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

Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

When my family finally got cable TV when I was 15, I became obsessed with the Food Network. I watched every cooking show, baking show, competition show, and would say “I could do that”. I loved baking cookies, cakes, then attempted things like eclairs and puff pastry. I moved on from Food Network to Youtube and continued to learn and try new things. I really enjoyed baking for myself, friends, family, just to try new things and bring into the office I worked at to share. I was not at the point where I thought this could be something I actually pursue.

I do not know when it clicked that it could be something I could actually pursue. I think it was a very, very, very tiny seed that grew with each practice bake or smile I saw on someones face after eating something I made. I think right now the seed is a sapling with access to the perfect amount of sunlight and water, growing more every day.

Over the years I have collected notes and thoughts of this dream. It has slowly been outlined and has become clearer with every step I take.

It took a while to come up with the name. When thinking through the name, I knew I wanted it to be community focused. Ismii means “my name is” in Arabic. I imagined a name tag that said “ismii” in Arabic with my name or a future employee’s name on it. I imagined the brick and mortar to be a community space with events, a fun place to be around and gather. A place to find a community while eating all the best pastries and treats ever.

It took me 2 years to think through the logo, weeks to think through the colors, more weeks to think about the business card, a year to make a basic website, but slowly it is happening!

The biggest push was catering my friend’s wedding. I made rice krispie treats, brownies, lemon bars, cookie bars, and brownies. I had my partner and friends help me transport and put it all on display. Wedding guests were eating my treats all night long! The bride was taking bites of rice krispies and passing them to others on the dance floor.

After that event I got business cards made. I got an opportunity to cater a graduation party and I loved it. A had a couple more smaller orders. In between I practiced recipes. This year I had my first pop-up! It was good learning experience. Then I had a second pop-up 2 months later! So now we are 2 pop-ups in with a lot of lessons learned, with many more to learn ahead of us.

There’s still a long way to go. I hope for many more orders and many more pop-ups. Each opportunity will come with a lessoned learned and more connections made. There’s also plenty to learn about simply how to run a business.

Ismii is being built day by day – specifically early mornings and late nights. Because in between, I am working my full time job. I am supported by my partner and my best friends. Not only are they my taste testers, they are my muscle, my strategists, and my creative thinkers. I have a solid community around me that supports my dream and I am very thankful.

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

My dream is to have a bakery that combines the types of baked goods we commonly see with Lebanese flavors. I love Lebanese food. I love Lebanese flavors – the floral, the zest, the spice. Think lemon, labneh, rose, orange blossom, tahini, zaatar incorporated into cakes, cookies and biscuits. So far this has been a hit.

These days I get most of my inspiration from Instagram and Tiktok and the many cookbooks I buy after finding some amazing bakers and cooks out there.

I dreamt of my concept of a bakery for years. I visited YELLOW in Georgetown with my mom and brother April 2024. Walking in and seeing my concept already existing was very emotional. The line was long, the food was delicious. The food was deeply real and authentic Palestinian flavors and at the same time so approachable to the masses. It clicked that my concept is real and could work and be successful in Atlanta.

I am proud to be someone that can bring things together. I love bringing people together – like different friend groups for a party or game night or pickleball. Even at my office job I often bring teams together to get work done. With ismii am thoroughly enjoying bringing flavors and concepts together though baking. It’s so fun. It’s also exhausting. But mostly it’s SO fun.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think I am in an ever evolving state of pivoting. Very small pivots at a time. But also moving forward in between. I studied Electrical Engineering, worked at a non-profit in Germany for a year and a half, then came back home to work at a massive corporation as an engineer then as a consultant. I’ve been in corporate America for about 13 years now and while it has its benefits, it is not where I want to be long term. Every step I take with ismii is a small pivot out of an office life and into a bakery life of my dreams.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I have a friend who’s daughter was graduating from high school and she was throwing her a big graduation party. She asked me to cater it! This was my first job that I had business cards printed for! I was pumped. She didn’t have any specifics on what she exactly wanted so I asked her a bunch of questions to figure out her needs and tastes. We developed a wonderful menu. I think I baked 6 different things. One of them being a s’mores pie, which her daughter said was the best thing she ever ate in her life. I felt great. It was the ultimate satisfaction.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ismiibakery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ismiibakery
• Other: https://ismii.substack.com/

Image Credits

i took all these photos with my phone