We were lucky to catch up with Tara Sullivan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
I run my business on the honor system. We are constantly bombarded with news about how untrustworthy humanity is. In part I set my business up as a social experiment, because I believe humanity is kinder and more trustworthy than we are led to believe.
There is theft occasionally, but by and large people pay what they are expected to pay or more. It has been a very uplifting and positive experience for me.
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?
I began baking professionally in the early 2000’s. I switched careers for a while, but ultimately became burned out from traveling and being away from my home and family.
During the pandemic the only creative thing I continued to do was bake. I often posted photos on social media of my baked goods. After years of people telling me I needed to open a bakery (which felt overwhelming to me) I came up with a plan to start one at home.
I had my kitchen certified by the local board of health and I put a small garden shed in my yard and filled it daily with fresh baked treats. I advertised on a local Facebook group and in just four months it had taken off to the point where I knew I needed to move it out of my neighborhood.
A friend of mine had a relative who worked at a local church and pitched the idea of putting a shed in their parking lot. They said “yes” and in June of 2023 I had a local builder create a bigger shed and moved the shed over to its current home.
The news of the shed continues to spread and people love the honor system set up. Each week I create a rotating menu of brownies, muffins, cookies, whoopie pies, granola and bars. It keeps it fun and interesting for everyone.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think the are two things that make me stand apart. First is the honor system. It takes people back to a simpler time. People like being trusted to do the right thing. And most of the time they do.
The second is everything I make is from scratch and made in small batches. There is magic in small batch baking with simple ingredients. You can taste the difference; people tell me often that it tastes like their Grandma’s recipe. That is exactly what I’m going for.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
My father is a business owner and I watched him build his incredibly successful business with a slow and steady approach. He would work and save up enough money to buy the next thing and did it piece by piece. I don’t like debt and I do everything I can to avoid it, so I started as small as possible and followed his approach.
I was also gifted a 10 quart mixer that has been in my family for 4 generations, which was a pretty amazing gift!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bourbonbutterbakingco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bourbonandbutterbakingco?igsh=YmVmYm9lb2lxdHcw&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/836Z82VLCvW6JJox/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
Peter Stegeman
Andrew Fletcher