We were lucky to catch up with Sadie Hallmark recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sadie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?
This passion started with me making cupcakes for my daughters first birthday. It was extra special because she is our rainbow baby. I miscarried my first pregnancy, so I baked my daughters cupcakes and poured my whole heart and soul into it. That sparked the curiosity to learn and develop. I had zero baking knowledge at the time other than what was bought in a box, so I challenged myself by baking everything from scratch and following other bakers and learning from their videos and tips. Very quickly, people started to order from me, which has led me to where I am now! There’s not a single baked good that goes out without me pouring all my passion and my joy into it. It became a way of expression of affection and appreciation as well as a place of healing for me. It helped me learn to love the journey I’m in and to have grace with myself and with others fingering out this thing called life.
Sadie, 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?
Some of the ways I learned to develop the skills that I have now, are I understood the process meant sacrifice was involved, I made myself vulnerable to the process, I bought a couple classes to help with fundamentals, I just kept practicing, and most importantly I gave it everything I had, walked in honesty, and still do. Everything I desired to learn I would bake it and pass it out in my community for free. The only thing I asked for in return was honest feedback and constructive criticism. I welcomed the ways I could improve and I worked on improving. I felt it was important to walk in humility and to be teachable if I wanted to be successful with baking. I believe that is what sets me apart from most bakers, other than dialing down the sweetness a little bit! I worked on simple baked goods and moved on to more complicated desserts. Cupcakes, cookies, brownies , cakes of all sorts, even to macarons and croissants. I’ve baked for birthdays, quinces, weddings, baby showers and more, giving my whole heart every time! My love for baking is my brand, and I’m grateful for all the support I’ve had along the way! I’m thankful for my daughter, this all started because of her.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe my passion and consistency with my recipes is what has built my reputation. It started with family and friends and they began talking to their friends and it just spread! I feel my honesty to customers added to my reputation as well. Honesty and communication are a big priority to me, as well as showing my customers how much they matter to me. They are my biggest support system and behind every order placed is a person who believes in me and is investing in my life.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
There was one time where someone had order 8 dozen macarons! I probably made at least 15 dozen back to back and each batch failed. I was still in the process of mastering the skill for making these cookies. After many hours of failure, I finally reached out to a local baker to show me where I was going wrong. She walked me through it and because of her I had the confidence to give it another shot! Not only did I finally fix my problem with these cookies, but I made a friend in the baking community and connected with her on a level I never imagined was there.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: sadiejanesbaking
- Facebook: Sadie Hallmark