Denae Spiering lives in Bridgeville, DE and sells baked goods with her cottage food business, The Sugar Shack. Denae started her bakery almost a decade ago, and she has now grown it to the point where she has an impressive storefront on her property and has many regular customers. But it wasn’t a smooth ride to get to this point. In 2016, she stopped her business for a year and a half due to work, and then in 2018, when she had her sights set on a storefront, she broke her hip and shut down her bakery for almost 2 years. Shortly after the pandemic began in 2020, she refocused on her longtime d ..read more

Deanna Martinez-Bey lives in Wake Forest, NC and sells sweet breads and other baked goods with her cottage food business, The Fiery Whisk Bakery. Deanna shares her journey about running a bakery from home, her experiences in getting certified, rebranding, maneuvering around physical challenges that stalled her business, and balancing multiple roles. She also talks about techniques to promote her business like pop-ups, collaborations with local businesses, and social media networking. Finally, she discusses her love for baking, writing, and teaching about food which work together in running her ..read more

In this very special 100th episode, previous guests come back on to share an update of what’s changed since they were last on the show, if the changes surprised them, and what they’ve learned along the way! You will hear from 50 past guests in this episode, and as you’ll see, their updates are often surprising, which serves as a reminder of just how unpredictable business and life can be! Fudge Giveaway To celebrate this special episode, I am giving away 3 sampler boxes of my fudge! To get a chance to win one of the boxes, you need to: Leave me an honest review on Apple Podcasts* Then, go to ..read more

Nancy Chang of Oakland, CA sells healthy soups with her micro-restaurant, Purpose & Hope. When Alameda County started allowing micro-restaurants (MEHKOs) in 2021, Nancy was among the first to get licensed. However, her business idea had been brewing long before that. It started with her mom’s battle with cancer in 2006, where Nancy saw the benefits of food and community for those dealing with a health issue. After many years of food-related volunteer work, she decided to start her own soup business and raised over $7k from a crowdfunding campaign! She eventually started connecting with hea ..read more

Tamara Ketchian lives in Orange, CT and sells gluten-free vegan granola with her cottage food business, Wildwood Granola. Tamara started her granola business in 2021 after years of making healthier granola for her family. After being a long-time stay-at-home mom, she was finally ready to do something for herself. In the past two and a half years, her business has grown substantially and she recently won a pitch competition where she received a $10k business grant to help grow her business! She has now expanded into a commercial kitchen so that she can sell in stores, ship nationwide, and keep ..read more

Jana LaViolette lives in Clovis, NM, and sells baked goods, ice cream, candy, and more with her dessert shop, Nanna’s Sweets. Jana’s business journey is simply incredible, but her path to success has not been easy. When she started selling baked goods back in 2014, her business did not take off like she hoped it would. But by persisting, listening to her community, and pushing herself out of her comfort zone, she grew her cottage food bakery into a successful business over the next few years. In 2020, she took the next step and built a commercial kitchen on her property. Then in 2021, she expa ..read more

Robert and Paula Grosz live in Murray, KY and sell jams and jellies with their cottage food business, Whisky Ridge Farm. When they started their farm in 2015, they planned to sell microgreens and other produce, but after a couple of years, they learned that their value-added products (like jams, jellies, and pickled items) were both more popular and profitable. After a few years of significant growth in 2021, Robert and Paula finally decided to take the leap and go full-time with their business. But then a few months later, the ag department told them they could no longer sell pickled products ..read more

Janna Newcomb Walworth of Choctaw, OK sells freeze-dried foods with her cottage food business, Janna’s Freeze Dried. Since the pandemic, freeze-dried foods (especially freeze-dried candy) have become a big cottage food trend. Janna bought her first freeze dryer in 2020 to help preserve her family’s food, but little did she know that it would turn into a thriving business! Soon people were asking to buy her products, stores started asking to sell them, and demand has organically grown to the point where she now has 5 freeze dryers, which cost a few thousand dollars each! Janna has become pretty ..read more

A few months before Jim & Crystal Whitmarsh were expecting their first child, they started roasting coffee beans at home with a $20 popcorn popper. At that time, little did they know what their new hobby would grow into! Jim & Crystal live in Kasson, MN and sell small-batch roasted specialty coffee with their business, Trail Creek Coffee Roasters. They initially leveraged Minnesota’s cottage food law to start and grow their business from home, and after a couple of years, they moved into a brick-and-mortar storefront to expand their business. Although their loyal customers rave about t ..read more

Jill’s cottage food business journey is nothing short of remarkable! Jill Baethge lives in Plano, TX and sells unique chocolate piñata cakes with her cottage food business, Kaboom Chocolaka. Ever since starting it in 2018, her business has exploded, and she has now created an entire product line for Michaels stores across the nation! Yes, you read that right. Now anyone can buy her molds from the store and make her chocolate piñatas themselves! Jill’s success is what so many entrepreneurs dream of. In fact, she can hardly believe it herself. “I just feel like I’m still dreaming,” says Jill. Ho ..read more