We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Chino. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.
Alright, Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Is your team able to work remotely? If so, how have you made it work? What, if any, have been the pitfalls? What have been the non-obvious benefits?
Turning my home into a thriving sourdough business has been an incredible journey, blending my passion for baking with the flexibility of remote work. By investing in an industrial oven, the Rackmaster, along with an upright freezer/refrigerator, I’ve transformed my dining room into a fully functional bakery.
Running a bakery from home has many rewards, but there are a few little pitfalls, particularly when it comes to maintaining boundaries. One of the biggest challenges is the difficulty of “turning it off.” Like many work-from-home situations, the flexibility of setting my own schedule can sometimes lead to timelines being pushed back, spilling over into family time or other responsibilities. While this isn’t a constant issue, when it does happen, the mom guilt can set in, as I juggle both the demands of the bakery and my role at home. Despite these occasional challenges, I’ve learned to balance and adapt, but it’s certainly a reminder of the delicate dance between work and family life.
The unexpected benefits are invaluable—my children can sleep peacefully while I work, allowing me to be present in the house and still create delicious bread. This setup also gives my husband the freedom to maintain his daily routine without disruption, which is vital for our financial stability. While the ultimate goal is to expand into a brick-and-mortar space, this home-based arrangement offers the perfect balance of work, family, and growth for now.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My career journey has been anything but conventional, evolving from a passion for early childhood education to a deep love for baking and entrepreneurship. The experiences I gained from years of leadership, education, and hands-on problem solving have all played an essential role in my current business venture—RocknRo Sourdough.
My professional journey began in college, when I started working as a Teacher at Creme de la Creme in Warrenville, an early learning center. It was during this time that I first discovered my passion for teaching and nurturing growth in others. The experience of working with young children, fostering their development, and creating a positive environment was incredibly fulfilling, and it laid the foundation for my future leadership roles.
As I gained experience, I took the next step in my career and moved into a leadership position as an Administrative Director. In this role, I oversaw a wide variety of responsibilities, including human resources, payroll, employee benefits, legal compliance, accounting, and more. It was a transformative period where I learned to balance the complexities of running a business while maintaining a focus on people—whether it was supporting employees or ensuring that the children and families we served had the best possible experience.
After proving myself in this leadership role, I was promoted to Executive Director, where I stayed for 15 years. In this capacity, I oversaw the entire operation of the early learning center, including the physical building, a large team of staff members, and the well-being of the children and parents. This role required a keen eye for compliance and coordination, as I worked with government agencies like the health department, DCFS, and local police and fire departments to ensure our facility adhered to all regulations. I was responsible for everything from keeping our licenses up to date to mentoring and training teachers to help them grow in their careers. It was a deeply rewarding experience that strengthened my leadership abilities and further solidified my passion for creating environments that foster growth and development.
Then, like so many of us, the pandemic forced me to pivot and rethink my approach to everyday life. In the midst of uncertainty, I became increasingly concerned about where our food was coming from, particularly when grocery store shelves became bare. One item that caught my attention was bread. I thought to myself, “What if I can’t buy bread? How can I make it myself?” That question led me down a rabbit hole of research on bread-making, yeast, and sourdough. I learned how yeast was made, and soon discovered wild yeast and the process of creating a sourdough starter. This sparked a whole new passion for baking, and in 2021, I began experimenting with sourdough bread and baked goods at home.
The more I baked, the more I loved it. I couldn’t stop. My new sourdough starter became my obsession, and soon I was baking everything I could think of—loaves of bread, rolls, pizza, and more. I started sharing my creations with friends and family, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. One day, a friend suggested that I sell my sourdough bread—he wanted to be able to buy it from me! This suggestion sparked the idea to turn my hobby into a business. With my love for learning, growth, and the entrepreneurial spirit, I decided to take the plunge and start RocknRo Sourdough.
Now, as the owner of RocknRo Sourdough, I get to bring all of my past experiences together—from my background in leadership, team building, and compliance to my newfound passion for baking. The lessons I learned from managing people, building strong teams, and adapting to new challenges have all prepared me for this new chapter. I am excited to continue growing my business, learning along the way, and sharing the love and joy of sourdough with my community.
Baking has been a natural extension of the skills I honed in my teaching and leadership roles. It’s about nurturing, creating, problem-solving, and growing—both for myself and for others. Whether I’m caring for a sourdough starter or nurturing a child’s development, the principles of patience, hands-on learning, and fostering confidence are at the heart of everything I do.
By taking care of my dough with the same love and attention I once gave my students, I’ve found that both teaching and baking have one thing in common: they’re about growth—nurturing it, supporting it, and celebrating it along the way.
The journey from teacher to Executive Director to sourdough entrepreneur has been one of constant growth, adaptability, and passion. I’m incredibly grateful for where it’s led me and can’t wait to see where it takes me next.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing my bakery’s clientele has been diversity. When I first started, I sold exclusively to my neighborhood, maybe posting in a local moms group here and there. But I quickly learned that people want to see you and your product in person. When you can get in front of potential customers, it builds trust by showing that you have a product, a presentation, and—most importantly—you. My first step was hosting weekly sourdough socials in my neighborhood every Friday, which helped but wasn’t enough to expand. Then I took a leap of faith and decided to dive into a local market. I hadn’t heard back after weeks of waiting, and my husband encouraged me to just call them. That was the key—don’t hide behind the screen. I made the call, got a spot at the market, and within an hour of setting up, I sold out of everything. From there, more markets followed, and they quickly became my favorite way to connect with my community. Not only did I get to meet the customers I now sell to, but I also had the chance to build meaningful relationships and share my passion for sourdough directly with them.
Another strategy I embraced was partnering with local businesses for pop-up events. This meant I needed them to try my bread beforehand to ensure they truly believed in the product they were bringing into their stores. Once I gained their trust, the pop-ups allowed me to reach even more customers while helping these businesses offer something unique to their own clientele. It’s all about building relationships and showing people the care and quality behind every loaf of sourdough.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Building an audience on social media has been an unexpected journey, but one of the key moments that stands out happened even before my business was officially launched. At the time, my bakery was my goal and vision, so I began creating reels with that focus in mind. As a bit of a perfectionist, I would often create several reels and then never post them, unsure if they were “just right.” I remember one day in particular, though, when I created a reel using a trending voiceover about sourdough. I didn’t know much about Instagram or how it worked, and I still have a lot to learn. What’s funny is that I was recording the reel in the middle of a busy day, rushing out of the house with the family, and didn’t even think twice about the kitchen’s background or how I looked. I was just being myself, doing my thing in the kitchen. At that moment, I decided to say, “I’m just going to post it,” and I hit share. On my way out to the car, notifications started flooding in—views and interactions beyond anything I’d seen before. I was nervous, but that was the turning point for me. It taught me that being real and present, rather than perfect, was the key to connecting with an audience. It was a lesson I still carry with me as I continue to grow my business online.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hotplate.com/rocknrosourdough
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocknro_sourdough/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14skbrCkV4/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-chino-016aa8a?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/cjbjqEb81B
Image Credits
Nadia Muldoon