Denise Golia with Dee’s Little Sweets
Denise Golia of North Providence, RI shares how she started a very successful bakery by niching way down, despite being limited by a personal injury and not being able to start from her home kitchen
Jondell Lafont-Garcia with Fluff Marshmallow Co.
Jondell Lafont-Garcia of Pflugerville, TX is one of the foremost experts in the homemade marshmallow trend and shares how she built her cottage food business despite facing a major personal challenge
Joan Eppehimer & Jason Madison with Aunt Joan’s Pearl City Popcorn
Joan Eppehimer of Jamestown, NY shares how she raised thousands of dollars for charity with a cottage food business, and (with the help of her nephew Jason) rebranded her business to boost sales
Nicole DiMarco with All About The Freeze
Nicole DiMarco of West Deptford, NJ shares how she took the leap with a new product, and leveraged her sales, retail, and social media experience to quickly start a successful cottage food business
Steph Uittenbogaard with Fifi’s Patisseries
Steph Uittenbogaard of Loveland, CO never thought she’d run her own home bakery, and she shares her atypical business journey, including both the triumphs and challenges that she’s faced along the way
Jenn Bowersock with Jenn’s Backstube
Jenn Bowersock of Sidney, OH runs an authentic German bakery from her home, and shares how she went from struggling as an entrepreneur to experiencing rapid success by finding product/market fit
Valerie Allensworth with The Donut Lady
Valerie Allensworth of Sitka, AK shares how she built a very successful cottage food business by focusing on consistency, despite living on a remote island in Alaska and facing many unique challenges
Rob Sanz with Rise Artisan Sourdough
Rob Sanz of Rockville, MD shares how he’s added a cottage food bakery to a busy family life and career, and why he has intentionally kept his microbakery small, even though he could easily grow it
Mark Elvidge with Vermont Nut Free Chocolates
Mark Elvidge shares how he and his wife started Vermont Nut Free Chocolates from home in 1998 and built it into an international brand with over 1,000 wholesale locations and constant growth each year
Monique Germaine with Kneading to Bake
Monique Germaine of Nashville, TN shares how she built and rebuilt her cottage food bakery in 3 different states, plus a crazy commercial food business journey that got her products into big retailers
Kristyn Suemnick with Old Oak Sourdough
Kristyn Suemnick of Murrieta, CA shares how her discovery of sourdough bread led to building a thriving home bakery that allows her to stay at home with her kids and better connect with her community
Episode 100: Where Are They Now?
In this very special 100th episode, previous guests come back on to share an update of what’s changed since they were last on the show, what’s surprised them, and what they’ve learned along the way
Don’t Be Afraid Of Failure with Jana LaViolette
Jana LaViolette of Clovis, NM shares her incredible journey from cottage food to food truck to storefront, and how she overcame many obstacles by constantly trying new things and never giving up
The Freeze Dried Trend with Janna Newcomb Walworth
Janna Newcomb Walworth of Choctaw, OK has rapidly grown her cottage food business selling freeze dried candy, fruits, veggies, etc, and shares why she doesn’t think this trend will end anytime soon
Beautiful Chaos with Chelsa Smith
Chelsa Smith of Des Moines, IA sells sourdough bread from her wildly successful home microbakery and shares many of the ups and downs of building her business while finding work-life balance
The Power Of Two with Heather & Corrie Miracle
Twins Heather & Corrie Miracle of Fairfax, VA share the backstory that led them to create their extremely popular Facebook group about marketing for sugar cookiers and other cottage food entrepreneurs
Find Work That Fulfills You with Jenny Berg
Jenny Berg of Bend, OR started baking sourdough bread during the pandemic and shares how she turned her new hobby into a home business that has finally given her a sense of fulfillment in her work.
Struggling To Find Consistent Sales with Tiliwannia Ealey
Tiliwannia Ealey of Lithia Springs, GA sells popcorn and other homemade treats, and shares her struggles with finding the time to run her business, as well as achieving consistent sales.
Chocolate Is Therapy with Gary Knight
Gary Knight of Gardnerville, NV sells beautiful hand-decorated chocolates that he learned to make while overcoming his alcohol addiction and recovering from a traumatic brain injury.
The One-Woman Show with Amanda Luecke
Amanda Luecke of Maple Grove, MN shares how she built a thriving custom decorated cookie business with over 26k Instagram followers by focusing on her customers, community, & family.
The Burnt Out Baker with Jenni Reher
Jenni Reher of Mead, CO shares the rise and fall of her vegan donut bakery, how she grew it to 20 wholesale accounts, and why she decided to sell her business when it was doing better than ever.
Rolling In Cookie Dough with Amy Wong & Lawrance Combs
Amy Wong & Lawrance Combs of Cupertino, CA sell massive cookies and share how they went from launching their business on Instagram to raising over $150k to expand their wildly popular cookie bakery.
Can A Product Be Too Good? with Janna Paterno
Janna Paterno of Charleston, WV shares why she wasn’t making money in her custom-decorated cookie business, despite having phenomenal decorating skills and more customers than she could ask for.
Rising From The Ashes with Scot & Christine Steenson
Scot & Christine Steenson share how they used a unique marketing strategy to build a successful home-based coffee roasting company after their Paradise, CA home burnt down in 2018’s Camp Fire.
When Demand Exceeds Supply with Jen Holmer El-Azzi & Danny El-Azzi
Jen & Danny from Austin, TX sell sourdough crackers and share how they grew their business to 50+ wholesale accounts by leveraging farmers markets, a unique product, and a strong brand.
Facing Adversity, Embracing Success with Jennie Gibson
Jennie Gibson of Jacksonville, FL shares how she built one of the most successful home-based custom-decorated cake pop businesses in the United States despite facing many challenges along the way.
Creating A Smash Hit with Jill Baethge – Part 1
Jill Baethge from Plano, TX shares how she grew her unique chocolate candy piñata business into a national brand by creating products for Michaels stores across the nation.
The Dynamic Donut Duo with Amie Anderson & Jamie Krake
Amie Anderson & Jamie Krake live in Ypsilanti, MI and share how their cafe failure spawned a successful home-based donut delivery business that’s spread joy to their community and uplifted their lives.
What I Learned From 50 Podcast Episodes
David Crabill takes you behind-the-scenes and shares what he learned from producing the first 50 podcast episodes, including the top 8 traits of successful cottage food entrepreneurs.
Top Business Tips For Cottage Food Entrepreneurs
In this special 50th episode of The Forrager Podcast, hear from 16 Facebook group owners who share some of their best tips about starting and growing a cottage food business.
Mom By Day, Baker By Night with Daniela Zographos
Daniela Zographos of Anderson, SC shares how she niched down to only selling custom-decorated cake pops, which made her home bakery even more successful and gave her more time to spend with her kids.
No Stopping, Keep Popping with Payshee Felt & Steve Bivans
Payshee Felt & Steve Bivans of St. Paul, MN share how they went from selling homemade, prepackaged popcorn at their local farmers market to selling $5k of popcorn in a weekend at large events.
The Self-Taught Supermom with April Spencer
Cake decorator and sugar artist April Spencer from Harrod, OH shares how she sells custom cakes and lollipops from home and on Etsy while being a nearly full-time stay-at-home mom of 3 young children.
Small Is Beautiful with Eric Sorensen
Eric Sorensen from Pullman, WA shares how he runs a profitable small side business in retirement by selling sourdough bread, bagels, pretzels, cookies, and more from his driveway and farmers markets.
Chocolates That Almost Sell Themselves with Anne Reist
Anne Reist of Holladay, UT sells eyepopping hand-painted couverture chocolates and shares how she organically grew her business to the point of building a commercial kitchen into her home.
Blending Coffee & Business with Jim & Crystal Whitmarsh
Jim & Crystal Whitmarsh of Kasson, MN share how they grew their small-batch roasted coffee business from home to a commercial storefront by leveraging creative collaborations with other businesses.
Go Big AND Go Home with Debbie George
Debbie George of Gilbert, AZ shares how she sold over 10,000 homemade custom cookies in her first year of business by going all-in, networking with other businesses, and focusing on B2B sales.