We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maddie McNabb. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maddie below.
Maddie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
I went from a fully in-person 9-5 job to working for myself and creating my own schedule. I wake up daily grateful for the opportunity to be own my boss and do what I love for a living. It’s also allowed me the flexibility to get back into hobbies I used to enjoy – like going to workout classes.
However, even though the schedule is more flexible, the work is still hard, and the days are often longer. I’ve considered what it would be like to return to a “regular” job, especially when working late nights and weekends and missing time with my friends and family. At the same time, that is part of what drives me. I need to be successful, so the time I’ve missed spending with my loved ones will be worth it.
Overall, I am much happier as a business owner and still love what I do, but I see where this life would not be for everyone.
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 run a pop-up bakery in Louisville, KY specializing in macarons. I pride myself in providing a high-quality product and enjoy playing with unique flavors of this classic Fench delicacy.
I started baking during the pandemic and wanted to challenge myself to master this notoriously difficult cookie. At the time, only a handful of places in my area sold macarons. It always feels good when I get return customers and positive feedback that my macarons are comparable to those they tried in France. That kind of high compliment reminds me why I love doing what I do.
Have you ever had to pivot?
For a time, I had a one-track mind in my business. I wanted to sell my products at a local grocery store in Louisville. In my mind, reaching this goal would mean I was successful. I secured space in a commercial kitchen, obtained the correct permit, got product labels approved by the state’s health department – took all the steps to get to where I wanted to be.
After multiple failed attempts to reach the buyer for this grocery store, I finally scheduled a meeting with her to showcase my product. She was so impressed with my product, the packaging, and me. Everything was perfect, and they wanted to carry my macarons in all four of their locations. I was on cloud nine!
However, despite my advice that the best place to store macarons is in the freezer, the grocery store insisted they only had space to keep them at room temperature. I knew this meant the cookies would get too soft and fragile, and I was right. The partnership only lasted about a month before they stopped carrying my product because they were losing too many from customers crushing them.
I was heartbroken. What do I do now that my one goal didn’t work out? What was my business going to look like now?
I took it as an opportunity to re-evaluate my goals for my business. Especially because I pride myself on providing a superior product, I decided that wholesale was not for me. I can’t guarantee other people will store the cookies properly for customers to get the experience they’ve come to expect from me. Although it means spending every weekend at markets around the city, all my sales are direct to consumers.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been building trust by meeting people in person. For me, that meant getting out into the community. I saw the biggest growth when I started popping up at markets and other events in my area and building in-person customer relationships.
My potential clientele needed to be in Louisville, so social media could only get me so far. Even if I had a viral post, the people it reached weren’t necessarily potential customers if they weren’t local.
I ship macarons nationwide now, but my best customers continue to be local people I’ve built trust with.
Contact Info:
- Website: maddieaboutcake.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maddieaboutcake/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maddieaboutcake/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madisonhmcnabb/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/maddie-about-cake-louisville
Image Credits
All photos are by Madison Fields with Mad Kind Design Studio – https://www.madkinddesign.com/