You’re Still Doing This? You’re Amazing w/ Brooksie Edmondson

This week on Don’t F*ck This Up, Lauren hosts a conversation with the Founder and Star Baker of Totally Sweet Baking, Brooksie Edmondson. Brooksie shares what it took to go from retail store manager with a vegan baking side hustle to full-time vegan baking company owner with a burgeoning list of wholesale clients. We discuss taking risks and having the right support systems in place, why growing your company is not always linear, and what it actually takes to make your passion into your full-time gig. Brooksie breaks down the true cost of your favorite treats, why she refuses to write on cakes, and finally spills the sprinkles on her favorite flavor of her famous pop tarts. Considering quitting your job? We’ve got a checklist for that, too. Listen in for the realities of small business ownership, stay for the excellent friendship vibes.  

“I’m friends with all of my competitors.” - Brooksie Edmondson

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Follow Lauren Alvarez on IG: @LaurentheAlvarez

Follow Brooksie on IG: @totallysnax
Follow Totally Sweet on IG: @totally_sweet_baking
Order Totally Sweet Baking: www.totallysweetbaking.com

Email the show at advice@dontfckthisup.com for your questions to be answered on an upcoming episode!

Transcript

Lauren Alvarez (00:01)
Hello and welcome to another episode of Don't Fuck This Up. Today I am here with Brooksie Edmondson. Brooksie is the founder and star baker of Vegan Baking Wonder Child. Totally sweet. Brooksie, welcome to Don't Fuck This Up.

Brooksie (00:16)
I am so thrilled to be here. Just kidding. I was, I was trying to bring back my Southern accent and let's not have that in this episode. Let's not do that. Sorry. Thanks for having me.

Lauren Alvarez (00:20)
Hahaha!

I really like it. Welcome to the show, Brooksie.

Yes, I'm so happy we could do this. Honestly, I feel like, well, for listeners context, I mean, Brooksie is, you know, in fact, the star baker that I introduced her as, but long ago we were roommates and we did share a lot of really fun adventures. And also she's been a friend of mine for a very long time. So I did beg her to come on an episode and she finally made room in her agenda for me. So Brooksie, thank you.

Brooksie (00:44)
I'm sorry.

Mm-hmm.

We did.

Thank you. I think actually I feel like you were around when I started. I'm pretty sure. yeah. Back in our Salem days.

Lauren Alvarez (01:09)
Yes. So I mean, before we dig into like early days, like, how are you doing today?

Brooksie (01:14)
I'm good. I mean, I live in the Midwest. Who'd I ever thought? And, you know, I've been doing this like what, six years now full time. So which is bonkers to me. But, you know, here we are. I'm good, though. Yeah, it's good. We'll dig, we'll dig a little deeper.

Lauren Alvarez (01:26)
Yeah.

I mean, it's incredible. I think, I mean, I think so too. And I think that like, yes, it's not all glamour and, you know, success story. So I think it's good to like be honest. It's like being a full-time self-employed person with a staff, with payroll, with all of those things. Like I really wanna get into some of the challenges because I think...

Brooksie (01:41)
Mm-hmm.

Lauren Alvarez (01:53)
So often people glorify what it is to be a business owner, what it is to be an entrepreneur. And there's a lot of grunt work that goes with it. Like I know even early days, like just getting a commercial kitchen license was like a complete fucking hassle. Like it's a game. Yeah. So lots to talk about.

Brooksie (01:59)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's funny too, and it's different in every state. Like, I've been in three different states now with this business. And like, Massachusetts was definitely the most expensive and complicated to do that. But I was just doing, you know, a home baker there. Actually, in Detroit, I didn't even really do it because I knew I didn't want to stay there. So I didn't even really want to.

Lauren Alvarez (02:24)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Brooksie (02:38)
like do my business there. So it was like on a two year hiatus. And then, oh, sorry. Yeah, so Ohio, much easier. And I'm actually not a home baker anymore. I'm in, well, I don't know if you consider it's still a home baker, because I don't have a storefront, but I'm renting a commercial kitchen space. So, and yes, there's like health inspections.

Lauren Alvarez (02:42)
Yeah.

That's amazing. What a trajectory. Yeah.

Brooksie (03:03)
Well, and yeah, and I've definitely taken the long road. So, you know, it's been what I was actually trying to think about this the other day. I know it's been at least 15 years, but I think maybe it's been 18 years, somewhere between there, because I can't remember exactly what year I started, but I definitely took those baby steps, you know? Like it was a side gig for so long and so many other people just...

Lauren Alvarez (03:20)
amazing.

Yeah.

Brooksie (03:33)
do it, but I see a lot of those people like give up, or I don't wanna say give up, sorry, scratch that. I'm not saying people give up, but they have to let it go and get back into like whatever, a regular job, because it's a lot of fucking work. It's so hard.

Lauren Alvarez (03:51)
Yeah. Well, I think that's something really interesting too, is like, you know, going into when you started Totally Sweet, it was something that, you know, even being vegan wasn't at the forefront of people's minds. I mean, I live in LA now, everybody's fucking vegan, we wait to week. But it's like, you to check in when you make a dinner reservation, like, are you like, are you eating salad? And what do you eat? I don't think do you like food? No. Okay, well, we can figure it out.

Brooksie (04:03)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Hehehehe

Hahaha!

Mm-hmm.

Lauren Alvarez (04:17)
starting out as a business that was really focused on vegan baking. Can you talk a little bit about some of the early experiences that you had with people like wanting to understand what is vegan baking or what made you interested in that?

Brooksie (04:32)
Yeah, well, so that's actually being vegan is like why I started this business. It wasn't like, I love baking and you know, I didn't grow up with this cute little story of whatever, you know, like my mom and I used to bake cakes and there's a picture of me in a little hat. Like there's none of that. But, you know, so it was actually when I lived in Boston or Salem or whatever.

Cause I was newly vegan then. I think it was 2004, I believe, when I became vegan. So, and I don't know the exact day or anything like that. But that's when I was like, oh, I want to eat this cookie, but I can't, you know, or I wanted to make, so it was literally like, I wanted to make these blondies. We called them Congo bars. I don't know what that means. I don't know where that name came from.

Lauren Alvarez (05:08)
Yeah.

Brooksie (05:29)
That was my granny's recipe, like, Congo bars. So anyway, that was a big thing we would make in my family and I wanted to eat those. So I just kept trying and trying and trying forever. And I finally got it. And even over the last few years, I still mess with it again, but like, that was my first recipe. And I was doing it so much that someone at the time told me...

Lauren Alvarez (05:40)
Mm-hmm.

Brooksie (05:58)
You should, you're always doing that. Like, why don't you start baking on the side? Like, why don't you start a baking business? You've been working on that so much. I'm like, oh yeah, maybe. Like, I didn't want to do retail my whole life. So that's where it came from. It was like, because I was vegan and I wanted to eat desserts and I wanted to eat good desserts. And gosh, I don't really remember.

Lauren Alvarez (06:10)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (06:24)
Boston back then was like as dessert wise. I'm sure there were options, but not a ton even in Boston, you know that's how I started and I just had like do you remember cafe kushko?

Lauren Alvarez (06:30)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (06:36)
I was like, I would buy that couple, and they had like the vegan ice cream. So we would go there all the time, and they were like, yeah, we'll carry your treats on our counter. I didn't know what I was doing. Yeah, I mean, I did go to the health department and stuff, and you know, even now, like that was whatever, I don't know, like 16, 18 years ago.

Lauren Alvarez (06:48)
Super legal, yeah.

Yes.

Brooksie (07:01)
Even now, when I go to a local health department, they're kind of like, uh, like once you slap vegan onto it, it changes the rules. I mean, there's still food guidelines, health guidelines, all that stuff, but half the time they don't know what kind of rules to make because something's vegan, cause there's less. I might sound like an idiot. I don't know if I'm right and say that. So there's like less restrictions, if you know what I mean, because you're not working with. Yes.

Lauren Alvarez (07:27)
Well, there's less opportunity for contamination because you're not working with eggs and you're not working with dairy products. So you don't have to worry about Listeria, for example, all of that stuff. You're obviously gonna have less risk. I think the challenge with vegan baking is maybe the same challenge as making a delicious mocktail is when you don't have some of the ingredients in, it's really easy, it's very transparent with what the ingredients are. I think the thing about your treats that makes them so amazing is like,

Brooksie (07:31)
Exactly.

I'm sorry.

Mm-hmm.

Lauren Alvarez (07:55)
they're not, you're not going to eat it and be like, oh, this is good for a vegan blondie or for a vegan cookie. Yeah, no, you, And that's the thing that I think is really great. And like, I mean, I have very fond memories of like you hand dipping the donuts that you would make and the glaze dripping through the grate and listeners, I hope your mouths are watering because like these strawberry donuts specifically were so good.

Brooksie (07:59)
Yeah, well, I'm like, yeah, you're right. That's my hope.

I'm sorry.

Oh my gosh. You know, I don't make those anymore.

Lauren Alvarez (08:23)
Oh my gosh, like with the icing. Well, bring them back. I'm putting in a formal request. Can I speak to the complaint department? Yeah.

Brooksie (08:31)
Well, so here's the thing. Yeah, let me transfer you to my HR department, hold on. So, hi, it's me. Yeah, so I do, that's awesome that you remember that. Yeah, donuts were a big thing for me back then. That was the thing. And now it's Pop Tarts. So, I've switched.

Lauren Alvarez (08:49)
Yeah.

I know. Was this another thing that you couldn't get a good pop tart that was vegan? Or was it just like, these are, well, one, they're really cute. They look great.

Brooksie (08:58)
No. Thanks. You know, I really so, uh, there is this episode of shoot, I can't remember her name, but she used to work for like a food magazine. I'm gonna feel so bad. Claire sassets, I think is her name. Oh my gosh, I should have known this. But anyway, she did these like YouTube food videos where she would try to recreate things.

And someone challenged her to recreate like the pop tart, but like make it herself. And it's a really interesting episode. And this was after I was already making pop tarts. Someone showed this to me, it was like, oh, and my favorite part of the whole episode is at the very end where she's like, people are trying it and comparing, and they're like, oh, this is good. It's just one pop tart. And she's like, thanks, that'll be $30. And I'm like, I relate to that.

Lauren Alvarez (09:26)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Ha ha ha!

Brooksie (09:54)
So much. I honestly wish and feel like I should be able to charge $30 for those tiny pop tarts because there's a lot of work. It's a lot of work.

Lauren Alvarez (10:03)
Yeah. I mean, let's talk about that. So like pricing structure and strategy, and this is something that came up in a former episode with Laura and Valenna when we talked about pricing for nail art and services and people kind of not valuing. I mean, for one, ingredients are expensive. Inflation is real. And then there's time and energy. And then there's an emotional component as a business owner. And let's kind of talk through like.

Brooksie (10:15)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Lauren Alvarez (10:27)
pricing strategy and like when you're like, yes, I wish I could charge you $30 because like I literally cried while I was making this and that'll go to my therapy bill. Like, what do we do?

Brooksie (10:31)
Yeah. There's, yeah. No, for real. Okay. So yeah, I mean, I totally get people, you know, whatever you go into a small business and whatever random example juice.

whatever, cold pressed juice, that's a huge thing. People are like, $10 for this bottle of juice. And it's like, okay, let's say it costs $1.50 to make it ingredients-wise, like literally that's it. But nobody is thinking about everything else that went into this bottle of juice. Like there's an employee that's making an hourly wage to make that, there's rent for the building it was made in, the equipment you had to buy to make that.

Lauren Alvarez (10:50)
Yeah.

Brooksie (11:17)
the workers comp you have to pay because you have employees, your business insurance that you pay once a year or, you know, I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Your taxes, oh my God, yeah. I use like a self-employed, like QuickBooks app and it's great if anyone's self-employed and they need a good tool for keeping up with that, I love it. But it's like,

Lauren Alvarez (11:27)
your taxes, I mean, all of it, like, yeah.

Brooksie (11:43)
I don't know if this is a lot of money or not, but it is to me. It's like 250 bucks a year or something. That's a lot. Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (11:48)
Yeah, just, just to have the software. Like it's like, wait, am I using this? Like what's the return on investment? It's like, well, I guess I have to pay my taxes. I'd pay somebody else more than this, but it still feels like a lot. So it's like funny because you're talking about somebody not seeing the value in the pop tart or the juice. But then you're like, I don't see the value in this fucking tax software.

Brooksie (11:55)
or.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I do like it's great for me. It's a huge help. But like, um, yeah, there's just so much and pop tarts, for example, and a lot of people ask me, you know, how long does it take you to make like, I literally don't know. Maybe one day I will take the time to, you know, measure it from beginning to end, but it's so spread out. There's so many steps to it, you know, there's prepping the dough, then there's freezing it and then taking it out and then

Lauren Alvarez (12:22)
Yeah.

Brooksie (12:36)
rolling it up like everything it takes hours and then it's like and here's eight pop tarts. Oh wait I have to frost them now and put sprinkles on them. Now they have to sit for four hours before I can like package them so that you know it's nobody thinks about this stuff.

Lauren Alvarez (12:44)
the

Yeah. So I mean, I think that, yeah, you're right. There was an emotional component to it that I think is hard to think about. What's a good way for our listeners who don't own small businesses but like to patronize them, what's a good way to kind of show that you see the effort and the energy? Because it's not like you can be like, oh, only $10 for that Pop Tart? Here's $40. But I mean, besides that, what else?

Brooksie (13:18)
Well, yeah, I mean, I don't I don't know if this is what you're getting at, but this is what I'm thinking when you asked me that question. Like, are you like basically how can you support someone if you can't financially support them? Like, I mean, social media is huge. And I struggle. I am like, I am so busy. And I'm the worst at it. Like, you know, I've had people tell me you need to be posting every day. I'm like, what? Like, I don't have content for that, you know, I don't have time.

Lauren Alvarez (13:30)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (13:48)
So I try really hard, but you know, like liking posts, reposting, sharing stories, sharing posts, all that stuff, it really matters commenting, getting comments on my posts is so hard. Like, you know, I want it, and I'll like ask a question in a post, and it's, you know, just like, oh my God, I hope someone answers, you know, and not like.

Lauren Alvarez (14:03)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (14:15)
not a send pic on whatever like those spam things. But yeah, like all the social media sharing and just supporting going to events, even if you're not gonna spend the money, go to the event, go support the markets or whatever, tell people about it. I don't know.

Lauren Alvarez (14:33)
Yeah, like take pictures and tag the business in them and be like, oh my God, like totally sweet, had this super cute stand, like wanted to buy everything. Like that goes so much further. Even if they literally bought nothing, I feel like that goes really far when it comes to like sharing information.

Brooksie (14:36)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. It, you know, and it, it will something, you know, I always remind myself like, Oh, maybe I didn't, whatever, get a lot of sales at this event, but there's always, you know, to be months later and someone will be like, I was at this event and saw your stuff and I wanted to order more. Or, you know, my friend went to that my friend ordered a cake for me for her birthday last year and I want one now. So, you know, and I love it when that stuff happens. It's just like,

Lauren Alvarez (15:17)
Yeah, it's exciting. Also, your cakes are super cute. So you started doing, I mean, there is this trend of like vintage cakes with all of this piping and icing and shapes and they're so cute. Yes, talk to me. I am reading your mind. This is the result of being roommates.

Brooksie (15:17)
Oh, thank you so much. Yeah.

Are you reading my mind? Okay, well, that's so funny. I think the little girls in the basement are channeling us. No, I was thinking that, inside joke. I was thinking about that earlier day. I'm like, okay, these vintage cakes are out of control. They're so popular and I don't do that. And I'm not good at it. And like,

Decorating cakes is not my forte. I've definitely come a long way in the last couple of years. And some of my like customers from a few years ago could probably speak to that and be like, yes, she has. But like, sorry to some of those cakes from like five years ago, but I'm working on it. But also, oh my gosh, sorry. My mind is jumping all over the place, but that makes me think of something else I wanted to say, which is, okay, yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (15:59)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (16:21)
Vintage cakes, super popular. So where's my mind? Oh gosh, I gotta get on that trend. I gotta learn how to do vintage cakes. Then I gotta take a step back and be like, Brooksie, you don't have to do vintage cakes. Do your own thing. It tastes good, which is what I focus on. Taste first. I definitely want everything to taste good. Obviously looking cute is very important too. But I wanna be able to do that.

Lauren Alvarez (16:37)
Mm-hmm.

Brooksie (16:49)
but I just have to like accept that that's not my style or my strength and maybe one day it will be. But.

Lauren Alvarez (16:56)
Yeah.

Well, I think also it speaks to like, you know, following trends can be really challenging when you're in a position where your business is really based on, you know, a finite amount of time. I mean, you only have so many employees who only have so many hours and like, you know, what we were talking about before we started recording is like, you don't have like a, okay, everyone's leaving the office, I guess it's time for me to go home. Like you are the office. So it's like, if your brain is going a thousand miles an hour, and it's 10pm, no one's really stopping you from experimenting or continuing to iterate.

Brooksie (17:11)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Hehehe

Lauren Alvarez (17:28)
So that challenge of like when to call it or when to be like, yeah, you know what? I don't need to like get on this trend of everything. There's other people who do this better than me. I think it's like saying no is really powerful, right?

Brooksie (17:37)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, like that's super important. Like just accept, like don't try to be like everybody else. I have a really hard time with that. I'll see something and I'm like, I wanna do that. You know, or I'll see these cookies. And I'm like, my cookies don't look like that. I wanna make, and then I'm like, wait, no, my cookies are different and people like my cookies, you know, and there's different kinds of cookies that people like, fat soft ones and thin crispy ones. So.

Lauren Alvarez (18:01)
Yeah.

Brooksie (18:09)
Yeah, I have to remind myself all the time, like stop trying to do what you see, like do what you like to do. If it comes out naturally when you're whatever, working on this design. I definitely get inspired from seeing all that stuff. You know, I follow all different kinds of accounts. I look at Pinterest a lot and maybe I'll see something I really like. And I definitely have done a couple of like side by side

Lauren Alvarez (18:15)
Yes.

Yeah.

Brooksie (18:39)
Here's what I saw and then here's a picture of the actual thing I made. And they're all super friendly and, oh, that's cute. Like, no, it's not.

Lauren Alvarez (18:50)
Yeah, I mean, I was going to ask you, like, have you ever spent too much time on creating something that just like, it just didn't fucking work? It didn't pan out? It didn't go well? And you were like, I gotta call it.

Brooksie (18:56)
Oh my God. Yes, yes, I tried, was that this year or last year? I think it was this year. I'll have to text you later and just send you this just to make you laugh. There was this really cool, like, ghost cake. I did end up doing a ghost cake, but it was way different and much simpler. But I tried to do this super complicated cake with all these ghosts drawn on it, and I just can't do that.

Lauren Alvarez (19:25)
Yeah.

Brooksie (19:26)
I also don't write on cakes and it's on my cake order form. Sorry, I do not write on cakes. You don't want me to write on your cake. Trust me. It's gonna look worse.

Lauren Alvarez (19:35)
Yeah, trust me, you will regret it. And then if they do ask for writing on the cake still, you should just write whatever you want. That should be the policy. It's like, you get what I give you. Sorry, gremlin style.

Brooksie (19:46)
I mean, get a cake topper or, you know, write it. I'll write like on the cake board around it, but personally, I just think it kind of ruins the design and it's too much stress. Like I don't want to write. I got a cake order once and they were like, can you write, can you write happy birthday daddy on there? And I was like, no.

Lauren Alvarez (19:55)
Yeah.

No.

Brooksie (20:13)
I can't write happy birthday daddy. That's weird. Yeah, it was just, also can I just remind everyone cakes, most of them are kind of small and writing takes, it's too much stuff, like it takes up too much space. A lot of times you don't have room to write all that.

Lauren Alvarez (20:15)
Also, can we stop saying daddy in that way? Like, it just doesn't really work.

Yeah, just get like a little banner. I think you should just have a toothpick and you get a little sticker, mailing label, and you write, happy birthday daddy. Jam that shit right in your cake.

Brooksie (20:38)
Yeah, yes.

Yes. Right. Put a little flag on it and then stick it on there. Yeah, I'm just not a fan. Not a fan and can't do it. So.

Lauren Alvarez (20:50)
Yeah. No, that makes sense, daddy. I mean, there's also been moments where it gets interesting because you have made cakes for some high profile clients, let's say celebrities, we say we don't need to name drop. But I think it's interesting because it's like, I think sometimes people see that and they can inflate that.

Brooksie (20:53)
laughs

Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (21:07)
experience with like, oh my god, you've made it, you're so successful. Like, and usually that isn't, I mean, it really isn't the case. Like, can you talk about like some of your experience? We don't have to name names, but like just some of your experiences and like, you know, the lead up to that and everyone's like, oh my god, this is gonna be like the big break. It's like, how do you sort of like navigate that experience?

Brooksie (21:10)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, so, yeah, I guess about a year ago, I, yeah, someone reached out to me. It was like a friend of a friend who their husband was the tour manager for a very popular band.

and the drummer's vegan and he wanted to order a cake for his assistant and he wanted the cake to be vegan so that he could eat it too. So they called me and it was literally like, can you make this cake for tomorrow? This was at like 5 p.m. too. I forget. It may have been two days no, they were either tomorrow or the next day. Either way, that's not a lot of time when I already have a business with wholesale orders every day.

Lauren Alvarez (21:54)
Oh my god. Ugh.

Brooksie (22:07)
And this is a perfect example of knowing when to say no, but I'm not gonna say no to this, you know? And she's like, charge me whatever. I'm like, okay. So yeah, I make this cake and I'm just like, holy shit. This is like, maybe he'll post it on his Instagram and like people are gonna see my study and everyone's saying that like, oh my gosh. And lo and behold.

Lauren Alvarez (22:13)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (22:32)
I'm, you know what? I don't want to sound like I'm complaining either. It was a really cool experience. They let me, they gave me tickets to floor, floor tickets to the show and it was fun and it was great. But I didn't really get anything out of that. Yeah, like I was telling you earlier, I had to figure, had to have a younger person teach me how to screen grab a video because I don't know how to do that. Hi. And like,

Lauren Alvarez (22:54)
Hehe

Brooksie (22:55)
I don't do a screenshot like how do you screen grab a video? Well, let me show you old lady Because yeah, like of course no tags no nothing So I just did a bunch of you know digging and found a random person that was you know Backstage at this place where they were giving out the cake and they took a video of it And my cake is just like at the corner and you know a little

Lauren Alvarez (22:58)
Yeah.

Brooksie (23:22)
not the center of attention and I was like, oh my God, that's my cake. So we just like took a video of that, but that's it. You know, I, you, you had all these expectations of like, oh my gosh, everyone's going to see it. And yeah, it's just not like that. And maybe it is for some people.

Lauren Alvarez (23:30)
Yeah.

Yeah. Well, and I think also it's like, maybe, but I think it's also like, it's tempering your expectations with like, you know, you have your wholesale clients that are putting in orders that are like very consistent. They're very loyal. And it's like, that actually is better business versus this like boom and bust. Like, I'm going to be popular. This person wants me immediately. And it's like, 24 hours, it's always like a quick fucking turnaround. And like, I could think of like so many experiences that I've had where it's like, someone kind of

Brooksie (23:50)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Right.

Lauren Alvarez (24:06)
get something in the moment and have exactly what they want, when they want it, and they have the galloping gimmies, if you will. And then you're like, cool, well, I just spent all this time and energy, I'm getting zero, and I might have even taken time away from my really good loyal paying clients. So like, what's the lesson here? Right? Yeah. And I think it's good to consider these things because it's really easy to get swept up. I mean, here in LA, so many business owners that I know are like...

Brooksie (24:14)
Heh.

Ahem.

Right. Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (24:33)
you know, somebody comes into your business and you're like, oh my God, this could be like the big thing. Cause this person just patronized my business and then like nothing comes of it or maybe something really big comes from it, but no expectations.

Brooksie (24:41)
Yeah. And it could, and I, you know, I don't know if the friend of a friend is going to hear this and I absolutely do not want to sound ungrateful because it was really cool, but yeah, I guess my whole point is, yeah, it just wasn't like I wasn't, you know, I didn't get a thousand followers the next day or, you know, or one, you know, I didn't get an extra follower or anything, but they definitely.

Lauren Alvarez (25:05)
Yeah.

Brooksie (25:08)
paid me well for it, you know, that was, well, it was worth it. Sure.

Lauren Alvarez (25:10)
Yeah, and it's like at the end of the day, it's a transaction. Yeah, like it's a business transaction. You did the thing that you provided the service, you were paid for the service. It's not like they were like sucker and they stole the cake and never paid you. Like that would be weird. Yeah, exactly. So I think that, no, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, let's talk a little bit about like, you know, kind of when you are making your passion becoming your career and making sure that like,

Brooksie (25:19)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, thanks for the free cake.

Lauren Alvarez (25:36)
you still love it. Like you really, like you started baking on the side, you were working retail, you were like doing, you know, other things, but then when you made the decision to, you know, put Totally Sweet at the forefront of like, okay, I'm gonna be a business owner now. Like have you been able to maintain your love for it in the same way or have you had to kind of make adjustments in order to kind of stay in the mode?

Brooksie (25:42)
Haha. Hahaha.

Hehehe

Thanks for watching!

Well, that is such a good question. I mean, lately, it's been tough. Like I'm getting older and it is a lot of wear and tear on my body. Six years ago, I quit my job. I was just like, fuck it, let's do this. Cause I couldn't handle the two. So I'm like, I'm gonna do this full time. And then...

you know, fast forward to today, 12, 14 hour days sometimes, my feet are killing me, my back is killing me. I'm getting like, when I first started actually, I got carpal tunnel in both, I don't know what you call it, wrists, hands, whatever, both of my hands for like six months. And I like couldn't bend my thumbs at all. And the, it was right when I switched.

Lauren Alvarez (26:41)
Yeah.

Wow.

Brooksie (26:52)
to do this full time. And so the doctor was like, I think your hands are like overwhelmed with all this work they're doing that they never were doing before. And thank God, luckily it went away, but it was like six months. And then that was six years ago. Like, I mean, I've got like permanent injuries on me now that are just like part of the job. So yeah, I asked myself every day like, God, do I still like doing this? But the overall answer is absolutely.

Lauren Alvarez (27:06)
Yeah.

Brooksie (27:21)
I mean, we're talking about anyone out there doing retail management. Hats off to you. Like that was my job. That was my life for 14, 14 or 15 years. And, um, you know, I just couldn't do it anymore. I could not do it anymore. It's cry like coming home crying, you know, I cry sometimes with this job.

Lauren Alvarez (27:30)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (27:49)
totally different. You know, that's like, it's for a different reason. Tears of joy or yeah, but yeah, I mean, overall, definitely worth it. I would just say though, like, if anyone's thinking about doing this, because, I mean, how many people I can't even tell you how many times like, every day you just see it's almost like every day someone's like,

Lauren Alvarez (27:49)
Sure. Yeah. Tears of joy, popped heart frustrations perhaps? Yeah.

Brooksie (28:15)
I'm starting a new bakery business on the side. And it's just like on the side and like no shade to any of those people because that's exactly what I did. You know, I started this on the side, but every time I see someone new start to do that, I'm like, okay, are they serious about this? Are they really going to do it? Because it's a lot of work. And if you're going to like quit your full-time job, like it's insane. And you got to.

Lauren Alvarez (28:26)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Brooksie (28:42)
fucking hustle or I mean, there's not very much profit margin, I guess, and like baked goods. You know, not really. So it's a lot and like me somehow I ended up being this wholesale baker, which I didn't mean to do it just kind of happened. So that's my week. That is every week for me. I go in, I hound all my accounts for their orders for the week, you know, try to get those in Monday morning.

Lauren Alvarez (28:50)
Yeah.

Brooksie (29:09)
and I'm working on them all week and delivering them and getting them out so that hopefully it can be done by the weekend, recoup, do it all again, or I have events on the weekend. So a big thing about wholesale is it's not as much money as full price. Like when I do an event, I get to make full price for everything I'm selling. When I'm doing wholesale, it's like half the price.

Lauren Alvarez (29:27)
Yeah.

Brooksie (29:34)
But it's consistent, it's every week. Every week those people placing their ginormous orders. And I'm like, yes, I can do that. Okay, yeah. Sure, no problem. You need it tomorrow? Yes.

Lauren Alvarez (29:35)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I saw recently, yeah, I saw like one of your wholesale clients was like posting about like featuring the different businesses and it was really cool because they were talking about like kind of like your menu of flavors for the month and it's like they're kind of doing like what you said, like they're promoting like your business for you. So like when you have these wholesalers, they're also kind of doing the groundwork for you. They're posting on social. They have...

Brooksie (30:04)
Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (30:10)
photos and you know obviously that drives business as well so it's like you kind of have like your soldiers.

Brooksie (30:14)
It does. Yeah, it's great. I mean, those definitely help. And I try to do the same. Like I said, I'm just really bad at social media, but I try to do the same as well. Like if I think about it, when I'm doing deliveries, I'll be like, let's take a picture. You know, look, so-and-so got restocked. Trying to remember to do that stuff. Yeah. Anyway.

Lauren Alvarez (30:29)
Yes. Oh, totally. Yeah. And I think like also like when, you know, you're also, you have an e-comm component to your, you know, to your website, you can order on there and have things shipped as well. Right. So there's like pickup availability, there's like delivery, and then you can have them shipped. I mean, like, so

Brooksie (30:47)
Okay. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Lauren Alvarez (30:52)
How do you kind of balance influx? Because that's really unpredictable. When you have like e-commerce, you don't know how many people are going to place orders. Does it kind of fuck you up sometimes?

Brooksie (30:56)
Yeah. Oh my gosh. I can't tell you how I've started to like learn like, hey, if you're going to be if you're going on vacation or whatever, you've got to update your website because like I'll be out of town. Like I went to whatever I went to Chicago for a couple of days last year I didn't even think about it because it was just two days.

And we're like driving there and I, I'm like, oh shit, I just got a cake order. You know, I'm like, oh crap. But, but I do have a thing on there that says, you know, like depending on what it is, give me five to 10 business days or whatever. And same for ordering. And I will say, and it's a focus for me this year is I do want to drive that like direct consumer, you know, the, the website orders and stuff more. I don't actually get.

Lauren Alvarez (31:34)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (31:50)
a ton of orders on my website. Like I said, I'm more of a wholesale. I'm like, please be easy on me. No, I'm yeah, I do offer mail order. People, please put your thinking caps on when you're placing these orders. Like I get orders and I write it. I put it on the website, but people don't see it. I'm like, guys, I can't ship your cake.

Lauren Alvarez (31:52)
You might after this episode.

Brooksie (32:14)
or your cupcake order. Like those, I don't ship cakes. You're not gonna get this cake in the mail. Okay, a couple of people have done that. I have to reach out to them and be like, hi, were you gonna pick this up? Did you click the wrong button? So anyway, yeah. Once it leaves here, it's out of my hands. So yeah, I don't get a ton of online orders, but.

Lauren Alvarez (32:18)
They're not gonna travel well, yeah.

So you want me to ship this cake to Alaska? Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (32:42)
I try to buffer it in to my weekly schedule anyway. Like, OK, I have, you know, if I do get a random order this week, I should have time.

This past year I had to start implementing a like timeframe. So I implemented a rush fee because people are literally calling me and wanting a cake within a few days, which I totally understand. I even me a few years ago, I would have been like, yeah, I can do that. Cause I'm kind of not that busy and sitting around, but like I said, now my whole week is filled with like wholesale orders and everything. So.

Lauren Alvarez (33:04)
Yeah.

Brooksie (33:19)
someone calls and wants a cake within a few days, I'm like, first of all, I need to figure out if I could squeeze it in. Secondly, I'm gonna charge you like 15 to $20 depending if you want it. And...

Lauren Alvarez (33:19)
Yeah.

Which is actually like not that it's negligible for if you're buying a cake and you're being bossy and you want something custom, it's like, come on.

Brooksie (33:36)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And luckily, like, I mean, some people are super cool with that, like, got it. Okay. Thank you so much for squeezing me in. I had this one customer though that was just like, why? And I was like, I'm really busy. She's like, why do you need notice? I was trying to be very friendly and explain.

Lauren Alvarez (33:46)
Yeah.

What?

Yeah.

Brooksie (34:00)
because I've got a lot going on. Like that's me, you know, this is, if you want a cake for me, I would love to make your cake. Here's the timeframe I need. And if you want it in two days, I might be able to do it, but it's gonna be an extra $20. And she was like, oh, okay. I just don't think people understand that. I'm not the freaking.

Lauren Alvarez (34:07)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (34:20)
bakery department at Kroger or whatever, you know, just walk in there and get a cake out of the case.

Lauren Alvarez (34:27)
I think it's just like, it's like considering like your audience, like treating everyone that you encounter like a small business owner, you know, thinking about like what they might have going on. You know, I think even just like, I mean, I ran into that with consulting. Like I have people who want like a, of course, like a meeting to like decide if it's good fit to work together, but they want like three other meetings. And I'm like, these are billable. Like there's a charge for these meetings. Like I can't just meet, keep meeting with you for

Brooksie (34:48)
Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (34:52)
while you figure out if you want to work with me. Like, if you want to work with me, we can credit the cost of these meetings toward us working together, but like, this costs time. I just think that like, people don't, they don't think about other people's time in that way. Yeah, it definitely is frustrating.

Brooksie (35:02)
Yeah, I get it. I get it too, you know, this person is whatever they do. They don't do what I do. So they probably didn't think about that at all. And you know, like I said, sometimes they're like, cool, okay, here's the $20. And sometimes I never hear from them again and okay, you know, or they reach out to me earlier next time. But sometimes the one person though, it just blew my mind that she stopped and was just like, why do you need that? I'm like.

Lauren Alvarez (35:12)
Yeah.

Brooksie (35:30)
I don't know how to explain this to you. and I want your business.

Lauren Alvarez (35:32)
Yeah, you're like, you know what, this is an about me section on my website. You can click there if you don't like it. There's a complaint department section.

Brooksie (35:37)
I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.

Oh my God, I would love to, but yeah, I just want more people to understand what's going on in the lives of small business owners. There's a lot going on.

Lauren Alvarez (35:49)
Yeah.

Totally. So when you're making these bigger decisions, what's your source of confidence or what's your source of support for some of those bigger navigations that you've made? I mean, you moved from, you started in Salem, and then you were living in Boston, but moving from Massachusetts, you were in Detroit for a while. Now you're in Cleveland. Those are.

Brooksie (36:12)
Mm-hmm.

Lauren Alvarez (36:15)
big, huge, like literal moves, but then also making big moves with your business, like transitioning from being, you know, in a full-time role where you have paid benefits by an employer to being like, oh, cool, I'm a small business owner. I'm doing this full-time. What's your support system? Like, how do you navigate those decisions that you're making?

Brooksie (36:18)
Ha ha.

Yeah.

I just, so funny. So many people are just like, you did what? Like you were making how much? Not that I was making a ton of money before, but it was very nice compared to now. But like, yeah. I mean, so I moved to Cleveland for a couple reasons, but yeah, let me jump back to Detroit. I was not happy with my job.

just quit randomly one day without really planning to. And I was like, I'm gonna do this. Where do I go? You know, where should I go back to Boston? I've definitely thought about that. It was so unrealistic, just like if you really thought about it, like, okay, it's so funny. The same exact apartment I was living in Somerville when I left Boston or when I left Somerville was like $300 more than it was when I left.

Lauren Alvarez (37:09)
Yeah.

Ugh.

Brooksie (37:24)
And, you know, just stuff like that. And my friend was just like, if you go back to Boston, you just quit your job so that you could do your bakery full-time. You are totally taking a step backwards if you go back to Boston right now. Like, you're gonna have to get a full-time job and to support this bakery that you wanna start. So then I was like, well, maybe I'll move back home. Like, maybe I'll move to Nashville, be close to my nephews. And it was more expensive there.

Lauren Alvarez (37:37)
Yeah.

It's expensive, yeah.

Brooksie (37:50)
Nashville's expensive. Um, my best friend lives in Cleveland and it just kind of made sense. She was like, you know, there's this house for rent on her street, right? It is so ridiculous. We just see each other all the time. I love it. It's amazing. We're six doors, six houses apart. Um,

Lauren Alvarez (38:01)
Oh my god, perfect.

It's perfect.

Brooksie (38:11)
The rent is so cheap here. And I had come to visit here a lot. I don't even know if I'm answering the question that you asked me, but anyway, this is where my brain's going. The cost of living is so cheap here. And I had come to visit her a lot because we were so close. We were like two hours, two or three hours, Detroit. So I was familiar with it. And I was like, yeah, Cleveland actually.

I used to tell her no all the time, stop asking me to move to Cleveland. Like I'm not coming to Cleveland. Then I was kind of like, hmm, it's affordable. the vegan scene is actually really great here. I don't know if a lot of people know this, but Cleveland has an amazing vegan scene and it's just gotten bigger and better in the last six years, six or seven years that I've been here. So

That was a huge factor in me being like, okay, if I move here, I've got this great scene, I've got an affordable place to live where I actually might be able to do this, which is why I quit my job. I've got a support system already in place, like my best friend's here. And that's literally what I did. And I did get a job for like, I don't remember, like six months or so, just because when I got here, I was like, wait.

Lauren Alvarez (39:17)
Yeah.

Brooksie (39:28)
I don't live here. Nobody knows who I am. No one's heard of my business before. So I needed to establish myself, you know, for a little bit. So I lucked out kind of just getting into this job that was already kind of lined up for me. Did that, still did this on the side. And then when I felt ready, I went for it, but it was a lot of hustle. Like me, just, which is not, I don't know. I guess in some ways I'm outgoing and in some ways I'm not.

Lauren Alvarez (39:50)
Yeah.

Brooksie (39:58)
And I absolutely do not like being the person that's like walking into coffee shops, being like, hi, my name's Brooksie, and I have this vegan bakery, and here try some of my treats. Like, that's literally what I did. And yeah, and here we are. And like I said, this scene here, I really wanna call out Cleveland for a second because it's super supportive. It's one thing I really love about this place.

vegan bakeries especially. Like I am friends with all of my quote competitors. Well, not all of them. I don't know all of them. But like I'm friends with a lot of the vegan bakeries here and we, you know, we all support each other. It's not like, oh, so and so is doing this. And, you know, it doesn't feel very competitive. We do things together. We, we, um, you know, we just push each other and

Lauren Alvarez (40:40)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Brooksie (40:52)
It's great. I'm not saying it's not like that. Other places, I just don't really know. But that's what's made me feel comfortable and staying here and being like, this is working out. I like this. You know, because I was like, I'm going to give Cleveland two years. We'll see. And I'm where I'm... Yeah, and I'm going on year seven. So, you know.

Lauren Alvarez (41:08)
Cleveland was like, I'm going to sink my claws into you, Brooksie.

Yeah, something's working. I think it's like, it's also like, you really spoke to something important that I think it's like finding your community and just like finding like where are the people who are going to support you, not just when things are, you know, all sunshine and rainbows, but also when shit gets messy or like when you're kind of stuck on something. And I think there is something to be said, especially like when you're, when you are a small business owner is like befriending like your quote unquote competition is like also just like having respect for the industry that you're in, you know, I mean, it's a small

Brooksie (41:23)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Lauren Alvarez (41:43)
smallish market. And so like knowing that, you know, when you're somewhere like you're popping up at the same places, you want to be able to like be friendly. You want to be able to like see the same people and make sure that they're, you know, and I think there's something to it that like going back into like, you know, oftentimes on the show, I talk to a lot of people who like went to school for something totally different than what they actually do. I mean, you went to college for like being in the music business, but I will say that there is a good component to

Brooksie (41:52)
Yeah.

Ha ha

I'm sorry.

Lauren Alvarez (42:09)
music and you know, I know that you spend a lot of time going to shows just like I did, but like you kind of find your community, you kind of find your people and you figure out like who's going to be there and then you all start to kind of show up in the same way. Like there is kind of a through line there from what you what you experience in the music, you know, scene to what you're creating for yourself in the vegan baking community now.

Brooksie (42:14)
Yeah.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, totally putting my music business degree to work. Absolutely. Ha ha ha.

Lauren Alvarez (42:33)
Yeah. You're like, well, I pick the music that we bake to. It's working really well. Yeah. I did bake for a big celebrity in a band. So that's working. Yeah. Totally.

Brooksie (42:44)
I mean, yeah, that makes sense, right? Yeah, I'm glad that unlike a lot of people I know, I'm glad that my school was not crazy expensive. I do feel there is some guilt there for my parents. Like, I'm sorry that I'm not using my degree at all, but I mean, whatever. I still feel like going to school still helped, you know, just...

Lauren Alvarez (42:56)
Yes.

Brooksie (43:09)
Create that foundation of like how to be an adult and how to run a business I mean, you know, there was the business aspect of it. I did learn So

Lauren Alvarez (43:16)
Yeah.

Well, thinking about that too, I mean, like, you know, did you have mentors or like people who gave you guidance like from like your past life experiences in terms of your professional life or like things that you kind of find yourself referencing from like your retail days? Like, you know, I'm sure it's not all like thrown in the trash.

Brooksie (43:32)
Oh, for sure. Yeah. I mean, maybe not. I don't know about like school specific, but as far as just like work experience, like yeah, you mentioned retail. I mean, I was retail management I worked for the North Face for 1314 years. And some pretty like high volume stores, you know, I mean, I worked on Newbury Street.

Lauren Alvarez (43:40)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (43:56)
I transferred to Detroit, it sounds not glamorous, but it was a really high volume store. It was like a really important store they need help with. And like I did all that and I learned so much. It's crazy because at one point in Detroit, and this is holiday season, not regular season, but I had almost 50 employees working for me, you know?

Lauren Alvarez (44:18)
Mm.

Brooksie (44:20)
I absolutely learned a lot as far as managing employees and just how to work with people and hopefully how to have them enjoy working with me, for me, respect me. And it's funny, actually, right now, I actually don't have any employees but like a couple months ago I had like three and it's not a bad thing. Yeah, it just sort of the hiring ebbs and flows.

Lauren Alvarez (44:42)
Yeah, I remember you saying that. Yeah.

Brooksie (44:48)
You know, there were some other opportunities that came up for them. And then some things changed with me where I kind of needed to cut back on expenses anyway. So it was just, I'm kind of, I don't want to say I took a step back. Like, I don't want to feel like I'm going backwards, but I'm back to like no employees right now, which is fine. Everything's fine.

Lauren Alvarez (45:10)
I think there's like those periods of contraction where we take a beat and we're like, hold on, like I kind of got to that point and maybe I took a couple of steps too many forward and I need to like walk it back because it's like smart for the business. And I think that's a really big challenge as a business owner where you're like, oh, success in quotes and I'm doing air quotes for listeners. But I think that like, you know, success that we think about is something that like can be perceived because it's like, oh, I have employees, it means I'm more successful.

Brooksie (45:17)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Ha ha.

Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (45:40)
at a pace that doesn't keep up with the clientele, or if inflation is affecting the price of ingredients, it's like we need to make sure that it's balanced. And you also, as an employer and a former manager, I'm sure you want people to feel like they have room to grow there. And so it's only fair to give them the right opportunities and make sure that you're able to grow your people versus like...

Brooksie (45:43)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (46:02)
having them come into a team where there's no growth or they're like, hey, can I get a raise? And you're like, absolutely not. In fact, I'm gonna cut your hours, yeah.

Brooksie (46:08)
Yeah, I mean, yeah, the whole situation with the employees, everything, you know, we were all fully transparent with each two, two of them. It was like, my friends and actual, they're actually my next door neighbors. Very cool. And they just kind of like wanted to help out after hours for a few hours a week. And that was great. And then I had an opportunity to bring this girl on. But she needed full time and I couldn't give her that and

We still work together in other capacities and it's great. But yeah, like she got this opportunity at the same time. My rent was significantly raised. So I was just like, okay, let's both make this transition. You know, but it's not, yeah, like I feel like in the meantime, when I did have them working for me, I learned a lot about time management, which has always been my struggle.

Lauren Alvarez (46:46)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (47:05)
So I'm getting better with that. I learned a lot about working with people. So not everything has gone to waste in my past life of retail work. But I mean, it's way different. And as far as mentors and stuff, like, yeah.

Definitely like some of my old bosses and stuff from the North Face, but also actually I'll call out one. Who knows if he ever listens, but Erhan, he taught me a lot. And it's funny the way he taught me is just he just, I joke with him all the time about this because when I used to be the assistant manager, he was the manager. He made me do everything. He was like, this is how you're going to learn. He just had me do everything. And he just, that's how I learned. I did learn from him.

As far as there's this other girl I want to call out, she worked for me at the North base too. She worked for me. Her name's Colleen. She went to Johnson and Wales. So she actually went to culinary school. So literally to this day, like sometimes we'll go months without talking and then sometimes I'll randomly text her in the middle of the day and be like, this cookie's flat and I did this with the butter and blah, blah. And she'll just write back, try a fourth of a teaspoon of baking soda. It's just like.

Lauren Alvarez (47:59)
Wow.

Brooksie (48:18)
She's the person I go to for all this science stuff because I didn't go to school for this. And I can Google it, I can read as much as I can, but she's my quick go-to. I consult with her all the time. And one of these days I'm gonna fly her out here and just spend a week with her. We talk about it, we've been talking about it for like two or three years now, but she's definitely my go-to.

Lauren Alvarez (48:24)
Yeah.

Brooksie (48:44)
So yeah, I didn't go to culinary school, but I've got someone who did. And I can just.

Lauren Alvarez (48:50)
Yeah, well, I think that's like, it's like having the right people around you, right? Like when you are a business owner, like you can't have everybody on your staff. You can't have everybody, you know, working for you. But it's like finding those people who you can text when you're in a pinch or where you can, you know, tap them and be like, what the fuck is going on with this cookie? Like you said, like, it's like, sometimes you just need someone to bounce it off of. And like, I've been in those positions too, even when I've worked in companies and I've been like the only person doing HR. And it's like,

Brooksie (49:09)
Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (49:17)
you're on an island and you like don't have anybody. So like, I need to find like my like peer chats where I can like text somebody and be like, this happened, is this not like completely bonkers? And they're like, yep, that's super weird. You know, cause like you just need someone who like understands what you're doing. And it's a lot to explain when you're like, you know, on a date and you're like, hey, let me like tell you about this cookie. And they're like, what?

Brooksie (49:33)
Mm-hmm.

Lauren Alvarez (49:40)
Like, I don't understand, you know? So yeah, I think it's like, you gotta kinda have the right people in your corner who really understand you.

Brooksie (49:41)
Hahaha!

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, I mean, my friends are just like my biggest this is so cheesy, but like, they're my biggest support system. Each friend helps in a certain unique genuine way, you know, and it's, it's very helpful. My parents. Oh my god. Parents are the best.

My mom is my best employee. I actually do have one ongoing employee and that is my mother. She, obviously she's retired and so she flies in all the time to help me. She was just here a month ago for like a week and a few years ago I had shoulder surgery and I was out for months and she literally moved in. She came here for three months and lived here.

Lauren Alvarez (50:08)
Yeah. Oh my gosh, amazing. Put her to work.

So awesome.

Brooksie (50:35)
and ran my business for me while I stood over her shoulder was like, Bernice is an all star. Yeah. She's just like, um, you know, get, I leave me a lot. Cause I'll just stand over her shoulder. Like that's, that's not the exact same way I stir something. She's like, I got it. Leave me alone. But yeah, she's and Sam too, he's a great salesperson. So he's done some of my events with me and, um,

Lauren Alvarez (50:37)
Shout out to Bernice. Ha ha ha.

Yeah.

Brooksie (51:02)
He can sell the shit out of some Pop Tarts, you know.

Lauren Alvarez (51:04)
It's amazing. So what's your favorite flavor of Pop-Tart that you offer?

Brooksie (51:09)
Oh my gosh. It was a seasonal flavor. So I actually am not making it right now, but I made this vanilla chai during the holidays and it was really good.

Lauren Alvarez (51:18)
Mmm, yeah. a little nutmeg.

Brooksie (51:21)
Well yeah, I made my own chai spice mixture. And yeah, I don't know, I was really into that. I might put it on the regular menu. I don't know. Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (51:26)
Mmm, delicious.

Yeah, bring it back, please. Yeah. I mean, what would you say is your proudest accomplishment thinking about what you've done? And we've talked about, I appreciate you talking about some of the, I'll say the real moments that are the shit that you're like, oh, not my favorite thing. But what are you most proud of when you think about your business?

Brooksie (51:48)
I'm out.

I mean, is it just gonna sound, this might be like too simple of an answer, but like, I just can't believe I'm still doing it. You know what I mean? Like it's still my full-time job six years later. I'm so proud of that. Cause also I went through COVID with this.

Lauren Alvarez (51:58)
No such thing.

Yeah.

Brooksie (52:13)
So yeah, I was like two years barely into this business. COVID happened very early in my business and I was like, oh fuck, like what do I do? And somehow I am still, I made it through that crazy. I don't know how, don't ask me. But I just can't, every day I'm like.

Lauren Alvarez (52:16)
It's 2030, Brooksie.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Brooksie (52:37)
You're still doing this? You're amazing. You're still getting up and doing this every day? Okay. So yeah. Still doing it.

Lauren Alvarez (52:39)
Yes.

I imagine that's like a little post-it on your mirror of just like, I'm still doing it. I'm still here. I think that's awesome. No, I mean, do you have any other like favorite brands? Like I love asking this question, especially as a small business owner, like are there brands that you admire? They don't have to be in the same space as you, but like I'm just curious, like who's doing business right? Like who do you love? What are you excited about?

Brooksie (52:55)
I know you do.

I mean, I am gonna I think I will keep it like food based just because that makes sense to me and From back to the very beginning when I first turned vegan and we would go to New York for our quick little trips and you know the Chinatown bus just to eat like 24 hours as they come back. I would always go to this one place because they had Oh god, what was it called? It was called like Cafe Atlas or Atlas Cafe. I can't remember

Lauren Alvarez (53:10)
Yeah.

Yes.

Brooksie (53:33)
But they carried this, was it? Okay. But they carried this brand from Pennsylvania called Vegan Treats. As a very, you know, classic name. But they've been around forever. And I would just go there to get their Oreo cake, which is nothing spectacular. You know, it's just Oreo cake. It was so good. And I follow them on Instagram still. I don't go there because they're not close to me, but like,

Lauren Alvarez (53:34)
Yeah, the Atlas Cafe.

Mmm.

Brooksie (54:00)
I love everything they make. It looks so cool. And I know their stuff tastes good because I used to eat it all the time. So they're just, they're one of my, like, I can't do anything they do decoration wise, but they'd make some really cool stuff. So anyway, that's one brand. And then like locally, cause I definitely wanna push some local brands that I really love. My frenemy, Bitchy Vegan Homo.

Lauren Alvarez (54:07)
Yeah.

I love that.

Brooksie (54:27)
He does awesome vegan treats. Actually, I know we're at the end, but just jumping back to when I was talking about community and everything, we push each other business, we send business to each other's way when we can't do it. And that was something I wanted to mention before. So he and I do that a lot. I'm sick or I can't do this. Can you take my customers cake order or whatever? He makes really cool stuff, cookies. They're really good.

Lauren Alvarez (54:43)
That's awesome.

Brooksie (54:56)
I love so many businesses here, but one that I kind of consider sort of a mentor to me going through this whole running a small business thing is Birch Cafe. It's an all vegan cafe that opened up right during COVID. And she has persevered through all of that. And I reach out to her all the time for all kinds of things, business-related, food-related. She's a strong supporter of me. She carries a lot of my stuff.

Lauren Alvarez (55:12)
That's awesome.

Brooksie (55:21)
and she has really good food. I do pop ups there every month, and then she carries a lot of my big, like most of her bakery cases, my stuff, which I really appreciate. So yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (55:21)
And you do brunch there, right, every month? Fun.

That's awesome. That is so cool. I also just love that like, I think it is, you're right, like it's a community and it's like bolstering and just people being like, I see you, I'm interested in what you're doing and I'm going to support you in this way or like passing business. Like you're right. Because like I also have, I have somebody like who I've passed, you know, coaching clients to because like I'm at capacity. I can't take anymore. But like it doesn't mean that this person doesn't deserve coaching. It just means like I can't help you. But like I think it's like knowing who else you can pass off to. It's almost like.

Brooksie (55:53)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (56:01)
it's better. You're saying like, I'm a professional. Yeah, I'm great. But like, you're also great. So like, let's just be great together. Push each other. Yeah, that's awesome. I love that. I mean, yes, we are coming up on time. I just really want to like go forever. But I mean, as far as like people learning more about you, about totally sweet, I know that we don't want them to order cakes, but like, where can they go? What can they do? Are they allowed to order cookies? Like, what can they do?

Brooksie (56:07)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

I'm sorry.

Yes, yes, no, please, please order from me. I didn't want to discourage people from ordering. I just need to take some time to like work on my website a little bit, but I do have a website. It's called $30 add a $50 order fee just for ordering just for no reason. No, my website is called totally sweet baking.com.

Lauren Alvarez (56:35)
Ha ha ha!

Pop tarts are $30, yeah.

I'm gonna go to bed.

Brooksie (56:55)
And, uh, but like where I'm most active is on Instagram and that's totally underscore sweet underscore baking.

Lauren Alvarez (57:07)
Well, I mean, what is one final thought you'd like to leave our listeners with that you're excited to share? I feel like you shared a lot of great sentiments just from a small business standpoint, but what would you like that final thought to be?

Brooksie (57:06)
Yeah, so, yeah.

Mmm.

I mean, this is just more of like an important thing to tell people who are just doing that daily grind is just like, this is all, I feel like all my answers are kind of cheesy and simple, but it's just like, know your worth and don't be afraid to say no if you can't do it. And it's okay, I learned this past weekend, it's okay to take time off, like a day or two, or actually a week would be great, but.

Lauren Alvarez (57:40)
Yes.

Brooksie (57:48)
Don't feel guilty about taking a day or two off, which I struggle with all the time. But you have to do that. If you don't do that, you are not gonna be able to continue. You know, like, you can't keep doing this forever. You gotta take a break. So yeah, those are my crazy words of wisdom. Yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (58:01)
Yeah, I love that.

Yeah. You can't pour from an empty cup. No, I think there are, there are ones to live by. I mean, Brooksie, thank you so much for finally doing this. I've been begging you to come on the show for a while now. So I appreciate you. Yes, of course. I mean, this was, this was great. And I love you. Uh, this is just like, I just want people to hear this and know that like, you can totally chase that dream down and you can totally make that thing happen. And like you're doing on the side.

Brooksie (58:18)
I know, thanks for begging me. I love you.

Yeah. Oh, what one last thing. One last thing for everyone out there who's still for anyone who still has that corporate job and they think down the line, they're going to want to quit. Make sure you're contributing to that 401k. That is the only reason I was able to do this at first. So yeah.

Lauren Alvarez (58:35)
Why not roll the dice and try it full time? I doubt there's gonna be another pandemic, so just go for it. Like, why the fuck not? Yes.

Oh yeah, bump that 401k all the way.

Brooksie (59:03)
401k, it's a good thing.

Lauren Alvarez (59:05)
See, more words of wisdom to live by. I love it. I mean, Brooksie, thank you. This has been another episode of Don't Fuck This Up, the podcast answering the ultimate question, how the fuck did you land that cool job? I'm your host, Lauren Alvarez, and we will talk to you next week.