We were lucky to catch up with Michelle O’Connor recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

I think commercialized bakeries spend more time thinking about profit instead of taste. The price of everything has skyrocketed so to me what it comes to baked goods, taste and looks are what customers care about. I see a lot of people in the industry using things like shortening, preservatives, flavor extracts, box mixes, already prepared products etc. and the fact is, you can taste the difference. At my bakery everything is made fresh, real butter is used in all my cookies (no shortening) , and I try to never use anything from a can or a box. Don’t get me wrong I like a cosmic brownie and a Twinkie like anyone else, but when it comes to holiday or a special event I will only buy something that is fresh and made with REAL ingredients.

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 started this business during Covid. At the time, I had become a stay at home mom to the sweetest boy. Once he was a year old (3/15/19 start of Covid) I wanted a change. I used to be a teacher at a private therapeutic school. My favorite time of year was Christmas because I would make huge cookie assortments to hand out to everyone. Baking was my passion. I even would hold a baking class with my students once a week. While, I liked teaching, being in the kitchen was where my heart was. When I started in 2020 with my cottage bakery it immediately took off. The community has embraced me and I have taught myself over the years how to make new desserts to create a year round successful business that I love!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I am completely self taught. My mom used to bake in her free time when I was a kid and gave out cookie assortments each year. When I was in my mid 20’s I couldn’t figure out what to get everyone for Christmas so I decided to start my own Christmas tradition like my mom. This started in 2014 and in 2019 I first heard of the cottage bakery. I thought it would be something to just occupy my time while I was home with my son. In October of 2020 I finally got my license and began to sell. The holidays were great! I made my cookie assortments, pies and all the recipes I was familiar with. But then when the Christmas buzz was over I needed to come up with new and different things to sell to keep the business growing. I went from knowing just my 25 cookie varieties to learning how to decorate iced cookies, make cupcakes, decorate cakes and make all the confections that go with it. I now have a full time career that I love!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I live in special community here in Southbury! A lot of my advertising is on Facebook groups mainly focused on this area and the surrounding towns (Oxford, newtown, middlebury, Woodbury). Not only has everyone been so beyond kind in supporting my business, word of mouth has been unreal as well. I have people who all the time say “oh my god I have heard of Southbury sweets I can’t wait to order!” Plus the other bakers in town have welcomed me. You would think they would view me as “completion” but not my experience. Most of us are women and we are excited for one another and even buy from each other as a sign of support. Without this amazing community and people giving me a “chance” my bakery probably never would have taken off.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Facebook.com/southburysweets

Image Credits
All photos are by me. The last is my and my son. He is everything to me.