We recently connected with Paige Woodie and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Paige thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Val was my grandmother. An incredible baker and loved by all who knew her. I have so many fond memories of her baking growing up. Everything she made was magic.

When the pandemic shut downs began, and food shortages were serious, I scavenged my kitchen to cook for my family and found a 2 year old bag of flour. I decided to make blueberry lime scones. My husband took and bite, and knowing I had been trying to come up with a business the last couple years as a new mom he said, “why don’t you make these and sell them to people?”. I immediately was inspired, built a website and knew the name had to be Val’s in honor of my late nana.

I started small, offering preorders and delivering to peoples doorstep (no contact because of covid). After a few months, I was spending the entire week baking and driving around for 6-8 hours delivering around Miami Valley with my 2 year old in tow. I decided to switch strictly to pop up shops. I was always shocked at the line out the door and selling out within an hour nearly every time. I honestly had no idea I’d end up a brick and mortar, but here I am 3 years after starting as a home bakery.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I actually didn’t even know how to cook until I was 21, and a boyfriend taught me. I took up a love for cooking, nutrition and baking healthy treats in my late 20’s when I became a nutritionist and personal trainer. Eventually, I turned to more traditional pastry but always tweaked recipes in unconventional ways that resulted in delicious surprises. Val’s is known for unique flavor combinations as well as ingredients. We don’t use any artificial flavors or colors, and absolutely no preservatives. All of our vibrant treats are made using real food ingredients, real butter and 100% from scratch. Every recipe is our own, some of them handed down from my family for 100’s of years!

Coffee has always been a love of mine. I’ve worked in and out of the industry for 15 years. I love to take creative thoughts and twist them into drinks as well. No limitations, just experimental bliss. I think we have an edge on our coffee drinks because while we know and understand proper brewing, ratios and dynamics…we push the envelope on what’s “right” in the coffee world while still maintaining the quality of our coffee.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media is HUGE. I truly believe my background in marketing has played a huge factor in my success. My advice to any new or existing business is to NOT miss your opportunity with social media. There are so many ways to create engagement with your customers, to find new customers and to increase awareness with “word of mouth” via the internet. In the food game especially, you have an edge because a mouth watering photo of what you’re selling is an easy way to catch someones attention.

Take your audiences thoughts into consideration with polls, make them feel involved, like they are doing this with you. Be sure to introduce yourself and show your process, too.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

The biggest change from a home bakery to a brick and mortar has been employees. Val’s has 10 employees, 2 managers, 5 baristas and 3 bakers/kitchen staff. Take your teams life into consideration always, but also have clear boundaries. Let them know off the bat what is expected of them, create time off policies, dress codes, customer service etiquette, checklists, cleaning lists…as many details as possible.

Treat your staff like family and with kindness, always. Treat the business as a collaboration vs a dictatorship. After all, you couldn’t operate the entire business on your own. Having a team that feels appreciated and included can make a huge difference not only in the general morale, but how they treat customers and feel about doing their job.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.valsbakerydayton.com
• Instagram: @valsdayton
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valsdayton/