We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Tavares. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Jessica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Starting a business in general is such a risk but starting one when you don’t have formal training in the business can be even more difficult. I have had to seek out classes locally and not so locally trying to better my craft so I’m able to provide some of the best quality baked items to my clients. We will be taking a class at King Arthur Bakery here soon and are constantly researching every item we introduce! Also, using organic and striving to stay 80/20 organic in all we do is even more difficult. Sourcing organic produce, dairy items and everything in between has been a challenge, especially while trying to keep our prices reasonable. We thankfully sourced high quality, certified organic flour but we have done so much research and sourcing to ensure we are able to offer the best we can! Our end goal is to open a local bakery in Summerville offering organic or mostly all organic baked goods!

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?

Laila’s Lowcountry Sourdough was started as a means to provide my daughter with some baked goods she could actually eat. She was diagnosed with a soy allergy when she was a baby and as she got older and started eating solid food we struggled finding anything she could enjoy without getting sick. I started in 2022 baking sourdough and it was quite the challenge. After lots of practice and classes and research we were able to perfect our craft and in 2023 started our business. We offer organic sourdough bread and sourdough based baked goods at the Summerville Farmers Market, Ridgeville Farmers Market and Central Creek Farmers Market as well as porch pickups when the markets are closed. A little something that helps us stand out from a lot of other similar bakers is we genuinely care about each and every customer we come in contact with. We take time to get to know each and every person who we come in contact with and do our best to remember every single one of our regulars. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of our community and are continually in awe of the support we receive. God has truly blessed us and we just pray we are able to continue blessing the community as much as it has blessed us!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I personally think my 12 years working for the government has helped me tremendously. I worked 10 years for the US Navy Recruiting District in the MEPS office and 2 years in HR Recruiting for the Army Corps of Engineers. Working hand in hand with the men and women who protect our country has been life changing for me. The work ethic and work environment has really prepared me for almost anything. Being a small business owner sometimes means the only finger you can point is at yourself and you have to be able to take the criticism and roll with it. If you miss the mark it’s ok to admit it and rectify the situation. While you can’t always make everyone happy sometimes a simple “I’m so sorry” can go a long ways. Taking accountability for your mistakes can be tough but also extremely necessary to succeed in not only business but your life. A lot of what I learned in my 12 years of work I have carried over to my business and I can only hope that my customers see the pride we take in all we do!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Farmers markets! Getting out into the community and seeing face to face the people who buy our bread has been huge! We have got to know so many people, including other vendors and we are so grateful for the opportunities presented to us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hotplate.com/lailaslowcountrysourdough
• Instagram: @LailasLowcountrySourdough
• Facebook: Laila’s Lowcountry Sourdough