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

Alright, Amy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

In 2020 I, like everyone else, needed a bit of a mental break from my job. I’ve always loved baking and have wanted to open a bakery since I was a kid so I thought it would be fun to sell to cinnamon rolls to some family and friends for the holiday season. I did a few tests, decided to just sell the sweet roll dough, designed a logo, and created an Instagram account. My husband and I launched it in the parking lot of our nephew’s basketball game and I was amped out of my mind when I had two orders. Word spread on social media and things escalated quickly to say the least. I would work my desk job during the day and then would bake late into the night. I was learning how to bake on a larger scale for the first time in my life and making plenty of math mistakes along the way. What was meant to be a fun side gig/mental escape turned into my full time job. Honestly, there wasn’t a ton of planning going into the launch of The Dough Lady. We just opened orders and figured it out as we went. Looking back I absolutely had no clue it would turn into what it is today. I never expected to quit my job and run a bakery full time – I just wanted to bake for my friends and now I’m living out a dream of mine!

Amy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The Dough Lady is an online bakery that sells various flavors of sweet roll dough, cookie dough, and dinner roll dough. Growing up I loved baking with my mom and sisters every week. My mom always told us the kitchen was a lab and to try anything we wanted – so we did! I believe there is a lack of gooey cinnamon rolls on the market. I’m always disappointed when I bite into a dry one so I set out to change it. Dough Lady rolls are gooey, packed with flavor, and something you can bake at home. The most satisfying part of baking for me is pulling something you made out of the oven and filling your house with the best aromas. The Dough Lady’s take and bake dough allows you to do that just with a fraction of the work.

I quit my job a year ago to pursue this bakery full time. It was a terrifying leap, but the business was getting to a point where having both a desk job and a “side gig” weren’t sustainable. I decided to go all in to see what I could create. For me, big leaps and big moves will never stop being scary. I think it’s normal and just something we have to learn to live with. But I’ve also never felt more empowered, creative, fulfilled, and happy because I took the plunge to do this full time. The biggest decision we have to make is to simply start.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My entire business has been built through Instagram. I think voice is an important part of your posts. Most posts for me are written like how I talk/express in real life so I carry myself into my brand. My Instagram account isn’t a “‘business voice” it’s my voice.

I’ve been lucky where a lot of my social following was grown organically/word of mouth. But I also had some influencers post about my products early on. If you can get in with the influencer crowd, you’ll gain followers fast. There’s also a great foodie community on Instagram that will rally behind products.

Reels are also a game changer for Instagram. Use audio that is trending and create a lot of behind the scenes. People love seeing how things are made. Everything can be content!

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

The point of no return for me was when I upgraded to an industrial mixer instead of using my small Bosch. Quitting my job felt like nothing in comparison to purchasing this mixer. I literally had to go lay down after it was delivered. I started this business out of my house so now instead of a normal kitchen set up I had two massive commercial tables and a huge mixer in the corner. The business completely took over our home so we finally moved it out of the house and into a commercial kitchen. Again, it was a scary step. But buying the mixer and moving to my own space has been the best thing!

Scaling a bakery is incredibly hard. One person can only do so much. Hiring my first person was a huge milestone for me. It was hard for me to be okay with paying someone to do things I knew I could do on my own (it just took me way longer). But hiring has felt like the best form of self care and is worth every penny. I can do things twice as fast and now my employee can run operations if I’m gone. I have so much more balance and am not as stretched thin because my employees can help. I just hired my second one!

Contact Info:

• Website: doughladyslc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doughladyslc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-n-nelson/