We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Faith Thurmond Toms a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Faith, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I grew up receiving the most wonderful sugar cookies from a bakery right outside of my hometown. My family would order these cookies for every holiday, and it was something that I would look forward to.

Years passed, and it was time to plan my wedding. I tried to contact this bakery that had baked and decorated the BEST sugar cookies for years, but they had gone out of business. I decided, well I will go with another highly recommended bakery.

On my wedding day I remember seeing those beautiful sugar cookies beside our wedding cake, and I just couldn’t wait to eat them. The time came, I tried one, and it just didn’t taste like I had imagined.

A few months passed after that and I wanted to try my hand at cookie baking and decorating. After a few YouTube Videos, I was ready to go for it.

To my surprise, I had a knack for it unlike any other project I had ever taken on. I was immediately hooked by decorating these sugar cookies.

Since then, I moved to another state where I started my own cottage bakery business. Shortly after moving, I was recruited at a local bakery to be part of their cookie decorating team. It has been nearly 2 years now, and I cannot imagine my life without being able to do cookie decorating.

Faith, 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 started my business on a whim and a desire for a new hobby. Fortunately, I was better at this “new hobby” than I could have imagined. I specialize in custom decorated sugar cookies as well as other treats. I love baking! Not only do I sell my products to the public, but I also sell my products in a store front! I have been so graciously offered a space to sell my goods at a local cafe and yoga studio, Sanctuary on Main. The women who own this place have broadened my business tremendously.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Some people have side-hustles that make them a few dollars here and there. That is where mine began. I had just moved to a new state and had applied for countless jobs, but never heard the words, “You’ve got the job”. I never wanted my husband to be the sole provider for us, so that is when I started to list custom cookies for sale on Facebook Marketplace. I would get a couple orders here and there.

One day I woke up to a message on Facebook asking about my custom cookies. The person who asked me about them kept asking more and more questions that eventually led to asking if I wanted to join their cookie decorating team. Being the skeptic that I am, I asked if this was a scam. They sent back the laughing emoji and said, “No”, we’re located in Clarksville. They asked if I could meet them the following day for more information, and I agreed. I did not even consult my husband about this because it just seemed SO crazy at the time.

The next day comes, I find this bakery who had messaged me from Facebook Marketplace, and I had unknowingly opened up a door not only for my personal life, but also for my professional life. The bakery offered me a job as one of their cookie decorators, I accepted, and the rest is history.

Being part of this other business has helped me perfect my work. While my work is still not perfect, and will never be, I have grown so much artistically and as a baker. Ultimately, this has increased my productivity in my own small business. My calendar is booked several months out now.

A small hobby turned into my entire life and I could not be prouder.

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

I have been so fortunate to have multiple revenue streams within my business. I attended a Holiday Vendor Event in November 2022, shortly after I had started my own business. The host of this market fell in love with my cookies and treats and invited me back after Thanksgiving to discuss selling my products in their cafe. Since then, I have been able to sell my products in their store-front.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/faithandwildflours?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082557559877