We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nancy Castillo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Nancy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Small business owners often face the challenge of work/life balance. It’s not that we miss having a regular job, we miss the set schedules and the seperation of our professional lives from our personal ones. All of this changes when you own a small business. Friendships change, personal lives change even more, and even with a strong team around you, your home life feels invaded 24/7. In a regular job, you can take up issues with HR and managers. In your own small business, you are all of these departments and more. It hurts not be to aware of every problem as they eventually accumulate into giant issues. Becauses small businesses are……well small, issues avalanche into us at a quicker pace. Burn out usually catches up around these periods and can often stay implanted for an extended amount of time. I think I speak for many when I say that the stresses of a regular job are about an eighth of a fraction or less of what it takes to run a small business. This is literally scratching the service honestly. It gets better over time of course, but navigating these courses take patience, training, and planning. So why on earth do I continue on this small business journey? Am I happy? I continue because this is my contribution to my community. There is a growing demand for our niche products and not many options available in this metroplex. I’m happy to provide that to our customers. Running the business on the back end is definitely a challenge, but having a supportive community and team helps in maneuvering towards growth and positivity. Having my own business accelerated the pace of my growth as a person, as a human being. Before, I used to feel that happiness was in vacation trips, getting away to beautiful beaches and exploring new cities. Today, my happiness is in the now and comes in the form of gratitude. I’m grateful for everything around me in the present always. My team, my business partner, my spouse, my home, my comfy bed, my health, the simple things make me happy. Kindess to all even during stressful times, patience amidst the chaos, peace when we must forgive and grow wisdom, these are points that help me be a better person but also a better leader. I’m sure I would have reached this point in a regular job, but I know I got to it sooner because of my small business. That makes me happy.

Nancy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Nancy Castillo and I own an all vegan bakery called Reverie Bakeshop in Richardson, TX. I became vegan 21 years ago and got into the food industry when I saw that there were not any vegan bakery options in Texas at that time in 2001. So I went to pastry school, Texas Culinary Academy in Austin, TX and moved my way up to Dallas, Texas during my externship. DFW’s vegan scene was still up and coming in the early 2000’s and I felt that an all vegan bakery would be a great addition to the area. My friend, Racene Mendoza, and I opened Reverie in 2013 with the hopes that other vegan businesses would follow soon after. We offer vegan cakes, kolaches, cheesecakes, french macarons, donuts, and more, all vegan, egg-free, dairy-free, and many gluten-free options available daily.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In the fifth year of business, we began to offer wholesale products to local markets and cafes. Our wholesale menu includes many of our popular staples like cookies, kolaches, muffins, scones, and bars. Fast forward 6 months into the pandemic and we had to pivot away from offering wholesale all together. It took us a while to realize that the man power to create these pastries from scratch was putting us at a loss because we could not manufacture the goods as quick as a machine nor could we retain the staff during COVID to keep up with the demand. We took it as a sign that our attention belonged fully to just the storefront.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Be present and listen to your team. Everyone wants to be heard and more often than not, people are communicating in actions and not just words. Making it a routine to check in with everyone on a regular basis can help make a big difference. Making sure equipment is functioning and available for everyone, having accessible essentials (like a clean tidy break area, water, lockers, etc.), and providing a safe work environment (where bullying is not present, communication is clear, etc). are examples of listening to your team. Being a good example also helps a lot. Your team will follow your lead on emotions, dress code, even your personal life (what is allowed and what is not). It really does come down to treat others how you would want to be treated. Step up for your team when you notice a change is needed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reveriebakeshop.com
• Instagram: @reveriebakeshop
• Facebook: @reveriebakeshop