From Burnout to Bakery Owner with Kady Miller

What do you do when giving 150% to someone else’s dream gets you nowhere?

You build your own.

In this episode of The Perfect Rise, Kimberly Houston sits down with Kady Miller, founder of Alchemy Bake Lab in Houston, Texas, for an honest conversation about what it really takes to build a bakery from the ground up.

After being laid off from her corporate job, Kady made the decision to go all in on herself. What followed was a journey filled with pivots, rapid growth, hard lessons, and major wins.

From building her business with unemployment income to hitting six figures during COVID with no-contact dessert delivery, Kady shares the behind-the-scenes reality of bakery ownership.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Starting a bakery after being laid off
 • The mindset behind betting on yourself
 • Scaling from home kitchen to storefront
 • Hiring, leadership, and team culture
 • Why trusting your intuition matters in business
 • “Train your replacement” and other growth strategies

This conversation is packed with real insight for bakers, students, and entrepreneurs alike.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re ready to take the leap—this episode might be exactly what you need to hear.

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Transcript

Kimberly Houston (00:01.464)
Friends, welcome back to The Perfect Rise. Today's conversation has been six months in the making and trust me, it was worth the wait. If you remember our scavenger hunt back at IBIE last year, today's guest is the winner herself, Katie Miller of Alchemy Bake Lab in Houston, Texas. But this episode is about much more than a fun moment. Stop.

Friends, welcome back to The Perfect Rise. Today's conversation has been many months in the making, and trust me, it was worth the wait. If you guys remember, last year we hosted a scavenger hunt at IBIE in Vegas, and today the winner herself joins me on the podcast. This conversation is about so much more than a fun moment in Vegas, because

There is a moment in every entrepreneur's journey where you have to decide, am I building this for real or am I still playing it safe? And for Katie, that moment came after being laid off. And instead of finding another job, she made a different decision and decided to go all in. What she's built since then is impressive on the surface, but what's underneath it, that's what makes this conversation one you need to hear. Katie's journey is layered.

honest and full of the kind of insight every baker, business owner, and student needs to hear. We talk about what it really looks like to build a bakery from the ground up, the leap from corporate into entrepreneurship, the realities of scaling, leading a team, trusting your tuition, and creating a business rooted in both excellence and heart. This is one of those conversations that pulls back the curtain.

on the business of baking in a very real way without killing the dream. So if you've ever wondered what it actually takes to build something bigger than yourself, this episode is for you.

Kimberly Houston (00:02.229)
Okay, friends, welcome back to the podcast. So this podcast is six months in the making. For those of you who remember us talking about IBIE last year, last year we did a scavenger hunt at IBIE. And I have the winner of our scavenger hunt joining me today, Katie Miller of Alchemy Bake Lab in Houston, Texas. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you, friend. Thank you so much.

Okay, so we have so many things to talk about. And in little pre-show, we were just kind of catching up on things, how life has been in last six months. And your story is layered. It's layered. It's onion, big old onion. And I love that. I think that this conversation will like open people's eyes to a lot of things behind the scenes, especially if they're students.

and they're thinking about like, I really wanna do this and what happens when I do this and I am hoping we can paint the picture without scaring people off. What the real side of baking looks like, what the business of baking actually looks like. So to start us off, my first question for you is, you've built something incredible with Alchemy Bake Lab, but I wanna start before the success. So at what point did you realize you weren't just baking anymore?

you were building something bigger? That's such a great question. So when I left pastry school, I would just do cakes on the side, just to kind of keep my foot in the door. But it wasn't legal in that state, in Rhode Island at the time. So I moved to Texas to open a bakery. And basically, up until the point where I formed

Alchemy Big Lab, it was more hobby making and just keeping my skills sharp, I guess. But I wasn't all in. And so it wasn't really a very clear definitive, this is it, until the day where it was it. And so getting laid off, that kind of forced my hand. I knew I had...

Kimberly Houston (02:20.642)
you know, unemployment. So I had a guaranteed paycheck for a couple months. And so I was like, well, this is it. And so February 26, 2019, that was the day it became Alchemy Bake Lab. And there was no, not one second after that where I wasn't all in. Like I was all in that day. Yeah, I love that. Okay, so we're gonna, we're gonna bring people up to speed with your stories. So from corporate marketing,

You went from corporate marketing into entrepreneurship. Yes. So a lot of people that I have talked to, especially recently, have been like, this is second career. So I was doing something else and then I moved over into baking. And the perspective of these bakery owners is very, different than people who went like pastry school, open the bakery. Like there was no other. We just went here. Right.

When you decided to use unemployment and go all in, and you're not the only person who said that to me, this is happening to me too. What's the thought process behind it? Like what made you bet on yourself anyway? Like, yeah, I'm laid off. I have this unemployment coming in, but like, what was that thing in you that was like, no, I'm gonna bet on me right now and see what happens?

That's such a great question. So I know a lot of people can identify with what I'm about to say, but I was always like the hardest worker and I was always the 150 percenter and I would come in early and I would stay late and I would drink the Kool-Aid and I was all in at every job. My job was my identity, everything. And I know you're shaking your head because I know you're the same way, right? There's a lot of us. We're out there, right?

It never got me anywhere but fired. Right? Yes. So here I am, just like always a top performer, all these awards and it was all good until I threatened middle management. Right? And so I, once I got laid off from my corporate job, I truly walked out of that building and I was like, I am never giving somebody 150 % of myself ever again. I'm going to give myself.

Kimberly Houston (04:46.67)
150 % and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do it for myself because I was so tired of burning myself out for either corporate America or You know just on appreciation. Yeah. No, I totally understand and one of the things I tell people all the time is I'm like there's only two types of workers You're either building somebody else's dream or you're building your own Exactly. That's it. Yeah, which which one are you gonna do exactly and a lot of people, you know if you just had a

you know, a good owner or a good manager, right? If you didn't have toxic people above you, they don't mind being the cog in the wheel, right? Like a lot of people prefer that, but they want to feel appreciated. They want to be rewarded for that loyalty or that, you know, that buy-in and have, you know, when you meet, when you have someone that has that ownership mentality, you better harness that and you better appreciate it because it's pretty rare, you know? It is fully, you're speaking my language.

Okay, so let's go let's go back to like childhood. So you've been baking since you were a kid selling muffins at recess working in kitchens at 14. So looking back, what were you actually learning then that you didn't realize would later would later matter? Okay, so yeah, I mean, I think I always knew I wanted to bake. I always knew I wanted to open a bakery.

But something that didn't really hit me until I was much older, probably 28 or so, was that I was really good at sales. I didn't realize it. And you know, when I was going door to door selling muffins, you know, as a kid, you're kind of like, well, they're just buying it because I'm a kid, right? Like they kind of feel obligated, right? And I'm sure there was some of that involved. But then I, you know, had a job at a coffee shop in my 20s. And I, you know,

I knew that all the pharmaceutical reps had no limit on that card. And so they're leaving with a $300 order twice a week now. And I'm planning ahead on that and I'm getting it ready for them when they walk in the door. And I knew they didn't care what they spent, right? And so I learned through all of these jobs that I was really good at sales. And that was probably the latest component of this could be something.

Kimberly Houston (07:12.908)
I love that. I don't know that anyone actually says they're good at sales. Some people are like, suck at sales and I just want to bake. Well, right. You kind of have to have a little both, right? Yeah, you can't, you know, we both know chefs that don't want to talk to a customer at any point in their career. And that's fine. You keep them in the back, you know, and you know, everyone has their place. But being able to be the owner and being a people person and good at sales is a triple threat.

For sure, that's why you're successful. See, we've talked about a couple of different positions that you've had along your journey. So when you think about stepping away from banking, even though you are a top performing business banker, what do you think corporate taught you that most bakers may be missing today? That's a great question.

There was a lot of sink or swim involved in me in the banking industry. And what I mean by that is this is actually the component where I learned I was good at sales. And so when I started working for the bank, I knew there would be sales involved. But I had a manager at the time because I was overwhelmed, right? Like you had to sell so much a day to meet your bonus. Right. And so that's that.

And so I had this really great manager who took me under her wing and brought me into her office right out of training. And she sat me down. She's like, well, what do you need to make every quarter? Okay, well, let's break that down. What do you need to make every month? Okay, well, let's break that down. What do need to make every day? And it was only 50 points, right? Out of all the points. But the fact that she helped me break it down like that, really helped me in the long run.

with my sales career at the bank and in life, right? you know, might, you know, last week we had 11 weddings, you know, this week we have one, you know? And so, but if you're not breaking those down where you're taking chunks of that, you know, and spreading it out, like you're, you're not going to grow. Yeah. And it makes it more simple. It's like, you can only eat the elephant one bite. Break it down into pieces, right? Yeah. No matter how big the thing is.

Kimberly Houston (09:35.168)
Yes. OK, so for people who are listening, right, because you sound incredible, just so you know. But if people are like, my god, I'm not Katie, and I can't do that, and they may be feeling like imposter syndrome as they are going through their journey within the industry, can you speak to that? Did you ever feel imposter syndrome, and how did it shape the way you lead now? Imposter syndrome literally got me here.

As I said, I knew from a really young age what I wanted to do with my life. And I also learned in pastry school that there's a high burnout rate and a high toxicity rate in our industry. And so when I learned that, I decided I was not gonna bake for anybody but me. And so I went and got jobs strategically within

everything I would need to know to own a bakery. I worked at a coffee shop. I was a business banker. I was the marketing manager. I was a barista, you know, like I did all that stuff, because I didn't want to burn myself out doing the one thing I knew I wanted for somebody else. And so I would say that if and I felt imposter syndrome in every single one of those jobs, because I was not doing what I loved.

what I want, you but I knew that I knew that sacrifice was there. Like I knew like that was intentional, right? But I think, you know, if you feel imposter syndrome, then you're not you're not fully doing what you really want. And even if that's even if you if you want to bake and you still feel imposter syndrome, there's so much in the baking umbrella that you could be zeroing in on that really makes you tick like I love mini desserts. have

So much patience for mini desserts. And I don't know any other chefs that say that, but you put me in front of a cake and I'm gonna be swearing at you the whole time and cursing you. And so when I like, that's what I mean by like I could be doing cakes and still feeling imposter syndrome, right? Because I know that that's just not my thing. That's not what I really wanna be doing. But within the baking landscape, there's so many tiny little things. Maybe it's baking science. Maybe you wanna go test out baking science for Conegra.

Kimberly Houston (11:53.804)
Right? Like it could be anything. But making sure you're following your own journey until you don't feel the imposter syndrome is really important. I love that. That was a fantastic piece of advice, even for me. Thank you. Thank So let's talk about what it was like opening. So we already talked about you opening in 2019 while you were getting unemployment income. So I want you to go back to those first 90 days.

Okay. What did that look and feel like? Was it messy? Was it real? Was it unfiltered? Like, what was life when you opened? I was very excited. It was extremely terrifying being someone that's always had a job to suddenly not having a job and then starting this at the same time. so it was like the first time in my adult life that I didn't have a job and

Now it's intentional, right? Like I'm intentionally not looking for another job. And so it was scary. It was really scary. I also was totally convinced that this was it. Like I said, I had 100 % buy-in. I was, while I was still building up orders, I was looking for packaging, right? So I knew I was building my brand. was finding, I was getting stickers made.

t-shirts available to buy the first day that I launched publicly, you know, and so having the swag and having the business cards and having, you know, black bakery boxes didn't even exist back then. And so for me to find black bakery packaging was almost impossible. So I did clear, I went clear packaging and now it's like, now there's black boxes popping up, right? So it's great. But in the beginning, like I had to get custom packages made from

China with my logo on it. And like I did all of that before I even made my first $10,000. You know, because I was so convinced that like this is it. Right. Yes. Can we stop for second? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Cool.

Kimberly Houston (14:09.719)
This is fun. Listen, I was like me and Katie gonna be best friends because we knew that man at one time. I was like, she is me. I am her. Yeah, we are the same person. Yeah, we could do fun things together with the same brain and I'm really you can't you cannot show bias on this podcast.

You can't let the people know that they're listening that you like Katie more than everybody else. Okay. I keep my cool, but I'm just saying, I'm just saying. I'm like, For real.

Kimberly Houston (14:49.144)
Okay, it's okay. It's fine. Don't worry about it. What are you drinking? I my cup sweet, look. I know. Look, baby. What kind of tea is it? Earl Grey with some caramel and a little bit of milk. that's good. That's fancy. We're a little fancy. I'm a little fancy. I don't drink fancy tea. I have a whole tea bar.

I like your back. I like how your books and everything. Thank you. I figure I'm like, I'm always sitting here and I need a lovely background. So that was like the we converted. It looks studious. Yeah. But now I'm kind of over it. So I haven't decided what it's going to look like. Nothing. It's going to look like this. Okay. I spent a whole lot of money on this room. It's going to look like this. Yeah. I'm not changing it. I like it. People love it.

Okay, we're good. They're good. Okay, hold on. Wait, what was my next question for you? we're going to COVID. Yeah.

Hold on one second, sorry. No, you're

Kimberly Houston (16:06.094)
I'm like hiding over here in the corner. That's so funny. Is your office behind you or is that the kitchen? No, this is the bakery. Look, I have a table of, a periodic table. IZ! I know. Yeah, I'll give you a quick tour. What's on the other side of you? So it's like a window where you can like... Oh, into the kitchen. Yeah, so that's the cake corner. Wow. Yeah, and then look at my Marie. I'm obsessed.

Right? And then I got my periodic table. Because you have a big lab. Oh, is that a chair? Yeah, my thrums. Girl. Look at that, right? Where do you even find things like this? I have a furniture dealer named Mario and he's fantastic. Period Mario. I'm obsessed with Mario. Well, he does like large event decor. So, and then I went to go, I knew I wanted one.

And then one of them was like $2,000. But if I bought four of them, they were only $800 each. Well, give me four. are you? Great. That's I said. What are we doing? That's like a no brainer. Thanks, Mario. I'll take four. Thank you, sir. Yeah. That's so fun. Yeah. So yeah, people like.

text him, they've been at like, people have asked me for like the number, you know what I mean? I sold one. You sold a chair? I sold one, yeah. She was my good friend though. Oh, okay. I still know where it is. We're still in touch. That's fair. I can still go visit the chair whenever I feel like it. We have like custody? Yes. Like if you ever treat this chair wrong, I'm coming back to get it. I'm coming for you. Don't play me. It's like Olive Garden. You know you could buy this stuff off the walls on Olive Garden? What?

Like the paintings and stuff. didn't know that either. That's kind of wild. I never knew that. I have children who ask those kinds of questions. And my son one day was just like, so I really liked that painting. Like, could I buy it as a joke? And that lady said, yes, everything in here is for sale. That's crazy. That's crazy. And so now every time we go to Olive Garden, we like look for the price tags. I've never noticed the price tag on. That's actually pretty wild. Today I learned.

Kimberly Houston (18:29.134)
Who knew you could do that? That's what happens when you homeschool your children. They start asking questions like that. Okay, we should be good. Okay. Okay. Cool. Let me find my space again. Let's see. We're gonna talk about COVID and then... Are we gonna talk about COVID? Yeah.

Yes. Okay. We're going talk about COVID and then we're going to move into outgrowing your home kitchen. Okay. With the full team. Okay. Yes. That's where we go. There's still like 15 questions. This is ridiculous. Anyway. Oh, I never hit, I could have hit pause. I don't, it's all good. Why did I not think to do that? Anyway, it doesn't matter. Okay. I'll find it. All right. So we're going to start.

Okay, so during COVID, you pivoted to no contact dessert delivery and hit six figures in your first full year. What did you see early on that you think others missed? So when everyone was in lockdown, there was this really brief period of unity. Right, it's gone.

Turns out it was very, very brief. And anyway, was kind of this really nice little mini golden era for businesses where our community really tried to support the restaurant industry. And so there was a lot of people that were kind of sick of being at home and they were bored and they just wanted some excitement in their life.

And so there was a lady in one of the groups on a Facebook page like a mom's page. Mm-hmm. She posted Hey, does anyone know of any dessert places that deliver and so I still had some stuff laying around because Up until shutdown I was functional And I responded what I had and then I could just do no contact dessert delivery, you know, like we don't have to see each other and 106 people replied to that text. Holy cow

Kimberly Houston (20:32.174)
I know. So that started no contact dessert delivery and I would come out with a menu every weekend. And at that point I only had a handful of customers. So I would just text all my customers the menu, which was more direct than hoping they see it online. Yeah. And people would just text me their orders and it was small batch and I had the packaging, right? Yep. So it was rock and roll it. And so I was doing like 50 to 65 dessert deliveries every weekend for a while.

And you delivered them yourself. You didn't do like DoorDash or Uber. Yeah. So I delivered them myself and then I hired like a couple of college kids that cause like everything stopped. Right. And so everyone, all the college kids were back home, not really knowing what to do. And so I hired a couple of college kids and my deliveries were so cheap because we were driving all over Houston, which is massive. But if we're already charging five people, if we're charging five people, $5, the delivery fee is met. You know what I mean? And so I wasn't greedy about that.

And I think that that really helped also get like repeat business because people hate paying for delivery. They hate paying for shipping, right? It's I do too. Okay, so Having cheaper delivery in a huge city like you're ordering from a bakery. That's an hour away and deliveries only $10 You know what I mean? And so and everyone was at home. So it was perfect. I Love it. I did mine, too

Like my assistant was taking the orders, but I was the one dropping them off at people's homes. And I was like, no, we're not going to outsource it. It gets me out of the house. it's Yeah, no, it was great to go for a drive. Yeah. And just leave it on the porch. And then I was like, I need for everybody. What do you have to ring a doorbell? You just send them a text like, it's open. Take a picture. Like here it is. It's at your door. I was like, this is the greatest thing that ever happened. I people were like super scared and sad. I had a ball. We were balling, dude.

We were making that cash flow. All right. Yes, I totally get it. I understand. Okay, so that's in 2020. Now by 2022, you outgrew your home kitchen with a full team and cross a quarter million in revenue. So let's talk about that. One, you opened your brick and mortar on International Women's Day, which feels a little symbolic. So what did that moment represent for you personally?

Kimberly Houston (22:52.366)
It was emotional. I actually signed the contract for it at one of my favorite bakeries in Houston. So it was kind of symbolic. But it was emotional because it was everything came together, you know? Can we stop for a second? Yeah. Oh, it's just my people. We're good. They're getting lunch. They're back. Oh, cool. We can start. But yeah, so it was just

one of those things where, my God, what was the question again? just had a brain what did the moment represent for you personally? okay, yeah. So it was just, you know, I really, the person I saw or the feelings I was getting where, you know, that little seven-year-old Katie that was reading that recipe on the back of the Bisquick box, probably murdering those muffins with over mixing. And I was so confident that this was it and this was how I'm gonna live my life, you know, and just.

all of those trials and tribulations that led up to that moment of me signing that lease, that contract, right? And second, guessing myself until the very second the pen hit the paper. You know, like just, if you're not scared, you're not growing, you know? And so I was very uncomfortable. I still didn't know if this was the right choice, you know? It was just a huge obligation. And I was nervous because, you know, the statistics on

brick and borders are not great. Yeah. So the moment right before signing the paper, like when you hit the point where you're like, I can't do this for my house anymore. Like we have to go something bigger. Can you talk about what happened in that? So my thought is kind of like what broke first, like what in the process you were like, this ain't working. Was it the systems? Was it time?

Was it, you were just like, enough is enough. It's just time to go forward and leap. What happened? Yeah, so at the end of the day, everyone wants to walk around in their house in their underwear at some point, right? Okay. So there was a little bit of that, I'm not gonna lie. There was a sacrifice on my family's end by having a full-fledged operational bakery in their home. I think the breaking point though for me was looking around and seeing that

Kimberly Houston (25:19.754)
it just, I feel like my employees deserved more. They deserved a kitchen because they were busting their hump for me, for the bakery in this tiny little space, making it work. And it just, I just didn't think that that was appropriate anymore. And so it was a lot of, it was a big part of that. And then a big part of like, I just want my house back and

You know, I still like I still complain about baking at the bakery because I still miss baking in my house. But the reality of it was at that point, it wasn't me baking it anymore. And so that was kind of a weird transition because when I was baking, I had my own preferences and I made the rules. But now I wasn't anymore. And my employees determine a lot of those things now. And if they're not happy, then I'm dead in the water. And so I just kind of felt like I owed it to everybody.

Yeah, it was fun. mean like the man was there so it's time to do it. And as if like Rafiki's like it is time. know what I mean? was totally. Yes, so and I love that this is where the conversation is going because I think that people they like to romanticize what it looks like to scale. And so.

While I want every bakery owner to scale, I also want us to scale with not just got chills. I just got chills from the word scale. I just had like a nervous system response to that word. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to trigger you, but I want to talk about it. I want to know what did that look like? Like, what was it like to do that word? Yeah. Interesting. So up until

the bakery, the brick and mortar, everything was a KitchenAid mixer or a three quarter pan or some delis or a two gallon container, you know? And then all of a sudden everything's like 20 quart mixer, full size sheet pan, enormous camberos, millions of delis. It's like, pick anything, toilet paper, like everything.

Kimberly Houston (27:42.828)
You have to, it's like opening a full restaurant, right? Like you have to think of every single thing. Whereas before in my house, we had an upstairs bathroom and a downstairs. And so my employees would just use the upstairs, right? And then, you know, but like, it's just now I have to worry about literally everything. And there were sacrifices in those choices. So up until that point, we made all of our own tar shells and we formed them. you know, we made dozens and dozens and dozens a week. It was a full-time position.

And I had to then source tart shells because I knew that there's no way I'm going to be able to afford with rent now someone to make tart shells all day, right? And so I had to try, you know, I had to source out different ingredients, you know, and there's just so much to it. then, and then you have people, you have to, you have to scale your people too though, you know, and

you know, in my house, I had, you know, six bakers, but now I have a full blown bakery, and I have to double that. But who are those people? Who are they going to be? Are my other people going to enjoy working with them? Are they okay training them for me? Are they, you know, it's just and I if I could have gone back and done it differently at that point, I would have because I didn't I was just so I had so much on my plate that I just hired cool your body. That's go we'll trade you.

I'm still very much like that, but now there's a couple of qualifications before we get to that point. That's fair. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's fair. And now we have to talk about that. So for people who want that wasn't my next question for you, but for people who do want to skill and they're like, well, okay, well, so tell me what to do. Like what advice would you give them when it comes to hiring? But also what are you looking for?

And then how did you figure out, and this may come through like the hiring process where you're like, okay, the next people we hire must do this or must not do this. Like take me through what that looks like when you're bringing people in. Okay, so rule number one, good vibes only. So I pride myself on having a non-toxic kitchen, commercial kitchen. It's rare.

Kimberly Houston (30:07.246)
And so, you know, this industry is kind of rampant with some bad players, you know, and so obviously I've worked in those environments, working in the restaurant industry, just like everybody else. And I, couple of things. And so I knew from being a restaurant manager that I was never going to have a front of house versus back of house.

Okay, so every single baker I have knows how to come up front for a customer and make a latte for them. Lovely. Every single one of them. Every single person that works for me knows how to make our rice crispy treats and our brownies, it doesn't matter who they are. So there's a lot of cross trading that happens here. So that way it's never an us versus them, because I've seen that destroy restaurants from the inside out. Also no toxicity. So I have like a zero gossip policy. We have a very clear

communication method at the bakery. So all of my people know that there's never a wrong answer with me or a wrong question. I'm I present as very open and I am to you know, if they think something could be done better to improve their life and the bakeries, like I'm not gonna poo poo it. I'm gonna always listen. Yeah. And I think you know, the whole us versus them thing is so easy to fall into.

I don't pay anybody to just really sit up front and wait for customers. That was never a position. So we got a doorbell, so that way when the door opens, it chimes in the back and then we have a dedicated person on every shift who is the person, right? But if that person's unavailable, my GM can come up here and she can make a lot and help the customer, right? The same way. So that's a huge, huge thing.

And just having a zero tolerance policy for toxicity, no matter the cost, no matter who it is. No matter how much you love them, no matter how much you thought they were a lifer, no matter how much money they make you, it's just, it's never worth that bargain. I like the non-negotiable. Yeah, it's, yeah. I mean, I've let people go for it, you know, and that sucks to have to do, but the people that still work here, that bust their hump for me, they're really happy here.

Kimberly Houston (32:26.168)
they're producing more because of that, you know? And so there's a lot to be said for that, you know? You lose a lot of production by having a toxic work environment. Yes, you do. Yeah, yeah, totally agree. Okay, I love it. So everybody took notes. On that part. Okay, so even in talking about opening the bakery,

What is one decision you made during that phase that you absolutely would make again and then what's one you would not?

for building the bakery when I built it.

Kimberly Houston (33:05.23)
This is a really good question. One thing I would not do again is hire blindly. so I've, know, one of the two characteristics that I look for in whoever I hire, I don't care if there's any baking experience, quite honestly. What I care about is your attention to detail, that you're not gonna miss the small details because that transfers into a recipe and into a finished product.

and into catching mistakes. And it really just blankets the whole thing. And so I will train anybody on baking if they have an attention to detail and they're an eagerness to learn it, right? Like either you're passionate about it or you just don't take no for an answer or you can get back up easily when you get knacked back down, know, like just resiliency that needs to be in there as well. So.

Looking back, I would make sure that the people I hired initially had that because we could have hit the ground running a little bit harder than we did. So one thing I would do again, this is kind of dumb, but... What? So I... Okay, so people get broken into a lot, right? Like especially restaurants. Okay. So I've seen this. I've seen this firsthand and I've worked in restaurants. And so I know that 95 % of restaurants have a safe.

Right. But this kept and I lost so much sleep over this one thing, right? Because I'm like, well, someone could just pick it up. What's stopping them? Like, I mean, I don't get it. Do I bolt it into a cement floor? Like, how much does that even cost? Or do I just get a huge safe where nobody can pick it up? Like, I lost so much sleep over this. And the solution, the solution was a husky.

Husky tool chest like a big one with the wood, everything. And I probably shouldn't be telling America this, but that is what we use because we hide the key every night. You know what I mean? And so good luck getting the Husky out of here, I guess. You know what I mean? like, nobody's gonna even think it's in there. So what I would share, I guess, is if you do open a brick and mortar, like, be creative with that part. Take a page out of my book, go ahead.

Kimberly Houston (35:26.926)
Yeah, I just really stressed about that part. And believe it or not, we got broken into last year or the year before I can't remember it's all the same. Um, but we got broken into and they didn't get a single thing. And then they broke into the barbershop next to us and they stole his safe. And yours is protected because it was hidden in plain sight. Oh, I love that so much. Silly one, but I would definitely recommend doing that.

I think that that's a fantastic thing that because I never would have thought of that when I think about all the places I've worked with the safe. mean, like, you know, it's an office that it's almost like a given that you're going to have one right. Right. Like that makes sense. But not if you can't find it. I love it. I love it. OK, so let's talk about something that I meet a lot of students on the road and students ask me lots of questions about competitions and TV and all those sorts of things.

So you have been known as the secret gem of Katie and won multiple dessert awards. What do you think customers are really responding to beyond the product itself?

how people really love that it's me behind the social media and the phone call. So my personal cell phone number is what's on Google. wow. Yeah. And there's a reason behind that. And it might drive me crazy. But the thing is, is that my customers have direct access to me. And when they come into my bakery, they're going to see me. And when they read my social media, they're going to hear me.

And I really love people. And I think they can kind of pick up on that because it's a very genuine interaction, whether you're calling me or coming into the bakery or reading my post, you're going to get the same version of me. And people really like that, you know, and I really, I go out of my way to make sure that every client we work with, like for an event, they're all working with me. And so I make them feel like they're the only

Kimberly Houston (37:33.72)
customer I have, right? And so that can backfire, okay? When they come in and they're like, what do you mean Katie isn't here? We're best friends. And I'm like, who is this? You know? So it can backfire for sure. But it's a good problem to have because people, I see people in public and they're like, my God, you're Katie. my God. They feel like they know me because they're getting such a genuine interaction on all fronts of the Alchemy Big Lab. I've tried outsourcing.

social media and it didn't work well. It's not the same. No. Like there are some things you can outsource in your business and some things you can't depending on who you are as a person. Yep. And so yeah, some of those things you have to keep. Yeah, you just have to get more creative, right? You just have to pivot just like everything else. And there's still like we have a plan in place right now for me to be able to step away but still be the voice, right? So now we've problem solved that thing. Yeah.

Now we're gonna go at it way differently where I am still the voice. I'm just not doing anything else, know? And so I'm not taking the picture. I'm not posting it. I'm not, you know, I'm not proofreading it even. Like it's all now gonna be taken care of within a system of three different people, right? And if it takes three people to replace me, then that's what it takes. Because if I'm doing that, I'm not doing something else, you know? Yes, agree. Okay, we're gonna come back to that. So.

because- No, you knew it was gonna be like this. I knew, I knew. We're gonna come back to that, because I think that's super important. It's okay, it's okay. So you've had press features, competitions, TV exposure. How do you leverage that visibility to actually drive your business where it's not just attention? Yeah, so that's a really good question. I think I speak for everyone when I say that, like in general, we're all just

sold to and marketed to nonstop. And while I understand there's metrics behind that, that work for those people that are marketing to you every day, it doesn't mean it transfers into your brand. So I can't stand when people tell me you need to post every day. If you're not posting every day, you're down the water. Well, that's not my brand. I don't overmarket to my people. And so there's been times that I've been on TV and I haven't even shared it, honestly, because

Kimberly Houston (40:00.946)
I don't I've already posted that day or I've already posted that week, you know, and like I could be better about going back and being like, look what I did last month, you know, which now I have that I have we started a newsletter because somebody I know told me to very good. Very good. Yes. And so now we're putting all those things into our newsletter. And so even if I'm not necessarily like posting every day, we're not missing those stories. So we're working on that.

you know, because I knew that that, you know, I knew I don't want to oversell, but I also knew I should be sharing that stuff. And so that was the problem that I fixed. It's just making sure that they're still seeing that exposure and that buying because it just boosts your credibility, right? Like, my gosh, she was on the news. You know, and so people do need to see it, but they can see it in a newsletter. Yeah. You know, and it builds more fans.

Well, there's just more meat to the bones of the emails. You just have more people opening it, you know. It's so good. Yeah, give me that mini newsletter. I know, I'm so glad you took it away from my class in Vegas. So good. Okay, so I saw a mini tour of your bakery. And I'm sorry, everybody else didn't get to see the mini tour of your bakery. you're in Houston, go by Alchemy Bake Lab and then you guys can see it. But...

Your mission talks about creating moments of magic, not just desserts. One, I can already tell the magic is when you walk in the door, right? Like Alchemy Bake Lab makes sense and the way the bakery is set up makes sense for the name of it. But how else does it actually show up in your day-to-day operations? Ooh, that's good. That's a good one. So.

It's such an honor. And I know that that term gets thrown around a lot. And so it loses a little bit of meaning. But I don't know how else to articulate it. But when we're being a bakery, and you know this too, like we're a part of all the fun stuff. We're a part of every birthday and every celebration and every wedding and every engagement, every baby shower and every first birthday and gender reveal and all these things, right? And so it like, it goes back to having a happy kitchen.

Kimberly Houston (42:18.03)
If my people are happy as they're making it, you're gonna taste that. You're gonna see that you're gonna experience that it transfers because you cannot destroy energy. And so you're eating that love you're eating. You're eating the love my happy, appreciated, respected employees are putting into that, you know, and so it just it starts at the top.

It starts at the top. You can taste and see when someone's not into something. You sure can. I learned that lesson when I first started. People were like, were you angry when you made the cake? And I was like, actually I was. they were like, mentioned that actually. Well, that's me with every cake. I'm like, this is stupid. And then I know it's not what it should be. You know? And you know, and that's why literally the good vibes only

I only played Bruno Mars and Kobe Kelly radio. We're to be bubbly while we make these things because people really can't taste it. And I didn't know that until I had a customer be like, were you mad when you made this? Actually, I was mad when I made it. I'm so sorry. I'll do it again. It's not a problem. Listen, we all have to eat that humble pie sometimes.

You do any you learn from any you don't make that mistake again. So even in that right that's speaking of accountability and high standards and in the good vibes only that you guys have going on. So how do you maintain your culture as your team grows? That is the hardest part. There's times where I feel like we finally get it and then someone like my GM's like we really need somebody else and I'm like.

I don't want to hire anybody else. I don't want to mess this up. Like, what if they're not one of us, you know, like, yeah. So it's, you know, it's so hard. one area that I had to improve upon was interviewing people the right way. it's a life skill to, to know how to interview and be the interviewee. and I, for a period of time would just hire anybody in front of me. Cause I can see the good in everybody.

Kimberly Houston (44:35.534)
But that's not how it works. so, you know, having like a stage day, you know, having them come in and, you know, if there's somebody that's really impressed you in the interview at this point, like we'll have them come in for like a couple hours. Like it's not a full shift and I'll pay them. You know what I mean? It's not much, but I'm not going to make them do anything for free. That's, that's crappy. And so they'll come in and we'll just see how they are. You know, we'll see, you know, we'll see if we can crack a joke near them.

or, know, like, you know, and just fill them out, you know, and see how they operate in a kitchen, see how clean they work, see what details they miss, see what details they don't miss. And, and, you know, kind of weeding people out that way. We also do have like a 30 day look back now, which we didn't when we opened. And so at 30 days, like we'll sit down.

And go over like okay, like how do you like it? Like do you think you're gonna fit here? Like I think you're gonna fit here or I don't think you're gonna fit here But that's what that conversation looks like and so sometimes it can be uncomfortable when you like know Really quickly you made a bad hire Mm-hmm, and you kind of have to sit with it and think about how to manage that but with the 30-day look back it kind of removes that you know, everyone knows it's coming and so

it's not as uncomfortable when it doesn't work out at 30 days. Yeah. I love that. I'm going to take that note even though I don't have a staff because I feel like that is information people need to know every time I meet them. Yeah. I think that's something we should do. So Alchemy Bake Lab, here's what I can tell you. I was obsessed when I met y'all in Vegas, like the whole team, whole squad. was obsessed with everybody. And the more I have like followed

all of you, like even individually following people on your team and just kind of seeing everything that you guys do, I know and understand your heart, right? And so you guys have donated six figures in desserts to your community. Why? Annually at least, Annually. And for a lot of people to even think about doing that, they're like, there's no way. There's literally no way we can do that. But why is this, why is giving back such a core part of your business model?

Kimberly Houston (46:54.35)
That's an easy question, actually. So one of my favorite things in life is unconditional kindness. I get such a rush by being and showing someone unconditional kindness. It genuinely like excites me. If I can see an opportunity to swoop in and help somebody without them ever even looking in my direction, like, I love that. Like it's...

It charges me, you know what I mean? Like it literally is like super juice. so transferring that over into donations and community support, it's natural. It's a natural transition. So what we'll do with schools, for example, is, and there's creative ways of doing it, you know, and there's lessons that have been learned, right? Like we no longer donate 100 % of something.

So if a school comes to us and they're like, hey, we're having a fundraiser, we're having a gala, whatever, whatever, and we need a dessert donation, I will say to them, listen, if you can give me something, like let me know what your dessert budget looks like, get a sponsor for your dessert budget, I will take, like I take off 60 % of it. They're paying 30 % of my prices. But my cost is met, my labor is met. I don't care about the profit in that case.

And so by doing good things, good things come back to you. It all comes back, you know what I mean? And like, you could say what you want for exposure, but like those examples have given us exposure. You know, when I walk into my son's school with my Alchemy Bake Lab shirt on, they're like, my God, you're the one, you are the one, you hook us up for teacher month, you know, like you blah, blah, blah, you know? And their teacher, so their teacher monthly breakfast thing,

their invoice comes to $1,300 and they're paying $350. you know what I'm saying? but when I walk in that school or when I go to the grocery store, there's people that are recognizing me. know? and so that's not the reason I do it. I do it unconditionally. don't do it for anything back. know? but I want people to be able to afford... I don't want to price anybody out. I want us all to be able to enjoy alchemy and makeup. and we're not cheap. and that is what it is.

Kimberly Houston (49:18.894)
But if I can sense that someone like we have brides that literally come in and like they're they're cleaning their piggy banks out to work with us, you know, and if I can sense that, like, I'm gonna go above and beyond, you know what I mean? Like I'm gonna I'm gonna do whatever I have feel is right in that moment. And I let my energy guide me in that. But yeah, yeah, we donate quite a bit. I love that. And I want to I want to pinpoint one thing that you didn't say, but you did say.

And I think it's a lesson for business owners in that is your intuition, you call it energy. Your intuition is what's guiding these decisions. And I think that for a lot of entrepreneurs, they get stuck when they're like, I don't know when to trust myself or when not to trust myself. they're second guessing themselves. Yeah. Yeah. No, you can't do that. And you know, I'm 40.

And it took me until pretty recently to not second guess myself on this stuff. But the older I get, the easier it becomes to be like, why am I even questioning this? Just go. And I trust myself more. And so when you trust yourself and you can lead with intuition, like, I mean, it hasn't, it hasn't steered me wrong, you know? Agreed. Me either. I was also 40 when I like really tapped into that. So I get it. Even if you're not 40, it's okay. You'll get there. Yeah.

I want to help people out. So for bakers that are listening who may feel stuck in decision making or anything else, how would you describe the difference between a business that needs refinement and one that may need reinvention?

Kimberly Houston (50:59.054)
So refinement man, I would say don't get stuck in one trend. It's kind of like having a hairstyle from the 1980s, you know, there's a lot of bakeries that might you I mean, let's talk about number cakes for a second, right? That's hard cakes. So when I really first started getting going, those were enormous. And I was doing maybe 20 a week in my kitchen at how at the house.

But I was only charging like $150 for that thing, you know? And so I probably should have been charging double. But the thing is, is I could have kind of stuck with that and that would have been my thing. But then I would have been limiting myself with everything else. And same with like the Dubai chocolate thing. Like, yeah, sure, make it a special. Don't add it to your menu. Like don't get suckered into these trends. You know what I mean?

everything that's popular now is gonna be dated in 10 years. So do buy chocolate's gonna be like old news in 10 years. Like people are gonna be like, nobody eats that anymore. And so when you don't revamp your menu and like we rotate our menu in our retail part of our bakery every month. So we take six different desserts. Some of them aren't even on the menu. Like this is where we get wild. Like we did a nostalgia month for January and we were doing pop tarts and ding-dongs and.

It was amazing and it was so popular. It was like our best January ever because nostalgia sells, but outdated nostalgia does not. And so it's easy to get suckered into those trends, but you have to be updating your menu and you have to be updating your aesthetic and your branding like at all times. It doesn't stop. And then what was the second part? How would you know if the business needs reinvention?

So there's a saying my grandfather used to tell me and I just said this to myself like two days ago. And if you always do what you've always done, you're always gonna get what you've always gotten. And that is so true. So, and that's the reason I said it to myself two days ago is because I'm like, wow, you know, like,

Kimberly Houston (53:11.342)
I really, keep doing it this way and it's just not working for me. I, you know, I have to, how do I get around this? You know, and I'm just thinking to myself, I'm like, Katie, you haven't really changed anything. Excuse me. You haven't really changed what you're doing. So why are you expecting any different results? And so that's when I had to implement like, you know, that three party system now into my social media, right? Because I like being the voice, but the reality is, is I can't get to that thing. And so, you know,

You have to be able to pass the torch and that's really hard for people. But you will never grow if you don't pass the torch and you should be always training your replacement with everything or you're not gonna grow at all. Agreed. I love how this is naturally flowing into my next question that you didn't even know was coming. So if you could redesign how we prepare the next generation of bakers, what would you change immediately?

that's a great you got you're good at this. Future bakers. So conveniently enough, I actually do host a couple different schools. come here for field trips twice a year. And so it's really fun to get to meet like the baby bakers that are in this program. And so they're in high school. And so you know, as soon as they come in here, my first question is like, who's in this class for the food?

and who wants to open a bakery. And so, you know, I kind of separated out that way because like, it's cool. We were all those people at one point too. And I tell them, know, like, you have to really, really want it. You have to want it more than everyone in this room. You have to be able to want it when it beats you down and it seems impossible and there's no hope.

And there's gonna be days that bring you those things. And one day you might make $10,000, but then the next two weeks you don't make anything. And you have to be able to manage that. And you have to be able to keep going during that. And it's really hard to organize yourself to be a business owner when the ship is sinking. It takes all your energy and then you don't have energy to bounce back out of it. And so...

Kimberly Houston (55:33.556)
in those moments, you still have to want it more than everyone in this room. And that's what I try to convey to them is that it's, it's a really hard choice. And you still have to want it more than everyone in the room. And I try to drill that into them because, you know, they're young, so they can't really imagine even owning anything, right? And they're just imagining working for someone. And I try to let them know that like,

You don't have to like you can do this on your own. But I tell them the same thing like train your replacement day one, like make sure your branding is on point. Like, you know, I tell them about my story being a kid how I never wanted to do it for anyone else and I didn't and here we are, you know, and so I tell them my story and I try to inspire them with that. But what I would say is just make sure you want it enough, you know, and don't settle for a toxic kitchen. Don't ever settle for a bad work environment.

Yeah, don't. Because it'll ruin the whole industry for you before you even get to the prize, you know? Yes, agree. I love this. OK, we're coming to a close. I'm so sad about it. if you all aren't following Alchemy Bake Lab on social media, go follow immediately because they're hoot and a holler and I love y'all. So for people who are looking at your bakery from the outside in.

And naturally they're going to look at you and be like, my God, you're so successful. Like you're all the things, you're everything I want to be when I grow up. So what do you help people really understand about what it took to build your business? That you're only as good as your team. Like I would have never gotten here if the first person I ever hired didn't stick with me for as long as she did.

she just that one person can really make a difference. Cause she was my replacement. And so then I was able to do what I had to do and truly training your replacement is the cheat code. And you know, making sure your team is strong and they feel appreciated and you can let my team, they love it here. They're like, they're like, please, please keep going. Please do this forever because we don't want to work for anybody else ever again, you know? And

Kimberly Houston (58:00.078)
And that's the mentality of it. And you're only as good as your team, truly. I love it. And I met your team. And yes, yes, they are. know. It's the best place to work. So for the people, and I love that piece of advice. I want you to give one more. For the people who are in the 2019 moment, like the people who might not have a team yet, and they're like, I don't really know if this is going to work. What would you say to them?

Okay, this is a cheat code. Okay, you ready? Um, I'm not plugging anything. So I want to like to say that already, like I'm not a paid whatever, whatever. Okay. Um, so there's this wonderful product called capital lending. When you sign up with Square or toast or clover, I'm with Square, but I think they all offer it right. And so what this means is

you sign up for Square, you're invoicing your clients through Square. once you've made a certain amount, Square is going to start offering you loans based on how much you're selling. So you have to on Square back when I started with Square, you had to sell at least $10,000 to even qualify. And then very soon after that, I got a $700 loan offer. And what makes these different and great?

In my opinion, is that you don't have to worry about some weird crazy huge payment every month or every week even. Can I stop for a second? Yes, you're fine. Which one?

Kimberly Houston (59:42.968)
Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, she we did a giveaway with an influencer. Yeah, five people one. So it's just if they come in, it's just a one of each box for everybody. Yep. Hi, congratulations on winning. Okay, what are we talking about? the square thing. Okay, you start. my first offer was like 700 bucks, and I took it. And my last one was 96,000 dollars. Okay. But I've done about 50

15 to 20 of those in between those, okay? And every time they get higher because my sales are getting higher, right? So it's all based on sales. And so they take a daily percentage of your sales to pay back this loan. And so that's why I like this loan is because as an ADD, I don't have to worry about being late or separating my cash flow, losing a big hunk of something right at once. Like it's literally if someone comes in and buys a $2 coffee, it's taken 20 % of that.

And so by doing that, you're paying it back really fast. And as soon as you pay that back, guess what? You're gonna get an offer for a bigger one. And guess what? Nobody cares where that money goes. So you can go hire your first person with that money. You could be paying your first employee with that. You could be paying your replacement with that money. You could be buying a van to transport your cakes with that money. You could be paying your kid's daycare with that money so you can work more. It does not matter. And so that is probably the biggest cheat code I would tell any baker that is just starting out.

Kimberly Houston (01:01:16.958)
That saved me and provided my growth more than anybody because nobody wants to lend to small businesses Period especially new ones And so that opportunity and it had nothing to do with credit score, right? So I mean mines in like the six something like it's not great But it didn't matter. It doesn't matter Yeah, and so that money and then you know Then you have to kind of learn to live with 20 % less, know what I mean? So that comes with its own challenges, right? is

Yeah, that that money has helped me. It helped me hire my first people, you know. Yeah, I fully understand. did that with PayPal. Yeah. Yep. So yeah, they offered it to it, right? Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And you're still going to pay. You're still going to pay an interest on it. You're still going to pay fees on it. But that's all right off. So you just have to juggle that and just have a good accountant. Agreed. I love that you said that. don't know. Even though I've done it, I've literally never thought to tell somebody else that. But

Yeah. Yes. Okay. So for those of you who are sitting here, capital, you need capital, right? Like, yeah, the issue. And sometimes you need capital before you even make a sale. You know what I mean? So exactly, you know, it just helps me a lot. A lot. Yes. And maybe that will help with the, um, with people who are like, well, I'm just going to take it via cash app or I don't really want to, know, is a nobody me. Nobody pays me on Venmo. Nobody pays me on Vell. Nobody pays me any other way except square. that, and that,

That's true for people that walk into my bakery and the people I'm invoicing. If you're gonna do that route, every penny needs to go through square, which is the right way of doing it. You don't want people paying you from multiple angles because things are gonna get missed. Yeah. Yes. Agreed. So, fun question. Yeah. What's one decision you made that completely changed the trajectory of your business?

Okay, I got it. So when I I couldn't think of any I couldn't think of the name for like 20 years. Okay, so I started off as Katie's cakes. All right. Okay. And then I went to eat good cake. And then I decided I hated cake. So that was out. And then so the day that I registered alchemy bake lab. I was in GoDaddy first making sure that whatever I picked I could get you know, for my domain.

Kimberly Houston (01:03:41.294)
And I almost went with Alchemy Pie Lab because if I had to pick one section on my whole menu that I'm the most passionate about, it's the mini tarts. They're just, they're so dainty and beautiful. And I just, I just love them. That's what started the whole thing is because I had a mini tart pan that I got from Williams-Sonoma eons ago, and I would make mini pumpkin pie tarts for Thanksgiving. So that started it all.

You know, that's where I discovered that I wanted to open a mini dessert bakery. so I almost called it Alchemy Pie Lab and I was really close. And then I was like, you know what? I don't want to ever pigeonhole myself into one category. And so I decided on Alchemy Bake Lab so that way it encompasses everything and there's no pigeonholing. And so that was a really early decision I made that changed everything. Truly. Yeah. Yeah.

That's so good, though. That's like an incredible decision to make that would like turn into all of these things. Yeah. And now we do many savory things, too. And the name still encompasses that, you know? And so and I never envisioned of doing savory things. had no interest in it. But it just is a natural progression because people would hire us for their like brunch. And then they're like, well, do you have anything more brunchy? And I'm like, you know what? We can do mini chicken and waffles. Let's go.

And so it, you know, it's just, it's all, we do everything now. I love it. Okay, Katie, listen, this has been an incredible, incredible podcast. So many gems to take away from this. So many jewels to take away from this. I am really excited that you guys won our scavenger hunt back in Vegas.

And also super excited that we were finally able to connect and bring this conversation to people. I think it's going to be super helpful, especially for people who are just kind of sitting on that fence, like, do I take this leap or not? Take the leap and don't look back. Go 10,000 miles per hour into that leap. Yeah. And learn to trust yourself while you do it. Yes, 100%. That voice in your head, it might not always be you. And so

Kimberly Houston (01:06:03.342)
If the universe is telling you something, trust it. know? And do it. Nothing's an accident. Nothing's an accident. It's not. It's not. And then if you got an issue, reach out to Katie and she'll give you a good talk. Yeah. It'll be great. Katie, thank you so much for joining me today. I had so much fun. I love you so much. It was an honor.