We recently connected with Majora Bengtson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Majora , thanks for joining us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

When I first started out, I was adamant that I had to do everything on my own. It was my business idea, so the struggles were also mine to deal with. Thankfully my family can recognize when I’m struggling and they stepped in to help.

My mother-in-law, Barb, is a coach at Perception Coaching and she really helped me figure out my strengths and to set goals for myself and Majora’s Bakehouse. My partner helps me at home with packaging and cleaning up the disaster I leave behind and my sister-in-law has helped vend for me. At this point, it really feels like more of a family project and we all want it to succeed.

Now I know that when I am overwhelmed, there is a team behind me to help in any way they can.

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.

My name is Majora and I am a trans masc individual who uses they/them and he/him pronouns. I grew up in restaurants and inherited a love for cooking at an early age. A lot of time was spent in my grandparents’ kitchen watching and learning alongside the both of them.

As I got older, I got into making cakes for birthdays. When I fell in love with decorating them, I started to create more intricate bakes. It is my goal to bake through a Mary Berry cookbook.

Majora’s Bakehouse was a rather last minute decision. Perception Coaching started hosting Maker Markets and I was encouraged to start selling baked goods. I was unemployed and wanted to try it out once and now it’s been about two years.

From day one, I knew I wanted to focus on baked goods with as few allergens as I could. I’ve grown up with a lot of food sensitivities and knew that finding delicious baked goods without gluten and dairy was a challenge. I make foods without gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, and peanuts. Vegan was only a few ingredients away so I decided to create baked goods that are also vegan.

All of the recipes I have are of my own creation and I am really proud of that. I have several recipes that include cakes, cookies, scones, and bars and I am working on new ones. I’m also proud that a lot of people without these allergens have eaten and enjoyed my food as well.

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

I think my reputation is mostly based on the fact that I listen to my customers. Feedback is always appreciated when creating a new recipe and only helps to make the products better.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first started Majora’s Bakehouse, I was unemployed so had a lot of time to dedicate to markets. Life happens so I ended up having to get a full time job. This was around the time of Sidewalk Days so when I got home from my overnight shift, I went right to baking. It was a three day event so that was what I did the entire time. I had very little sleep but pushed through and gained a lot of repeat customers.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/majoras.bakehouse
• Facebook: Majora’s Bakehouse