Baking For Business Podcast
The Baking For Business podcast is dedicated to helping you start and grow your home bakery business and scale and expand with digital products. We believe bakers and treat makers can earn money in multiple ways by sharing their gifts and talents.
Learn more at https://stan.store/amandaschonberg
Baking For Business Podcast
#Ep:77: Baking Her Way To The Top With Ds_BakeshopAZ
This week, we have the pleasure of chatting with Gabby, a recent Food Network winner who has taken her sugar cookies to the top. Gabriela, a full-time teacher, turned her love for baking into a thriving business while maintaining her teaching job. This isn't just a story about baking delicious cookies; it's also about the significance of investing in oneself for business success.
Gabriela's tale wouldn't be complete without discussing her awe-inspiring performance on a popular baking competition show. Listen in as she shares the trials and triumphs from her TV experience and how she plans to use her newfound win to grow more in her community.
In this episode, we will cover:
What inspired her to begin her journey
How she balances work as well as being a mom
What helped her to choose her current niche and
How you can try her yummy recipes too!
Want to keep in touch with Gabriela? Click here to check out her recipes and website!
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Hey, sweet friends, my name is Chef Schaumburg. I started my baking business with a bottle of DeCerano and one Bundt Cake Pan. Fast forward to today, from news to magazines, speaking on national stages and more. I can truly say that baking has changed my life. So now, as a bakery business coach, I get to help others have the same success. I've helped hundreds of my students across the world and my global membership program create six-figure businesses, mainly from home.
Speaker 1:The Baking for Business podcast is an extension of that, from actionable tips to valuable tools and resources that can impact you as a business owner. I truly believe y'all. We would never have been given a gift if we couldn't profit and prosper from it. So come on, darling. What are you waiting for? Hey, sweet friends, what is going on? And welcome back to another episode of the Baking for Business podcast.
Speaker 1:Today is a really awesome episode because we have a Food Network winner in the house. Gabby is so sweet and she's agreed to come on and speak with us and share about her recent win, but just also how she got started and we're going to get pretty familiar with her baking business. So, gabby, welcome to the Baking for Business podcast. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely, you're more than welcome, and so, before we get into the show and your recent win and all the things you like to bake, I know it didn't start off that way. You said you actually went to school for teaching, so tell us a little bit about your background before becoming a baker. What did that look like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I actually started like getting into baking, like in middle school, high school and going through school and everything. My parents really wanted me to have a four-year degree from college and teaching was always a second love for me. First love was baking, but also with special needs students. I love working with these students and everything. So I decided to go into the education field, in the area of special education, and went to college for it, but always did baking on the side, just because it was a way that I could be very creative. So I got into a charter school in my area and I taught special education for nine years and I am still in education now.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's amazing. So still working in your field, still full-time employed, while running the baking business and recently being on TV. So it definitely sounds like you have your hands full. You mentioned that she started baking while you were in college. Where did that bug come from? Was it a show you watched or does it run in your family?
Speaker 2:Yeah, my mom will actually say like she does not bake, so I did not get it from her. I started watching Ace of Cakes with Duff Goldman and I got the passion for cakes mostly at that point and just kept going. And then I found other sites and videos and everything and just tried to keep learning.
Speaker 1:How has your experience as a teacher influenced what you do in your baking business?
Speaker 2:For me, it's really about connection. I love connecting to people, whether it's through connecting with a student in their interests or how we can get them to a certain point so that they are succeeding. Connecting with those parents of the students that I had, which I still have some relationships with, the parents and the students that I used to teach, and then also in baking, I love connecting with people through recipes, so things that I grew up on or that speak to that nostalgic feel that bring them back to a memory. So for me it's always about connecting with my customers, with clients, friends, whoever it is. That's either I'm teaching, I'm speaking for, just in general. Connection has always been the biggest thing for me.
Speaker 1:You mentioned also that you do still work full time. So what was it like to then say, okay, you know what, I'm not going to do this as a hobby anymore on my job. I'm actually going to build and start a business and make a business while I still work full time. What was it that made you take the jump from just practicing on a case to actually open in a business while you're still in your corporate profession?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, like I said before, I was kind of into cakes generally and then I unfortunately lost my dad and it took a big hardship on me and so I kind of lost like all passion at that point and I really lost myself. And it wasn't until after few months, after my dad passed, that I saw a competition and I decided to enter it and I went into it thinking you know, this is something that's gonna get me back in the groove here. You know, make me feel something, and that's why connection is so important to me. And in this baking competition it was online and I ended up being one of 15 winners and featured in the book. So I was really excited and then I started taking classes through the site that, through the how to Cake it site, which is where I was featured in the book on.
Speaker 2:And cookies were the area where I was like, okay, I'm gonna try something different. I pushed myself for this competition. Now I'm gonna push myself to try something completely new. And it worked out really well because my son had just been born, it really didn't have as much time as I wanted to to create these like big, elaborate cakes and I wanted something that I could still do at night and be creative. So I saw the Christmas Cookie Challenge, saw a cookie class on how to Cake it and was like I'm just gonna try it.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Yolanda. She's another awesome woman who's always inspiring people in our community, and it's just amazing that you invested in yourself and you decided to then make it more legal and take up the passion and open a business to your community. How has your community in Arizona been? How receptive have they been of you and your business and your clients? What is your kind of day to day, week to week life look like as a business owner?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's been awesome. Like my community is very supportive. Everything is kind of word of mouth, which is awesome. I think that's one of the best ways to kind of get known is talking about your business, getting those clients to then also talk about it, having them share the information at parties, and that's always one really nice thing is that generally, like cookies and sweet treats are always for like really fun events where people are all getting together and then they say, oh, you know where's this cookie from and oh well, I have a cookie girl, you know, and I love being someone's cookie girl. Like that's one of the best compliments I can get is having someone text me and be like hey, I just told someone about you, you're gonna be their next cookie girl, you know. Like I think that's awesome. So that's been really great to kind of feel from my community and a lot of these clients then also become like friends. You know we connect on some level and it's been great.
Speaker 1:It's definitely a blessing. I tell people all the time and I've even shared this on social media. You know, customers will become friends, sometimes faster than friends become customers, but it's always amazing. Strangers will support us in the connections that we build through that. And you mentioned that you started off with cakes, but I know now, and especially with the show, that you do cookies. So what did that transition look like? Because so many bakers struggle with finding their niche. What did that look like? Making a switch that you more so wanted to just focus on the cookies?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it was seeing cookies in a different light. When I first saw the Christmas cookie challenge, I saw like the process of making and decorating cookies, whereas before I had just seen the final product. And so in watching the show I was like, oh, this is interesting, like I really want to try this. And it became something to where I was like, okay, like now I know the consistencies and I can replicate this design. Now I want to create my own designs and I just kind of am looking always at that next challenge. And cookies are such a great way to challenge yourself because basically the way that I look at them is little canvases of art, like you have these little tiny things that you can just go wild with, and creativity or keep them super simple. There's different styles, and so I think that that's one challenge. That I just really love about cookies is the constant creativity options.
Speaker 1:Now, there's a lot of creativity, but there is also a lot of hours that go into it, and you know how I feel about cookies. So, for the record, even though we love us some of you but why don't you share what are some of the ways that you save time with cookies? Because there's only one of you and there's only so many cookies, and so I would love for you to share that with listeners.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so obviously, yes, cookies do take a long time and you can. I know you've mentioned even like getting stuck in that creative mode. You can do that very easily. But in my mind I was thinking this is a way that I can really turn my passion into a business. So how am I gonna do that? And you have to find a happy medium where you can be creative. But you also have to think about like a bottom line type of thing, and so I actually invested in an eddy printer and that's.
Speaker 2:I love that thing. It is one of the ways that I am able to continue this business and make profit and see it as a future, like full time thing, while still allowing myself to have those custom orders where I can be creative, and so that's one really nice thing. I will always be very thankful for the eddy printer, and I even took your class, the corporate, gaining more corporate clients, and so that was super helpful too. And with that eddy printer and the corporate class mixup, that just I feel like it all meshed together and now I'm able to do I have a balance, you know. So it's nice.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and thank you for that shout out. But this is all about you. But I would say, yeah, I am grateful that you are a graduate of one of my courses and in our community. But I will say this though from taking the courses online to the eddy like seeing the potential there and saying, okay, it has to be a happy medium, like I need. I love the creativity, but I also want the orders. And then taking the more dough class, you're always investing and I feel that's why you're growing so fast. What advice would you have? Cause you know there are some bakers they just listen to the podcast. They're like, oh, I just want all the free stuff. But what advice would you have for someone when it comes to the importance of investing in their business and why they need it?
Speaker 2:I mean, my advice is definitely invest in yourself and, whether that like, look at your trajectory of where you want to be. And then I like one of the things that we've learned right Is like taking baby steps back and figuring out how you're going to get there. So going full time with this possibly like my biggest thing was how am I gonna get out of that continuous creative mode? I need to do logos, cookies that I can print on, something that I can help with the time aspect of it, and so that printer was a big thing, even, just like investing in materials.
Speaker 2:That was very hard for me at first is I had, you know, two pans that I was working out of and in my mind I was like I don't need more pans, I don't need to spend more money because this works. But when I invested in myself and I got more pans, I was able to produce so much faster and I took so much stress off of myself too. So, while these investments may seem like they're large or you know, you're just not there yet by doing it you can actually like make it more, more of an easy process and create some of that balance by doing so.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I love what you shared there. By investing in the pans, you were able to do more, because streamlining is so important, especially our processes when it comes to bakers, because so many of them struggle with, you know, baker burnout and just stress and all the things. And so now you're moving on along and the show comes up. So what makes you decide I'm gonna audition for this? What was that process like? And tell us about the exact show that you were on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was on the Halloween cookie challenge. I was season two, episode one, and it is kind of like the spinoff of Christmas cookie challenge. They then created the new holiday version of Halloween, and how I got into like getting on it. I really struggle with like confidence sometimes and I think that that was one way like where I could challenge myself and like push myself out of my comfort zone, and I was so excited to hear when I was gonna be on it. And from pushing myself I really saw that I'm able to do so much more.
Speaker 2:And so that's another piece of advice I would say to anyone is like continue to challenge yourself, cause one thing that I used to tell myself a lot was like I could never do that. You know, you see these things on TV and it's like man, I could never be on TV, I could never do that timeframe, and I thought the same way, but I was able to just try it, see if I'm really not able to do it or if I could, and that was awesome. It was the probably the best experience I've had. I mean, obviously like having my son, but like other than that, it was one of the best experiences that I've ever had.
Speaker 1:What are some lessons that you learned from the show? Because I know normally we're watching the show and it's like we see people running with their heads cut off. Was it what you expected or did you have to adapt? Was everything fast paced? What were some of the lessons that you took away from the show?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is very fast paced. I really didn't know what to expect going into it. So I think like just kind of rolling with the punches was one thing that like I learned from it, because by doing so and being like easy going and not taking things so seriously, I was able to really enjoy the process and I was able to really connect to the experience, which was awesome.
Speaker 1:And it was so wonderful seeing you on the show, just your bright smile, and seeing you win. And what are you gonna do with that prize money, honey? You have any plans?
Speaker 2:I'm investing back into my business. You know I'm gonna streamline that process a little bit better, make things a little bit less stressful for me while still being able to produce some awesome work, and I'm just so excited. I'm very thankful for the whole experience and the people that I was able to meet and everything. The fact that Jeff Goldman was also one of the hosts and the whole reason why I even started baking was I actually cried when I found out it was him I like started falling. And then Rosanna Panzino I'd been watching since she was like in her apartment with the little cart. So it was just awesome to have that experience of meeting those people too, those people that you look up to and they're seeing your work and tasting your product, and it was great.
Speaker 1:I could imagine that was definitely a full circle moment and also confirmation like, wow, lord, okay, this is really meant for me to go for it. How do you balance? Now? You're a winner and you're even more popular in your community, but, like you mentioned, you also still have a full-time job and you have a little one. How do you balance all of that? Are there any tips, tools, tricks, apps?
Speaker 2:Yeah, for my business I would say my Google form is probably like one of my favorite tools and it sounds so silly and small, but really it's not, because I was able to put in like specific details of like what I need from my clients.
Speaker 2:So I'm not going back and forth in emails and I'm also able to like add in little things like okay, would you like Bose added, it's going to cost this much, you know, and that's been one really nice thing that I don't feel like I have to sell either now and then really with my son, I make sure that like I have my baking time and then I reserve time with my family. There is protected family time that I am not doing baking, I'm not doing my day job, you know, I'm just focused on him and really enjoying him being off my phone. So that's my other tip is like just like making sure that you actually have designated family time phone set aside, you know, whether that be like dinner or like playing right before or something like that, and that's been really helpful. So then my son doesn't feel like I'm being pulled in different ways and he has my undivided attention.
Speaker 1:But yeah, absolutely. And what does the future look like now for your bake shop? What are some things you're working on, or how has the exposure helped? What are some things that are to come?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so one of the things that I wanna do is really give back and teach again, but in the realm of cookies. So cookies are obviously something that I enjoy and passionate about, but that teaching experience is also a huge proponent of who I am, and so I definitely want to teach in my community, teach online and share what I've learned with other people, because I know when I first started out, like talking to other cookiers or other bakers was one way that, like, I gained information and I could challenge myself to be better. So I'd like to be that for someone else who needs it.
Speaker 1:Well, you definitely are a ray of sunshine, hope and inspiration, and I'm going to put your page down in the show notes for anyone who's listening. If you want to follow along with Gabby and see her amazing work because she's not really just an average cook here when you see her page like this girl does, like full on Picasso's on cookies it's just really, really amazing and you're definitely going to love her, and so we also encourage everyone watching. If you can, when the episode rolls back around, be sure to watch it and to cheer for her and support her on. And, gabby, what advice would you give to anyone who's like you know what? I've seen the flyer, but I've been too afraid. Like, should I really apply for one of those shows? Just any show or any competition in general.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely try, definitely apply, because one of the things I will say is that I really didn't expect to get on, but I really enjoyed the process of applying because I feel like I learned so much about myself and my baking aesthetic and who I am as a baker. So, even if you don't get on a show that you're applying for, go for it, because the process of it really tells a lot about who you are in your profession and what your passion is really leading you towards.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that is amazing advice. From the bottom of my little southern heart, I really do. Thank you so much for coming on today and sharing everything with us, but before I let you go, gabby, are you ready for lightning round? Let's do it. What's your favorite color? Blue or black? Okay, what is your favorite book?
Speaker 2:Chonamani Cristo.
Speaker 1:Alrighty, what is a dessert you cannot live without.
Speaker 2:Frangipan, like anything with frangipan in it.
Speaker 1:I love. It Okay, who is your celebrity crush?
Speaker 2:I have to say either Jason Momoa or Gordon Ramsay. I love a guy who can cook. Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go with Jason. What is your favorite kitchen utensil?
Speaker 2:I think, a piping bag. It can be used for so many different things. I use it for dinner items, I use it for baking. I've also used it medically as well, to pipe, you know, vaseline or whatever. So I think it's super helpful.
Speaker 1:That is a wonderful answer, and I think it's the first time we've had piping bags. So thank you so much for thinking out of your box. There you go, and thank you so much, gabby, for coming on the show. We wish you all the success going forward, and it really was a pleasure having you on, and congratulations on your big win, darling.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much and thank you for having me. It's been fun.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Special thanks again to Gabby for coming on and for sharing her Food Network win with us, as well as just a little glimpse and behind the scenes of her day-to-day life as a mom, as a corporate woman and also as a baker. I really hope that her story inspires you, no matter how much you have going on, like Gabby said, to just go for it, to put yourself out there and go for your dreams regardless of whatever is going on in life as well. Again, it was such a ray of sunshine just being able to speak to Gabby. She has the most beautiful smile y'all and I'm going to go ahead and link her page below.
Speaker 1:And another cool thing, you guys her award-winning recipes. She actually has put them into PDFs that she sells, so if you would like to snag those, I have the links in the show notes as well, and you can add a little burst of deliciousness into your business. Also, I love having Gabby in the entrepreneurial community. She's always so kind and it's always just a pleasure speaking with you guys and hearing you share your story, so I hope hers inspires you as well. Thanks so much again for listening to the Bacon for Business podcast. I love it when you guys come week after week and I hope you took away some nuggets from this little episode also. You guys take care and have a very blessed day.