Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Lewis.
Hi Steven, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The TLDR about my little journey is that I’m an overachieving home baker. The longer story is more personal. Baking has been a hobby since I was a little kid. Early on, I learned that baking helped relieve my stress and starting from my preteen years, I would put on some melancholy music and experiment. I’ve never taken a class or followed a cookbook. I just cosplayed a mad scientist. Fast forward to adulthood. I moved to Orlando to open a comic shop/art gallery called Überbot. For my first attempt at a small business, it was a pretty incredible little shop, and I miss it very much, but it didn’t survive the 2008 crash. I lost my company, house, and beloved dog, Lupin. It was the hardest time of my life, so I returned to my therapy, baking. I sold cookies from my kitchen until, years later, I was invited to do a pop-up at the East End Market, Orlando’s first food hall, and Gideon’s has been nonstop ever since.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If any small business owner tells you they’ve had a smooth road, they’re not being candid. You risk everything to open a business, especially when, like me, you start with only $800 to your name. As a whole, the biggest struggle is food costs. In the first year I opened, vanilla bean paste was $30 a quart. Months after opening, it was $200. Chocolate costs have recently skyrocketed by 65%, which isn’t sustainable. Working with tiny margins is a neverending stress, and, fair or not, people have a perceived value of what a cookie should cost, even if it is handmade from scratch, loaded with premium ingredients, and pushing a half-pound each. In this market, it seems the longer you last, the more complicated things get. On a more personal struggle, if you’re fortunate enough to grow, the amount of things one has to hold in your head can get overwhelming. And, for me, my cookies are filled with heartache and history. Putting them out there for people to critique can feel both immensely satisfying and powerfully distressing. Sometimes, you forget that your mental health is the most essential tool in your business, or you do remember, but things are too busy to do much about it.
With all that said, I tend to focus on the positives. While the business side can be a battle, the creative decision-making around what Gideon’s wants to be is easy because it is steeped in authenticity. It keeps me blissfully fulfilled. Gideon’s isn’t just a bakery. It is a weird subculture of community, and I am grateful to meet and talk with so many unique personalities almost every day.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have to have my hand in a little bit of everything. There are some weeks I have to be Mister Businessman and others I get to be creative. Sometimes, my job is to sit in a quiet room and envision a path. On other days, it is to read over contracts and make financial decisions. But I try to keep as right-brained as possible. I still handle the social media solo, writing every word and taking the photos. I can sometimes spend a couple of hours a day just replying to messages. Lately, I’ve been obsessing over coffee and figuring out how to create new housemade syrups. If I have to specialize in anything, it is creating experiences, and at Gideon’s, we do that through food, art, storytelling, and community. That might be what sets us apart from your average bakery. You’ll get a cookie, cake, or cold brew that I hope sticks with you and a collectible trading card in your box that tells you the story of one of the creatures from our little world.
As for pride, I try not to think about such things as I am cautious not to let ego guide my path, but I am proud of the team I work with daily. So many of us are growing old together, and I am grateful that this work gives us the opportunity to take care of each other.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My advice always focuses on two words. #1) Authenticity. Be true to who you are and not a product of your environment. Live in your own world. Stay away from trends. They come and go. Be timeless. #2) Mediocrity. There is enough of it already in our world. There is no such thing as “the best,” but you must work hard to produce your best in everything you do. That will create a distinction that people notice and appreciate. Finally, my most significant advice is not to listen to advice. When I opened Gideon’s, everyone lined up to tell me what to do. It was certainly appreciated, but every bit of it was wrong for my vision. Following your path will give you a life without regrets.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gideonsbakehouse.com
- Instagram: @gideonsbakehouse
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/gideonsbakehouse
Image Credits
Gideon’s Bakehouse
