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

Stephanie, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

In March 2020, I didn’t catch COVID-19. Instead, I caught the quarantine baking craze.

I was a dental student in the midst of COVID, and I finally had free time on my hands! It was the perfect time to check “bake a macaron” off of my bucket list. Macarons are notorious for being a challenge to make. How hard could it really be?

I cross-referenced and researched several macaron recipes on YouTube before I settled on trying Preppy Kitchen’s recipe. They turned out decent–no cracked or exploded macarons. They weren’t perfectly round, but most had feet (ruffled edges on the perimeter). In my first batch, I already started getting creative by making a cat face.

Excited about being not terrible, I tried baking them again but used a different recipe. These came out perfect, but I couldn’t possibly eat all 60 ube macarons by myself! So I boxed up half of them to give away to my friends. Mike and Esther were regular macaron consumers and said they were really good. That’s when the lightbulb went off. I realized I could be selling these!

There are plenty of cookie and cake bakers around, but macaron bakers are nearly unheard of. I knew that I could stand out with my product alone. And just like dentistry, macarons require a high level of attention to detail. The market and my skills seemed to be a perfect match for a macaron business, so I invested in a KitchenAid stand mixer. Macarons were the perfect dessert to sell, especially because I had a roommate. I could stack and pack hundreds in my section of the fridge, and there was still space for my roommate’s milk and eggs!

I started selling them to my dental classmates. It was difficult because we were all living off of student loans. However, they were extremely supportive of my new side hustle. They all joked about me opening my macaron bakery next to my dental office!

It’s actually quite strange how I’ve chosen to pursue a business in macarons. I’m the type of person who hates doing anything twice. I crave new experiences. At this point, I’ve made thousands of macarons, and I still get that burst of joy when they come out of the oven perfectly.

Stephanie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Stephanie Tran. I am a full-time dentist and founder of Steph’s Macarons LLC. I was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. I studied Genetics at Texas A&M University and then earned my Doctorate of Dental Surgery at the University of Texas Health in San Antonio.

No, I did not squeeze in culinary school in between all of the above, but I’ve always loved cooking and baking. When I was a dental student in 2020, I baked macarons for the first time and fell in love with the process.

Now, I am completing my residency program in general dentistry at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. I picked up my macaron business and moved it across the country with me.

Steph’s Macarons specializes in handmade French macarons, puparons, and custom creations. My macarons are crisp on the outside, yet light and chewy on the inside. The flavor of my macarons “slaps you in the face,” as one of my customers commented. My best-selling flavor is creme brulee, and my best-selling design is the Cookie Monster.

Steph’s Macarons also offers macaron-shaped dog treats called “puparons.” Fur babies get to indulge in treats made of four simple ingredients and with no sugar added. I love when my customers send me videos of their dogs eating them!

I love creating custom macarons for parties, weddings, and other small businesses. Designing macarons continues to challenge me as an artist. I use a variety of tools to create custom designs, including unique macaron shell shapes, royal icing, fine paint brushes, and more.

In October 2022, I started teaching private macaron baking classes for bakers of all skill levels. I’ve always loved teaching and wanted to share the joy of the macaron-making process with macaron lovers. My baking students all now have a greater appreciation for macarons as an art now that they have seen how meticulous the process is.

I am proud myself for creating something that can never be taken away from me. I relocated Steph’s Macarons from San Antonio, TX to Hackensack, NJ, a brand new city across the country where I knew nobody. Through social media, pop-up shops, and my eagerness to seek opportunity, I was able to both re-establish and grow my customer base in Hackensack.

After I decide where I want to establish my dental office. I will then start on the blueprint of the Steph’s Macarons storefront

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

If you don’t talk about your business, no one else will. I post on my Instagram daily and usually at the same time of day. I also re-share my macaron business posts on my personal social media pages. Do not be afraid of “annoying” your friends by posting “too much” about your business. A true friend happily cheer you on and be proud of you for taking your business seriously.

My stories include interactive polls that engage my followers and help me learn about my customers. For example, I’ll ask them to vote on the cutest gingerbread man design or what flavor I should fill a new design with.

When I sell my products in-person at pop-ups, I incentivize new customers to follow me by offering them a free logo sticker if they follow Steph’s Macarons on Instagram. By doing this, the customer knows where to find me after they fall in love with my product, even if they forgot to pick up a business card.

My last piece of advice is to treat your social media as though it is your storefront. . “Wow” is the most common word I hear when new customers open my Instagram feed. It is my only opportunity to make a first impression and communicate the deliciousness my macarons since they can’t come to a physical store to sample my product. I stay consistent with how I take and edit my photos so that my brand is recognizable as they’re scrolling through their feed.

All-in-all, create consistency and it will pay off.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

My favorite business book is The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber. Dr. Rizzo, my attending in my dental program, recommended this book to me as soon as he heard I own a macaron business.

The business philosophy is taught through the story of a pie baker. The baker struggles to grow her business because although she crafts amazing pies, she’s a poor manager and entrepreneur. Small businesses need a healthy balance of all three positions to thrive. The technician produces the product, the manager runs the systems, and the entrepreneur provides the vision and innovation. Small business starters usually do all the technical work and refuse to or don’t know how to fill the other roles. Thus, they fail or stay stagnant.

The book taught me to treat me business as though I’m building a franchise prototype. I must build Steph’s Macarons to be its own living, breathing organism so that if I were to step away, it would function perfectly. Otherwise, I own a job, not a business.

Contact Info:

• Website: stephsmacarons.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/stephsmacarons
• Facebook: facebook.com/stephsmacarons
• Other: linktr.ee/stephsmacarons