Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bethany Turner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Bethany, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
Good question.
One of my first orders (that wasn’t family) came from a fellow vendor at Sugar Maple in Milwaukee. It was an unexpected surprise.
Let me give you a little background. This is one of the first events I took part in back in the summer of 2022. I’m nervous and just hoping for the best. I made a point to walk around before the event started and get to know my vendor neighbors.” I met a group called Interwovxn! This was their first event, and we talked for a while about our goals and visions. We followed each other on social media and went about our day.
A few months later, I received an email from them asking me if I wanted to take part in their “5 senses Friday night. Of course I said yes! The opportunity went amazingly well, by the way.
I was honored by the fact that I was not trying to sell anything to them when we first interacted, but an impression was still made.
Bethany, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We can start with the basics. My name is Bethany, and I am the owner of Bethmayhem!
I started my baking journey when I was 10 years old. I would borrow my mom’s cookbook, skipping straight to the quick breads and sweets. My go-to was chocolate chip cookies. Any money I received was put toward buying new baking sheets and stocking up on ingredients.
Granted, I baked solely to stuff my own face, but my mom encouraged me to bake for other people (probably because she was sick of having her counters covered with pastry). Who knew moms could be so right? It started with bake sales for school, random stops for my neighbors, or potlucks at church. Any excuse was great.
The older I got, the more complex recipes I tried. And next thing I knew, cinnamon rolls—so many cinnamon rolls. College was the most experimental time because my food critics were by the thousands.
Unfortunately, like most people, I am very sensitive to dairy products. So most of my recipes are based on almond milk and vegan butter. I do cheat sometimes with cream cheese frosting, but I’m just waiting for some dairy-free options that don’t mess with the flavor, and that will change.
With the encouragement of my loved ones, I’ve decided to start my own baking empire! So thank you for supporting my black woman-owned business!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
The best source for making new clients (in my experience) is word of mouth.
As humans, we like to talk about our days—different scents, tastes, and sights. Quite a number of my clients hear about my new business through their friends and their friends friends. Like a domino effect.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that being nice to everyone is essential. I realized that being good and being nice are two different actions. A quote I love by John Gorman goes, “Nice is an act of kindness. Good is an act of valor.” https://medium.com/
I would rather be remembered as a good person. Someone who was always authentic but not always friendly would be nice and afraid of upsetting others with real conversations.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.takinggreatwhisks.com
- Instagram: Bmayhem25
- Facebook: Bethmayhem LLC
Image Credits
All photos were taken by Bethany Turner