Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maria Atkinson . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Maria , thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I originally began my business under “Lady M’s Cupcakery” with a lot of hard work and effort I grew into a somewhat successful Home Based Cakery as time progressed I was growing out of LMC I felt I needed a change. I decided to redesign my business which included my name change and landed on the The Flour Cottage. Til today I’m still Lady & Lady M to many of clients. 💕

I always get asked “Why do you have flowers as your signature motif for the “The Flour Cottage”

Flour -Flower (wordplay)

I have always loved flowers (Roses are my favorite) and when I was ready to transition from Lady M’s Cupcakery my sister and I played around with some name ideas and this was the result !

I Love the meaning behind it so much because one I day I will have a flower cottage to enjoy my old age among the roses 🌹

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.

I am a self taught home based baker located in Ft. Worth Texas. I have been in business for myself since 2013. I left the airline industry and went straight to it. I started selling just cupcakes and slowly grew into cakes & cookies. Do I enjoy every aspect of it ? OF COURSE NOT! Bakers are very under appreciated I have witnessed it first hand. We work thru the best of times and the worst, we give 💯 to our clients and at times our loved ones get the bare minimum. There is a lot of give and take in the business. I have learned to appreciate the joy I can bring others thru cake/dessert even thru my personal turmoil.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

Circa 2017 ,I was encouraged to do my first pop up for a teacher event called “Heart of Teacher” an amazing program that allows educators the ability to purchase affordable supply for their classes. I decided I would jump on board and do it. I kept telling myself “you won’t sell anything” I made enough Cupcakes,Cookies and Dipped Treats for a 3 day event. I had amazing help from a wonderful woman who has always encouraged me and this event was no different. (Thank you Margo💓) we showed up the first day and not many sells day 1. So I definitely went home pretty discouraged. Day 2…. We SOLD OUT I didn’t go back for the 3rd day because I had nothing left to sell! I had people come in from other events in the building saying “the cupcake lady still has desserts” it was truly a very emotional experience for me because In the back of my mind I thought I wouldn’t sell a thing.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I first started I didn’t know if this was truly the journey for me. I wanted to be a Lawyer ! I left an amazing 9-5 & complete job security at a whim. As the holidays were fast approaching my sister and I decided we would test out the holiday crowd. Circa 2013 we decided we would bake a variety of cookies and offer cookie platters. We made about 8 platters and sat outside in the cold Dallas winter with our trays and a wish , WE DIDNT SELL NOT ONE! I cried a lot my sister laughed she said let’s try again next year. I decided not to give up .I had left my job it was sink or swim and continued on thru the whole year working on small custom orders etc…as the holidays once again rolled in I was getting asked about holiday desserts a we acquired a wait list with the overwhelming amount of request that came in. By the end of 2014 I knew this is what I needed to persue and make the best of it and here I am over 10 years later. I am still learning so much in this business but being able to meet new people and be a part of some their most specials days is so rewarding to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Theflourcottagetx
• Facebook: Ladymbakes
• Linkedin: Theflourcottagetx
• Twitter: Mariaatkinsontx
• Other: Tiktok/Theflourcottagetx