We recently connected with Kathleen Reynolds and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathleen, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

If you’ve ever run a home bakery or tried to decorate a cake at 2AM before a pickup, then you know exactly where this story starts — in the middle of chaos, creativity, and “I give up!”

For years, I was already the person everyone called when they needed something cute, something quick, or something nobody else could figure out. I was the crafty one. The fixer. The girl with the printer, the Cricut, and enough edible ink on my hands to look like I’d been finger painting.

But back then, there was no store. No shelves lined with wafer paper, sugar sheets, sprinkles, or toppers. Just a dining room table, a dream, and the constant feeling that bakers needed a place where creative chaos was understood — because I was living it myself. There was one, just one retail store locally. She was expensive and very old school. She didnt have a lot of variety but if you needed a cake box, that store was your only choice.

The idea for the store came during one of those frantic baking weekends — I had been to the other store that day buying a few cake boxes then came home a worked on multiple cake orders, customers texting last-minute, and me running from the oven to the printer and back like it was an Olympic sport. Someone messaged:
“Is there any way I can get an edible image TODAY?”

The answer was sure, I can help — unless you were willing to call a big box store gamble that they might or might not help you. The print, may or may not be correct

That moment hit me:
There’s a huge gap here… and I already knew how to fill it.

This wasn’t just a business idea. It felt like a calling.

For 15 years I spent money at other stores to find things decorate my cakes. Here in Mississippi our options where limited.

I wanted to build a space where:

Bakers could walk in and get what they needed.

Creativity wasn’t “extra” — it was expected.

People didn’t feel stupid asking questions.

Last-minute didn’t mean impossible, just a little extra hustle.

A place where you could literally say, “Can you make this?” and I could answer, “Girl, let me try!”

I already had clientele but I had to officially hang up the apron to move forward with a retail store.
It was scary, expensive, confusing, and exhausting.
But it also felt right — like everything I had already been doing for years finally had a name, a direction, a place to grow.

There were nights I questioned myself… mornings I was nervous about failing… days I wondered if people would support it.
But every fear was balanced by a deeper truth:

People had already been coming to me long before there was a store.

I didn’t pick this business — it picked me. But the logic was solid:

1. The demand was already there.
Bakers were hunting for edible images, toppers, tools, and last-minute fixes. I was already “the plug.” Turning that into a storefront was the most natural next step.

2. I had the skills.
Graphic design, 3D printing, edible images, cardstock toppers, Cricut work — I already lived in that world daily.

3. The community trusted me.
I had built years of relationships, from home bakers to professionals. They knew my work ethic and my heart.

4. I wasn’t trying to be like anyone else.
EPS was built on chaos, kindness, and creativity. It wasn’t meant to be a cookie-cutter store. It was meant to feel like walking into somebody’s creative brain.

5. I have Margaret & Carlie
Two people that pushed me, Who believes in the vision, brings the same energy, and keeps this ship moving even when the waves get crazy.

When the first customer walked into the new shop and said,
“This place is EXACTLY what we needed here, I feel like a kid in a candy store,” that’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks:

We were doing something that mattered.

This wasn’t just selling toppers and edible sheets.
It was building a little creative haven for the bakers, decorators, hobbyists, moms, grandmas, and late-night DIY warriors who make magic out of flour and sugar.
We’re not just a store — we’re a place where creativity is fed, supported, and celebrated.
Where people walk in with stress and walk out with solutions.
Where passion became a business, and the business became a family.

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?

My name is Kathleen (“Kat”) Reynolds, and I’m the owner and creative engine behind The Edible Paper Store & Co., a Mississippi-based creative supply and custom edible-image business built for bakers, creators, DIY-ers, and anyone who loves turning imagination into something beautiful.

The story of how I got here is equal parts chaos, creativity, and good old Southern grit — but at its core, it’s a story about meeting a need, filling a gap, and building a place where creators can feel supported.
Being a baker in small town Mississippi meant you had limited supply and demand. Or you ordered offline and hoped your order would make it in time. So how I got here was a a journey in supply and demand.

Before EPS ever existed, I was the “go-to creative person” long before I ever called it a business. I was printing edible images for friends, designing cardstock toppers at my dining room table, testing printers at midnight, and learning every trick possible to make edible ink behave.

It wasn’t glamorous — it was years of experience, trial and error, and being the person everyone called when they needed something last-minute, custom, unusual, or downright impossible.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was quietly building the foundation of a full creative business — the kind people desperately needed.

There was nowhere locally where bakers could walk in and get:

1. Edible images printed same day

2. Custom cardstock toppers without waiting weeks

3. PLA toppers and cookie cutters made in-house

4. Wafer paper, sugar sheets, sprinkles, molds, and tools
…all from someone who actually understands the baking and decorating world.
Yes, the couple big-box stores had items – but now everyone had the same thing. Nothing was different or creative.

One day, after yet another last-minute emergency call, I realized: This isn’t just something I can do — this is something people need me to do.

And that’s how The Edible Paper Store & Co. was born.
EPS is a one-of-a-kind creative hub serving bakers, decorators, and small businesses. We offer:

1. Edible Image Printing

Custom edible prints

Rush printing

Large format sheets

High-quality color editing

Design assistance

2.Custom Cardstock Toppers

Names, numbers, birthdays

3D layered toppers

Same-day/week turnaround (with rush available)

3. PLA Cake Toppers

3D printed in-house

Custom names, logos, shapes

High-detail precision

4. Cookie Cutters

Custom sizes & shapes

Business logos

Holiday themes

Fast turnaround

5. Supplies:
Boxes, boards, drums, Silicone, Sprinkles, Molds, Tools, & Baking Supplies

Wafer paper / sugar sheets

Name brand flavoring and coloring

Packaging supplies

Seasonal items

6. Creative consulting & design

If a customer doesn’t know what they need, we help them figure it out.

What Problems We Solve for Our Clients?

Our customers come to us because they’re frustrated with:

Long shipping times

Unreliable online sellers

Expensive last-minute needs

Local stores that don’t carry specialty items

Bakeries that won’t print edible images

Designs that need to be edited, sized, or customized

We take that stress and solve it. Immediately.
We’ve saved birthdays, weddings, baby showers, and last-minute cake orders more times than I can count.

People say: “EPS is the place you go when you NEED something done, done quickly— and done right.”

And they’re right. We will get it done.

What Sets Us Apart?

We are NOT a chain. Not a big box store. Not a franchise.
We are personal, hands-on, and deeply involved in every single order.

Here’s what makes EPS different:

1. We genuinely care about your creation.

We love the process, not just the sale. If something needs fixing, adjusting, editing — we’re on it.

2. Our turnaround times are unmatched.

Same-day edible images.
Next-day toppers (rush).
Custom PLA toppers

3. We design EVERYTHING in-house.

No outsourcing. No “copy/paste.”
Custom means custom.

4. Over 16 Years of knowledge and experience.

Edible printing is tricky.
Colors print differently.
Printers behave differently.
Ink can be temperamental.
We don’t just print — we educate.

5. Our brand is FUN. Bold. Hot pink. Memorable.

We aren’t afraid to be creative, loud, wild, or extra.
We make shopping fun — not intimidating.
What I Am Most Proud Of?

Honestly? Building something from nothing.

15 years of dreaming AND I built EPS:;

Without investors

Without a big corporate backing

Without a franchise system

Without a roadmap

We built it with work ethic, creativity, trial and error, loyal customers, and pure heart.

I’m proud that:
Customers trust us with their biggest celebrations

We survived busy seasons, holiday madness, and the learning curve.

People walk in and feel welcomed, not judged

Kids love the colors, moms love the convenience, and bakers love the quality!

Our baking community, the cottage home bakers sees us as “their” creative shop
And I’m most proud that we have made a name for ourselves by being authentic, hardworking, and obsessed with helping people create something beautiful.
What I Want New Clients & Followers to Know

If you’re new here, here’s what I want you to understand about us:

We care. Really care.

Your order isn’t just a transaction — it matters to us.

We hustle like crazy.

If you need it fast, we’ll do everything possible to make it happen.

We’re honest.

If something can’t be done, we tell you.
If something needs details, we guide you.
If a design won’t print right, we fix it.

We love our community, our bakers, local creators and treat makers are the stores heart.
We’re here because of you.

We’re creative problem-solvers.

Bring us your weirdest ideas, toughest deadlines, or most unusual orders — we thrive on challenge.
The Edible Paper Store & Co. isn’t just a business — it’s a creative haven built by a baker, an artist, Mom, Grandmother, , a woman who loves what I do!

We help bring visions to life.
We support other small businesses.
We solve problems.
We care deeply about quality and relationships.

And we are incredibly proud of what this little hot-pink, high-energy, wildly creative shop has grown into.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Lets talk about Carlie. Every business has a backbone — and for The Edible Paper Store & Co., that backbone is a partnership built on friendship, trust, hustle, and a very unique kind of shared chaos.

People see the two of us together now and think we’ve always been this unstoppable duo, but the truth is…
we were brought together at exactly the right time, in exactly the right way, long before either of us realized where the road was leading.
Carlies husband passed away shortly after they moved in next door. She had a baby, a mortgage and lots of stress. She started spending a little more time at our house. Wanting to know what I was doing. She wanted to learn, she wanted to keep busy. Rightly so, she had a lot going on in her young life.
Carlie is the kind of person whose energy you feel the minute she walks in a room.
She’s funny, sharp, creative, and she has this way of making even the most stressful situation feel survivable.
We bonded fast — over laughter, over shared frustrations, over being “those people” who somehow ended up fixing everyone else’s emergencies.

And somewhere between the messes, the late-night conversations, the shared stories, and the mutual honesty… a real loyalty formed.
A friendship that wasn’t just fun — it was solid.
When I started really leaning into the idea of The Edible Paper Store & Co., I was doing what so many creatives do — trying to run everything alone.

And then there was Carlie.

Without hesitation.
Without fear.
Without a second thought.

She just stepped in.

Not because she had to, but because she wanted to. Because she believed in the idea, believed in the vision, and believed in me.

At first, she helped in small ways — a design here, a project there, running an errand, helping organize, building shelving, offering suggestions. But it didn’t stay “small” for long.

Her ideas, her creativity, her work ethic… they spoke for themselves.

Pretty soon she was a part of everything! And matching my chaotic energy step for step

The more she helped, the clearer it became:

The Edible Paper Store & Co. wasn’t meant to be a “me” thing — it was meant to be an “us” thing.
Carlie is not just a neighbor.
Not just a helper.
Not just a friend who volunteered her time.
She’s a co-creator.
A co-dreamer.
A core part of why EPS operates the way it does.
We’ve had ups and downs. We can both be a big emotional mess but we are good together.
She believes in this business. Truly.

She believes in the mission.
She believes in the creativity.
She believes in the community we serve.
And she believes in the work we’re doing together.

That kind of loyalty is rare. That kind of partnership is priceless
Together, it just works — the perfect mix of:

chaos + structure

creativity + logic

excitement + direction

confidence + trust

It’s why customers often say,
“Y’all act like Mother / daughter.”
Because in many ways… that’s exactly what it feels like.
She can be the steady force behind the scenes who makes the chaos feel manageable.
And half of the magic that makes EPS what it is today.
We are a chaotic duo that works!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

It’s simple.
My reputation wasn’t built overnight or from just opening a store — it was built over 15+ years of baking and decorating cakes myself, dealing with picky customers, unrealistic timelines, last-minute changes, color mismatches, and all the chaos that comes with this industry.

I always tell people who walk into the store,
“Y’all are my people.”
Because I get it. I’ve lived the same frustrations, the same excitement, the same tears at 1AM when a cake collapses, and the same joy when something turns out better than expected.

I didn’t open The Edible Paper Store & Co. as an outsider trying to profit off bakers — I opened it as someone who has stood in their exact shoes for more than a decade. I’ve dealt with the stress, the picky customers that make you want to pull your hair out, the last-minute “can you fix this?” requests, and the feeling of running on caffeine and determination.

That’s what built my reputation:
I’m not guessing what they need — I know what they need because I’ve lived it. I understand their workflow, their stress, their pressure, and their passion. When a customer comes in, they know they’re talking to someone who speaks their language and respects their craft.

That level of understanding creates trust.
That trust built my reputation.
And that reputation is why creators, bakers, and decorators feel at home here.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.ediblepaperstore.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theediblepaperstore?igsh=MW5xMGY2eGg0a3dlag==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BcPWrC5yj/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@theediblepaperstore?_r=1&_t=ZP-91sbjtaoOkB

Image Credits

MELODY ELLIS PHOTOGRAPHY
https://www.melodyellisphotography.com/?fbclid=IwVERTSAObcV1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR5cCojyzPZ4240PG1ueVyElC_D49l1idE_DBV1cGRKneY0zar5UzPxM_z2TrA_aem_GtDMoywO_OenatuIdfAJHg