We recently connected with Susan Prunty and have shared our conversation below.

Susan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

If I were to start over today, knowing the lessons I’ve learned in my entrepreneurial process, I would go much leaner than I did. When I started, I wanted to be prepared for anything so I purchased items, hired staff, and built a brick-and-mortar store as if there were going to be lines out of the door of customers. In hindsight, I should have started with the bare minimum to see actually what would be important. Most of my projections weren’t as accurate as I hoped and then everything was thrown out the window when Covid hit my second year of business. If I had kept down costs initially, profit would have come quicker.

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?

After decades working in a corporate insurance environment, I took a leap of faith and opened a bakery in my small town in Southern Oregon. I wanted a more direct connection with my community by bringing high-quality baked goods when most people locally were purchasing cakes from a local grocery store. It soon evolved into a bakery known for creative custom-decorated cakes and innovative macaron flavors.

What began unexpectedly has become one of my most vital missions—fostering inclusion and diversity in my bakery. We proudly support marginalized communities through intentional hiring, authentic social media representation, and meaningful partnerships. My goal is to ensure our space is safe and welcoming for all genders, sexualities, and ethnicities. By empowering my employees to be their genuine selves and amplify their voices, we create an environment where both our team and customers feel valued—enhancing not just our service, but our purpose.

We stand out from other bakeries in town because of our creativity. Our unique flavors push past the ordinary, our designs are eye-catching, and we stay ahead with new decorating trends. We’re always evolving to bring fresh, exciting creations to our customers that taste amazing and surprise at the same time, such as our recent creation of blue cheese macarons. When you come to our bakery, you’re getting something you won’t find anywhere else.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The first year of business was incredibly difficult. Start up expenses were much hirer than projected, sales were lower than estimated, and I felt like I was drowning. I worked 18 hours days and only took 7 days off the entire year. I was exhausted, demoralized, and burnt out. Every month more money was going out to cover rent, payroll, and the other million expenses. I was miserable and felt like a failure.

After the first year, I realized something had to change if I were going to survive. I started to focus on staying present in the moment and giving up the idea I could control everything. The past mistakes couldn’t be erased and my future worries did nothing to make me more successful. When I started to realize I could only impact the moment I was in, a calm took over. It was that month, I had my first break-even month. I was over the moon and started to imagine what it would be like 6 months in the future when I might actually be able to pay myself. Two weeks later, the world shut down for Covid and I was back to 3 customers a day.

Instead of panicking, I laughed at the fact the Universe once again had to show me that I was not in control of what happens. I can only impact the decision I make to deal with it. Everyone was in the same boat of losing money, having to decide if they were going to retain their staff, and if they should close their doors. I committed after the first two weeks of the Covid shutdown to keep my doors open, not let go of any of my staff, and figure out of a way to keep showing up every day. The slow days gave me time to reflect on the mistakes of the first year. We modified procedures and the extra time allowed more training for my staff. It changed the way we did everything in the bakery and what was possible. New procedures went into place and we diversified the staff’s skills to be more efficient. While I was still losing money, it set up the bakery for more success in the future.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

My advice for managing a team and having high morale is to listen and actually care about them as people. I’ve worked for companies where the employees become numbers and there’s no quicker way to alienate your staff. It also undermines trust when you tell staff you care about them while at the same time not considering their thoughts.

I tailor my communication to each individual, focusing on what matters most to them. Beyond their role in my bakery, I help them develop skills that will benefit them in the future. My goal is to enhance their growth and success, not just what they can contribute to my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://delishoregon.com
• Instagram: @delish_or
• Facebook: delishoregon
• Other: Tik Tok — delishoregon

Image Credits

Susan Prunty