We recently connected with Jina Mcmillan and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jina, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

I originally started out with a vegan gluten free restaurant named Better Bowls. We served all vegan and gluten free bowls similar to a burrito bowl. We started in 2017 at farmers markets and delivering meal preps to our community. After about six months we had the opportunity to open a brick and mortar location so we jumped at the chance and opened our doors in 2018. After Covid and struggling in general in a meat & potatoes town we decided to make the switch to a dedicated gluten free bakery.

We transitioned in October of 2023 and have been Sweet Peas Gluten Free Bakery ever since. Obviously it was devastating to close the doors on my original business that I had worked so hard to build up, but ultimately I am so happy with our pivot and am very optimistic and hopeful for our future as a gluten free bakery.

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?

I am a self taught baker and use the knowledge my grandmother taught me growing up, and have learned a lot over the past six years as a gluten free baker. Our bakery is completely gluten free so there is no cross contamination of any kind with gluten making it safe for people with celiac disease. We also specialize in making products that accommodate those with other allergies. We’ve found a lot of people have allergies to dairy, soy, nuts, etc. We do our best to make sure there is something for everyone to enjoy without sacrificing taste. My husband is gluten intolerant so we’ve had a lot of gluten free products in our lifetimes, and a lot of them were not so great so we strive to create the best gluten free products for our customers to enjoy. We’ve actually had a lot of customers who are not allergic to gluten say our pastries are just as delicious as those with gluten.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

We’ve recently pivoted in October of2023 from a vegan gluten free restaurant to a dedicated gluten free bakery. We were not doing well as a vegan restaurant especially after Covid, and we were struggling to keep our doors open. As a last attempt to continue our business we pivoted to a gluten free bakery and have been building our brand ever since. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, but as a business owner and mother I knew something had to change to make things work for the business and for my family. It’s always an uphill battle owning a business but when you are doing something you love on your own terms it makes the struggle totally worth it.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Social media, mainly Instagram and emails are how we keep our customers in the loop with updates and what they can expect from our business. Over the years I’ve always tried to maintain a transparency with our clientele and be honest when I need to be, I feel like it adds to the brand in being your genuine self.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sweetpeasbakersfield.com
• Instagram: @sweetpeasbakersfield
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetpeasbakersfield/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweet-peas-bakersfield

Image Credits

Reema Hammad