Episode Details

Step inside the creative world of Anna Echols, a renowned cake artist and designer celebrated for her innovative sculptural cakes and artistic storytelling through sugar. In this intimate biographical interview, Anna shares her journey from discovering culinary creativity to building a career that blends art, design, craft, and food culture. Learn how Anna elevates cake into a fine-art experience—drawing inspiration from architecture, texture, history, and nature. From early creative influences to building a client base, Anna reflects on the passion, discipline, and curiosity required to grow professionally as an independent artist. Whether you’re a cake lover, pastry enthusiast, entrepreneur, or creative professional, this episode offers inspiring insights into the emotional, personal, and professional evolution of a modern food artist.

🎧 Listen to explore:
• Anna’s artistic origin story
• Unexpected paths into cake artistry
• Building a creative business
• Inspirations: nature, architecture, design
• Creative process + signature techniques
• Balancing craftsmanship and innovation

• The future of edible art Perfect for fans of cake art, culinary design, creative careers, pastry arts, and artistic storytelling.

🔍 Keywords: Anna Echols, cake artist, cake designer, sculptural cakes, pastry artist, edible art, creative interview, biographical podcast, culinary design, food art, artist story, creative journey, entrepreneurship, art and design podcast

BIO
Anna Echols is a cake artist, designer and bakery owner who creates life-like cakes celebrating every occasion. With painstaking attention to detail, her goal is to produce a cake that is hard to decipher from the real thing; almost too good to eat. Anna was born in Wilmington, NC in 1984 to Douglas and DeLonna Echols. She has one brother Douglas Echols, Jnr., a custom home renovator. Her father, who passed away in 2006, was a Commercial Real Estate Developer and entrepreneur who loved cooking, and Delonna, a stay-at-home mom. Her father once owned the shopping center where Anna’s bakery business is now based although he sadly did not live to see her business develop. Anna attended Cape Fear Academy for pre-k-12th grade in Wilmington and Meredith College, Raleigh, NC for her bachelors degree before she went to Orlando Culinary Academy for the Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie and Baking Program. It was while she was there that she took part in TLC’s “The Ultimate Bake-Off”, which Anna says was a defining moment in her career. In 2011, she returned home to Wilmington to her mother’s house where she started her bakery business and operated for the first two years. One Belle Bakery took off and she expanded her space for customers and, which now, has eight full-time staff whom Anna considers her family. Anna's creativity has attracted celebrity clients, including the late Country Music singer Charlie Daniels who gave her a cowboy hat in return.

https://www.onebellebakery.com
Instagram: @onebellebakery

Anna’s favorite women artists:
Liz Marek
Natalie Sideserf
Maggie Austin
Brooke Helton
Brooke Lupton
Jennifer Rose

Playlist:
Faith (with Dolly Parton ft. Mr. Probz)
Wake Me Up (Avicii)
I Just Wanna Shine (Fitz and the Tantrums)
Take a Walk (Passion Pit)
Sugar, Sugar (The Archies)

Host: Chris Stafford
Produced by Hollowell Studios
Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
AART on Facebook
Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com

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