We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mylieghn Bui. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with MyLieghn below.

Hi MyLieghn, thanks for joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

When it comes to asking friends and family to support my business, I generally feel comfortable asking them for support with certain things. It’s easier to ask them to share social posts and their opinions on new flavors. I draw the line when it’s outright asking them to purchase my goods—I know they will purchase when they feel it’s right for them.

I draw the line there because I realize that my friends and family aren’t necessarily within the lines of my demographic. Everyone’s preference in taste is different—I have seen it within my own large family. Not only that, I want to be able to build my own community that enjoys the goods I have to offer. That said, I find that I cannot depend solely on my friends and family to support my business—it’s up to me to find and connect with those who are more aligned with me and my business.

MyLieghn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

BBXO Bakery LLC is a small batch gourmet tea cake, home bakery based in Baton Rouge, LA. The home bakery is run by me, MyLieghn Bui (my-lin boo-ee) with the support of my loving partner. I consider myself a baker, artist, and Jane of all trades. I enjoy creating art from various mediums: from cooking and baking to printmaking, drawing, singing, playing music, styling hair, and more.

In August 2021, I had a death in the family that prompted me to process the death of my eldest brother who passed in July 2003. At the time, I was in barber school and decided to take a 3 month leave to process. During my leave, the only consistent creative thing I did was bake and experiment with foods that brought me back to myself. I like to ground myself through food, specifically, hot tea and coffee. Oh how I LOVE the sweet smells!

There’s a local coffee shop that inspired me to make glazed tea breads. When I made my first Earl Grey tea bread with lemon lavender glaze, my partner had desired a batch of sugar cookies—in remembrance of his late grandmother. I had some left over glaze, so we decided to glaze a few of the sugar cookies to try. And so, our gourmet glazed tea cakes were born.

The general concept was born and I worked to cut back on the amount of granulated sugar and subbed in local honey. The glaze is pretty sweet on its own, so I wanted the cookie base to be less sweet. Through research, trial, and error, I was able to find tea cake recipes that worked well for me. I keep the tea cakes small and dense—the shape allows more airflow and flavor to come in each bite.

The original tea cakes are a honey-sugar cookie base with glazes that come in flavors like lemon lavender, lemon rose, and orange lavender. The fruit tea cakes are the honey-sugar cookie base swirled with strawberries or blueberries. The strawberry tea cake is paired with the lemon rose glaze, while the blueberry tea cake is paired with the lemon lavender glaze.

I also offer shareable tea cakes—think cookie cake, but with the cookie base and our gourmet glaze! The difference between the original tea cakes and the shareable is that the shareable slices are more crumbly, while the original are more buttery.

Our specialty tea cake flavor is the chocolate tea cake with Vietnamese coffee glaze—this one, I created in honor of my late Aunt Rose, who introduced me to Vietnamese coffee when she first came to the US.

Our gourmet glaze tea cakes are the perfect snack to pair with your favorite tea or coffee. They are also great for baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, and tea parties. Everything is made to order and is curated by a single person’s hands.

I am most proud of how these delicious tea cakes have been a way for me to transmute the grief that comes with this beautiful life. I love creating yummy & beautiful things from the pain I carry within. I pray that I can continue to share those creations with world.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Before I founded the bakery, I was solely an artist selling printed fabrics and bags.

The truth is, it’s tough being an artist, especially in the southern states. Most of the demographic doesn’t have an appreciation for Fine Art. People are more likely going to purchase the kitschy art pieces versus something that resembles Fine Art. I was not about making kitschy items for the sake of a sale. At the time, I was also not open to receive the feedback on how to improve.

After the struggle of attending art popups with little to no sales, I went to work in a coffee shop and attended barber school. This pivot was crucial to my journey because it gave me insight to the mindset of the men in my life, specifically my eldest brother and my father, who were financial providers in my childhood. In my own healing journey, this gave me the perspective that was needed to hold grace for the men in my life I once held resentment towards.

Attending barber school and meeting people who worked as barbers showed me how the career allowed a person to be mobile & multifaceted while making a stable income. I had an instructor that groomed dogs, was once on a music video set, worked with Cantù to create a hair tool, and continues to pursue her creative endeavors. They inspired me to see barbering as a stepping stone for my other business and creative ventures. This is perhaps the most crucial pivot of my career thus far.

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

Since I had previously attended popups as an artist, I had a better idea on how to navigate BBXO Bakery’s first popup. I understood that classic methods of display worked best and that I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel with display. I brought out a bread box and a cake stand to house samples and display goods. I brought out so many decorations and offered free drinks, but forgot branded bags and a sharpie.

Most of our tea cakes look the same to the average person. I can tell the difference because I make them, but I cannot expect the same of my customers. There was one customer who was sent by his nieces. Due to the lack of flavor markings & his refusal to try any samples, he struggled to decide what to buy. I was honestly frustrated serving this customer. I cannot recall what he ended up purchasing but the situation was one that came up in our debrief of the first popup.

Leading up to our first popup, I told myself I needed to approach each interaction as a learning opportunity. The more difficult interactions were the ones I learned most from. I learned how to better accommodate my customers. After each popup, there was always something to improve on. We improved our labels, the layout of the table, the flow of payment and packing the products, and our verbiage used in customer service.

I feel that resilience lies in one’s willingness to learn from a situation. There will always be room for improvements, but it’s up to us to be open to the feedback and make those improvements.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bbxobakery.com/
• Instagram: @bbxo.bakery, @yolinmylieghn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bbxo.bakery
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@YoLinMyLieghn
• Other: https://Linktr.ee/mylieghn