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

Alright, Karina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Shortly after my first Thanksgiving pie sale for friends and coworkers, I decided I wanted to pursue baking as a business. I really didn’t know much about pie making at the time. I have always enjoyed baking and knew I could learn the process. Of course, the first step was to come up with a name. I felt the pressure to come up with the perfect one! I am known to make up my own words, so I eventually reached this stage of brainstorming. I started combining words with ‘pie’ and landed on ‘Pie-tastic.’ I loved the name almost instantly. It felt right. Plus, when people ask me how it’s going, I can tell them “it’s Pie-tastic!”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am the owner and baker for Pie-tastic. I’m also a self-taught baker and pie maker. Baking has always been one of my favorite hobbies. I baked my first box cakes as young as 13-14 years old and as I grew older I wanted to learn how to bake from scratch. I loved the craft of baking, so I was always excited to try a new recipe. I don’t have an education or background in baking. My mom is a great cook and she definitely tried to teach me what she knew, but our oven was extra storage for big pots and pans growing up. It would only be used for baked goods about once a year.

As an adult, I would share my homemade desserts with friends, family, and coworkers. I only had one pie recipe I would make and I used store bought frozen pie crust for it. I had been making this pie for a few years now and it always received great feedback. In the fall of 2017, I decided to sell this pie for Thanksgiving after a coworker commented that they would pay me to make them a pie. I came up with a game plan and started taking orders for this pie. What’s the pie that started it all? It’s my German Chocolate Pie, which I now baked on my homemade signature pie crust.

By the end of 2017, I knew I wanted to start a home-based bakery business but still had to figure out the logistics of it. I learned that I would be able to do so under Texas Cottage Law and took the necessary steps to legitimize my business. I had also taken the time to study the art of pie making and develop a homemade pie crust that I was really proud of. It was flaky, buttery, tasteful, and unlike anything I had before. Within a few months, Pie-tastic was ready for business and I had a small menu of homemade pie goods.

Since the beginning, Pie-tastic has specialized in baking homemade pies year-round. The pies are all hand-rolled, made with high-quality ingredients, and never use preservatives. We make an all butter crust and are in the practice of using ingredients like local pasture raised eggs, pink Himalayan salt, pure cane sugar, Grade AA butter, and real fruit! Not only do we use good ingredients, but I look into the companies of the products we use to find brands with good practices and values.

Our pie menu has grown throughout the years. Customers can place an order for a whole pie, mini pies, and many of our other pie goods. At pop-up events, I usually offer handpies, poptarts, pie fries, and mini pies. I recently added a new item to our menu that combines my passion for pie baking and my Latina heritage. It is a handpie, or emPIEnada as I call it, made with our signature pie crust that is spiced in the style of Mexican empanadas. This one pastry brings together two things that are important to me as a first generation born Mexican-American, while encompassing all that Pie-tastic is.

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

When I started Pie-tastic, I was married with a seven-year-old. We had tried for baby number two for years with no luck, so it felt like a good time to be able to focus on a side business while still working a day job. A couple of months after starting Pie-tastic, I found out I was pregnant. It was my first year in business and I didn’t want my momentum to slow or halt. So I baked pies and went about my first pie season like I was Wonder Woman! I had my busiest Thanksgiving pie season that year. It was all going well until I went in for a check-up with my obgyn and was later admitted to the hospital. I was definitely not Wonder Woman. I took some time off from baking post-partum but was back at it by summer and already looking forward to another Thanksgiving pie season.

Entering 2020 and even with Covid-19, I was ready to make 2020 my best year yet. Until I learned I was expecting again! I was excited to grow my family, but knew I would have to take a different approach to the business and pie season that year. I really didn’t want to slow down and lose our momentum again, but it was an easy call when my obgyn confirmed it was a high-risk pregnancy. With a due date in December, I cancelled holiday pie sales altogether and focused on baking my own cutie pie.

Pie-tastic was put on hold for while. I focused on my family and personal mental health. Slowly, I started baking again and fulfilling orders for the loyal customers that would still reach out for my pies. I was completely back to baking by the holiday pie season in 2022. I had goals for my small business in the upcoming year, and I was ready to take Pie-tastic to markets and pop-ups.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients has been vending at markets and pop-ups around town. Social media is a great tool, but nothing beats an in person interaction with someone who has never heard of Pie-tastic. I take samples of all my available pies to events. Hearing “free samples” helps bring people over to my booth, and it allows them to try my products for the first time. This is also a great way for me to get feedback and live reactions to my pies. Every interaction is an opportunity to tell someone about Pie-tastic and I try to spread the word to everyone.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itspietastic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itspietastic/
• Other: msha.ke/itspietastic