Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Callie Mundy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Callie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
cake… in a jar! My most popular product and what I’ve become known for is my assembled ready-to-eat layer dessert cakes made in glass jars.
Callie, 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?
Here’s the thing. I love a theme. In high-school I would invite my friends bowling and make coordinating bowling ball cupcakes. Plan a St. Patricks day potluck where everyone had to bring something green (I made green pancakes on my portable griddle in the school cafeteria.) Hosted a “poetry reading” at my home so I could display a range of coffee house pastries.
The common denominator in every event was food. I loved bringing a group of people together with the intention to feed them.
This led me to Culinary School after I graduated, and the following 10 years I spent working in bakeries, resorts, restaurants, and hotels. My role as an Executive Pastry Chef let me compose desserts, craft menus, and create memorable experiences for my customers.
In 2020 (as I’m sure a lot of us did) I reevaluated where my career was at. I was pregnant with my second child and decided to stay home instead of return to work at a Hotel I loved. This is when my own business, mundymade, was able to really flourish. I was making many wedding cakes and birthday cakes, and I valued being a part of people’s special occasions. But I realized I had a unique background in flavor composition and had so many ideas of what I wanted to produce. Introducing people to a new dessert they loved, or an interesting flavor combination they wouldn’t have thought of, or just hearing them say it tasted even better than it looked.. that’s what made me light up! That’s what I found passion in and wanted to continue.
I now specialize in unique one of a kind desserts assembled in a glass jar. Cake jars! I offer them for major holidays with customized ribbons and decorations making all my theme-and-dessert dreams come true. These are thoughtfully composed with layers of texture and locally sourced ingredients. Being a small business that is able to use products of other local businesses around me is something I’m proud of in my story.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Last Thanksgiving I made a set of Pie jars, and sales were steady but hadn’t increased in number from the same holiday the year before. I looked at my order list and not a single person was a new customer. I was happy that everyone who ordered was here again, and acknowledged the complement of having repeat clients who were back for more. But what I had to learn was if I’m not expanding my network and introducing NEW people to my products, I will never grow. I asked for help. I turned to my repeating customers and encouraged them to share my name with others. Tell a friend about mundymade, share your purchase on social media, let others know if you enjoy my desserts. Since implementing this, and offering incentives to spreading the word about my business, I have not had a single jar release that hasn’t reached new first time customers.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When the pandemic hit my wedding/birthday/party/celebration list of events plumited. So many occasions were cancelled, modified, or postponed. It was important to me to pivot my focus from mainstream celebrations that included cake, to introduce people to the idea of cake being an everyday type of treat. Any reason to celebrate, big or small, merrited a mundymade dessert. Wedding cake is a thing. Birthday cake is a thing. I was now in charge of making sure everyone knew Indepence Day cake could be a thing. Valentines Day cake. Christmas cake. I’m Just Thinking Of You cake. This Was So Good I Have To Get One For My Mom cake.
Contact Info:
- Website: mundymade.squarespace.com
- Instagram: mundymade