20qs
Dan Byers
05.17.10
1. If you had to begin a different career, what would you do?
I’ve already done this! It’s not every day that someone goes from a successful real estate career to launching a company like Daddy Cakes®. It seems surreal at times that we get to help so many wonderful people and support community-based programs the way we do through the sale of our Daddy Cakes mixes. We are still growing and when you are the owner, you take on different responsibilities daily.
2. What’s your most prized possession?
My family—hands down. There’s nothing else more important to me. Everything else in my life, I could replace with time, hard work and determination.
3. Favorite drink?
Oh, I so don’t like to admit this one in public, if you are talking adult beverage, then Red Bull and Grey Goose. A PG-13 beverage—I’ll take a nice, frosty mug of root beer.
4. What are you cutting out because of the economy?
Monohydrate dioxide. I heard it was unhealthy. Just kidding! We have been buying more things that come in reusable packaging and supporting causes that we believe in.
5. Fantasy purchase?
Once upon a time, I had a nice sports car, but now I want to bring the family along and the Maserati Quattroporte is a Ferrari that seats four.
6. What can’t you live without?
Water… not just the stuff you drink, but I have to be in it or next to it. I am the original “just add water” type.
7. What’s next on your “to do” list?
My “to do” list is kind of like a “lucky 8 ball” – I might have a list but getting specific things all lined up sequentially is a bit more challenging. Getting past the fact that my “to do” list reaches from Alaska to Maine when written on rice…
8. Biggest regret?
Not having more kids. Just having two kids already “A bombs” any order that I once had in my life, but getting past the reality that my “to do” list expands exponentially because of these wonderful beings; I realize how much fuller my life is because of them.
9. Cause that you’re most interested/involved in?
Part of why I created Daddy Cakes was so that as a company we could help not just a single cause, but that we could support many causes. We do multiple events every month in various communities, supporting everything from Little League Baseball to hosting fundraisers with public figures to help those less fortunate.
10. Your dream day in OC?
Every day is a dream day for me in OC. For me, it’s not about particular destinations - it’s all about the journey and new discoveries that are available right here. It’s so easy to get busy and forget to look around at what a wonderful place and community we have created here.
11. Favorite place for breakfast?
At home, in my own kitchen with my family. The only thing better is when friends can join us too. For restaurant dining, we like to go to Cappy’s on PCH for a nice mellow Surf City breakfast.
12. What was the best day of your life?
That’s like asking me to identify the best part of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or a chocolate éclair! Probably the best moment in a day was when I was on a date and all of sudden I realized, “I’m going to marry this girl” and nearly 12 years later we have two great boys.
13. Last concert that you went to?
Last month, I went to see Willie Nelson and then to Coachella in the same week. I am so grateful to see Willie in concert because of his influence to so many other talented artists.
14. Favorite vacation spot?
Italy, the entire country.
15. What do you love and hate about Orange County?
I love the people of Orange County and their unique perspectives on life.
So many of this County’s residents are entrepreneurs who have a passion for discovering how to do things in a new, different, and fresh way. I hate that so many of these people steal my cocktail napkin/fantasy world ideas and put them into action.
16. Favorite books?
I read, read, and read but rarely is it an actual book. I like to read, but I don’t do it for relaxation too often. Instead, I read newspapers and research topics of interest online.
17. Favorite restaurants in Orange County?
We go to Wahoo’s probably more than any single other restaurant. Everyone in the family likes their food so it makes it real easy—we move in like a colony of termites on a new tract home.
18. Biggest accomplishment?
Hopefully, I haven’t done it yet! I guess it would be the fact that I came from a very humble childhood in Colorado, moved to California by myself when I was 18 with only a suitcase and $34, worked and paid my own way through college. I believe in and represent the American dream.
19. What’s your biggest fear?
Failure is my biggest fear and best motivator. Most other things don’t bother me.
20. Secret most people don’t know about you.
That every other Tuesday on the third week of the fourth month under a full moon, I talk like a Pirate all day long.
Blog
TAKE A GREAT STRIDE!
05.11.10
The Great Strides Walk is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s largest and most successful national fundraising event (in Orange County, the next walk is Saturday in Huntington Beach at the Bolsa Chica State Park.) If you’d like to get involved by making a donation, just go and hit the “Click to Donate” button. Your donation will be credited to team of Kim Daskas, a major supporter of Greer’s OC who has a family member with Cystic Fibrosis.
There is no outside or federal funding for the research and care so desperately needed, so your donation will be making a huge difference in extending the quality of life for those with CF.
Follow Greer on Pinterest
from the blog
- 07.24.26 – Winter Fest OC Kicks Off Christmas in July Sale
- 07.23.26 – VIII by Selanne Unveils Summer Tasting Menu
- 07.17.26 – Voluspa Brings Luxury Home Fragrance to Irvine Spectrum Center
- 07.16.26 – Alisal Ranch Marks 80 Years with a Summer of Celebration
- 07.14.26 – VEA Newport Beach Debuts Chef Angelo Sosa Summer Menu
- 07.13.26 – One Night, Five Courses, and a Top Chef Canada Champion at Balboa Bay Resort
- 07.13.26 – Amorelia Cocina Artesanal Brings the Flavors of Michoacán to Laguna Beach
- 07.13.26 – Via Lido Plaza Hosts Stars, Stripes & Summer Celebration July 17-18
- 07.12.26 – Casa Romantica’s Summer Lineup Features Concerts, Movies and Family Fun
- 07.08.26 – A True Full-Circle Moment: Artist Brothers Use ChatGPT to Help Create Bonita Canyon’s 50th Anniversary Mural
- 07.07.26 – IVI Vision Pops Up at Rails in Fashion Island
- 07.06.26 – Join Me at the Costa Mesa Historical Society Speakers Program
- 07.06.26 – Books We Loved: Ocean Adventures and an Imaginative Princess
- 07.01.26 – Pacific Symphony Unveils Star-Studded 2026-27 Pops Season
- 06.30.26 – What’s New at VOX Kitchen South Coast Plaza
- 06.29.26 – Selanne Steak Tavern Celebrates 10 Years of Wine Spectator Recognition
- 06.26.26 – Segerstrom Center’s Y2K-Inspired Movie Mondays Return This Summer
- 06.25.26 – Summer Nights on the Lawn at VEA Newport Beach
- 06.18.26 – Sushi Ii Pairs Up with Brooklyn Kura for a Sake-Focused Omakase Night
- 06.17.26 – Say “I Do” on a Working Avocado Farm in Temecula
More Daily Doses
- 07.24.26 – LJ’s Lounge Brings Soul-Infused Dining and Music to Triangle Square
- 07.19.26 – Inside Reecess, Newport Beach’s New Wellness Destination
- 07.16.26 – Good Together House: Laguna Beach’s Home for the Extraordinary and Unexpected
- 07.14.26 – Life Time Opens Resort-Style Athletic Club in Brea
- 07.14.26 – Flea Style Brings Its Hat Bar Concept Home to Laguna Beach
- 07.13.26 – Gordon Ramsay Opens The Carnaby at Downtown Disney
- 07.08.26 – Noble Ace Debuts in Laguna Beach’s Historic Heisler Building
- 07.05.26 – Pageant of the Masters Returns to Laguna Beach With ‘The Greatest of All Time’
- 07.05.26 – Earl of Sandwich Opens New Flagship at Downtown Disney
- 06.30.26 – A Blissful Japanese Head Spa Experience at Invita Costa Mesa
- 06.28.26 – Fourth of July in Orange County: Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday
- 06.26.26 – ‘Gala of the Stars’ Returns to Segerstrom for 17th Year
- 06.23.26 – Del Mar’s 2026 Summer Racing Season Opens July 17
- 06.19.26 – Sherman Library & Gardens Introduces Hazeltine’s and New Afternoon Tea Experience
- 06.17.26 – BURN Opens First OC Location in Newport Beach
- 06.14.26 – The Curated Life Brings French Charm to Laguna Beach
- 06.12.26 – Father’s Office Chef Sang Yoon Debuts Tiny’s Burger at South Coast Plaza
- 06.10.26 – Live on the Lawn Returns to Fashion Island This Summer
- 06.08.26 – SEASON Makes Dinner Planning Easy
- 06.07.26 – Wild Fork Hosts World Cuts Sampling Events in OC
