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
Kristi Otto of Fort Myers, FL shares how she leveraged her extensive food industry experience to succeed with her cottage food bakery, despite her community not resonating with her products initially
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 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 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
Tyler Worthey of Neoga, IL shares how he built a very successful cottage food business during high school, and how he and his mom Angie now work together as a mother/son team to take it to new heights
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
Marci Larson of Sioux Falls, SD shares how she turned her longtime dream of selling baked goods into a reality and built a successful cottage food business by selling wholesale and at many events
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
Tiffany Hill shares how she built on her success as a cottage food baker by creating a thriving online community/course and a packaging business, both of which have experienced unprecedented growth
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 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
Michelle Dukes of Penfield, NY shares why she shifted her business model after 10 years of running a cottage food bakery, while keeping focus on the most important aspect of her business: having fun
David Bock of Altadena, CA runs a multifaceted honey business that specializes in rescuing honey bees, and he shares local marketing tips that helped him build an email list of 3,500+ subscribers
Eric & Denise Steilberger of Ocala, FL sell their homemade fudge all year long and share how the lessons they learned from running a cafe in Alaska helped them build a successful cottage food business
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
Denae Spiering of Bridgeville, DE shares how she realized her long-time dream of building a brick-and-mortar bakery despite life getting in the way and pausing her cottage food business for many years
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
Tamara Ketchian of Orange, CT sells gluten-free vegan granola and shares how she’s gone from stay-at-home mom to starting a cottage food bakery to now scaling her business with a commercial kitchen
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
Robert & Paula Grosz of Murray, KY share how they built a thriving jam & jelly business that allowed them to quit their jobs by focusing on quality, listening to customers, and scaling their business
Susan Ting of Needham, MA shares how quitting her corporate job and facing burnout led her to start a cottage food bakery where she sells very unique and high-end gluten-free mochi desserts
Alisa Woods of Des Moines, IA shares how she promotes her home bakery by networking with others, getting TV spots, building Instagram followers, competing in state fairs, and living in the moment
Lora Friemel of Scranton, AR shares how she sells homemade jams, jellies, and other canned goods as a way to support her lifelong dream of running a sustainable homestead for her family
Barbara Williford of DeBerry, TX shares how she built a cottage food bakery with her daughter and grew it into a full-time business by networking with others and giving back to her community
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
Jen Morris shares so many lessons from her crazy journey building a popular cupcake business in Collingdale, PA, including promoting yourself, scaling up, getting published, and validating products
Brette Hawks is one of Utah’s top wedding cake artists and shares how she grew two successful businesses as a stay-at-home mom by niching down, pricing correctly, and working smarter, not harder
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.
Annette Conrad of Mequon, WI shares how she massively scaled her home-based custom decorated cookie business by building a team, optimizing systems, and selling to event planners and corporate clients.
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.
Cassie Menchhofer of Celina, OH shares how she took her business to the next level by building an FDA-approved manufacturing facility to sell her dried soup, baking, and spice mixes across the country.
Sarah Thongnopneua lives in San Anselmo, CA and shares how she grew her “bouCAKES” (floral cupcake bouquets) business from her home kitchen into a commercial kitchen & won a Food Network competition.
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.
Beatrice Lattimore from Deland, FL shares how her family moved from the city into the country to start a farm and live off the land, and how she used the cottage food law to sell value-added products.
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.
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.
Tracy Mancuso near Medford, OR shares how she built her successful custom cake business from home while raising young kids by leveraging social media and embracing her local community.
Whitney Singletary of Berkeley, CA shares many of the obstacles she faced to build a successful nut-flavored cookie business from her driveway and eventually grow into a brick-and-mortar storefront.
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.
Kourtney Rojas of Anaheim, CA shares her long, organic journey into creating a successful home pie business that helps support her family and gave her the freedom to quit her job.
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.
Justina Rucinski from Burlington, IA shares how she resurrected her custom cookie business after being sexually assaulted by a supposed client, and how her experience impacted the cottage food industry.
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.
Nathan & Nicole Parchman of O’Fallon, IL share how they produce and sell over 200 jars of salsa and pickles each week, and have grown from farmers market to wholesale to brick-and-mortar storefront.
Safeera Inayath of Prior Lake, MN sells elegant custom cakes & macarons from her home kitchen, and shares how she grew to 10k Instagram followers by improving her photos and cultivating partnerships.
Liz Marek of Beaverton, OR talks about running a cake decorating business, winning cake competitions, teaching around the world, and creating The Sugar Geek Show, which has over 300,000 followers.
Liz Marek of Beaverton, OR talks about running a cake decorating business, winning cake competitions, teaching around the world, and creating The Sugar Geek Show, which has over 300,000 followers.
Melvin Roberson of Fort Worth, TX runs a popular gourmet donut shop, and he shares the ups and downs of his journey from cottage food business to food truck to brick-and-mortar storefront.