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
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
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
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
Mike Skyring of South Lyon, MI shares how he started a gourmet cookie bakery totally by accident, and how he quickly grew it into a very successful business by leveraging many marketing techniques
Emily Vanlandingham of New Orleans, LA runs a home bakery that focuses on school celebrations, and shares the triumphs, lessons, and challenges that have come from creating her very unique business
Christina Marquez of Antioch, IL shares how she built a cottage food bakery amidst many life challenges by following her passion, caring deeply about her customers, and focusing on serving others
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
Lee Thomas runs a legal home BBQ business in San Leandro, CA and shares how he leveraged his political connections to help legalize MEHKOs (micro-enterprise home kitchen operations) in his county
Lisa Kivirist of Browntown, WI shares an update on the past, present, and future of the cottage food and food freedom movements, and how she’s helping support them with many different resources
Fawzeya Owda of Norwood, OH shares her unique journey from home bakery to commercial kitchen when her Palestinian-inspired cheesecake allowed her to build her own American Dream to support her family
Carla Jones-Harris of Pennsauken, NJ shares her 30-year journey of starting a successful gluten-free and vegan bakery after facing many painful setbacks that tried to get in her way
Heather & Corrie Miracle of Fairfax, VA share their top advice for cottage food entrepreneurs based on what they’ve learned from creating their very successful paid membership filled with raving fans
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.
Sahar Shomali of Los Angeles, CA shares how she went from being a pastry chef at top-end restaurants to running her own home bakery by rediscovering the bread from her childhood in Iran.
Jewel Burgess of Rancho Cordova, CA shares how she started a cottage food business selling realistic cake sculptures and what she’s learned from participating in four Food Network competitions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sari Kimbell of Fort Collins, CO shares tons of advice about growing a food business, including pricing, choosing products, branding, selling wholesale, scaling up, find a commissary kitchen, and more.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Anthony Rosemond lives in Phelan, CA and shares how he and his wife Yami moved from France to start a French bakery that went from selling macarons at farmers markets to now selling them nationwide.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sari Stevenson of Costa Mesa, CA shares how she started a keto bakery and sold over $50,000 of homemade baked goods within the first year, leading her to move into a commercial kitchen to keep growing.
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.
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.
Jennifer Jacobs of Pinellas Park, FL shares how to organically grow your cottage food business from part-time hobby to full-time brick-and-mortar without spending a dime on advertising.
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.
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.
Kathy Sing from Visalia, CA shares how she sold almost $50k of homemade caramel corn, toffee, and other treats in a single year by wholesaling through retail stores.
Jeremy Davis from Charlotte, MI runs a lucrative custom-decorated cake business from home while working a full-time job, taking care of his kids, and occasionally appearing on national television.
Lisa Petrizzi-Geller from Berkley, MA shares what she’s learned from selling thousands of homemade & custom-decorated cake pops, chocolate-covered Oreos, and other treats at tons of events.
Barry Sherman and his life partner Scott, from Tampa Bay, FL, run an eco-friendly, socially-conscious, high-end cookie business by using compostable packaging and giving a portion of sales to charity.
Lauren Inazu of St. Louis, MO shares what she’s learned about legally starting her cottage food business as a 13-year-old, in hopes of inspiring other young entrepreneurs to try it out as well.
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.
Noel Martinez of Pittsburgh, PA sells Cuban-inspired, diet-specific, homemade baked goods. He shares some of the successes and struggles of growing his new business while working two part-time jobs.
Becca Aronowitz from Richmond Hill, GA shares everything cake pops (making, pricing, sculpting, decorating, etc), her journey from art teacher to business owner, and some crazy stories along the way.
Mallory Dies, from Stafford, VA, shares many creative marketing ideas that she learned from selling homemade gourmet cookie sandwiches, and how she developed a significant following on social media.
Jennifer Lopez (Paducah, KY) & Emily Blattel (Scott City, MO) are amazing cake artists and discuss many facets of running a custom cake business, including marketing, partnerships, and startup advice.
Jennifer Lopez (Paducah, KY) & Emily Blattel (Scott City, MO) are amazing cake artists and discuss many facets of running a custom cake business, including marketing, photography, pricing, & delivery.
Whether it’s putting a smile on an ill child’s face, or contacting state legislators to change the law, Kathy Cherie from Elk Grove Village, IL is always baking a difference in her community.
Joanne Littau from Denver, CO talks about why it’s difficult to make money from selling preserves, what practical tips to follow when canning goods, and why the cottage food community is so special.
Dr. Christine Bertz of Memphis, TN talks about the importance of beekeeping, how to start a beehive in your backyard, and how her fear of bees has transformed into an obsessive fascination of them.
Tina Karnath from Saginaw, MI owns a plethora of cookie cutters and decorates hundreds of custom-designed cookies each week. She talks about pricing, resources, and what she’s learned over the years.
Kevin Martino, owner of Chef Kev’s Specialty Foods in Concord, CA, talks about wholesaling homemade flavored peanuts to breweries, how he’s grown his business, and his plans for the future.
Sonia Chang from Pasadena, CA, who has sold her healthy granola in over two dozen stores and has also operated a popular cupcakery, shares marketing strategies that she’s used to grow her businesses.
Diana Shockley owns I Love Pie in Carmichael, CA. After selling fruit pies at the farmers market for 1.5 years, she expanded into her own storefront. How did she do it and why was she so successful?
Lauren Cortesi talks about the realities of running a home bakery for 17 years, how to price products correctly, and the benefits of hiring a business coach. She owns Bella’s Desserts in Pennsylvania.
Let’s say you’re thinking of selling your homemade goodies at a local market this summer. How will you set the price?