Catherine Golez, or “Cat” as she’s known to friends and customers, spent a recent afternoon baking up two dozen cupcakes with steady determination and a stroke of artistry for a custom order that would be hand delivered to a birthday party in San Ramon the following afternoon.

She mixed up the batter with calculated measurements before baking and cooling the tray, then whipped together her vanilla bean, cream cheese icing to the perfect consistency before carefully piping them atop the red and yellow rounded domes of her baked goods, a process that she takes great pride in.

Golez, founder of Cat’s Cupcakery’s in San Ramon, makes 14 different flavored cupcakes, delivers them personally to parties during her lunch breaks at work, and ships her cupcakes nationally. Her ‘cupcakery’s’ Yelp page boasts five stars, and is the highest rated in the East Bay.

The 26-year-old entrepreneur has been chasing her dream to establish herself as a household name since November 2010. Golez shares an apartment with her mother, whom doubles as her baking assistant and business partner.

Golez started her business with nothing more than her own money, a business license from the City of San Ramon, support and motivation from her mother, and a lot of curiosity for creating a profitable and successful business in the Bay Area.

Compared to other Bay Area cupcake businesses such as Sprinkles’ Cupcakes or Kara’s Cupcakes, Golez aims to provide lower prices and form stronger connections with her customers.

Nationwide, the cupcake industry is waning. Stocks from large national companies such as New York’s Crumbs Bake Shop Inc., peaked in popularity in 2011, according to the Wall Street Journal’s stock analysis of the industry. Locally, Golez has seen some growth: she did 22 weddings in 2013, up from eight in 2012.  Two years ago, she began to see a profit.

She hopes to open her first store in the East Bay sometime in the near future. “I don’t want to have six different locations, I want one small place and maybe a truck where I can see my customers and know who they are and serve them as individuals,” Golez said.

Golez’s mother sees her daughter in her own storefront 10 years from now, managing her business with the same diligence and organizational skills she’s learned in the early stages of developing her brand name.

The young entrepreneur’s main goal as a private business owner is to achieve lasting and strong connections with her customers. She doesn’t want her company to grow to be so large that she can’t respond personally to every email or phone call.

“I’m more so focused on the customer’s wants and needs versus a whole commercialized style of cupcakes,” Golez said. “I like to do something different for every individual order.”

A customer called Cat’s Cupcakery a few years back from Dallas, Texas and explained her husband had to be in San Ramon on their anniversary. She was upset about the distance because they had missed their previous anniversary together, so Cat arranged a delivery of cupcakes to his hotel during a conference he was attending.

“Instead of just baking 12 cupcakes I put in a handwritten card, I took a picture of the delivery and sent it to my customer, I confirmed with her when it was delivered and [did] all those things that aren’t necessary but she appreciated and I would appreciate.”

The customer from Texas still calls to order cupcakes yearly from Cat’s Cupcakery despite the $100 shipping charge—Golez accounts this to the appreciation of their first experience together.

Golez’s treats come in traditional flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet—and also a variety of specialty flavors inspired by her American and Filipino heritage. Her recipes all start with the same base ingredients, and are then accented with unique ingredients such as bacon atop her French Toast flavored Breakfast cupcakes, or Filipino Lime added to her Calamansi Cupcakes.

Currently she’s working on a new flavor, a tres leches cupcake, but doesn’t know when that will debut as she wants it to be “perfect” when it hits the market.

A longtime customer of Cat’s Cupcakery, Megan Harris of San Ramon, gives a special recommendation for her snickerdoodle cupcakes, describing them as “a combo of cinnamon, vanilla deliciousness.”

All of her cupcakes are available for car delivery within 10 miles of her house for a minimal fee, and small batches can be ordered anywhere up to a day before a customer’s event.  Golez also caters locally and makes custom displays with handmade decoration for weddings and special events.