We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Bradford recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I am originally from California and lived there my whole life. I decided one day I wasn’t happy living there and needed a fresh start so my husband and I packed up our life and moved to Dallas. I had a job lined up for when we moved out there and worked that job for about 2 years. About a year in, I was ready to venture out on my own however it was 2020 and the pandemic had just hit. I decided it was a smarter move to stay where I was so I ended up working through the pandemic and saving up money. In 2021 I discovered I was pregnant with my daughter and I knew that I had to take the risk and start my business so I could show her to chase her dreams and have a legacy to leave behind for her so when I was 7 months pregnant I bit the bullet and Bradford Bakery was born!

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?

The culinary industry is all I have ever known and I have had the bug since I was very young. I got my first job at 15 and along the way fell in love with the art of pastry. It definitely was not an easy road to get here, it was a lot of long days and burning the candle at both ends but my passion and determination to learn all I could motivated me to put in the time and effort. I used to get with the chefs at school and do extra projects before and after class, I interned and shadowed whoever I could meet and tried to make as many connections as possible. When I was a full time pastry chef I also worked on a team who did the Dalai Llama’s 80th birthday cake and that was the most amazing experience. I learned so much from our amazing leader, Chef Johnson and getting to meet the Dalai Llama was definitely a plus. All of that translated into my own brand because every cake or product that comes out of my kitchen is truly made with love and passion and I sincerely want the best for all my clients for their events.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Love and Discipline. I cannot stress this enough. My teams always get treated like people and I always invest in them as human beings first above all else. This has lead me to have strong and loyal teams over the years that appreciate the time I spent with them and advice I may have had to offer them in certain situations.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. As chefs we sometimes tend to be prideful and not having certain information or skills tends to be viewed as a weakness but I have learned over the years to not be afraid to ask for help, to delegate and to ask questions as it only makes you a stronger leader for your team because they can relate to you as a human being and be more comfortable in the fact that not everyone knows it all and it helps you build your skills as well as others because you guys can feed off of what each other knows and create a collaborative environment where everyone can teach one another their strong suits.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bradfordbakery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradfordbakeryco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100437575205057
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/IIVBOmQCCvHzXLAL7L3Uyw

Image Credits
Blessed photography