We recently connected with Jasmin Smith and have shared our conversation below.

Jasmin , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you manage your own social media?

Since starting my business in 2018 I’ve been managing our social media, however I’ve just recently brought out a company to manage it for me. They’re offering a few different packages and have decided to go with the smaller one.

Social Media has become so much more important than I’ve ever realized or grasped and once the ultimately really clicked in my head, I knew that I needed some help. I’ve always felt like I could do it myself and that’s what has always made me resist hiring someone to do it. However, the reality is that, this task is what ends up slipping through the cracks. With all the other responsibilities that come with owning and operating a business, social media gets pushed to back burner.

I believe bigger pitcher that if I had found/asked for help sooner, our audience and reach would be a lot bigger.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always felt that this is the path I was meant to take. My family has always been big on food and even at a young age, I loved eating it an trying new things. Then when I was 1o my step-dad took me to work with him (he was a chef at a hotel), after stepping into a commercial kitchen, I was so blown away and it cemented the idea of food being my career.

I went to school for culinary arts and got a certificate in pastry. When I entered the work field at my first professional cooking job, I was asked if I wanted to do pastry or cooking. I chose pastry, and that set me on my path. After that I worked at a variety of establishments until I went full in on my business Suss Pastries, a project of highlighting Sonoran ingredients.

At this point in time, I’m most proud of myself for sticking it through. Getting through the roughest patches in my life so far, Not walking away and finding clarity at the end of all the turbulence that owning & running a business actually is. Part of me knew when beginning this journey that it would take a lot of hard work, but I don’t think I knew how hard and for how long I’d have to work. I don’t think I grasped the many different moving parts there are when it comes to running a small business. A business that is being built from the ground up with out any capital.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I’ve had to unlearn is the idea of success. I think even a year ago I had a very different idea of success. For the majority of time I’ve been in business, I haven’t felt like I’ve succeeded. I really have felt like haven’t accomplished much.

Now I’m so proud and grateful for the life I get to live. The reality is I don’t make a ton of money, and yeah sometimes that sucks. It is something I’m working towards. The fact that I even have control over that is pretty amazing, I’m not waiting for someone else to say, “hey you deserve this”. At the end of the day it’s up to me, to be creative and figure out new ways to bring in more money. The freedom I have with my schedule, even just the small fact of not having to stress if I get to work 30 minutes later than what I’m “scheduled”.

The idea that I can close or take a few days off whenever I need to for a family function or get together. That’s such a privilege that I wouldn’t have at any other job.

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

I began my business in my apartment kitchen.

I was already working as a pastry chef or cook at other establishments. I’ve always known that owning a business was something I wanted to do. And there were other attempts of getting this going that didn’t pan out – the commitment wasn’t there.

When I committed to the idea, I began by making samples and taking them to a few different coffee shops. I naturally just thought this would be the easiest way to build up a name with out a store front. While I was in my apartment I think I got maybe 3 or 4 different accounts before being able to move into a commercial space. Everything really came in a natural accumulation. Needing more space, looking at the numbers of what I was bringing in, granted I wasn’t paying myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.susspastris.com
• Instagram: susspastries
• Facebook: susspastries

Image Credits

1st Photo: Lorenzo Cuevos (portrait)
2-3 Photo: Regan Norton ( fruit pocket photos)
4th Photo: Melinda Meyer (variety of pastries)