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

Abby, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

A few years ago I was on a solo trip to Paris, and I was looking for ways to fill my time. Even though I hadn’t eaten many macarons at that point in my life, I did know that they were beautiful, challenging, and decidedly French. I couldn’t resist, so I enrolled in a class and fell in love. When I came home, I started baking them for friends and they basically begged me to start selling them. I wasn’t satisfied in my job at the time, so it was a happy distraction. Soon, strangers started raving over my macarons, so I decided it was worth it to take the plunge and try it full time. I’ve since made thousands of macarons and sold them for weddings, baby showers, corporate events, and beyond.

I had a baby in September 2022, and now that I’m a mom, I’ve had to pivot my business so that I can do both (12 hour bake-days are now unrealistic for me). I had spent so much time figuring out how to perfect macarons in home kitchens, that I decided to put what I learned into an online course to teach people to make them in their own homes. It actually combines skills from past jobs and my current business –> teaching + baking, and I’ve loved it so far. It’s always a challenge to pivot, but I think it’s so special to be able to bake technical pastries in your home kitchen, and I want to share that with others through my online course!

Abby, 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?

My baking journey traces back to a love for beautiful food and a desire to share it with people. For as long as I can remember, I’ve read cookbooks like novels –> the process of a recipe and the result fascinated me. And I’m kind of a cookbook hoarder — I love them. I got to a point where I needed to challenge myself to start making the foods I was reading about, but I was nervous that I would fail. I set out to make one new recipe a week, and this completely changed my confidence in baking/cooking as well as my perspective on finding beauty in the process. Suddenly all those dirty dishes were worth it, because I was creating delicious foods and sharing them! Watching people enjoy the food I’d prepared brought me a unique sense of accomplishment and joy.

Macarons and pastry in general was an extension of this…. they were the next challenge. Plus, I had been watching a lot of the Great British Baking Show and felt particularly inspired ;)

My online course sets out to demystify the macaron-making process. Baking macarons in your own kitchen is very different than in a controlled, commercial environment (like an in-person class). I help people have success at home so they can continue to make macarons anytime they want! I personally went through countless failed batches and admittedly, tears, trying to perfect the process and wasted a lot of money along the way. My course helps people avoid a lot of that. Macarons are tricky, and it’s likely that my students will have to make a few batches to get them exactly right, but they can avoid a lot of the trial/error that I went through by following my recipe + suggestions. Plus, I am available as a resource throughout the course to answer questions and troubleshoot!!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m actually undergoing the biggest pivot in my business currently. Since becoming a mom, I’ve had to think about scaling in a way that doesn’t require super long baking-days…I just don’t have those days available to me anymore. While I’m still accepting a limited number of smaller custom orders in the Denver area, the main part of my business has pivoted to teaching others how to make my macarons!

This has definitely been challenging, because I do wish I could sell direct to consumer macarons at the scale I was previously, but I love the idea that my recipes can be made all over the world with a digital product. I also love teaching, so this new direction blends some of my biggest strengths (baking + teaching). My current course, Macaron Masterclass, focuses on French macarons, but my goal is to have multiple courses across all different kinds of pastry!!

How did you build your audience on social media?

My biggest social media presence is on Instagram. Social media is tough because the platforms themselves are always pivoting to stay relevant, and you have to pivot alongside them for your posts to do well. I didn’t understand this at first, and missed some of the big shifts to video when they were first happening.

My brand was built on beautiful photography with clean white backgrounds, and I was growing slowly but surely that way. The name of the game right now is video, so I’ve done my best to translate those same features (light and airy, clean) into my video content. I’m not going “viral” per-say, but I still have steady growth on Instagram, and I’m proud of that. At the end of the day I’d rather have a smaller-engaged following, than a huge following that doesn’t value what I offer. That’s my biggest advice for those starting out — slow and steady growth is still growth!!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.meringueandcompany.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meringue_co/

Image Credits
Mel Schroeder Photography