By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
Victoria Riley has had a dream of starting a bakery of her own for a long time.
Her earliest memories center around her sitting on a high stool at the counter at 3 years old helping to roll pretzels, or helping to make pie crusts.
Learning to bake is so ingrained in her memories and abilities, it has become a huge part of who she is.
And now her dream is coming true. Square Peg Bakery, at 3412 Baker Street in Erlanger, will have a ribbon cutting on Friday morning, and the doors will open at 10 a.m.
Victoria is thrilled.
“I pull into the parking lot and see my sign, and I think, What’s happening??” she said. “It means the world to me. I am as giddy as a kid.”
Victoria grew up in Circleville, Ohio, and immediately went to work with her parents, who owned a restaurant in the city. As a child, she was in the thick of things, and she loved it. She was an only child, so she was permitted to help whenever possible.
“My greatgrandma made the pies and cakes for the bakery, and my grandma owned an ice cream cake business,” she remembered. “I always wanted to learn and help, and that is a part of me now. Learning to help bake was always my happy place, it is my legacy, and now I can share that legacy with others, giving back to the community.”
Work brought her to the Northern Kentucky area, and she immediately loved the area, and says she would not want to live anywhere else.
“In the back of my mind was always this idea that I wanted to start my own bakery,” she mused. “But my grandma was a nurse, and she started her business when she retired, so I thought that would be what I would do, wait until I retired, and then start the business. But, I guess over the course of life, I got to the point where the thought had grown, and it was nagging me. I had been baking things for people in a residential oven, and I knew it was time to grow.”
She said she had created baked items for various people, turning out masterpieces in her home oven.
“I baked my best friend’s oldest daughter her first birthday cake, and just recently baked that same child her 9th birthday cake,” she said. “I have children come to me with their parents whose baby showers I baked cakes for. But when I was baking at home, I was only able to bake a dozen cinnamon rolls at a time, and at the time I was happy with that. Now I am able to do 45 at a time with these new commercial ovens.” She laughed. “I was almost intimidated by the immensity of the ovens at first, and the thought popped into my head, that I wasn’t sure I was ready, but it passed quickly, and now I am perfectly at home with all this equipment.”
Since last year, Victoria has put her mission to have her own bakery into high gear. She visited friends with some of her baked treats on Thursdays, and created a motto of ‘spread love and frosting’, a thought she has absorbed into her life and her work.
She contracted with the restaurant, the Hive, to provide her famous cinnamon rolls, a recipe from her past that she has tweaked to make it her own. In that process, she has become friends with Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette, and council member Tyson Hermes, who have helped her to find her permanent location.
Victoria has a cadre of friends in Northern Kentucky, among them Florence Council Member and former Mayor Diane Whalen, who champions Victoria any chance she gets. Victoria worked as a photographer and media person for Florence before she decided to concentrate solely on creating her business.
“I lost my parents, really my whole family, early on, and Diane has kind of adopted me, and provided a constant source of support for me,” she said. “Diane is great.”
Another close friend is Gabi Deaton, who supports Victoria, and the support is mutual.
“Gabi has proven to be one of the strongest people I know, and I just love her,” said Victoria. “So this weekend, for every cinnamon roll I sell, one dollar will go to the Black Balloon, which is Gabi’s business, a 501-c3, a local nonprofit that works directly with those impacted by addiction.”
The Black Balloon has had a photography project since 2017 where they take pictures of families who have lost a loved one to overdose. The families hold a black balloon, and the photographs are displayed in an art gallery around March 6, which is national overdose day, along with art from local artists in the community.
It became a non-profit in 2023. Usual profits from the art gallery amount to about $3,000, and that money is used to create move in kits for former addicts who are settling into sober houses, and need things like bed in a bag, pillows, and hygiene items. A third service is financial, helping families who have suddenly lost a loved one to overdose to be able to afford final arrangements for that loved one.
Victoria believes strongly in Gabi’s mission, and their friendship is a firm bond. There will be a small table in the bakery devoted to helping spread Gabi’s message.
When asked, Victoria shared the sentiment behind her choice of a name for the bakery.
“I love this statement: ‘Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the square pegs in the round holes, the ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things –they push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.’” Victoria said.
“This, with everything else, motivates me.”