Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Penny Lane. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Penny, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The story of Penny Royal Bakery started at a time full of stress, uncertainty, and mental health crisis in the lives of those close to me.

I had been working as a nurse in Austin, Texas for 16 years. While I deeply loved caring for my patients, I was burned out from the pandemic and found myself wanting to be at home more with my two daughters. I was burdened and in prayer over the isolation, the loneliness, and the deteriorating mental health of so many people around me.

One October day I spent 6 hours lost in the art of cookie making. 🎨🧑‍🍳 It was the art of letting go of “control” and just being present. Present with my thoughts, my emotions, present in prayer.

It was a spiritual act of opening my hands and releasing “all the things”. An act of trust. I believe art can be a form a therapy. A way of slowing down and breathing in deep. Bringing us back to the present.

Not only was this new found art of cookie decorating so therapeutic, I also found it was such a special way to show others your thinking of them. I was making that particular set of cookies to celebrate my dear friend and her expected baby boy. She had finally reached the end of her long fertility journey. I had witnessed first hand her struggle, her longings, and her tears. Spending hours upon hours designing and crafting the perfect set of sugar cookies for her baby shower was the most tangible gift I could give.

This is where the idea of the GIVEAPENNY cookie came to be. It would be a cookie to bring connection to people in our lives. With each custom cookie order I would give my customers one extra GIVEAPENNY cookie. This cookie is to give any person they choose that needs to know they are seen and they matter. They are not alone. It could be a coworker, a classmate, a stranger, the grocery store worker, delivery person, whoever they chose. After all, you never know what someone is going through.

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?

Penny Royal Bakery is a home based bakery located just outside of Austin Texas, in Leander. We specialize in the most delicious decorated sugar cookies to help you celebrate “all the things”. Our mission is to spread joy, kindness, and connection through cookies.

All of our cookies are small batch and made from scratch with quality ingredients. We love breaking the stereotype that decorated cookies are so pretty but taste like cardboard. No thank you!

Celebrating people is our jam. We love designing cookie sets that match your theme and bring the wow factor to your events. We also offer corporate logo cookies and dessert tables. Our chocolate chip dipped cookies are show stopping as well. They boast of four kinds of gourmet chocolate and a hint of sea salt. It no wonder our clients are addicted.

We also love offering royal icing cookie decorating classes. These are out of this world fun! They are the perfect way to make some memories with friends and get creative. Be sure to join our email list, Penny Pals, on our website to know when doors open on our next class. They fill up crazy fast! Can’t wait for the next class? Host your own private cookie class. We travel to Austin and the surrounding areas to bring the fun to your next gathering or corporate event.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My entire adult life, I was everybody’s one friend that wasn’t on social media. It was a very deliberate choice I made for a variety of reasons. I also have never found myself to be “tech savvy” or good with computers. I’d rather use pen and paper than have to deal with a computer.

When God called me to open a business, I knew I was going to be stretched beyond my comfort zone. I had no idea that the zone was so far away I needed a passport to get there!

Not only did I have to perfect my cookie skills, I also had to learn lighting and photography so my customers could actually see how beautiful those cookies were! Then I learned to create a website, become search engine optimized, build a brand board, figure out all that ish with taxes, speak legal words like DBA and LLC, define and market to my ideal client, register with google and YELP, learn to use apps like Canva and CapCut, and figure out how to balance being a mom, wife, and business owner while still getting enough sleep to be a functioning adult.

All of that was cake compared to making an instagram account and figuring out what the heck was the difference between a reel, a story, and all those bubbles at the top?

Starting from zero followers, I can proudly say that I have organically reached 1 thousand followers and growing. Not only have I learned to use social media, I have met some of the most amazing people on there. Many of them right in my own backyard that I may have never found without this platform. I’ve met business women and philanthropist that I am continually inspired by and sometimes chance to collaborate with. I have met customers and friends and get to build a community around the bakery that lifts up others and inspires creativity.

I turned 40 the year I opened my business and am thankful to have so much growth left inside of me. I never want to stop being creative, to stop dreaming, to stop trying new things.

If you ask how I did it, I believe Nike said it best… just do it! Just start. You will never learn if you don’t get going. I employed the help of my 15 year old daughter, my AMAZING business coach Chef Amanda Schonberg, and above all else, Jesus.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

While I love meeting people and growing on social media, one of the biggest ways I I’ve gained clients is in person. I am very intentional to meet local small business owners in my area and have even gotten to collaborate with them at times.

No one supports a small business owner like another small business owner. When I decided to start offering cookie decorating classes, where do you think I looked to host them? My small business besties were by my side cheering me on and letting me use their space to host. It brought more people into their spaces so it was a win win.

I also seek opportunities to bring diversity into my life and business. I want to surround myself with others that have different experiences than my own so we can learn from each other. I love supporting minority owned businesses and have grown so much from this as a person.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.PennyRoyalBakery.com
• Instagram: pennyroyalbakerytx
• Facebook: Penny Royal Bakery
• Yelp: PennyRoyalBakery

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