Beautiful Chaos with Chelsa Smith

The Forrager Podcast for Cottage Food Businesses

Chelsa Smith lives in Des Moines, IA, and sells sourdough bread, focaccia, and donuts with her cottage food bakery, Bread by Chelsa B.

Chelsa never intended to start a bakery, but she discovered the world of sourdough in late 2019 and has been super passionate about it ever since.

As she improved her bread-making skills during the pandemic, more and more people started asking for her bread, and by 2021, she officially opened her business.

Few bakers have been swept to success as quickly as Chelsa. Only 4 months after starting the bakery, she quit her full-time job to go all-in on this business, and despite hiring help and continuously adding commercial equipment to her home, she has not been able to keep up with demand.

In her first year of business, lines as long as a block would form at her popup events, and now she’s switched to doing mostly wholesale to make the business more sustainable.

She now has over 18k Instagram followers, and for Chelsa, the challenge has not been finding customers, but rather finding the balance between prioritizing the business and her young family.

In this episode, she shares what she’s learned from the ups and downs of her unique business journey.

What You’ll Learn

• Resources for learning how to bake sourdough bread
• The importance of seeking advice from other entrepreneurs when starting a business
• Tips on maximizing production with a home oven
• Commercial oven recommendations for a home kitchen
• How to promote your business in the media
• Why you should leverage email marketing
• Considerations for finding a brick and mortar location
• Why building community and collaborating with others is essential
• Tips for letting go of perfectionism and finding your “good enough”
• Chelsa’s weekly schedule as a full-time sourdough baker

Resources

Bread by Chelsa B website (Instagram)

Recommended Books:

• Sourdough, by Sarah Owens
• Flour Power, by Tara Jensen

How To Make The Best Sourdough Bread

Chandley Pico Plus Ovens

Bakers Against Racism

Greater Des Moines Partnership

Iowa Cottage Food Law

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Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/88