Hey Everyone, I've missed you! In this episode I'm telling you what has happened to the podcast, what's going to happen to it, and I introduce my latest project which I think you'll love. Thank you for your love, support, and listening in! 

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Welcome to the last episode of season 3, and 2019! In the final episode of last year, I spoke about all the lessons I learned during 2018. Looking back and reflecting on everything that’s happened to me this year, I decided that it would be a pretty good way to end this season’s podcast episodes as well because 2019 has been both the worst and the best year I can ever remember, and I’ve learned such a lot from all I’ve been through. Today, I share my lessons with you in the hope that you will learn something from them too, so listen in, to find out what I learned from 2019.   

I love doing this podcast! It’s great fun and it’s always such a pleasure to get wonderful emails from people all over the world, telling me how much they enjoy listening to the podcast, and saying that I keep them company while they’re mixing buttercream, waiting to pick up their kids, or when they can’t sleep at night. I think it’s very cool that I get to be part of so many of your lives! Thank you for that! And a big thank you to all of you for being part of the podcast and part of my life too! Tune in now, to hear about all the lessons I learned this year.

Show highlights:

• This year, I had a pretty rough time with depression. 
• My kids are growing up so fast!
• Our industry has changed a lot. In some ways for the better and, in others, for the worse. 
• My word for this year is ‘phoenix’.
• Trust your instincts.
• I learned that people who tell you “this is your problem” don’t necessarily even know what your problem is.
• Tune in to your inner voice to figure out what’s really going on.
• Consistency will always trump one-hit-wonders.
• I’ve learned to walk every day and I found that consistently forcing myself outside has made a huge difference to my life.
• Getting out makes a huge difference in how you see the world and how you see your troubles.
• This year, I learned that our industry has leveled out a lot.
• Don’t allow other people’s judgment to force you to make changes you don’t want.
• People are more forgiving than you think so it’s okay if you drop the ball sometimes.
• Manifesting works.
• Giving feels good!
• The greatest gifts often come from the worst circumstances.
• We go through different seasons in our lives and some of them can be long and dark.
• The judgment of others should not dictate how you should live your life.

Links and Resources:

Christine Kane - www.christinekane.com 

You can purchase all the different classes I’ve done from The Learning Store, on www.thebizofbaking.com 

If you enjoyed the podcast this year, please leave a review either on Google Podcasts or on any other podcast listener device that you use. 

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Today is an exciting day because I'm interviewing Tracy Vasquez, the owner Sugar Beez, a cookie company that mostly makes really beautiful royal icing cookies. Tracy hails from Wonder Lake, Illinois. She's the mom of five grown-up daughters, and she works full-time as a police dispatcher. She is a very interesting person and her experience has been quite different to that of most of the other home-bakers that I've spoken to on the podcast, so listen in today, to hear Tracy's story.

Last year, Tracy was approached by a national grocery chain. They asked her to supply their stores in Illinois with her cookies, and then that expanded to include Wisconsin as well. Tracy discovered that she had to obtain a GFSI certification from the Global Food Safety Initiative, to provide supermarkets with her cookies. So for the last year, she has been going through the challenging process necessary to become certified. In today's episode, she talks to us about this process. We also talk about marketing, working full-time, and raising a bunch of beautiful daughters. Tune in now, to find out what Tracy has to do to obtain her GFSI certificate from the Global Food Safety Initiative. 

Show highlights:

• How this all started for Tracey.
• Why Tracy has never spent money on advertising.
• The benefits of SEO.
• Tracy discusses the conscious choice she made to follow the website and SEO path to make her name known.
• The bulk of Tracy's business comes from Google or Instagram.
• Tracy has accepted that she does her best work under pressure.
• Making cookies brings a good balance to Tracy's life.
• How the supermarket approached Tracy.
• Tracy talks about the arduous process of getting certified.
• Some of the crazy things you have to consider when applying for certification.
• Tracy hired a technical writer to help her understand what she could not understand before. This motivated her to keep moving forward.
• Although it has been pretty costly, Tracy has learned a lot, she's grown, and she's become empowered from doing this process. 
• This process has helped Tracy become faster and more efficient, and her life has really improved as a result.
• Tracy makes custom cookie cutters for every order.
• Tracy offers her advice for going through the certification process as seamlessly as possible.
• All of Michelle's classes are now available online.

Links:

To find out about Michelle's classes, go to www.thebizofbaking.com 

Sugar Beez's website: www.sugarbeez.com 

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In this week’s episode, Michelle shares an excerpt from her blog and book, The Business of Baking. This article, “You Couldn’t Pay Me Enough”, contains a collection of witty humor, entertaining anecdotes, and a comical simplification of the unfortunately relatable clients that bakers often encounter. 

From the “Do you know who I am?” clients, the “Is she serious right now?” clients, and the “let me ask my husband” clients, Michelle has seen it all. Join Michelle in this episode for a light laugh and advice on how to deal with these terribly relatable situations. 

Show Highlights: 

• How Michelle manages clients that aren’t worth the stress 
• Different stereotypes of clients that bakers deal with  
• Experiences Michelle has had with difficult clients 
• Listening to your instincts and not accepting orders that you don’t feel right about 

Links: 

[email protected] 

https://thebizofbaking.com

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Is your cake business based in a small town? And, as a result,  are you experiencing problems making it work? Today, I'm very excited to introduce you to someone I have had the pleasure of teaching, who I am now very proud to call my friend, and who has, in my opinion,  a very distinctive artistic point of view. I'm delighted to be interviewing Melissa Kelly Hill today, from the Twelve-Five Cakery, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The purpose of Melissa's business is to make magic, and that's where she's headed! Listen in today, as I uncover her secret to running a successful cake business in a really small American town.

I asked Melissa to share her story today because she's amazing and incredibly inspirational! And although her bakery is based in a very small town (Hattiesburg has only 46 000 people in it), and she's still at the beginning of her journey of owning a shop-front, she's really making it work. In today's episode, she talks to us about what it took for her to finally leave her hectic bakery job, to start a business of her own. And she shares what she's been doing to create her flourishing, fancy, big-city cake business in a very small town in Mississippi. Tune in now, to find out more.

Show Highlights: 

• How Twelve-Five Cakery came to be, and where it's at, currently.
• How Melissa gained bakery experience before starting her own business.
• Owing your own business is liberating, however, it can also be overwhelming.
• Melissa had to teach herself how to bake from scratch.
• After working so hard for so long, Melissa had to figure out who she really was.
• Melissa found it very stressful to work from home.
• Getting shut down by the Health Department. 
• Melissa was following all the rules, except one- advertising on Facebook.
• Running a team comes with a lot of responsibility, so that's why Melissa didn't want to start a retail bakery.
• Melissa recently bought another cake studio from someone else in Hattiesburg.
• Where Melissa's business is currently at.
• Melissa feels as if she's still only operating at ten percent of her creative capability.
• How Melissa gets past the small-town conservative price-points and tastes.
• People are afraid that Melissa is too expensive. Dealing with that is her latest challenge.
• The customer should not dictate what you sell.
• It's not easy for a customer to order a custom cake.
• Figuring out where to go with chocolate...

Links:

Twelve-Five Cakery - https://www.twelvefivecakery.com/ 

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Have you been noticing how the face of our industry is changing? And have you seen how many businesses have been pivoting recently? My life has also changed a lot in the last year. My second book is already in the making, and although traveling to teach has been a really big part of my life for a very long time, I've decided not to do that this year. And, looking at my business, I've been making decisions about what to do with The Business of Baking, going forward into the future. 

Pivoting happens a lot in business. And, recently, it happened to me. I finally made the decision to crack open the vault, so I've been spending time taking all the courses that I've created and made them accessible and affordable. On my website, you will find lots of the amazing things that I've created over the years, which are now available to you. You'll find everything from one-hour Masterclasses on a single topic, to things that are much more involved. Listen in, to find out more.

Choosing to make these changes in my business got me reflecting on how it was for me when I first started a business of my own. In today's episode, I share with you a list of things that I really didn't expect when I decided to run my own business. Tune in today, to find out about the things that I never anticipated when starting out.

Show Highlights:

• About my amazing All Access Pass.
• My favorite class is called The thirty Days of Awesome. It was the first thing I ever created when I left the bakery.
• Having to make pivotal decisions can be scary, but it can also be exhilarating and exciting!
• Coping with the push and pull of parenthood when running my business.
• The cost of business was higher than I thought when it came to both money and time.
• The sacrifice that comes with going into business.
• I didn't know that getting clients was going to be harder than I   thought.
• I didn't expect that my family and friends would shy away from being my customers.
• Some people exit themselves from your life when they see you achieving your dream.
• Why I didn't realize how hard it would be to take leaps.
• Doing things yourself doesn't mean that you're getting them done for free.
• I didn't expect to feel as proud of myself as I did when I went into business.
• I struggled to feel my own value when people were condescending to me about my business.
• It's really so important to recognize your value.
• I didn't realize how much perspective I would lose when I started my own business.
• A profound lesson from Maya Angelou.

Resources:

www.thebizofbaking.com

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Would you like to make a good living out of a confectionary business? Do you believe that it's possible to do this? Today, I'm excited to introduce you to Danira Cancinos, from Dani's Dulce Confections, in Sylmar, California. One of the questions I'm asked very often is "Can you make enough real money out of this to support a family?". Although I always say you can, people still seem to think it's impossible. So Dani is here on the show with me today to prove that this is, indeed, possible. Listen in, to find out about Dani and her awesome, inspiring, and lucrative confectionary business.

Dani has really achieved a lot! I've been her Instagram fan for a long time and her posts are amazing! When I see them, I almost drool over her creations because she makes some of the most delicious-looking treats that I have ever seen! Especially her caramel apples!  In addition to making all kinds of treats, she also teaches a number of online classes and some in-person online tutorials. She recently sold a caramel apple class, which earned her over five figures! This is truly incredible, so we will be talking about it in today's episode. Dani did not grow up in a wealthy family, so her business is all about dedication and putting in a huge amount of work. Tune in today, to hear her story.

Show Highlights:

• Dani tells the story of her business and how it got to where it is now.
• Dani is actually an introvert, so she's very shy.
• You need to step out of your comfort zone if you want to grow.
• Dani talks about her decision to start teaching.
• Dani's cake pop class is her most popular class, with close to eight hundred students!
• Dani's classes run on Facebook groups.
• People love to feel connected to the person behind the business and the classes.
• Dani really engages with her audience and this has helped her to sell so many classes.
• Dani seems to be taking fewer orders, and teaching more, lately.
• It takes a lot of dedication to do this kind of work. And it's taken a consistent effort for Dani to build her following.
• Why Danira took so long to leave her job.
• How Dani got to charge $200 for a class. She never imagined that she would be able to launch a course and make this kind of money!
• Investing in her business by learning from Amy Porterfield.
• Success doesn't happen overnight. You have to keep showing up and doing the work, even when you don't feel like it.
• Danira talks to us about the way that religion plays a big part in her life- and her business.
• It's not enough just to pray. You have to do the work. Dani gave a hundred percent to her caramel apple class.
• Using lists to plan, and time blocking to get beyond procrastination.
• Business requires a lot of sacrifices.
• What's coming up for Dani's Dulce Confections.
• Getting smart about managing money.

Links:

Dani's Dulce Confections' website: https://www.danisdulceconfections.com/

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Welcome to another exciting episode of The Business of Baking podcast!

A few episodes ago, I read you an article from my new, yet unnamed book, and it had a lot of positive feedback. 

Although I don’t really anticipate becoming a real-life coach, I have discovered that I can coach from my podcast by telling you how you can change your life, everyday. And it’s not always as scary as you think it might be!

My new book is written more article-style than chapter-style. I talk about a business that I owned, and how it taught me a life lesson. I like to think that all life lessons are also business lessons, and the converse is true, as well! This book is when you need a shot of inspiration, a shot of love, or even a shot of tough love. Open to a relevant section, read a couple of pages, spend some time mulling it over, and see if it can apply to you.

Your feedback has made me brave enough to share another article with you today, called “Are Ignorance and Faith the Same Thing?” I share a client’s experience, as well as one of my own.

Please let me know if this resonates with you!

Show Highlights:

• A client’s amazing testimony and mindset concerning her experience with cancer
• Random conversation that changed so much for me
• Assuming total recovery and survival
• Negativity only brought about by others
• Was ignorance of the realities of breast cancer and faith in her survival so strong that it crowded out any negative thought?
• Does simply “not knowing” make us stronger?
• A happy woman on the road to health
• Mind and body connection
• Ignorance in the “details” may have forced her to have faith in her recovery 
• Her attitude was not only blissful, it’s hugely motivational
• Not knowing what the full options are, not only gives you faith, it gives you freedom
• Sharing my personal experience on giving birth to triplets
• My epiphany on asking for help
• Ignorance led me to faith that all would be Ok, and it was
• I didn’t know there was any option other than to make it
• Sometimes you have to fall back on a little bit of faith and a little bit of ignorance

Links & Resources:

To get a copy of Michelle's first book, The Business of Baking, go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any other good bookstore.

Michelle's email: [email protected] 

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Welcome to the Business of Baking Podcast! I’m so grateful to be able to chat to you every other week on the podcast. Some weeks I do solo shows, and other weeks I get to introduce you to some pretty amazing entrepreneurs who think outside the box, or have an interesting story to share.

On today’s podcast, I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend, Miranda, who has a pretty amazing product line. She’s the owner of Sweet Sticks, which started life out as a cake pop company but as you probably already know, has morphed into an incredible, edible art paint empire! Join us, as Miranda takes us through her entrepreneurial journey which includes making and selling rave gear clothing to her friends at the tender age of 16, to making and selling scarf watches as a side hustle. Don’t miss this! We cover lots of other ground, from alcohol free edible art paint for the Halal community, to conquering your fears. 

Show Highlights:

• Reinventing the cake pop wheel
• Developing edible art paint
• Why packaging is very important
• The wonder at being successful
• Making motherhood and business ownership work
• Conquering your fear to free up your time for what’s important
  • • • The process of creating new products
• Listening is #1 tool when it comes to marketing 
• Quality standards for premium products
• Having a mental health plan in place
• Looking after yourself, and ideas to fill your “personal cup”
• Dealing with copycats
• Resolving to be the better version of your business and your product 
• The future direction of Sweet Sticks
• Advice for other entrepreneurs just starting out

Links & Resources:

To get a copy of Michelle's first book, The Business of Baking, go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any other good bookstore.

Michelle's email: [email protected] 

https://sweetsticks.com.au

Instragram: sweetsticksau

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Did you know that I'm busy writing my second book? To be honest, I'm finding the process of writing this book really hard. Not the writing part because that comes pretty easily to me and I love it. I'm finding it difficult because this time I'm writing about life and not about baking or about business. For today's episode, I decided to be brave and do something a little different, so tune in now, to find out more.

My life has not been without its trials and tribulations but it has never been boring! Over the years, I've been collecting notes on all the various methods that have worked for me to live a really amazing life. So I decided to take everything that I know, and that I've learned about life, and write it all down in a book.

I have included the things I've used in my own life to get to where I am, things I have heard about that I think are really useful, and also some of the lessons I've learned just from living a happy, exciting, and fulfilled life. This book is a departure from what I normally do because it's a self-help book, and in today's episode, I'll be sharing one of the articles that I wrote for it. Listen in today, to hear the article and to find out what I'm doing to get out of my own way in the process of writing this book.

Show Highlights:

• Over the years I've collected notes on all the various methods that have worked for me to live an amazing life.
• I have not yet worked out a title or a structure for my new book. At the moment it's just a big brain-dump.
• Some of the titles that I've thought of for the book.
• My book is still a work in progress and that's why I have not yet worked out a structure or a title for it. 
• I've never read anybody any of this book before.
• This book is not about something that I'm known for. It's more of a self-help book. 
• While writing this book I've had impostor syndrome rearing its ugly head.
• I'd love to get your feedback about what I've written.
• I share an article called The Three Day Rule.
• The article that I'm sharing today was written a couple of days ago. I've not re-read it, and it is totally unedited.
• The Three Day Rule is a great lesson in perspective.
• Difficult things really do get easier with time. 

Links and Resources:

To get a copy of Michelle's first book, The Business of Baking, go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any other good bookstore.

Michelle's email: [email protected] 

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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

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