We recently connected with Elana Carlson and have shared our conversation below.

Elana, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Fantzye Bagels started as a pop-up during the pandemic summer of 2020. I saw some friends were doing bagel pop-ups in Ojai, California while awaiting the completion of their restaurant construction. I was living on Martha’s Vineyard working at a restaurant for the summer and those CA friends happen to be visiting the Island. Folks in the community regularly said: There are no good bagels on Martha’s Vineyard.” I suggested that we team up for a bagel pop-up. In California, they sold, “bagel kits,” which were was the perfect takeaway product for pandemic times. We decided to do the same on Martha’s Vineyard, partnering with the restaurant I worked at as a pick up location. We smoked local bluefish, whipped schmear with local ingredients and made the bagels from scratch. We sold out within hours of advertising the sale–I knew there was something there.

After the success of the initial pop-up, I started brainstorming names for my own bagel business. I came up with “Fantzye” with the help of a friend. It’s a play on the Yiddish word for the word, “fancy.” Once I had the name, everything sort of fell into place and we honed in an all-sourdough recipe. I had been searching for “my concept” for years, bagels felt like an accessible platform to encompass my many-year desire to start my own business and utilize the skills I had developed.

After working on the branding and social media, I set up our first pop-up at a local ceramic studio. We utilized third-party pick up locations since we didn’t have out own shop, selling bagel kits, with half a dozen bagels, schmear, and pickles. It was the Fall, so pickles made more sense than say cucumbers, tomatoes or other typical bagel toppers. The bagels were well received and the kit format really worked.

I decided to continue replicating that format with different pick up locations around Martha’s Vineyard. We were still operating under the radar in terms of permitting, but had secured a commercial kitchen which allowed us to increase our production. By the time Spring rolled around, we had secured our necessary permits and I created an LLC for Fantzye. It took a few months to get to that point, talking to many folks to understand the best corporate structure and sift through the local board of health beauracracy. I secured a schedule of Sunday summer bagel pickups at well-loved restaurant that typically served brunch. Their brunch operations were on hold due to staffing constraints, and the owner wanted to utilize the space and have something to offer their regulars. We showed up with coolers and bags of bagels every Sunday, while the restaurant offered coffee drinks and pastries. This was a great low overhead way for us to get our operations down and the name out there. We were profitable in our first year and built up a roster of loyal customers. We went into our second year of business with lots of momentum!

Elana, 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?

I’ve always loved food and cooking, but wasn’t convinced it warranted a career choice. After graduating with a psychology degree from Kenyon College, I worked at a big marketing agency. I found myself wanting more and quit to start an unpaid internship food writing at Food52. I knew I was on the right track with this move and continued to pursue food writing, but thought I needed more hands-on experience in order to develop my voice and expertise. This brought me to Martha’s Vineyard working with a chef who ran a farm and a restaurant. I thought I would be getting my hands dirty, but my operational skills were plucked and I acted more as the chef’s assistant than one of the restaurant or farm staff.

I found success in operating the social media for the restaurant and helping the chef with the promotion and coordination of upcoming cookbook release. After working with the chef for the season, I was drained and upon my return home to NYC in the Fall, I started working at the second location of Mission Chinese. I was finally getting that hands-on experience I had wanted as a line cook, making mapo tofu and shucking oysters. I was the unhealthiest I’ve ever felt in my life, with the late nights and unhealthy lifestyle. I decided to return to Martha’s Vineyard and work as a cook at a restaurant a friend was helping open, this was the same friend who helped orchestrate the first bagel sale on the Island in 2020.

Fast forward a couple years, I was the Operations Manager at a very busy rooftop bar in Santa Monica. I helped run a $70,000+ a day restaurant operated and learned the ins and outs of HR, event planning, partnerships and more. I saw advancement within the company, but something was missing. I’m grateful that my boss took the time to meet with me and discuss what might bring me more satisfaction at the workplace. Ultimately, I realized I wanted to be in a smaller, more independent working environment that put more emphasis on ingredient sourcing and quality. I quit my job and started helping friends with various food pop-ups.

I loved the scrappiness of starting up a food business and knew that I would one day have my own platform.

As described in the previous answer, I found a way to channel my creative and organizational skills both in the kitchen and out with Fantzye Bagels.

The diverse set of skills required for running a small food business, lent itself well to mine! I could ideate, cook, promote, administer… with help, of course. I always have tried to bring a high level of operating to anything that I have done with Fantzye.

The product is most important. We strive to make the best bagel every time, without taking shortcuts. The baking method we utilize harks back to Brooklyn bagel shops from the early 1900s. Although, our bagels are different since we do not use commercial yeast.

I have relocated the business to Kingston, NY from Martha’s Vineyard and am in the process of building out the brick-and-mortar. It’s been a long year and a half since moving off of the Island and I’ve learned a lot about how long things take and the art of patient determination, especially when in comes to construction-related things.

Over the years, I have grown as a leader and plan to put that into our forthcoming shop. Many new age food businesses present an progressive image, but are actually just as toxic as older-school restaurants. Fantzye pays employees above market rate and takes a holistic approach to our day-to-day operations. How is this work affecting our bodies and minds? How do we implement these policies and practices will unfold as we build out the space?

The brand is light hearted and a little zany. I try not to take anything too seriously (except for making the best bagels we can) and let my personality come through with our messaging.

I am proud that we have maintained a following over the years, despite having to relocate our business. I’m interested to see how things develop when are not surrounded by water in Kingston, NY.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I initially started the business in 2020, I self-funded everything. We did not need much capital because we were renting an equipped space, so I could put in small amounts of money, while we slowly grew our revenue. I bought a heavy duty bagel mixer for over $10,000 our first year in business, which was a risk but I still have that mixer going into our brick-and-mortar opening. I bought something that I knew wouldn’t need to be sized up for a long time, maybe ever.

We are in the midst of our first capital raise. It is one of the more difficult things I have ever done. It requires putting your head down and almost blindly asking everyone you’ve ever known if they know anyone interested in investing.

I find myself connecting with folks that I haven’t heard from in years and putting on my “Founder” hat.

It took months to put together accurate projections and project costs. When I thought we had everything together, it took another few months to finalize the investor deck and financial structure. Once this was set we were off to the races in terms of reaching out to folks. My main piece of advice when fundraising is not to talk yourself out of anything, while someone you reach out to may not be interested, they certainly may know someone.

While we have not completed our round, we have enough funding to start construction (common in restaurants) and are hoping that the momentum will help bring the remaining potential investors in.

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

I’ve worked over the years to improve my photography skills. It’s been a passion of mine. Between my documentation of our day-to-day activities and partnering with talented photographer friends, we’ve established a beautiful visual presence. All of our social growth has been organic over 4 years.

Having strong branding and identity is really the basis for building a social media presence. I have found that people like consistency and it helps in standing out in an oversaturated market. It helps to pay attention to what the various algorithms are responding to and go with that.

Collaborations help build your audience as well, because you are utilizing both brands’ audiences. In terms of content, think about what aspects of your business you can amplify and how you can create ongoing stories. For instance, at a cafe I managed, Behind the Bookstore, I started a series called #BTBglamourshots, where I would take photos of staff and community members in front of this beautiful door. These photos became recognizable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fantzye.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fantzyebagels
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elana-carlson

Image Credits

Gabriela Herman