Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mary Moseid. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Mary, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I love talking about this, as it is so multifaceted. It was a little over two years ago, and I was in a bit of a slump. I wasn’t finding joy in much of anything, as I had just been blindsided by an early term miscarriage. I was mourning this and some other losses, and I just wasn’t myself. A good friend of mine was also pregnant, and I still wanted to save space for her and be a good friend to her and her growing baby. She asked me one day if I had a good recipe for cinnamon rolls, as she had a crazy craving for some. Wow! I hadn’t made cinnamon rolls in literally 5 or more years, but I knew my recipe was great. I made her a batch that week, and she loved them so much that we both cried haha! I was so happy to finally do something again, after being stuck in depression for so long. She told me that I could really sell these, they were that good. And it sparked something… I started running the numbers, thinking about how much time I could invest, where I could sell etc. It just all fell into place perfectly. I did test runs on different serving sizes and adjusted my recipe to make it as close to perfect as I could for large scale production. When I finally got it right, I turned to my husband and said “Isn’t it so wonderful!!”… and he looked back at me, not looking at the cinnamon rolls at all, and said “yes… yes it is.” Because he could see me slowly coming back to life. I love baking comfort food for people, but cinnamon rolls will always have aspecial place in my heart.
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 stay at home mom. I have done many things in my life so far- I was in the Marine Corps as a Russian Cryptologic Linguist and Signals Intelligence Analyst, I went back to college for a Finance degree, I had a successful career in Real Estate for a good while. But once we started having kids, I wanted to be home for them. I never lost my need to be busy though, so I have been waiting for the right time to start a “side hustle.” Texas is very friendly to cottage bakeries, and its friendly to my schedule since I can work from home, and work at night while the kids are asleep. I typically sell at farmers markets, which is on the weekends when my husband can be home with the children. It works for us. I got into this needing something for myself to do outside of motherhood, while also made enough money to be worth the trouble! I make soft, chewy, wonderful cinnamon rolls. Although I like the process, some people think it is too time consuming (two hours or so with the dough rising). So I give people a chance to have high quality cinnamon rolls without all the mess and work. I created different flavors, such as Chocolate cinnamon, orange cinnamon, pecan pie, strawberry lemon, blueberry lemon and a few more in the works in addition to classic cinnamon.
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I am proud of the quality of my cinnamon rolls, consistency of flavor and texture, and keeping you on your toes with new flavors. I also make “mini cinis” which are cupcake sized rolls that are great for parties and charcutier board style get togethers. Many people come to me for catering events and state how it saved them so much time and stress and everyone left happy. I love hearing that!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think the one thing that people appreciate the most is consistency. I have built a great following for my bakery since I always SHOW UP! I am at my markets almost every week during my working season (sept-March) and I post updates and locations on my social media. I try to state clearly when I’ll be baking, and how people can order. My product is always the same quality, or I make it right. Word of mouth has been great for me, because once you try my cinnamon rolls, you always have to tell a friend how delicious they are!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson or mentality that I had to unlearn is that it’s ok to stay small. My personality wants to take everything to the limit and be the best and biggest success I can be. People are always asking me about the possibility of selling my business or getting into major stores. But, for now, I am happy where I am while still having plans for the future. But it doesn’t have to happen over night or even within a few years. It is still rewarding for me to have this as a “side hustle” that I can enjoy without it taking me away from my family completely. I sell at multiple markets, have a few people who help me here and there, and I am considering moving into a commercial kitchen next year. So there is growth, but I am practicing being present and enjoying my business for what it is in this current season. I know I can grow it when I am ready, but there is no rush. And if some people want to look down on you and talk about your “little business thing” then you just have to let them. I am not here to impress anyone with my big awesome bakery, I am here to run a business that works for me and my family and brings joy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mamasgotbuns.com
- Instagram: mamasgotbuns
- Facebook: Mama’s Got Buns
