Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Crawford.
Hi Michelle, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Ten years ago, my marriage of 18 years ended. I found myself a single mother of two young girls with no work experience or formal education. I was terrified and unsure how I would provide for my daughters. Like so many people without a career path, I was floundering with ideas on what I should do next? After a great deal of soul searching, a family member called while I was in the midst’s of a good old fashion pity party. My Aunt, who has since passed away, was a woman of little patience but she humored me for a bit, at least until she couldn’t take it anymore. She cut me off and suggested That I go to “cooking school.” She went on to say, “You’re always cooking that Foo Foo Sh*t and everyone seems to like it. I mean I don’t care for it, but everyone else does”. My cousins and I laugh about it today because that was just how she was. I am incredibly grateful for that afternoon because it planted the seed and started me on my path. In the following days, I reached out to a friend I went to high school with who worked as a chef. I told him my plans and he set me on the course of researching Community Colleges.
After 2.5 years, I completed my academic career, I went on to intern for the Swan and Dolphin Hotel under World Renown Pastry Chef Laurent Branlard. From there, I held the position of pastry chef for a small Orlando catering company. Always an admirer of Cake artists such as Ron Ben Israel, I longed to do something where I could combine my passion for Sculpting and Artistry with creating delectable desserts. After having the opportunity to work on a wedding where my first cake was shot by celebrity photographer Elizabeth Messina and having my wedding cake and desserts published in Green Wedding Shoes, I was hooked. I decided that if I worked hard on building my own dream, then maybe I could have something of my own.
As a Hobby Baker working under the Baker Cottage Laws, I decided to call my business Bakers Cottage Cakes. It started off small. I worked from my kitchen at home with my 30 plus-year-old oven. Only one of four burners worked, and the oven’s calibration was off by a good 25 degrees. It would take well over 1.5 hours to bake a single 10″ cake. When a friend told me they would sell me her used commercial oven, I scrimped together every dollar and made payments until it was paid off. I still use that oven to this day, and she is my favorite! 🙂 Eventually, my cousins enclosed my garage so that I could expand and have a place to work. The hours were long and days off during high season did not happen very often. I was fortunate to work from home so that I could be there for my daughters and work into the evenings after they went to bed. High Season here in Florida starts in September and goes until May/June. During the height of season, it was not unusual for me to work between 80 – 120 hours a week. It was exhausting but also very rewarding.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I can’t imagine any business goes smoothly all the time. Though it certainly has its rewards, it also has its setbacks too. Weddings are such an important milestone in people’s lives and I do absolutely everything in my power to assure it all goes well. When mistakes happen, regardless if small or large, it’s a devastating occurrence and each time serves as a learning experience on how to better ourselves. Owning your own business is consuming and can be a seven-day-a-week job, even if you have off, your mind never leaves work. Finding balance is difficult, especially because I am so passionate about what I do. I definitely struggle with setting boundaries between work and personal time. But out of all the challenges I have faced thus far, COVID 19 has been my biggest struggle. I have had to reinvent BCC and offer more than just cakes. We now have a dessert and cookie line and have begun shipping! Until we are able to come out on the other side of this awful Pandemic, I am like everyone else, just riding this thing out doing the best we can with what we have.
I moved into my 1st brick and mortar shop October 2019. Things were beginning to flourish and really take off for the 1st time, and I was starting to see a profit in the early months of 2020. Then Covid 19 hit and without a doubt has been my absolute biggest challenge to date. Out of desperation to keep our business going, we refinance our home and pulled some equity out. I started offering more traditional bakery items. Still not open to the the public, we bake by order and deliver through UberEats’s or pickup is available by appointment. I created a new cookie line and invested a lot of time and money into creating and testing recipes for our .5 oz cookie! I also began making and selling Hot Cocoa Bombs and Fondue Bombs, which we sell in kits with mini cake loaves and our signature cookies along with other salty/sweet items. In the past two weeks, these items have really taken off and people are going crazy for them. On a whim, I started targeting our Fondue kits nationwide and to my excitement and total surprise, they are selling!!! We have shipped to California, New York, North Carolina, Northern Florida, Seattle just this past week. Prior to this new adventure, I was beginning to worry that we might not make it through this storm. The stress has been tremendous and has weighed on me heavily. With the support of my community and friends from near and far, I may break even this month… I may even see a small profit, which would be a first time since February 2020.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would get to combine my two loves, cooking and art. Several years ago, I was asked to create a cake for a wedding planner who was working on a project of shooting Style Shoots Around America. Fortunately for me, they had chosen a local venue not far from me. I’m still not certain how BCC was being considered to be a part of this shoot but when I heard where it was being held, I was over the top excited and honored to be asked to create a cake for them! The Luxmore Grande Estate has the most beautiful staircase I’ve ever seen. I had been playing with the idea of hanging a cake in a chandelier fashion for sometime at that point but needed somewhere to do it. The Luxmore would be the perfect place for this! It hosts a double staircase that meets in the middle with a passageway that leads into the ballroom under the landing, where the staircases meets before continuing up to the 2nd floor. As artists, I’m not sure we are ever satisfied and I know I’m definitely my biggest critic. But I was tickled with how it all came out! Since then, I’ve made a number of hanging cakes, so I guess maybe I might be known for chandelier cakes? I also enjoy creating flowers from sugar paste and wafer paper, as well as hand painting cakes too. Creating edible art is an absolute passion of mine!
How do you think about happiness?
Painting, sculpting, playing with florals, coming up with fun recipes and finding combinations that works together beautifully. Being creative feeds my soul and brings me peace. It’s a time when I can escape into my own thoughts and just let whatever I’m working on flow. It’s the best therapy I’ve ever experienced.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@Bakerscottagecakes.com
- Website: BakersCottageCakes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mybakerscottagecakes/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BakesCottageCakes/photos/?ref=page_internal
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bakers_cottage_cakes
Image Credits
Ashley Jane Photography, Bumby Photography, mecheausina photography, Flora Bloom Photography, dmargherite.
