We recently connected with Barbara Hoover and have shared our conversation below.

Barbara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner?

Surprisingly, my background is in corporate insurance claims handling! I started my career at State Farm right after I graduated high school and worked there until 2020. Starting my career at such a young age with a fortune 40 company, it truly taught me a lot. I was young and “uneducated” but I had drive, an intense work ethic, and I’m pretty stubborn, so I wasn’t going to not be successful working for such a large company and working my way from an entry level position up the corporate ladder really opened my eyes to what hard work is. Claims work is intense and you are continuously working with people who are dealing with some of the worst things that have ever happened to them. You have to learn to meet people where they’re at, not take things personally and you have to learn to cultivate your communication skills to a wide array of people. You learn that not everyone, actually very rarely, will anyone, agree with what you’re doing, how you’re doing it or your decision making, and that’s okay!

Fine tuning all those skills, strengthening my mental strength and mindset from all those years has been pivotal in my success in starting my own business. The confidence I cultivated in that corporate environment transferred over so seamlessly into my own business. I was able to truly assess risks that needed to be made and be confident in my decisions. You learn that every problem has a solution and adaptability is a huge asset in running your own business, because believe me, you will have to change things as times change and life happens and if you aren’t flexible, if you can’t keep your eye on the big picture and realize there are multiple ways to get there, running your own business will be infinitely harder. Success is not a linear path, honestly, sometimes success feels like failure because it may not look they way you hoped it would, but if you learn to adapt, realign your vision, keep moving and stay consistent, you will get where you need to be.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Barbara! The owner, baker and really everything behind The Wildflower Baking Co. my own home bakery.

I’m just a girl who has always loved to bake, it all started when I was little. My mom was a single mom of four girls and I was the youngest. We didn’t have a lot at all but my mom, when she would bake chocolate chip cookies, man, those were good days. Those are still some of my favorite memories, waking up from a nap and just smelling them bake in the oven, waiting for them to be done so we could sit in the kitchen and eat one.

As I grew up, I started to teach myself how to bake and I fell in love. I started making my own recipes and even into high school people always wanted me to bake for them.

Throughout my career in insurance I baked all the time for my team and that turned into people wanting me to bake for their own parties. That’s when I started dreaming of baking full time.

So, in January of 2020 I took that risk and I quit my corporate job! Little did I know that launching my business at the downtown McKinney Farmers Market on April 1, 2020 would be at risk because little did I know Covid would hit March of 2020.

There I was, I had just let go of my 12 year career to take on my dream and the whole world shut down. I was scared but I knew I had to make it work and make it succeed. We still launched and I am beyond happy that I kept going, that first year was amazing and life changing. It showed me the real importance of life, what my priorities were and that bringing joy and happiness to peoples lives with my baking was exactly what I should be doing.

God truly blessed my trust in Him because I was so busy that whole year. I adapted and I offered delivery and being one of the only bakeries to offer delivery was huge for the current situation. The connections I was able to make trough the McKinney Farmers Market honestly became life long friends was invaluable.

Unfortunately, in 2021 my husband and I separated and I was now looking at being a new single mom while running a whole business. This was one of those times where life throws you a curve ball and you can either crumble and run away scared or you can adjust your mindset, plan and make it work.

So, that’s what I did, I got a day job, kept the baking going on a scaled back level and learned how to be a single mom. Let me tell you, it was hard, exhausting and I know i made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot that year, but I wouldn’t change that for anything. My customers were always so understanding, supportive and encouraging. They kept me going.

I learned how to say no more and that while I still offer my whole menu of freshly baked from scratch cookies and desserts that I really love doing custom cakes! Weddings and parties became my favorite part of the business. The creative outlet was so refreshing.

Now, I’m still just a girl who feels like most days she is barely surviving. But I know that I am a woman who is a mom, showing her son, that hard work, consistency, drive and time management can get you through anything. Most of my work now centers on special events and custom cakes for customers but I see a store front in the future and possibly a return to the market. We shall see.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Authenticity. That is the number one thing I will truly always recommend to anyone looking to start any type of business. In the world of social media and the internet where everyone has an opinion, you have to know yourself. You are your biggest marketing tool. I knew when I started that branding was going to be everything, catching the public’s eye with my branding was just the beginning.

I invested in my brand and what that looked like even if I did start out as a home bakery at a farmers market. I got so much push back that I should just start simple and change over time.

I knew that for me and myself that I did not want to launch my business looking like I was always only going to be a home bakery. I knew my dream and if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right.

It paid off! Do you know how many people complimented my booth and set up at the market?! It was amazing. The look and feel of my space drew the customers in, but I was selling me and my genuineness, my skill set, my heart to each customer. Taking the time to care about each customer and each order, proving my integrity and character is what has built my reputation. And the only way that has happened is because I know who I am and that’s what every business owner needs, know yourself, know where you want your business to go even from the first day treat it like it’s your dream every step of the way, be you and don’t let anyone else try to sway you away from yourself. This is YOUR dream, and if you treat it that way and protect it you will succeed.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I touched on this a little but I would say the biggest story of resilience since starting my journey was my divorce.

Walking away from my successful corporate career, being a mom starting a whole new career during a pandemic was insane. And then for us to separate a year later and to take on a full time day job, continue my business, raise my son, and adjust to the new life we had to build. It was hard.

For anyone who’s gone through a divorce knows how hard it is to adjust, let alone when a child is involved. It’s extremely emotionally taxing. I valued the time I had with my son and so I never baked while he was with me, I worked all day, spent all my time and attention on my son when I had him and ran my business while he was with his dad or while he napped or was asleep. Haha it was a lot.

So many late nights, no down time, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of feeling like a failure but I stuck to it. I pushed through, I knew it was all just temporary and we would come out the other side happier and closer and more resilient than before and now two years later we are! We have our system and I’m great at juggling all the things and I’m so happy that now my business is 3 years old and my name and reputation speaks for me.

You have to stay diligent, you have to stay consistent, and understand that the journey isn’t always going to look the way you may want it to, but every step is getting you closer to your dream.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thewildflowerbakingco.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewildflowerbakingco?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewildflowerbakingco?mibextid=LQQJ4d