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

Shannon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?

I myself am a family business. My husband and kids are a big part of what I do. I started my business so I could not only do something that I love to do daily but to also be able to add money to the family income. I am surrounded by a community that is filled with family owned businesses and I encourage everyone to support them. Family owned businesses are becoming a rarity these days because of trying to compete with big corporations. It’s hard to offer what we do for their prices. I can guarantee one thing though, that when you support your local family owned businesses you are not only buying and supporting local, you are possibly helping a parent put a child in a sport or through school or even helping them pay their mortgage. I hope that some day one of my kids will want to take over my business, but until then I will always support local.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, where my grandmother would be baking something for my grandfather every day. I didn’t really get into baking until after I was married and found that I loved making things for people. My grandmother always made things from scratch and that’s what I wanted to do as well. The baking industry is very large and competitive, but has a good variety within it. After many years of people telling me I should sell my baked goods I finally looked into running my own baking business. I wanted people when they bought from me to be transported back into time when things were a little more simple and they could think of a good memory they had growing up maybe in their mom’s or grandma’s kitchen when they were baking.
I tailor my whole business, from packaging to what I bake around what I call “vintage nostalgia”. The best compliments I can get is when a customer tells me that when they bite into one of my cookies that they are flooded with memories of they themselves either making them with a family member or being in the kitchen when baking was being done. I’ve been doing this for a little over 4 years now and it has not always been easy. You really got to believe in yourself and your business, as well as, not give up. There will be times when you fail or make a mistake, but in order to be successful you need to take those moments and find the lesson from them and move forward. I surround myself with family and friends who keep me looking forward and not dwelling in the past.
Friends and family plus belief in yourself and what you do will make the road you travel a lot less bumpy.

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

Social media can be a fickle place. When I started out I made a business page on Facebook. I now have a website, Facebook and Instagram. For me there is a fine line of getting yourself out there and not over doing it. My advice is for someone starting out is to be consistent with what they post. Being clear in what it is they do and positively engaging with their followers. Little by little over the years as I did Farmers markets and events where I got my name out there, my social media pages continued to grow and still are.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Not cutting corners and being consistent in what I make I believe helped me make a mark in my industry. Anytime I add anything to my menu I make sure that it’s been tested many times before putting it out there. Consistency is big in baking. If you put a product out there that is great the first time and subpar after that, people will have a hard time coming back.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eggsandbake.com
• Instagram: wells_family_homestead
• Facebook: Facebook.com/eggsandbakes