0
0
Kakes & Kanvas logo withe glitter background

About us

Meet our founder

Kalia Gounden the founder of Kakes & Kanvas with an umbrella

Kalia Gounden

"You can call me Kali 😁

I'm pleased to have you become a part of our sweet little community!

Let me tell you why YOU are what makes Kakes & Kanvas so special"

Our Mission

Let's keep it simple, our mission is:
Kakes & Kanvas helps our community feel good about themselves through kindness and creativity
That's it

Our 3 Values

Kindness

We're building a community that makes a positive impact by treating people right, with kindness.
We don't do business with nasty people

Creativity

We believe people are at their best when they are free to express themselves with creativity
Let your inner light unapologetically shine

Community

We are dedicated to brightening your day so you can influence others the same way
You are the most important part of our business

What is Kakes & Kanvas?

The Kake

It's about so much more than just a cake
A cake brings people together. Cake is an occassion. We celebrate each other with cake. 
Cake fills more than our tummies, cake fills our hearts and souls by bringing us closer to what matters most, each other

The Kanvas

Life is a Kanvas and we all contribute to make a brilliant tapestry of shades and colours
Our philosophy is to teach people that their contributions matter and help craft the beautiful world we all share
We apply this to all our undertakings.
Our classes are a Kanvas.
Our Community is a Kanvas.
Our Kakes are a Kanvas.
We spread our teachings in how we conduct ourself and with our creative classes such as Paint n' Sip Parties, or cake decorating. All are welcome to join our community classes or private group bookings are also available

The Short Story

Kali Gounden founded the business in 2017. After 7 years of operating the business online she and her partner Luke opened their first brick and mortar location in Calgary's Kensington.
"It's such a refreshing change being able to have regular face to face interactions with our customers"
Kali
Now the Kensington location is a sweet little cafe, a meeting place for catch ups and get togethers. Our deliveries services city wide and there is now the option of picking up orders in person. 
Since we don't have a venue big enough (YET) our creative classes, such as Paint n' Sip Parties and Cake Decorating are hosted with other local businesses like bars and restaurants that we partner with to create incredible experiences for the community.
This is where we are now, but the interesting bit is how we got here

The Long Story

The Begining

For Kali her greatest passions, baking and painting, had something vital in common, they bring people together and instil joy to those who share it.

She dreamed of building a place that attracted people with the idea of adding colour into our community with kindness and appreciation for creative expression.
Kalia’s love for the arts and baking started at a young age, baking her first solo cake at the age of 6.

Excelling at school/personal art projects, often having her artwork/projects showcased at the front office and/or outside the classroom.

Throughout her life Kalia has strived to make this world a better place with her art and baking, to brighten the day of individuals in the slightest of ways.
Kali Gounden Founder of Kakes & Kanvas holding her first cake
Kali's first cake
Why baking? It stems from her close relationship with a lifelong Italian baker, her grandfather and best friend - Nonno.
Kali and Nonno
Kali and Nonno
Nonno immigrated from northern Italy,  leaving his bakery behind and opening a new one in Revelstoke BC to become the town's resident baker.

As his family grew one day he found himself with a devoted little shadow by the name of Kali doggedly terrorising his every move. 

He had a kindred spirit in the little terror though he would seldom admit it, you would much more frequently hear him exclaim in his thick Italian accent,
“Kalia, shut up a little bit!”
Sadly Nonno passed away in 2017 but Kalia still carries with her his fiery Italian passion for baking and she shares this with her community.

Around the time of Nonno’s passing Kali found herself in a spiralling depression. She had just completed a degree in criminal justice but no one was hiring. Consequently she found herself jobless and without purpose.
At the time she was quietly ashamed of feeling this way but since came to realise many of us have these feelings.  If we are encouraged to express ourselves we can help each other work through our troubles together. 

After feeling displaced for sometime she decided it was time to take action.

If Nonno was brave enough to move his life across the world and start a business then she could start one in her home town. Kali began to pursue her dream, and Kakes & Kanvas was born.
Kalia GOunden the founder of kakes & kanvas in overalls with a whisk and paint brush
But all visions need to start somewhere and Kakes & Kanvas didn’t have a place to start but that didn’t stop Kali from selling her cakes and hosting paint class. She would rent kitchens to bake in and partner with venues to host classes.

She began building the community before finding a physical space to call home. This was possible because Kakes & Kakes is more than creative baked goods or a fun painting class.
Kakes & Kanvas is an idea, the same idea that gathers people around a birthday cake, a wedding cake, the mona lisa, or a starry night, it’s the sense of togetherness, it’s the joy and creativity that makes us social creatures, a respite from the troubles we all share. It’s a community.

An Unexpected Entrance

During a well deserved holiday visiting family in Europe in 2019 Kali had a chance encounter on the roof of a parkade bar in Lisbon of all places
A charming Australian gentleman by the name of Luke entered her life.

Luke returned to Australia in January 2020 to finish his marketing degree. 

Then Covid struck the world

Since travel was restricted during the pandemic Luke began to help build Kakes & Kanvas remotely

Kali and Luke maintained a long distance relationship for 18 months until Luke finally got permission from the government to travel to Canada.
Kali's 
Cup of tea
Now they own and operate the business as 50/50 parters in life and buisness

(life it's more like  60/40, she's the boss)
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram