We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristie Brumit a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristie, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned a lot of what I call Youtube University, aka Youtube. The baking part was easy, but decorating was no easy task. I found what I thought were simple designs on Pinterest, only to find out that they were not as easy as they looked. I had no prior knowledge or experience with royal icing so I was starting from ground zero. After spending countless hours on Youtube and reading blog posts found on Pinterest, I learned the basics of decorating with royal icing. I learned the key to royal icing is consistency. Finding the right consistency is crucial to getting those pinterest perfect cookies.

I had no idea that there were classes, online and in person, that I could have taken to speed up the learning process. I did not take my first cookie decorating class until two years into being in business. By that point I was able to take advanced classes because I had already spent two years learning the basics and more difficult techniques. Improving my decorating skills is always a priority, but it can be hard finding time to take classes to do so. Between running a business full time, being a mom, leading a volunteer group, and being on the PTO board it can be difficult finding extra time to take more classes. There are months that are slower than others though, so that is when I really try to make time for some fun advanced classes.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Starting another business was not my intention. In 2017 I created Little Learning Hands, a subscription box with educational activities for kids. In 2018 I was going through a difficult divorce. To occupy my mind and time, I decided to learn to decorate cookies. It was something I always wanted to do and it was the perfect distraction.

I signed up to bring cookies to my son’s Thanksgiving feast at his school. I think I made 3 dozen cookies, which felt like a million at the time. I was still new to decorating so I was fairly slow at it. At the end of the party I had multiple parents asking if I sold my cookies. I hadn’t thought about selling them, especially because I was still so new and did not think my cookies were good enough to sell.

After giving it some thought, I decided to post in my local neighborhood facebook group to see if there was any interest in my cookies. Immediately I received multiple requests for cookies. So, January 2019 I decided to look into how to start a home based bakery business. I got my Food Handlers Certificate, decided on a business name, and started taking orders. With each order my skills improved. I was given a creative outlet while also bringing in some extra income. Within 3 months of being open I was doing this full time. I was so busy with orders that most days I was up until 2-3 am, sometimes even later than that. I decided to close down Little Learning Hands because B Sweet Bakery was doing so well. I have had the opportunity to do cookies for all kinds of occasions like birthdays, baby showers, gender reveals, nurse appreciation, teacher appreciation, graduations, funerals, baptisms, and “just because” cookies. It has been an incredible journey over the last 4 years. I have grown so much as a business owner and cookie artist. I always strive to put a smile on my customers’ faces. I want my customers, or whoever the cookies are for, to feel special and ecstatic when they see their cookies!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Customer service is crucial to keeping clients and building a good repuation. I wouldn’t say I have been perfect over the last 4 years. I have certainly made mistakes, but I learn from them. I was my customers to be happy not just with their product, but with my service as a whole. I strive to be personable and make my customers comfortable doing business with me. I do my best to respond as quickly as possible to all order inquiries. Sometimes it takes longer during a busy week or season, but I do check emails througout the day. If a customer has an issue with their product I have learned to validate their concerns, not argue. Everyone wants to be heard and I want my customers to feel confident in coming to me if there is an issue or concern. My job is to provide them with a service and that includes customer service.

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

I am currently in the midst of change in my business. My youngest will be attending kindergarten in the fall so I was making all sorts of plans to do different things with the business once she is in school full time. I bought and started renovating a trailer to turn into a cookie trailer. I was so excited about this as it was something I have been talking about for at least a couple years. I had planned to stop taking custom orders and take the trailer around to different markets selling cookies. However, my husband and I are now expecting baby number 3 this summer. Having a newborn would make it difficult to bake cookies and go around in a trailer selling cookies. So, we are selling the trailer and I will continue making custom cookies! While I was a little disappointed to not have a cookie trailer anymore, growing our family is something we didn’t know if it was even possible. So, this is a miracle baby and I am more than happy to continue making custom cookies! Our spare bedroom was my cookie room, but that will soon be a nursery. So my cookie room has been moved upstairs to our media room and I am so excited about all the extra space I have now! More space means more cookies!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bsweetbakerytx.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/bsweetbakerytx
• Facebook: facebook.com/bsweetbakerytx