Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabriela Vazquez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Gabriela , thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

It all started in 2020 when the lockdown happened I was wanting some pan dulce a concha to be specific (Mexican sweet bread) and all the bakeries were closed so I had started to look online to see what ingredients I needed and went off to buy them at my local grocery store and Amazon. My first batch was not the best but I was still proud of them so I posted them on Snapchat and got tons of feedback on how they looked so good and they wish they could try them. That’s when my idea started but I didn’t think I was ready to go ahead and make a whole business with one item and I didn’t want to start a business since when the lockdown would end I would have a job to get back to. Until that changed I got a phone call that I was being laid off due to budget cuts from the lockdown happening I was completely shocked and started to wonder what was I gonna do now who would even be hiring with everything going on, so I had to do what I never thought I would do at a young age which was file for unemployment. I felt horrible I have always worked in bakeries so going from being on my feet 8 hours of the day baking and running around a kitchen to doing nothing but being home I decided to think on what IF I did start to bake at home but sell it to others since I had such a good feedback on one picture. From there I took such a deep dive into finding Facebook groups for small business and following people on Instagram that showed you how to start your home bakery. I even found a class someone was hosting online on the steps and guidelines you had to follow, that’s where I got the websites for the best deals on business cards, labels, packaging all those small details. Then I had to learn about the Texas Cottage Food laws and see if I could even sell from home (which you can as long as you follow all the rules). Once I got all of my packaging and labels delivered I went on to starting my business pages on Instagram and Facebook even Twitter and that’s when I started to get nervous and think if people would even follow or like the page or even like the idea of selling pan dulce so I started to think of what else I could offer for the people that don’t really like bread and I remembered that at my old job I loved making macarons but I had never tried them at home and I knew it was more complicated than making bread. So I launched my first menu about a month after coming up with the idea and it was just pan dulce I made conchas, marranitos, and empanadas! I was so surprised with the orders that I got and I went off into baking everything and packaging it but throughout that first week I was seeing all the problems I was having and things I had to improve. I saw that my menu didn’t really make sense it was everywhere with pricing and how people could order wasn’t very clear I had even missed a couple of orders and felt horrible. Once everyone had picked up there orders I took about a week off to go back and redesign my menu and think of a better way for people to contact me to place orders I even retook my pictures of the products I was offering because the first ones were not professional or didn’t look professional to me and I was always told people eat with there eyes so I wanted it to look almost perfect. By the time I was ready to launch again I had figured out making macarons at home so I wanted to add them to the menu hoping I would get more people interested and I did!! I would have customers just wanting macarons or just bread and then I would get customers wanting both or wondering if they could just try one macaron because they’ve never had one and I was so happy! I felt good baking again but this time it was what I wanted to bake and I just kept getting more ideas on what I could do for specific holidays and start having themes for macaron flavors. My business was having a good start people were loving the themes and the behind the scenes I would post on my Instagram stories and I was finding loyal customers that would order weekly and adding new breads throughout the year and it was amazing! The first year was actually a good year I was still learning of course once I got the hang of things I redesigned my logo, business cards, and ordering system into a much cleaner look to mark it as my “look” that’s when I started to get the help of my girlfriend she would help me out more on things I wasn’t able to grasp on like I would know something didn’t look right but couldn’t put my finger on it and she would be my fresh set of eyes. Things really took a change in 2021 I had to start looking for a job because as well as my business was going I wasn’t confident enough for me to do it as a full time job I was also starting to get overwhelmed I had bigger ideas but wasn’t able to put them down into a product and I was also moving into my own place. I made an announcement of a small break after Valentines Day because I was moving soon after and needed time to settle in. Then I basically had to re learn everything I went from a gas oven to an electric one and it made the biggest difference baking in it. It was fun learning all over again my followers enjoyed it as well since I would post small stories to keep them updated and keep them interested my comeback took a bit longer than I expected but it was June 2021 and of course me being in the LGBTQ+ community I had to do something for pride and I went all out with only 3 products rainbow macarons, rainbow conchas, and individual colored conchas to form the colors of the pride flag I made it into a fundraiser kind of thing where I was gonna donate half of whatever I made the whole month to the Trevor project. It was one of my biggest months ever and I was proud when it was over but that’s when I realized I was in way over my head. I need a break mentally it was becoming stressful dealing with going back to work full time and having my business running as well I took a step back and started to do more custom orders my best sellers were on macarons and macaron towers which was good for any small events people were having. I haven’t launched another menu since December 2021 but I’ve done more custom orders and have been working on my comeback menu but with a different style it took a while for me to figure out a way to start selling again with a full time job but if things workout well I’ll be making a comeback this month May 2022 and have already been working on this years pride menu!

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?

My name is Gabriela Vazquez I am a Pastry Chef it still sounds weird to say that. I have an associates in baking and pastry and that’s where I fell in love with baking, I’ve been in the baking industry for about 6 years now and it’s how I got the idea for my business it’s basically the different things I’ve learned in all of my previous jobs put into my own business. I sell pan dulce, macarons, in the fall/winter I offer hot cocoa bombs, and I also sell different bars such as lemon bars, snickerdoodle, cheesecake, and I’m slowly adding more items. I used to sell weekly, then biweekly, now I’m going into more monthly and custom orders since I am working a full time job as well. I am most proud of my business I never thought I would actually put all of my experiences into one thing and have people enjoy them as much as I do. I’m also proud of being able to do custom orders especially in macarons I have a set list of flavors I’ve done but if a client wants something completely out of the list that’s where I have the most fun in being able to make the different flavor combinations and when it comes out I’m always surprised in how it can taste like the actual flavor they wanted.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building your audience was the part I was most nervous of especially because I have never been good at posting on social medias. That’s when I really needed the help of my family and my girlfriend and her family. Once I made the pages of my business I first shared it onto my social medias from there I just waited my sisters then shared it onto there social medias and then my girlfriend did as well. That’s mainly how I got my audience from everyone else’s social medias and it felt good knowing that it was complete strangers following me because it made me feel like they actually were interested and like my business was a good idea. In the end my advice would be if you have family in different ages have them share it so you can attract people of all ages even join groups on Facebook and make a post about your new business you’ll never know who’s been looking for a service that you provide without putting it out there.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I created a loyalty card. I got some business cards made that have my logo on the side of the card and every purchase the customers makes they’ll get one of the logos punched out when they pick up or I deliver and after the 7th punch the next order will be free. It’s gets new customers to order more and then it gets my frequent customers a reward at the end.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pastriesbygabby/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pastriesbygabby
• Twitter: www.Twitter.com/pastriesbygabby