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

Jeney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Unlike most bakeries, Peney Cakes is on wheels. When customers come up to my Dessert Trailer and ask where I am located, my answer is always, “Wherever I am parked!”

While my operations are all done out of a commercial kitchen, my sales are done via food trailer. I was never interested in doing the whole brick-and-mortar deal with the bakery. I loved the idea of bringing my goodies where the action is! I can specialize my menu to the things I truly enjoy making. I am able to offer amazing and unique flavor combinations because my space and time are more limited. I also can offer personalized experiences with trailer rentals for special occasions! All of these things are aspects of my business that I absolutely love and wouldn’t have had the freedom to do if I was tied down to a physical building.

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

I graduated with my Undergraduate degree in 2008 right amidst the Recession. I had big plans to take my degree back to Chicago where I grew up and establish myself as the next big journalist of my generation. But, in reality, I had to take whatever job I could get my hands on. After all, those student loan bills would be showing up in my mailbox sooner rather than later.

Fast forward ten years and I had come and go from eight different jobs, earned myself another (kind of worthless) degree, fallen in love, moved to and from three different states (none of them Illinois), purchased two houses, and now held the tiniest thing I never knew I could love in my arms. Looking in to that squishy little face, I knew he deserved more than a mom who was miserable the majority of her waking hours at work.

Hell. I deserved better.

You see, in the cold Minnesota winter of 2018, I found myself at the end of maternity leave with terrible anxiety about returning to my soul-sucking desk job. It wasn’t that I wanted to be stay-at-home mom; on the contrary, I wanted to return to work. But returning to that job? The insurance sales position which brought be absolutely no joy, mountains of anxiety, all encased in an incredibly toxic workplace? Nope. I was not looking forward to it.

I had dreamed of owning my own bakery for decades. When I had moved 600 miles away from my family and friends to Fargo, I found solace in baking. My mother taught me how to bake when I was young, and it helped me feel centered in my new normal. Then, suddenly in 2014, my mother died of a heart attack. Her lessons have stayed with me and, in fact, many of the recipes I use are written in her own handwriting on old fashioned recipe cards.

So, during those frigid, dark weeks of my maternity leave I made a decision. I decided to face my fears, get the licensing needed, and officially open Peney Cakes from my very own kitchen. Baking the recipes that have been handed down to me from my family and friends, I find incredible joy in creating gourmet cupcakes, cheesecakes, and desserts for my clients. Seeing those smiles spread on their faces when they pick up their orders is – hands down – so much more satisfying than adjusting the coverage limits on auto policies.

In 2020, I decided to take Peney Cakes to the next level and become more of a commercial operation. Up until this point, I was working out of my home kitchen but wanted to grow larger. Of course, the world decided to light itself on fire and we all ran out of toilet paper. However, Peney Cakes was still able to see over 2000% growth and within two years, I was operating out of my commercial kitchen and had opened by Dessert Food Trailer. A year after that, I was a commercially certified food producer.

Of all the things I have accomplished, being able to give back to the community that has fostered my dream is the thing I am most proud of. I regularly host fundraisers for local causes and sit on many boards, committees, and commissions within Fergus Falls. I believe being a member of a community is an active role and I embrace it.

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

When I first started Peney Cakes I felt like I had to offer EVERYTHING. My menu was expansive and frankly, unsustainable. It took me quite some time to learn the key to success was to find the one thing that lit my fire and set me apart from other bakeries. If I could focus on that one thing, and do that one thing well, success would follow.

I continue to unlearn and relearn this lesson to this day. I constantly reevaluate my menu and flavor selections to better serve my customer base as well as myself.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Back when Peney Cakes was just an idea, I reached out to a local economic development organization for assistance. From there, I was connected with a business mentor who was to help me with a business plan and any other needs I had as I founded and grew my business.

At our very first meeting, I expressed my idea of a cupcake food truck to my mentor and they almost immediately shot it down. They did not see the value in the food truck/trailer business model and suggested I try to focus more on large-scale catering contracts for maximum money making.

That meeting left a pretty bad taste in my mouth and forced me to question everything I had been dreaming about to that point. Was it even worth it? After a few nights of sleeping on all my doubts, I realized that the only person who knew whether or not my idea was “worth it” was me; and me alone.

Yes, of course big catering contracts are going to pay the best. But sometimes living out your dream and the satisfaction of truly loving what you do everyday is worth so much more.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.peneycakes.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/peney.cakes
• Facebook: facebook.com/peney.cakes

Image Credits
Marie Schwirian Photography