Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Molly Kaiser. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Molly, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Growing up, I was often in the kitchen helping my mother—whether cooking or baking for the family. It honestly has always been a sort of safe space for me, and I love loving people by making them food. When I was 15, my sister and I worked together to make a “prinsesstårta” (a complicated Swedish dessert) because we had seen it on The Great British Baking Show. It took us about 6 hours total, as we made everything from scratch, but it was worth every minute as it turned out great. Through that experience I realized that I enjoyed baking more than the occasional cookies or birthday cake, I wanted to challenge myself and see what I could do. I baked my first layered cake for a school dance, decorating it with sugared cranberries and rosemary for Christmas time. Everything just took off from there. I began buying more tools to make my cakes cleaner and presentable. I made an instagram account and started doing photography for what I baked. I made my friends birthday cakes, graduation desserts, and treats for various occasions. I remember how ecstatic I was when I had for the first time someone order from me for their wedding. It was the biggest honor to create something beautiful for something so special. It was definitely a lot for me to juggle a small business out of my own kitchen in the midst of high school, but I was surrounded by supportive people who helped however they could. My mama especially made it all possible, there were multiple instances when she would read my school books aloud to me while I worked, or would whip up a frosting for me. Overall, I was just a kid who wanted to love people through the food that I made.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Well, I’m currently a college student in Purcellville, VA, although I’m originally from SoCal. As I hinted at in my answer to the last question, I got into baking more seriously during my freshmen year of high school. Although I would say my specialty is cakes, I’m not oppose to making anything. I’ve dabbled in pastry, patisserie, breads, etc., and I honestly have so much fun with it all (even if some can get frustrating sometimes). I’m proud of pretty much every order I’ve ever made and I’m honored for every client I’ve ever had. Baking is an art for sure, it’s more intricate than I think a lot of people realize. Because of that, I put in all of my effort for each order, because I want everything to as close to perfect as I am able to get it. Again, as I mentioned previously, the point of molls’ baking corner is to be able to love others through baking—sort of like acts of service I guess. I think, personally, what might make my business more appealing then others is the intimacy of my business. I love getting to work with my clients to see exactly what they want, and then I make it all from my own space. It all feels very familial, which I love.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A lot of my business has been building it, which means for me that for the majority of the career I’ve been doing things for little to no “profit” as I’m just trying to learn and grow however I can. Obviously, even as a high school student, I needed some of income. I began working for Invita Cafe when I was 17, a small, woman-owned business in SoCal. The owner and my boss, Sara De Luca, has encouraged me so much with my own business and I am so grateful for her and my experiences at Invita. Working part-time and being a student made my time more limited, however, so I had to take a few steps back from baking. However, working with Sara gave me a lot of experience in what it looks like running a business—from marketing to analyzing profit to even just learning what it’s like being a leader.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The best thing I’ve had built my “rep” is just word of mouth, in all honesty. It all started baking for my friends and family, but it quickly turned into baking for friends of friends and family, and then friends of friends of friends…and it goes on. Sara also advertised my business in the shops of Invita for a summer before I left for college and had to move my business with me. Overall, if you make good things, people will talk and spread the word.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mollsbakingcorner.wordpress.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/molls.bakingcorner?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Image Credits
Molly Kaiser (for baking shots) Mckael Kirwin (for photo of me)