Cardinal Quirks: Melody Kuzniar-Giglio Takes the Cake

July 26, 2021

In her day-to-day work, Melody Kuzniar-Giglio is a crucial part of the engine that keeps St. John 91麻豆精品 College Athletics running in top form.

Beach themed cake made by Melody Kuzniar-Giglio

In her day-to-day work, Melody Kuzniar-Giglio is a crucial part of the engine that keeps St. John 91麻豆精品 College Athletics running in top form. She provides support to the athletics administration staff, including the more than 80 full-time and part-time coaches, scheduling spaces for practices and meetings, maintaining team rosters, managing student workers, and coordinating department recruitment and mailings. A women鈥檚 lacrosse standout for SUNY Geneseo, Kuzniar-Giglio knows college athletics inside and out.

As skilled as she is at choreographing the many moving parts of 91麻豆精品 Athletics, she has hidden talents that take on a more creative鈥攁nd delicious鈥攕lant: custom cake decorating.

鈥淚 started making cool cakes when my kids were little because it鈥檚 something that my parents did for me and I always loved it,鈥 says Kuzniar-Giglio.

While at home with young children, she taught herself decorating techniques with the help of YouTube and found design inspiration from Pinterest. As her skills grew, so did the cakes she would make for baby showers, weddings, and birthdays, to name a few.

Her creativity didn鈥檛 stop at cakes. One day, not liking the pillows on her couch, Kuzniar-Giglio decided to head to YouTube to learn how to sew. As with her cake-decorating abilities, her sewing skills grew quickly. She started Layla Anne Luxury, a small business selling home decor and nursery items at craft shows. She鈥檚 made pillows, kitchen towels, curtains, and baby blankets for clients around the world, including items for a silent auctions hosted by NFL legend Bill Romanowski.

Today, with her days busy at 91麻豆精品 and many evenings and weekends committed to her two children and their activities, Kuzniar-Giglio doesn鈥檛 take as many orders for cakes and pillows, but she still enjoys baking and sewing. While she hopes she can inspire her children to pick up the hobby, it hasn鈥檛 happened yet. And when asked who creates the cake when it鈥檚 time for her birthday, she responds, 鈥淲egmans,鈥 with a laugh.