In Her Words: Florence Clifford, Baking Love Into Every Bite
Life-long animal lover and baker brings her two passions together, finding new meaning and purpose
For years I've wanted to have my own business. I just didn't know what to do, what platform to go with.
I always wanted to be a vet as a young girl, but a) I never had the confidence in myself to go through with it, and b) I never liked school. I was not a school person. I didn't like going. I didn't like any aspect of it. I'm not stupid. I happen to be a very smart individual. But I couldn't do what I wanted to do as a vet because I didn't have the degree.
I've always baked since I'm young as well. I even started a cake business — custom cakes — but it was a lot of work and a lot of legalities. Then Shasta, the dog my daughter rescued, came along and my daughter wanted to cook her good food, as did I. One day I made these treats for her and I'm like, “This is a great idea!” People will do anything for their dogs and people want good products for their dogs. It's something I feel good about putting out there. So, I said “Let me give it a shot.”
I looked into all the legal issues — how to get an LLC and all the licensing I had to do — and I set up my shop. A Slice of Heaven actually is what I named my cake business. Then I thought of Shasta, my grand-dog as I call her. She is an absolute angel. Dogs are Earth's angels. That's how I came up with the name for the business: A Slice of Heaven for Earth’s Angels. Now I have steady customers. I do the street fairs, I do boutiques. I sell online. It's a lot of fun.
I found recipes online and I took the parts of the recipes I liked from one, two, or three of them and then I created my own recipes and researched the ingredients to make sure they were safe and healthy. I had a customer with five dogs that couldn’t eat anything. None of the ingredients that were in my treats were good for her dogs. She told me what the dogs could have. I took what she told me they could have and I made a recipe out of it and the dogs loved it. I tested the recipes out on Shasta and the ones that she liked are the ones I went with. Now we have peanut butter and pumpkin, chicken, beef, and sweet potato.
The treats are made from all good ingredients — organic and no preservatives. I use turmeric and coconut flour and cinnamon, which is really good for a dog’s joints. There's a tiny bit of cinnamon in the peanut butter treats. You don't want to give a lot of cinnamon because it could irritate their mouth. The amount I put in is so small, it's just a hint. I don't put anything out there that's going to possibly harm somebody.
Some people were like "Florence, you're going to be 60 years old. Your kids are out of the house you have nobody to worry about anymore. Why would you want to start this at this age?" And I'm like, “Well, why not?”
My motto with my treats — and this is what I pride myself on — is I bake to order. For the orders that come in during the week, I do my baking on Saturday and Sunday and they ship out on Monday. I take them out of my oven and I let them cool and then I vacuum seal them. If you place an order online, you're never going to get a treat that is more than a day and a half out of the oven. For the fairs, I can't just do it that day or the day before because I'm making like hundreds of bags. I have to pace myself and do it the week before, but still that’s no more than five days out of the oven. I'll get up early in the morning and I'll do some orders before I go to work and then when I come home, I'll do some more.
My family, my friends, my boss — people that care — have all been very supportive of the whole thing. My poor husband sometimes has to wait till like nine o'clock to eat dinner. But you know, that's a sacrifice we have to make. He's been super supportive. My husband and I actually taste test all the treats. One of them, it tasted so good, we said we can even put these out with cheese if we have company! My kids have been very supportive too, especially my daughter because it's her dog Shasta that started all this and Shasta's face is plastered everywhere.
But the growth is knowing that I actually went out there, pursued something and made a name out of it and just did this for myself. That's where my growth comes in.
Some people were like "Florence, you're going to be 60 years old. Your kids are out of the house you have nobody to worry about anymore. Why would you want to start this at this age?" And I'm like, “Well, why not?” I don't want to just sit around doing nothing. It's something I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to have my own business. And if it takes off, that's great. If it doesn't? Yeah, I'll be disappointed. But I've met a lot of great people. I've learned a lot. And I do think it's going to be successful. It's just going to take some time. I gotta learn to have the patience that I need for it to get off the ground, but it's doing good.
Belle Curve Stories is about “women navigating life with grit, grace and growth.” What do these three words mean to you?
Grit for me is about coming out of my comfort zone, not caring what people think about me anymore, and going after what I want.
The grace part of it, I would say, is being humble about where I came from and what I'm doing now. Just because I have a business doesn't mean I'm better than anybody.
When I think of growth, I don't even think monetarily, necessarily. I mean, that would be awesome. But the growth is knowing that I actually went out there, pursued something and made a name out of it and just did this for myself. That's where my growth comes in.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Growing up I always was afraid of other people's perceptions of me. What are they going to think about what you're doing? Or how you look? You can't wear that because somebody's not gonna like it or you're too fat or you're not pretty enough. So I would tell my younger self: Just be you. Love the person you are. Love the body you are in. Love the mind you have. I would say do not be afraid. Just go for what you want. If you fail, you fail. And if you succeed, then God bless ya.
Florence, we first interviewed you in February … any updates to share?
Actually yes! I am looking into adding equine treats to my inventory. I've already had one person test them out - you might have seen her post with her dog Goldie on my Instagram account. I have a pic of her horse tasting them. I've collaborated with her several times. I also have one other person testing the equine treats.
I have a few exciting things happening this year - my daughter is getting married this Saturday! She is Shasta's Mom and the reason for me starting my business. My grandson is due in August! I'm soooooo excited!
Florence Clifford, age 60, owner of A Slice of Heaven for Earth’s Angels, lives in Rockland County, New York with her husband and five cats. Florence and her husband are soon to be first-time grandparents to their son and daughter-in-law’s baby boy. They are also looking forward to welcoming their daughter’s soon to be husband into the family. Florence enjoys visiting with her grand-dog, Shasta, who inspired her business. She also has a full-time job as an office manager with a wonderful boss and great co-workers. To learn more about her business, follow her on Instagram @asliceofheavenforearthsangels and visit her website at asliceofheaventreats.com.
Happy National Pet Day!