learned from these experiences the type of business we want to have, the type of leaders we want to be in the future, and most importantly, how we want to treat our clients. It’s not just a matter of making the cake and cookies and moving on, it’s learning about our clients; who are they celebrating? How can we personalize this so that it is perfect for their special day? How can we add a little sparkle to each order? It really is important to make each and every person feel heard and take the same amount of care through every client. We want to be known for the people we are and the love and joy we share through our edible art.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is the perfect question, seeing as Katie’s family is from Pennsylvania and we have had to create many an itinerary! For starters, we have PLENTY of places that we love in the OC area. For a weeklong trip, we have a few breakfast options: grab a bagel at our favorite spot, Shirley’s Bagels on 17th Street, or a delicious trendy latte from Coffee Dose on Irvine Ave. If you are ready for another bagel, as Katie always is, Boil & Bake on Bristol is a killer new spot! We also love a Monday morning at The Original Pancake House on Adams. A nice hike through the Back Bay in Newport or Crystal Cove in Laguna is always a fun activity to those who aren’t familiar with the area. Make sure you stop by Crystal Cove Shake Shack on PCH before you leave! We have had the best brunch and dinner experiences at Taco Maria, a Michelin star awarded Mexican restaurant. Our absolute favorite pizza spot would have to be Folks at The Camp in Costa Mesa, which has a few other restaurants, breweries and shops very near by for a full evening of shopping, food and drinks. If you happen to catch OC on a cool day, check out Vietnam’s Pearl Restaurant for a nice hot bowl of pho. For our personal favorite dessert, head over to Hans’ Homemade Ice Cream on Bristol in Santa Ana for an old fashioned banana split (extra hot fudge please!) If you are venturing out to LA, breakfast at Good Neighbor in Studio City is a must and definitely dinner at JINYA for some incredible ramen. We understand most of these places involve food, but truthfully, it’s kind of our thing!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Aside from completely leaning on each other throughout the process of getting our business off the ground, our families and friends have been a huge part of what’s kept us going. Whether it be taste testing Eddie’s new recipe creations to make sure they have the perfect touch, or seeing six different versions of a cookie design that Katie is working on, we owe so much to the support of our people and will never forget the role each and every person has played in getting us here! We also owe quite a bit to our mentors who got us to explore our passion for this industry. For Katie, she went to pastry school in Providence, Rhode Island at Johnson & Wales University. Aside from owing everything to what she learned during her time at JWU, there are so many chef instructors that molded her into the baker and decorator she is today. To name a few, Kim Dolan, TJ Delle Donne, Robert Zielinski and Christina Harvey played a huge part in making Katie the chef and human that she has become. It really is funny to think of who we are one day and then the person we are after certain role models come into our lives. As for Eddie, it goes back to his high school days where he competed in state and nationwide culinary competitions. He is most grateful for his teacher, Mrs. Dukes, culinary team volunteers such as Hennie Sondel and Minnie Ballard, and chef mentor Emiliano Nino, who in addition to helping him explore his passion for food, encouraged him to always be the best version of himself.

We would also like to thank our talented friend and fellow baker, Katie Carrico of Mollie Rose Bakeshop, who nominated us for this interview. Lastly, but certainly not least, we would be amiss if we didn’t give credit to SusieCakes Bakery, which is where we first met back in 2015. We both started our careers in the industry there and are grateful for what we learned from the many leaders we had throughout our SusieCakes tenure.

Instagram: @lylalous_cakesandcookies

Other: Email: lylalouscakesandcookies@gmail.com

Image Credits
Jordan DeNike Photography Michelle Johnson Photography