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

Hi Rebecca, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

The honest truth…Being a small business owner can be tough and challenging at times. There is so much self doubt about whether you’re doing the right thing, are your processes efficient, are you answering a needs and wants of the market and your audience? Along with that, time seems to always be against you. There’s never enough time in the day to get things done. Starting your own business is risky, it’s something that we don’t ever really think about until you’re knee deep in it. With all the daily challenges, the thought of a regular 9-5 job is sometimes alluring to go back to. I definitely work longer days now than I ever did at any regular job but it’s worth it.

Before starting CRUST, I did have a 9-5 job that I absolutely enjoyed. I spent 11 years working for smaller boutique marketing and advertising firms and although I enjoyed the work I did, there was always the thought of perusing that American Dream of owning my own business. As a first generation American, I’m proud to say I’m a small business owner and it drives me everyday to dream bigger and keep pushing towards larger goals for my business. The satisfaction that comes from sharing something I love creating daily is overwhelming. It still gives me butterflies when someone says to me “this is delicious” or when they hear through the grapevine of how tasty our pies are. It completely makes the long days covered in flour, worth it. The happiness and joy that comes along with being a business owner is a selfless task as your business grows and it’s something I look forward to and welcome along with the challenges. Would I give up waking up at 4 Am to bake pies for the Market or spend long days in the kitchen? Without a doubt, no way!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been a fan of pies from a young age. My parents would often get individually wrapped fruit hand pies from the grocery store and after many years, I realized… Wow, these are not as great as I remember. This led me to start making pies. I started creating pie recipes over 10 years ago and completely fell in love with the process of perfecting a flaky pie crust from scratch.

Over a decade of making delicious pies for family and friends, I finally decided to start CRUST Pie Company in 2022. Creating individual mini pies to fulfill that perfect serving size for one person to enjoy or for two to share. My mission for starting CRUST is to create incredible pies that bring you comfort, reminds you of home and provides you with a tasty experience you can share with others.

Now, we’re serving up both sweet and savory options with traditional and unique flavors like Japanese Curry Chicken or Matcha sweet pie. Something that is completely different to the traditional flavors by blending some of those flavors from my Asian heritage and American influence.

We are proud to also be able to include local ingredients when we can in our products. We source all our fruits when in season from local farms in the Rochester or Buffalo area and use the best quality flour from a local mill.

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

CRUST did start as a side hustle while I worked my 9-5 job. I spent my days working from home and my evenings in the kitchen prepping for markets. Man, was it hard!!! I don’t think I slept very much the first couple of months. We were selling out or nearly selling out at every market we did so after a few months of grinding it out doing both jobs, I finally took that leap of faith and decide to go all in and focus on growing CRUST. People love pie and, without a doubt, there wasn’t anyone doing fresh savory and sweet mini pies so with that in mind, I thought it would be the perfect time to really focus on this opportunity. Today, CRUST is still a one-woman show but we’re currently hiring and looking to expand. A real big milestone after introducing ourselves last summer. Our latest milestone is securing a spot in Brighton Farmer’s Market this year, one of the biggest and toughest markets to get into in the Rochester area.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The quality of our products is defiantly what makes us stand out. Everything we make is freshly prepped from our crust to our fillings. Everything that goes into our pies matter! Our customers recognize that we truly put effort into what we produce and they’ve really helped us grow our reputation within the market as a flaky and butter tasty pie option.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.crustpieco.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thecrustpieco
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thecrustpieco