We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nakia Cheeks a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nakia, appreciate you joining us today. Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?

Starting my business, I had (or thought I had) an idea of my target market! I was targeting women in their late 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s who catered brunch events, hosted afternoon teas/tea parties and/or looked for unique experiences to enjoy. Although this remains one portion of my target segment, I soon learned that there was another segment that I didn’t even know was attainable! About 2 years ago, I received a voicemail message from a young lady that was looking for a dessert caterer for an upcoming event. At first, I thought it was a scam call and I Googled the telephone number from where she called! It was indeed real and it was from an office within an agency of the Prince George’s County, MD government. Once I saw that she was legit, I immediately returned her call! She not only purchased some desserts for this upcoming event, but she also invited me to say a few words about the business! I jumped at the chance and a week later I arrived with the desserts and a few cue cards for my unofficial “speech”. After I gave my little spiel, a higher-up for one of the government agencies gave a very blunt critique and offered some areas for improvement. I was completely taken aback and left feeling a little defeated. A month or so later, I received a telephone call from this same higher up asking if I was interested in catering a high profile cocktail party! I was FLOORED! I couldn’t believe it! I thought she hated my business! Given the timing of the event and another event I was catering, I was unable to cater her particular event. However, she invited me to vend at the same event (for free) and has since offered other opportunities for my business. She saw something in me/my business at that presentation and has been a tremendous supporter ever since. I had never met her prior to our initial interaction and she has gone out of her way to support my business, speak about my business at tables that I would never have otherwise gained access to – and for that, I will be forever grateful. She has also given me the courage to add an additional target market to my segment and that is business-to-business. Without this chance encounter, I would have never explored or thought of adding business-to-business as a target audience.

Nakia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I never fathom myself cooking professionally nor did I have a real desire to cook/bake outside of what was necessary for me to eat/survive!!! However, I experienced an unexpected and devastating loss in 2014. As a way of channeling my grief, I explored a few creative outlets and stumbled upon baking. Surprising myself, I really took to baking and found myself enrolled in culinary school in December 2017. After taking my first baking class, I knew I had found my passion! At the same time, some of my girlfriends were exploring Vegan, Vegetarian and Pescatarian diets so I decided to use them as my focus group as I also explored Vegan and Dairy-free baking! I received incredible feedback and before I knew it, my mom had signed me up for my very first pop-up shop! A year later, I officially formed my business with the State of Maryland.

During one of my capstone courses for culinary school, we had to prepare an afternoon tea. I was immediately IN LOVE and knew that I wanted to open a tearoom! My business Baked and Brunched is currently a mobile boutique bakery and caterer that offers tea party and brunch experiences! We focus on scratch-made little plate catered foods and baked goods that are made with Organic ingredients. We also offer a variety of Dairy, Dairy-free, Vegan and Vegetarian options. We purchase many of our staple ingredients locally and our carefully crafted menu changes with the seasons – based on what produce is available during that given season! One of our featured services is mobile afternoon tea. We work with clients to bring a delightful afternoon tea to the venue of their choice (including personal homes, backyards, gardens, parks, Church, etc.). We work with them to carefully curate their menu and then arrive with fine China, teawares, tabletop decor and all of the foods to make the afternoon tea of their dreams! To-date, we have done afternoon teas for clients at parks, offices, event spaces, backyards, and homes!

We also offer our baked goods for individual customer orders, business-to-business wholesaling, and business catering. You can currently find us every 2nd and 4th Sunday at the Black + Forth Farmer’s Market in NE Washington, DC. Customers can get a glimpse of the week’s menu and have the opportunity to pre-order any of our best-selling items in advance – which happen to be our Vegan & Dairy Cinnamon Rolls, Vegan Bourbon Sweet Potato Scones, and Dairy-free Honey Lemon muffins! We make slight variations to our flavor options each market, but you are more than welcome to pre-order your favorites in advance!

To-date, one of the proudest accomplishments is that the business remains debt-free! All of our funding has been through government grants, pitch competition awards, small business awards and grants, sales, and my personal funds. This has forced us to grow slow and taking the time to stay true to our business model while also aiming to provide consistent quality and service. Also, we recently added two new employees that I hope will aid in our growth!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I have been blessed to have gained a good percentage of business via word-of-mouth. Family and friends have been and continue to be not only great customers, but also (intentionally and unintentionally) unofficial brand ambassadors! They have posted pictures on social media enjoying some of our products, pictures of them attending certain events, or just reposting content that was posted on Baked and Brunched’s social media. One of my cousin’s is an influencer (she’s so humble and I know she will chuckle if/when she reads that) and has supported my business in so many ways. She has used her platform to post about my business, and in return she has sent customers, followers, supporter, etc. my way! I am so grateful for the support of my loved ones!

With that has also come a bit of pressure because I feel that I can’t let them down! If my mom or my cousin or anyone else in my circle refers business to me, I feel that I have a certain standard to uphold and expectations to meet. I have learned since creating my business that I am definitely a perfectionist and it has been hard to let the small things go. I try to pay attention to every little detail to ensure that my referral has their expectations met or exceeded. I also try to emulate consistent product quality and exceptional service. There have been some instances (especially in the beginning) when I overbaked or overmixed a product and the quality was not the same as the last event. I am pretty sure that I lost some customers in the process! But, I also had some customers that knew I was just starting out and offered me a second chance.

Lastly, I feel that with food, people like variety! I try to offer a variety of unique flavor combinations in my baked goods – especially my Dairy-free and Vegan options. Many customers have a stigma regarding Vegan baked goods because of something that they tried elsewhere that was not very pleasant. I’m not trying to make any converts, but I do want customers to know that there are some quality and tasty Vegan baked goods. Being in-person at various events allows me to interact with customers, offer samples, and answer questions to help dispel this belief. It has resulted in some customers that are still unwilling to eat Vegan baked goods (which is totally fine), but it has also created some customers who now prefer Vegan baked goods!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

While continuing to grow Baked and Brunched to a point of profitability, I have a full-time job. I have been blessed to have managers with whom I can be honest about this! I have been able to juggle my PTO around upcoming events and large orders for when I need to focus 100% on Baked and Brunched. This has allowed me to use my personal funds to bootstrap the business. For the months when we are slow on sales (which has been right after the holidays from January to early March), I am able to dip into my personal funds to handle any Baked and Brunched expenses. Thankfully, I also have a very supportive boyfriend who ensures that we are covered on all fronts during these slow months for Baked and Brunched!

Initially, Baked and Brunched started as a cottage food business. In Maryland, you can sell a very select number of baked goods under the cottage food law – pretty much anything that does not have fresh fruit or vegetables, cheese, or anything that could potential perish outside of refrigeration. This allowed me to keep overhead costs LOW initially because I was able to produce these items out of my home kitchen. This also allowed me to play with pricing to determine the sweet spot between what customers were willing to pay coupled with what would result in a profit.

Upon starting the business, I never wanted to take out any debt – at least not until the business became profitable to where it could sustain loan payments and at the point where it was ready to focus on the brick-and-mortar tearoom operation. Since starting, I have participated in and won 3 business pitch competitions (with cash awards), 2 accelerator programs (with cash grants), and received 3 government grants for the business. All of these no-debt options along with my personal funds has allowed Baked and Brunched to grow at a steady and consistent pace!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bakedandbrunched.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bakedbrunched/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bakedandbrunched/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/baked-and-brunched/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/baked-and-brunched-upper-marlboro