We were lucky to catch up with Becca Battista recently and have shared our conversation below.

Becca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

I haven’t told many people about this, actually. But, for the past few months I auditioned for the Food Network. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I actually didn’t think I could do it. I sent in an audition tape and “girl boss”-ed too close to the sun when they gave me a call back. The weeks that followed were filled with cookie challenges and days of silences between rounds. I would get a call that was like, “make me a 4 walled 3D cookie structure, decorated 360 degrees and at least 6 inches high by 12 noon tomorrow”*click*. And I delivered. It was the best work I’ve ever done in my life. I made through to the last round just to get cut at the end. I really thought I had it. Like, “making dinner reservations in LA while across the country” type of thought I had it. I was calling up Nobu Malibu!!! I still don’t understand how I didn’t get it. I actually took a few weeks off to cope (the time I had already carved out in my schedule for the trip to LA). My confidence was rocked. If this was my best and I still didn’t get it, where did I go from here? A day into my depressed staycation, I received an email from the Fred Rogers Production company asking me to make cookies for one of their events. If I had gone to LA, I wouldn’t have been able to participate in this opportunity. At the end of the day, the audition for Food Network let me create the best work I’ve ever done and how to cope with rejection.

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 grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. My parents used to make wedding cakes when I was a pre-teen. So, I’ve had a piping bag in my hand at a young age. But baking wasn’t always fun. I was more a sous chef, and had to deal with the stress and anxiety from parents who didn’t know how to run a business or work together. I actually hated baking for a really long time after that. It’s kinda funny how I ended up back at the beginning all these years later. I actually went to college for accounting and got a job right after school. Two years later, the pandemic hit and I was doing taxes for 12 hours a day in my dining room table. I was constantly told by my managers that I was “too much” and really struggled not having a creative outlet. I never thought of myself as a creative person. I thought the arts and being creative, especially going to school for & getting a job in those areas, was something that only rich people got to do. I remember the moment I decided to quit accounting. I was on the phone with one of my managers, giving me grief about saving a millionaire an extra $500 on his tax return. I paced around the dining room table/work space and looked outside the window. It was 2021. My dining room window looked out onto a cemetery. Someone was being buried. Someone was being buried and I’m getting yelled at for not saving a millionaire an extra $500? The guy had a $7 million dollar W-2. I thought this can’t be what it’s all for. So, I quit my job. I saved a good chunk before I made that decision, and I’m extremely lucky I have a supportive and loving partner who let me quit my job & follow my dreams. I started selling cookies the next week! I had actually done it as an in between until I got my next job. But I never looked for another job again. I get to be creative and make money? This is incredible. I thought it was a dream.

I started doing cookies as a creative outlet during quarantine and built an online presence. It was just for fun, until friends and strangers on the internet started asking me to make them for them. It’s been a blur since then. I’ve loved making friends with local businesses, especially women owned. I’ve worked with some incredible companies, such as Yelp, Kimpton Hotels, and, most recently, the Fred Rogers Production company. I’ve had a lot of successes and a lot of failures. I’m still so lucky that people include me in their special events.

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

I think one thing that audiences are really attracted to is realness. I’m not pretending to be the prefect people pleaser marketer. If you’re rude, I’ll call you out. If something sketchy, I’m going to put that on blast. Recently, I had a company reach out to be about an “opportunity” to “help them out due to a lack of onsite cookie decorators”. Since they were obviously vague, I sent them back some guidelines that were non negotiable before we could even begin the conversation. I also told them I wasn’t doing anything without a contract and involving my lawyer. I thought it was pretty standard. Once I mentioned lawyers, they refunded their offer. So, I spoke up about it on my Instagram stories in case they tried to do something with a newer, maybe more naive local cookier. Even if the company didn’t have any ill will, even anyone wants to do business with you but runs away the second you mention lawyers, it’s a red flag. I think its important to speak up about these kinds of things, especially with new, less experienced bakers. I think I probably would’ve taken the “opportunity” if I didn’t learn what I have the past 2 years.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I started my business solely on Etsy. I still do sell on Etsy. Before I start, I should say that I am grateful for the reach Etsy gives me and I think it’s a great place to start your business, for the customer reach alone. With that being said, the fees are incredibly predatory and you really need to have an understanding on them along with your profit margin and cost structure. Once you reach a certain number of sales, the fees increase and force you into “outside marketing” – the fee of which can be anywhere from 10-15%, on top of the 4 other fees Etsy takes on your item. So, you really need to markup your items on your Etsy page to make it worth while. Even with a 30% makeup on my items, I still make the same if not less on an item that I sell at a “normal” price on my website. I feel like new sellers don’t really understand that concept, so I try to tell new sellers as much as I can. Etsy is still a great tool to attract customers. I do have repeat customers I’ve gotten from Etsy that I’ve converted to my website. It saves us both money!

Contact Info:

• Website: thebeesbakeryshop.com
• Instagram: @beccabakescookies