Podcast Interview with Melissa Kelly Hill of Twelve Five Cakery

Is your cake business based in a small town? And, as a result,  are you experiencing problems making it work? Today, I'm very excited to introduce you to someone I have had the pleasure of teaching, who I am now very proud to call my friend, and who has, in my opinion,  a very distinctive artistic point of view. I'm delighted to be interviewing Melissa Kelly Hill today, from the Twelve-Five Cakery, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The purpose of Melissa's business is to make magic, and that's where she's headed! Listen in today, as I uncover her secret to running a successful cake business in a really small American town.

I asked Melissa to share her story today because she's amazing and incredibly inspirational! And although her bakery is based in a very small town (Hattiesburg has only 46 000 people in it), and she's still at the beginning of her journey of owning a shop-front, she's really making it work. In today's episode, she talks to us about what it took for her to finally leave her hectic bakery job, to start a business of her own. And she shares what she's been doing to create her flourishing, fancy, big-city cake business in a very small town in Mississippi. Tune in now, to find out more.

 

Show Highlights: 

How Twelve-Five Cakery came to be, and where it's at, currently. How Melissa gained bakery experience before starting her own business. Owing your own business is liberating, however, it can also be overwhelming. Melissa had to teach herself how to bake from scratch. After working so hard for so long, Melissa had to figure out who she really was. Melissa found it very stressful to work from home. Getting shut down by the Health Department.  Melissa was following all the rules, except one- advertising on Facebook. Running a team comes with a lot of responsibility, so that's why Melissa didn't want to start a retail bakery. Melissa recently bought another cake studio from someone else in Hattiesburg. Where Melissa's business is currently at. Melissa feels as if she's still only operating at ten percent of her creative capability. How Melissa gets past the small-town conservative price-points and tastes. People are afraid that Melissa is too expensive. Dealing with that is her latest challenge. The customer should not dictate what you sell. It's not easy for a customer to order a custom cake. Figuring out where to go with chocolate...

Links:

Twelve-Five Cakery - https://www.twelvefivecakery.com/