We recently connected with Haneen Ibrahim and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Haneen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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?

Paninis Bakehouse all started with an idea of me wanting to be able to work for myself and make what i love. The biggest thing that helped me start my business was the love and support of my friends and family. I had no idea what i was doing and how to run a business. My peers told me i could do it, so i believed them and did just enough research to be able to get paninis Bakehouse rolling. It wasn’t an overnight decision to open my business, and it definitely took me about 9 months to get the courage to start. I had to figure out how to get the proper licensing and paperwork to open a bakery. I had to learn customer service and social media. I asked for a lot of help from the people around me, and i was very frustrated at times, but it always worked out. The baking was a breeze for me but i did make mistakes, i always remind myself that some of my biggest mistakes have shown me how to be better. I slow launched and sold from home for a while, than i started to apply to farmers markets. When i got accepted into the overland park farmers market, i knew i had to step up my game.

Haneen, 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?

Hi, my name is Haneen Ibrahim. I am a bread and pastry chef. I discovered my love for baking when I woke up to the smell of dough rising. My middle eastern grandmother would come into town for a visit and would make us traditional flatbreads (manakeesh). I never got the chance to learn my skills from her because I was too young. Right after high school, I ventured to culinary school in Vermont, where I started my culinary journey. Culinary school led me to become an intern at Bluestem KC, which is where I honed my culinary abilities. After being on the Bluestem KC’s savory team, I found myself helping the pastry team in my spare time. Helping the pastry team reignited my love for bread, and I found myself the happiest in those moments. That led me to reevaluate and helped me determine my next move.

Fast forward a few months, I moved to San Francisco and began work at Tartine. I worked as a pastry baker waiting for my opportunity to join the bread team. I waited a while, and then covid hit, so I decided to come back to KC while waiting to see how the pandemic would play out. I was only in KC for a month before returning to San Francisco and found a job working with sourdough at Jane the Bakery. Jane the Bakery taught me all that I know about sourdough. I worked there for about 2 years when I decided I wanted to come home and share my talent with Kansas City. I landed in KC in January of 2022, when I started Paninis Bakehouse. I started making sourdough from home. I then worked on getting into some pop-ups with my macarons and cookies.

It’s safe to say if it has been a smooth road as a baker, something is wrong. Making mistakes is truly what being a baker is about. Some of my biggest mistakes have led to better products. I try my best to avoid costly errors so I save time. However, there is always a family to eat unsellable items. One thing I have known to be true about most bakers is that we do well with ingredients. My biggest obstacle has been the business and administrative side. In the last couple of months, working with all the paperwork that comes with starting a business has been the hardest part. There is a lot to learn to grow.

I love to create; baking allows me to do so. I predominately make sourdough, macarons, and cookies. I am proudest of learning to make sourdough as quickly as I did. It takes a lot of patience to succeed in sourdough. I sell most of the macarons, and everyone loves cookies. I offer gluten-free and vegan cookies as well. I strive to be inclusive, which sets me apart from others.

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

I have worked for years in restaurants saving as much as i can so when i do decide to take time off to travel i had money to try foods i’ve never had and see places i’ve never seen. When i decided to move back to Kansas City, i moved in with my parents to save as much as possible to be able to fund my business. I didn’t want to have to take out loans, so i did as much research as i could to be able to find kitchen space to rent and buy slightly used equipment. If i decide to go to a larger scale i might not have this option but as of now i like being able to invest in myself.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I am so grateful to be at the farmers market. That is where i meet 80% of my clients, the other percentage would have to be from social media or people i already had connections to before that want to support my business. I really struggle with promoting myself, thats why i love being somewhere people can come across my bakery naturally.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/Paninisbake
• Facebook: facebook.com/paninisbake