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

Kimberly , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Every time a good idea comes to my mind it happens right before I go to sleep. As I’m in bed relaxing, clearing my mind, BOOM, there is an idea. That’s exactly what happened with Holy Rollie Pastry Shop. The concept came to me at night, as I was laying in bed. (Delete) The difference between Holy Rollie and the previous thoughts is I actually put action to this idea. I got up, grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote down an outline of the business plan, cinnamon roll flavors, and brand name.

It just happened to be several months after ideation we baked the first batch of cinnamon rolls. We launched during Covid because the pandemic gave us time at home. I could talk about how we came up with the recipes, taste tested the cinnamon rolls prior to doing our first market, but I would rather talk about what is truly necessary to go from idea to launch.

First, you have to take that first leap of faith. Starting is full of risks and uncertainty. That fear and doubt could stop you from starting, but don’t let it. Just start! Babies are fearless. The journey to their first steps starts with crawling before walking and walking before running. Even before crawling there was the rocking or flailing phase, but that is still a start. I’m sure I flailed and enjoyed the challenge of trying something new over and over again because guess what, I can run (lets be honest, jog) now.

After starting, the second tip is to check your perspective. Is it scary or exhilarating to take the first step? Yep. Focus on the positive. Remember the fact that you are starting something that’s yours or the passion that motivates you will keep you going. There is a healthy balance of ups and downs as an entrepreneur. Just like learning to walk, it typically doesn’t happen the first try. So learn when you fall down, get up, and try again. It’s easier to get back up when you remind yourself why you are doing what you do.

Lastly, just keep showing up. Your consistency will improve your confidence and product quality. Our cinnamon rolls and booth setup are vastly different from launch date to now. But we started, stayed positive, focused on our passion to spread joy, learned from each market, and showed up every day a little bit better than the last.

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?

Holy Rollie Pastry Shop is a boutique cinnamon roll bakery that was founded in September  2020 with an idea and a bunch of faith. I am not a baker so we knew this plan was from God and our job is to obey the calling. We make cinnamon rolls and cake rolls in a variety of flavors from scratch. Popular flavors include traditional with a vanilla buttercream, maple bacon, cream and cookies, honey bunny, which has a cinnamon, honey glaze, and red velvet. Shortly after our first farmers market, we realized that our purpose was to spread joy. We just happen to do it through cinnamon rolls.

We started as a cottage food manufacturer baking in our home kitchen and transitioned to a commercial kitchen in October 2021. Holy Rollie Pastry Shop will open its first retail location in March 2023. Whether it is at a farmers market or our store, we hope our guests experience the joy and happiness as they enter and more so when they leave.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Holy Rollie Pastry Shop has been bootstrapped from the very beginning. The seed money actually came from stimulus checks and our savings. Reinvesting sales revenue, financial contributions from friends, and a grant award has helped Holy Rollie grow. We did pursue a small business loan, but did not find a match. However, one banker provided great advice to invest in ourselves, which we did.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Holy Rollie Pastry Shop is a single member LLC. But I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my supportive life partner a.k.a. my husband who is the muscle behind the brand. Many people are not surprised that I approached him the moment I laid eyes on his handsome face and made him take my number. 15 years later I am a bit less assertive and compromise more. His experience in sales and my formulation background made us the perfect duo for a cinnamon roll bakery.

Contact Info:

• Website: Holyrollie.com
• Instagram: Holyrolliepastryshop
• Facebook: Holy.rollie
• Yelp: Holy Rollie Pastry Shop

Image Credits
SarahKPhotography Echolensphotography