Aces of Trades: DiZurts Bakery is Salyer's labor of love
HEATH – She had a career, then found her true love.
“I grew up in a small family where things were financially tight,” Tracy Salyer said. “My dad worked in a factory and was laid off quite often, but he always found work. He would mow grass, help people with their yards and eventually started his own landscape company. I definitely got my drive from my dad. His passion was landscaping and mine is baking and decorating cakes.”
Today, Salyer is the sole proprietor of DiZurts Custom Cakes & More, or DiZurts Bakery for short.
“I’m the CEO, as my husband Michael likes to say,” she said. “He’s probably here more than me, to be honest. Michael gets here about 5-5:30 a.m. to get the doughnuts and cinnamon rolls ready. He likes to make sure he’s organized for the day. I usually get here between 6 and 7 a.m.”
Husband Michael Salyer jokingly calls himself the COO of the company.
“I’m the person behind the scenes, watching over everything and admiring this dream of Tracy’s play out," Michael Salyer said. "She’s worked very hard at achieving her goals. I’m very proud and honored to be a part of her dream. I’m behind her 100%.”
Tracy Salyer grew up in the Minerva Park section of Columbus and graduated from Westerville South in 1990 before she attended Ohio State University, taking pre-nursing classes. She graduated from Columbus State with a surgical technology degree in applied sciences in 1995, and she worked on the neuro, ENT and plastics team at Riverside Methodist Hospital the next five years.
“I worked at Big Bear in Columbus from the time I graduated from high school until 1994,” she said. “I was hired in the bakery as a closer and then slowly learned how to ice doughnuts and make small cakes and cupcakes. I loved my job! I loved having regular customers stop by and chat. I loved getting to know them.”
“I always thought I would be a nurse growing up,” she said. “I loved working at the hospital, but I started having medical issues after my second daughter. So I fell back on an old trade of working in a bakery.”
She worked as a baker and cake decorator at a couple large grocery stores, and later Denison University, before she started her own baking business from home.
“I worked at home for two years,” she said. “I was getting so many orders, I couldn’t keep up. In early 2014 we started looking for a brick and mortar. With the help of an ‘angel’ who co-signed a business loan for me, I was able to open my bakery in January of 2015.”
DiZurts now thrives on South 30th Street, just south of Dairy Isle in Heath.
“I love what I do, and I love sharing my passion with my community,” Tracy Salyer said. “And I love working with my husband. I am so blessed to be able to see him and spend time with him every day. I also get to work with some of my close friends. We really have fun working together. We all love what we do.”
Tracy Salyer now is approaching a decade helping brighten the day of her customers.
“We wouldn’t be here without God,” she said. “He has opened so many doors for us and has put so many people in our lives. We are truly blessed to be able to do what we love and share it with so many. We’ve been blessed to be in business over eight years now and continue to see new people daily. We are so grateful for the support of the community.”
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com.
More about DiZurts Bakery
DiZurts Custom Cakes & More is located at 381 South 30th St. in Heath. For more information, call 740-814-2525 or go to their Facebook page.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Aces of Trades: DiZurts Bakery is Tracy Salyer's labor of love
