We recently connected with Torey Searcy and have shared our conversation below.

Torey , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Leading up to 2020, I worked as an IT professional by day and did photography(mostly people) as a creative outlet. I was fortunate enough to be able to continue working remotely once we were into the pandemic, but there weren’t many opportunities for me to photograph people given the restrictions that were in place at the time. I turned to cooking and baking as a creative outlet. Often times, I shared the things that I made.  Friends suggested that I should begin selling the cookies that I bake. At first I thought “I’m a photographer, not a baker” and I dismissed the idea. The suggestion kept coming up and I have learned over the years to pay attention when the same idea/opportunity presents itself, especially if it happens multiple times. I had no idea what I was doing(and I am still learning), but I decided to do it. My friends opened a boutique that same year and said that they would debut the cookies during a 24 hour live sale on Black Friday. They also introduced me to another boutique owner who was in attendance and happened to go live to her audience during that sale. Between the two live sales they sold over 300 cookies in a few minutes and to say that I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. Of course, since then there have been many challenges like any business and constant learning, but what’s exciting is the opportunity to be creative and ultimately share with others. That’s something that I have always enjoyed.

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?

You know, baking really started as a creative outlet and way to pass the time when many of us were spending a lot of time at home in 2020. I have some really close and supportive friends that convinced me to do something more with it. The past few years have been challenging in many ways for most people, but I think the thing that I am most proud of is showing up to work through those challenges in the best way that I can and hopefully bring some joy to others in the process.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to have a habit of trying to do everything on my own and not being open to asking others for help. I had gotten used to it with photography and in other areas of my life, but that’s an exhausting and unsustainable path long-term. I had to learn to delegate.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Until 2019 I had been working in the IT department of a company for 12 years. We found out at the end of January that year that the company was being acquired. Fast forward about a month to the close of the sale and a number of us received notices that our positions had been eliminated.  I spent the next 5 months searching for a new job and doing a lot of self-reflection. For several years, I really didn’t have a lot of balance in my life and that would be something that I would need to focus on going forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://baldguysbake.com
• Instagram: @baldguysbake
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/baldguysbakellc

Image Credits
Torey Searcy