Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States? Mental health is something that I really think more of us need to be talking about, specifically in the small business arena. And these days, I'm also a lot more open and honest about the hard stuff about small business. In May, last year, I had a really incredible and eye-opening conversation with Laurel Harlan, a licensed therapist and cookie business owner, on the podcast. So, when Jennifer Carota, who is also a mental health professional, contacted me this year, I was particularly excited because it's very rare to find somebody who wears these two hats. 

Jennifer is from Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, in the United States. She is a licensed professional counselor and she owns a business called The Counseling House, which is a group practice, not far from Pittsburg. The Counseling House is dedicated to providing mental health counseling services to individuals and families in a comfortable, nurturing, and home-like environment and Jennifer has a whole bunch of people in her practice, who can help a whole lot of us out. She has professional counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists. The really cool thing is that Jennifer also owns a cheesecake company, called The Cheesecake Fairy. Baking is Jennifer's therapy. It's her self-care and it keeps her sane and centered, and so it accidentally became a business. The Cheesecake Fairy is largely a wholesale company that makes elegantly upscaled cheesecakes in a jar. Because Jennifer is both a mental health professional and a cheesecake fairy she is totally my people! Tune in today, to find out how to cope when things start getting a bit too much for you to deal with.

Show Highlights:

• If you don't take care of yourself, it will begin to affect your business, because you can't separate yourself from your business, no matter how hard you try.
• Baking is Jennifer's therapy and it keeps her sane and centered.
• Jennifer explains how a licensed professional counselor became the Cheesecake Fairy.
• Although Jennifer went to graduate school and got her master's degree and her license, she always had a nagging feeling in her belly that there was something that she still needed to be doing.
• Jennifer found it stressful to be responsible for the livelihoods of four or five of her team members, as well as taking care of her clients.
• When things got stressful at the Counseling House Jennifer started playing around with cheesecakes again.
• Jennifer explains how she finds the time to run two businesses.
• Baking cheesecakes really created a new, healthier routine for Jennifer.
• Jennifer's cheesecakes are in jars and they're the perfect portion size, so it's easy not to over-indulge in them.
• Jennifer makes both sweet and savory cheesecakes. 
• Jen explains how she finds balance and keeps sane amid the chaos of so many competing priorities.
• How slowing down and being more assertive in communicating has really helped Jennifer.
• How chaos expands and creates anxiety.
• Separating yourself from your situation can really give you a clear perspective.
• Jennifer gives some of the warning signs that things are starting to get out of control. Prevention is the best intervention.
• Getting off the treadmill and making more manageable choices.
• Creativity resides in that mindful space.
• It's really worth the effort of reaching out and checking up on people.
• What to do if you're just not feeling yourself.
• Making better choices for yourself.
• How much should you put on social media?
• Looking at your patterns can help you work out if you're just feeling a bit blue, or if you're actually suffering from depression.
• Paying attention to how you are really feeling.
• You can have conflicting emotions about the same thing at the same moment.
• The importance of maintaining great emotional hygiene.
• Choose very carefully what you focus on.

"May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be safe, and may you be at peace." - From the guided meditation in the Calm App. (www.calm.com)

Links:

www.thecounselinghouse.com  (Jen's Counseling)

www.beginagainwithjen.com  (Jen's Coaching)

www.thecheesecakefairy.com (Jen's Cheesecaking) 

Jen wrote a blog post for this episode: https://thecheesecakefairy.com/whats-new/f/top-five-sanity-savers-for-cakers-and-bakers

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve all heard the saying “if I only knew then what I knew now”, especially when it comes to business. If we could all avoid the mistakes and hard learned lessons that come with maintaining a business, we would. Today, Michelle shares her cheat sheet to managing your own business and how to establish the foundation you need to be successful. To learn more about how you can create a flourishing business and maintain a fulfilling life, tune into this episode of The Business of Baking. 

Show Highlights: 

• A cheat sheet Michelle wrote for owning your own business 
• The benefits of getting to call the shots 
• The importance of marketing yourself well 
• Making sure your tide is built up of people who encourage you 
• Not spending your energy on things or people that drain you 
• Long term planning and anticipating success 
• Acknowledging that life happens and dealing with unexpected situations
• Creating procedures 
• Recognizing that it is about the money 
• Prioritizing your money and making smart decisions 
• Setting boundaries in life and business 

Links: 

[email protected] 

https://thebizofbaking.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you been considering giving up your business lately? 'Should I quit my business?' is a question that tends to come up for many of us small business owners when the going gets tough. In today's episode, I'll be taking a look at why we sometimes think about quitting, and whether or not it really is the right time to do it. This is something that I've talked about a lot on my blog, but never before on the podcast. I realize that this question might be a little hard for some of you to hear, and I don't mean to depress anyone, but running a business really isn't easy and I think that this is one of the things we need to think about, and to talk about openly, more often. Listen in today, to find out more.

Last year I did a podcast episode about a blog post that I wrote a while back, about a typical small cookie company. That was one of the most popular episodes of all of last season. So I've chosen one of the blog posts that I wrote some time ago, about quitting your business, and I'm going to read it to you today. I will be adding in the things that have changed for me, and the things that I feel differently about now, so tune in, to hear what I wrote about whether or not it really is the time to quit your business. 

Show Highlights:

• I sometimes used to have a little voice in my head late at night, urging me to quit my business.
• The idea of relinquishing my business responsibilities was sometimes really appealing to me.
• I get a lot of emails from people asking me if they should quit their businesses.
• I don't have a secret sauce, and I cannot give you permission to quit.
• Our lives and our circumstances are way too complex to simply use happiness as a measure of your success.
• Businesses are like relationships. They take time and they take effort.
• Why people sometimes think about quitting their businesses.
• It's pretty upsetting and scary when the little voice in the night starts talking to you, and it's hard not to listen to it.
• Acting like an irresponsible business owner and losing yourself for a while.
• How to find an answer to the question 'Should I quit my business?'.
• Answering the question with three more questions.
• Question one: Am I feeling this way because of a temporary situation, or have I felt this way for a long time?
• Question two: Why am I doing this business in the first place?
• Close your eyes, look into your heart, and imagine what your life would look like without your business in it.
• Some ideas for how to move forward if you decide to stay in your business.
• Developing a vision is really important.
• Everybody needs business friends.
• Fixing temporary situations.
• Choosing to walk away is a really brave decision.
• Some tips for closing your business.
• Give yourself the mental time and the mental space to close your business down with dignity.
• You have to have a purpose for staying in your business.

Links and resources:

Michelle's website: www.thebizofbaking.com  You can search for the article there. It's called 'Should I quit my business?'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you think that getting too much business could ever be a problem? Today, I'm talking to Tim Engelbrecht, from Hello Sweetheart, a Sydney-based wedding photography and videography company. Tim runs the business with his wife, Mim, and they are really busy! Sometimes they do as many as four weddings in one day, so things can seem a little out of control, but Tim thinks it's a great problem to have.

I decided to interview Tim today because I thought that it would be interesting to chat with somebody in our industry who is not necessarily a cake maker. And I love getting the perspectives of other creatives out there because I think they really have a lot in common with us, here in the baking industry. So, listen in today, to find out what Tim has to share about his life behind the lens.

Hello Sweetheart was officially started in 2015 and they shot a total of twenty-five weddings that year. Then, in 2016, Tim got married and Mim took over the marketing. They did almost seventy weddings that year, and even more in the following year. From there, things have constantly been on the up-and-up for Hello Sweetheart. It has been widely featured, in places such as Modern Weddings, Polka Dot Bride, Wedding Wonderland, and more. Hello Sweetheart has a really dreamy Instagram feed too! It makes you want to jump right into other people's cool lives, and have weddings just like they have! Tune in to find out more!

Show Highlights:

• Tim tells us about Hello Sweetheart.
• Having too much business is a great problem to have!
• Tim gives us the history of Hello Sweetheart.
• Tim's role is the creative side of the business and Mim is the hustler.
• Mim has helped the business grow exponentially.
• They acquired a team and tripled their business in just three years.
• Tim explains how they managed to grow so fast in such a short space of time.
• People like having only a few options to choose from.
• Tim explains the way they advertise on Facebook.
• Facebook re-targeting is super powerful.
• Tim talks about his business model, which is based on very limited options.
• Tim and Mim have chosen a high and consistent volume of work over bespoke work.
• Making a lifestyle choice for your business.
• Keeping track of trends to keep abreast with the future market.
• Hello Sweetheart has a really quick turnaround time for the photographs.
• All their work is done digitally.
• Marrying the creative side with the business systems side.
• Keyboard Maestro, the software that has changed Tim's life.

Links and Resources:

Hello Sweetheart's website

Hello Sweetheart on Instagram

Keyboard Maestro             

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever wondered what it's really like to run a cake business? In today's episode, I'm answering a beautiful and fascinating question from one of the podcast listeners. She wanted to know what kept me in my business for ten years, why I continued with it, and why I decided that it was time to end it. She also asked me about what the process of ending the business entailed. This was really interesting for me because I've never talked about what it was like to run my business before, nor about the life-cycle of the business and how it all went down. So listen in! I really hope that you will be inspired by this topic!

My business was called Three Sweeties and I really loved it! People kept telling me that the things I made were really amazing and I would make a fortune selling them. So I started my business from home, part-time and completely illegally, because even though I had a bit knowledge about food safety and things like having to register my kitchen, from being a chef, I was still totally clueless about how to actually run a business. So although I was unbelievably excited to start the business, I was unsure about its future and where it was going. And I did some really silly things in the beginning, but I learned a lot as I went on. Tune in today, to get my personal account of what life was like for me throughout the life cycle of my business. 

Show Highlights:

• Coming to realize that I didn't want to work from home and renting a commercial kitchen, not too far from where I lived. 
• Getting things legal.
• I was figuring things out as I went along.
• Anytime anybody asked me for anything I just blurted stuff out and hoped for the best.
• Moving to the next stage of the business where I was cheffing a lot less.
• I started to get clear about wanting to grow the business and what I needed, for that to happen.
• I became clear about what the business was, and also that I would want to sell it one day.
• I became really clear about the products I wanted to make.
• The point at which I grew out of the commercial kitchen.
• The final stage, before selling the business, was moving to a storefront, or a cake studio, where people could walk in.
• I gave up cheffing completely when I moved to the storefront.
• Moving to the storefront allowed me to start teaching, and explore a whole lot of other business opportunities.
• How the move to the storefront really skyrocketed my business.
• About my $100, three-hour How To Run A Cake Business class.
• Why I wanted to sell the business by the time I turned forty.
• I decided to become a salaried blogger for six months, to see if it would work out. 
• I left the business when things were going well but not brilliantly.
• Some interesting things that happened in the life-cycle of that business.
• Why I stuck with the business for ten years.
• It was very hard to fight the intellectual excitement that I got from the blog.
• The industry started to get really crowded.
• I started having intrusive thoughts about the business.
• It was really hard to leave Three Sweeties.

Links:

Podcast mentioned: Invisibilia (The Secret History of Thoughts) https://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/375927143/the-secret-history-of-thoughts

Email me at [email protected]

Remember that you're more than welcome to email or pm me on the social media channels to suggest a topic you'd like to hear about or someone you'd to be interviewed for the podcast. I'd really be happy to have your suggestions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you willing to try something new? And then try it again if you fail? In today's episode, I'm talking to the inspiring Kim Werker, who I think is completely amazing! She is totally my people! She is an unbelievably talented woman who describes herself as a camp counselor for grownups and she thinks we need to aim for creative, messy fun, rather than hoping for perfection. 

This season, my intention is to interview people who are not necessarily in the baking industry, but who have lots of things in common with those of us who are, like photographers, florists, and crafters. These people are creatives who experience similar struggles and successes in their businesses to those that we experience here, in our industry. So I'm really excited to be talking to Kim today, about her life, her work, her website, and the way she inspires people to try new things. Tune in now to find out more!

Kim is a super-guru of the crochet world, and she's also a freelance writer, editor, and speaker. And most interestingly to me,  she's the woman behind the Mighty Ugly website and movement, a website that encourages everyone to try things. (Mighty Ugly is all about celebrating the benefits of failure so that we're not so afraid of doing the big things.) Kim has edited magazines, she's written seven books, she created and then sold an online magazine, she curates online communities, and she teaches her own creative classes. She also used to be a podcaster and currently, she runs an online community for creative adventurers. She's even dabbled in a bit of baking too, so listen in, to find out what Kim has to share with us in today's episode.

Show Highlights:

• Kim tells her story and explains how she ended up with such a varied business.
• Knitters and crocheters are completely different demographics as far as the industry is concerned.
• How Kim's online magazine started out.
• Book royalties have never been a big part of Kim's income.
• Most of Kim's books are now out of print.
• Kim's first book, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Crocheting, is now in its second edition.
• Make It Mighty Ugly was in print for five years and will most likely be going out of print at the end of this year.
• Kim teaches workshops about Mighty Ugly, and it also forms the foundation for most of the writing she does.
• Kim now has multiple income streams and her husband provides her venture capital.
• Kim enjoys doing editing work most of all.
• The choice that Kim faces right now in terms of her revenue stream.
• All about Kim's workshop to help people confront their fears.
• Kim has an ongoing theme in her life, of bringing people together, to go on creative adventures and building something. 
• The pros and cons of social media.
• Doing the best you can right now, in this moment!
• There is so much meaning in gratitude!
• You can try, fail, and try again.
• Coping with burnout and finding balance again.
• How Kim keeps herself inspired to make things every day.

Links and resources:

Book mentioned: Stitch 'n Bitch by Debbie Stoller

Knitty.Com (Online knitting magazine): www.knitty.com

Mighty Ugly Website: www.kimwerker.com 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to the podcast for 2019! I'm really excited to be back and I've come up with a whole list of topics that I want to talk about and a range of really interesting people to interview. My plan is to interview people who are a little bit left of center in our industry, related to it but not necessarily directly involved, like wedding photographers, marketers, or crafters. There are also some experimental episodes coming up this season where I do things a little differently. So tune in now for today's episode!

Today I'm going to be talking about being at a crossroads in your business. Last summer, I had a truly life-changing experience when I went on a month-long trip to South America, the Antarctic Peninsula, and Antarctica. Thinking about the business during that time prompted me to sent an email to my subscriber list. In today's episode, I will be sharing a bit about that email, what was behind it, and what I'm thinking about now, going forward into the future. Because many of us, at this time of year, reach a crossroad in our business and this will give you a number things to think about. Listen in to find out about my crossroads, the crossroads in our industry, and where to from here.

Show Highlights:

• Some of the email that I wrote.
• I've been running my business for five years now, and I've turned it from a hundred dollar, three-hour class in my bakery into what it is now. 
• My business is now a community, a blog, a book, a podcast, online classes, in-person classes, social media communities, etc. 
• I wasn't sure if just making more of stuff was the best way to go forward, so I wanted to know what my community needed from me.
• The crossroads in our industry.
• People in our industry are giving up a whole lot faster now.
• Why I think the number of people going into business in our industry has slowed down significantly.
• Lately, baking shows have become super niched.
• There is still money to be made from sweet foods.
• My love-hate relationship with the whole tools thing!
• My personal crossroads.
• Some of the responses I got from the email I sent.
• Do what you love, and do it from your heart!
• Business is really about both passion and profit.
• Reaching the grow or stop phase in our business.
• Doing a check-up from the neck up.

Links:

Email me at [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I've really had an unbelievable season of podcast episodes this year! I've done my best, given it a proper run, and I've loved it, but like all good things, it has come to an end. Today's episode is the very last episode of this season. 

I did some awesome solo episodes this year, where I talked about all sorts of things, like the worst advice I ever got, strategies for mental health, and getting through the rough stuff in life. I also had some amazingly unbelievable episodes where I interviewed some incredible people, like Laurel Harlan. I spoke to Patricia Scheetz about running a charitable-based bakery, and I even spoke to my daughter Claire. I've had such a super amazing season, 2018! Thank you all so much for listening!

When I record my podcasts, I have no idea how many, or where in the world, people will be listening. I also don't know if they've loved it or hated it, or what they thought of me. So, with this being the last episode of the year, I'd like to close it out with a heartfelt message of gratitude to all of you for listening! I also wanted to end off by sharing some of the lessons I've learned this year. This is a largely an unscripted episode and not my usual way of doing things, so listen in today, as I talk straight from the heart, tell you about my year, and give you some of the lessons I've learned.

Show Highlights:

• This has been a really challenging year and yet so much has happened!
• How the three-pronged seat on which I rest my life works.
• Why I don't buy into the work/life balance concept.
• I really strongly believe in acceptance.
• Talking about forgiveness. 
• Gratitude is really so important! It has a way of pulling me out of really dark places.
• How to develop an attitude of gratitude.
• Becoming grateful for dumb stuff really lifts me up!
• Keeping busy and productive is really important to me.
• It's okay to drop the ball sometimes and it's okay to say no to people, events, or things.
• I learned how valuable it is to be checked-in on.
• I'm so grateful for all the check-ins, emails and messages, from you, the listeners!
• Human connection is crucial and we really need each other!
• The benefits of asking for help and then accepting it.
• Sometimes doing nothing is actually doing something.
• Doing something kind for myself every day to prevent feeling overwhelmed.

Resources:

Sleep Stories on the Calm App

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's it like, being a female in business? And has it ever affected your business negatively? These are questions that people often ask me. They're really good questions and it's something that I actually care about a lot, yet I've found that I've been avoiding discussing this topic- and I don't really know why. Perhaps I've been hesitant to share my thoughts because I actually feel so strongly about all of this. Anyway, right now is as good a time as any to have this discussion, so let's rock it! Listen in to find out more.

I have been asked if me being a woman has ever made people question my business capability. Also, if I think that me being a woman and a mother makes people more entitled to question my business choices, and how all this affects my life as a business owner. These are massive questions and in the current climate of the Me Too Movement people are finally feeling more inclined to talk about these things. With all the issues that are finally being addressed, around inappropriate behavior and sexism at work, this is a topic that really needs to be spoken about. So I've really had to spend a lot of time thinking about this. I can only speak from my own experience, so please bear this in mind as I share my answers and my thoughts on the subject with you today. Listen in now, to find out what I have to share.

Show Highlights:

• Thank goodness that I've never had any really terrible experiences.
• Some of the reasons that I've hesitated in talking about this.
• A fascinating story about a really important lesson I learned about the value of the work I was doing, as a mother and as a woman in my home, from a life insurance agent.
• The very masculine energy in the high-pressure cheffing industry.
• Not being able to show any weakness, as a woman, in the male dominant cheffing industry.
• The way that the male dominance thing became more apparent for me when I started running my own business.
• The condescension that I experienced from men and from women when I started my business.
• What I learned about dealing with condescension.
• How I became more solid in my belief about who I was in my business.
• My big, fat, giant confession...
• The way that sexism has been rearing it's ugly head against men in our industry.
• Getting called out on my own sexism.
• Do guys ever ask other guys how their kids feel about them traveling for work?
• Perhaps there's too much made of us being female bosses or entrepreneurs.
• I've made a number of business choices that have honored the fact that I was a mother.
• Standing up and being the best business owner that you can be- regardless of whether you're female, or male!

Links:

Email me: [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you have to follow a gluten-free diet? Today  I'm going to be talking to Paula Onink, from the Netherlands. This is really exciting for me because I don't often get to interview people from Europe! Paula is one of my students as well as someone I consider a friend and she owns Gebaksjuwelier, a gluten-free bakery in Culemborg, Netherlands.

On the show today, Paula talks to us about her experience so far, with her real-life bakery. (She also runs a webshop lately.) Paula sells bread, pastries, bread mixes, and all sorts of other interesting and exciting things. And she has employees too, including someone with special needs, which I think is wonderful, as that's something close to my heart! Listen in to find out more!

Paula has been running her bakery for five years now. I'm particularly interested in talking to her today because she herself is not someone who needs to have gluten-free food. And people usually start out in specialty baking (like gluten-free, dairy free) because they themselves need it. Paula started out working with people who are mentally challenged and she came to realize that she actually wanted to bake more than she wanted to work with people. And this is where it all began. Listen in today, to hear all about Paula and her fabulous bakery.

Show Highlights:

• Some history of Paula's bakery- and where it all started for her.
• Finding out that in order to survive in the pastry business you have to specialize.
• Things fell into place when Paula started learning about gluten.
• What motivated Paula to start gluten-free baking.
• The challenges of sharing a kitchen with her husband in the beginning.
• Choosing the best location for a gluten-free bakery.
• Paula employs someone with Downs Syndrome to help her in her shop.
• Paula's baker has a mild form of autism.
• Gluten free bread is Paula's best-seller and she now sells gluten-free bread mix too.
• Paula is now even selling gluten-free pecan pie in the bakery.
• How Paula comes up with gluten-free recipes.
• The taste of gluten-free flour needs to be disguised.
• Paula's products taste the same- or even better than normal!

Resources:

Paula’s Website (it’s in Dutch)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.