Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Starnes.
Hi Ashley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
In 2019, I started Baked by Ashley out of my home kitchen. I had been out of work for a few weeks and decided that until I found somewhere I wanted to work, I would start my at-home bakery and see how it went. The first few weeks were slow, so I began posting cookies and cakes on social media and selling desserts at small farmers’ markets to get my name out there. After about a month, I saw more people reaching out and placing orders. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, so during that time, I got a job working with a pretzel company in the mornings. This continued for about 2 years; my customers and orders grew. In November of 2021, I was scrolling through Facebook and found a bakery space right down the road from my house. I drove up and spoke with the owner at the time, and a few weeks later, she called me to tell me the space was available if I was still interested, and here we are 2 years later in our brick-and-mortar!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has only sometimes been a smooth road from the start to where we are now. There is so much that comes with opening your own business that, at times, it can be overwhelming inspections, permits, contractors, employee searches, renovations, etc. Each day always added more stress, and we were still open. Once we did open, some struggles became finding employees, work/life balance, and how to get more walk-in customers. Other struggles were learning the slow times of the year and how to fix that, how to generate more walk-in traffic, becoming more creative with designs/flavors, trying to keep up with the daily trends in the baking world/social media, and how to keep our prices fair during a time where everything was going up. Through all of this, I have learned quite a few things; unfortunately, you can not please everyone. Work in or run the business. Have fun, work hard, take time for yourself, show your employees you appreciate them, be friendly to your customers, and love what you do.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Baked by Ashley is a small bakery located in Oakville. We specialize in custom cakes and cookies. We also offer a fully stocked bar with baked in-house daily items, like cake pops, hand pies, bagels, gooey butter, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies, and more! We are known for our cinnamon rolls, gooey butter, hand pies, and chocolate chip cookies. I am most proud of how we have grown in the last 2 years, the products we put out, and my staff of 3!
What makes you happy?
Knowing that our desserts are bringing people together makes me happy. We have had some pretty special orders from lung transplant survivors, breast cancer survivors, and kidney transplant survivors to the celebration of life cakes and, of course, weddings! These custom orders often have a story behind them and are so unique that we are excited to be a small part of their celebration! To know that we have people who believe in us, the products we sell, trust us with such special orders, and keep coming back means everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bakedbyashleystl.com
- Instagram: @bakedby_ashley_
- Facebook: BakedbyAshleySTL
