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

Hi Tara, thanks for joining us today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

Yes! Vacations are a must as a business owner, Even if it’s just a weekend getaway, you need the time to recharge and not burn out! Since my business is just me, I have to work overtime before any vacation to make sure it happens. Usually my husband can see when burnout is coming and that’s when he will suggest a getaway. I always come back recharged and ready to go. The time away really makes you appreciate what you have.

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?

My name is Tara and I got into making cheesecake about 10 years ago when my oldest son wanted a snickers cheesecake for his birthday. I made it and really enjoyed it so I started making them for friends and family every once in a while when I had some extra time, I was working in a bakery at the time so baking was something I loved. I never really thought of starting a business, I just enjoyed baking the occasional cheesecake, Then in the fall of 2019 I decided to bake some cheesecakes for people for thanksgiving. It was mostly just friends and family but imagine my surprise when I had 5 orders that year! Looking back I wonder how I did it. I had one oven, could only bake one cheesecake at a time, and one mixer. I frantically ordered some springform pans and got to work with absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. I remember my husband and sons running to every store around looking for boxes and supplies because I forgot everything I needed. Somehow, we got thru it though and I thought this is what I want to do. I let the idea kind of go until covid hit. I decided it’s now or never! I called and got licensed for my home bakery and started taking orders regularly. I also took samples to some local coffee shops and got them to buy from me. (The first two places are still getting from me weekly!) Word of mouth and wonderful returning customers made my business flourish! I’m so proud of how far I’ve come. I will never forget the first Thanksgiving after being licensed when I got slammed with 10 orders. Now, this makes me laugh now thinking 10 orders was overwhelming but I still only had one oven and one mixer. My kids were running cheesecakes over to the neighbors house to bake over there and we were baking what we could over here and it was total chaos! I don’t think I slept that night at all! I should also add I was still working at the bakery night shift and hadn’t slept for days! if it wasn’t for my husband and kids supporting me and helping I would have failed big time. It takes a village as they say and I have the best village ever! My daughter has helped with baking, decorating and delivering when I’ve needed the help. My boys and husband have helped with watching the ovens, delivering, boxing and even shopping! Yes, there are nights when no-one gets supper and the kids have joked that they are cheesecake orphans but we survive! Fast forward 4 years and I’m delivering cheesecakes to 8 different places weekly, baking around 75 cheesecakes a week, and have recently opened a store front in the little town of Winesburg. I think the thing that sets me apart from other places is everything is still baked the same way as when I started in the same little kitchen. I may have more mixers and ovens now but they are still mixed one cheesecake at at time to ensure quality. I don’t skimp on good ingredients and everything is fresh. I love what I do!

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

Show up daily! I started by posting every day multiple times a day. It was exhausting and hard work but I had fun doing it! I think when I first started I posted 2 reels a day and 1 post a day. I also showed up in my stories and was authentic and had fun. My instagram exploded in November of 2021 when a reel went viral and I went from 1200 followers to 40,000 in 2 months! I hated it. I would delete mean comments and block people. I would wish for everyone to go away and just go back to having 1200 followers again, But, after a while I decided to accept it and try to teach people how to do what I do! Now I teach people how to bake cheesecakes and build their own home bakery business. Just keep going and post things that people get value from and connect most with you.

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

I have a wholesale side and a store front side. The wholesale side serves coffee shops, wineries and restaurants. The storefront has cheesecakes, cinnamon rolls, cookies, cupcakes in the front of the store, and yarn, flowers, candles, crochet items and some clothing. This keeps me extremely busy!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tarascheesecakes.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarascheesecakes
• Facebook: www, facebook.com/tarascheesecakes

Image Credits

Ella M Photography