Dang, 200 something newsletter sign ups yesterday! If I were to have set a goal, I would have succeeded in it. Welcome to my newsletter. I started this to share the “behind the scenes” to my thought process for my business and more personal notes. I also started it because I felt like I was about to get a brick and mortar, and I wanted a group of people to share the progress of that. I suppose I’m still sharing progress reports, just not in the way I originally thought. I feel like a lot of you were sending me Rest In Peace messages, so either I didn’t convey me taking a break, or you read pause and also correlated a pause to RIP when in reality it’s just another deep breath in for Indy Dough. Studio C’s business model is changing and Indy Dough doesn’t fit into it. It’s hard, especially with the personal expectations I had, but what’s the saying about doors closing and opening? (I know it, you know it, don’t actually tell me) As soon as I found out, I immediately sent the announcement out to my newsletter readers because just a few days before I had explained to them how I was about to turn into a micro bakery and be in operation more. After finding out, I also decided to make a personal decision with my husband with the new news and move into a new house. Our lease is ending, and I was going to renew it, but with not having a place to go to work we decided to move to a new location. There’s more to these thoughts, but without going into more boring personal life details, let’s just end with my break is going to be me focusing on packing and moving. Other plans are to return to my business plan and financial projections to take to banks for a loan on a brick and mortar. If you don’t want to take the time to read previous newsletters, then let me explain. When I was previously trying to get a brick and mortar, I was working on going to a bank, but then the opportunity to be at Studio C came up. I also didn’t think I would actually get the loan anyway, so I stopped pursuing it. I reached out to anyone who donated to me to refund their donations, and thankfully almost all of them said I could keep their donations! I used some donations as equipment purchases, but I want to be very intentional with the way any other donation is spent. I don’t always do well with my expectations being disrupted, so the past couple of weeks have been a range of different emotions, and I’m happy to say that I’m excited for whatever new growth will come from this. My hands didn’t fall off and I still have my recipes, so in some sort of way I’ll be back to baking sooner rather than later because like I said on Instagram I need an income and I can not sit still for too long.
Okay, enough of that. Let’s talk about what I keep talking to others about irl. I’m currently obsessed with listening to people in the restaurant industry’s memoirs on Audible. When we first moved to Indy, I joined a book club. I don’t really read a lot books, but I just wanted to make friends. One of the books we read was “Notes from a Young Black Chef” from Chef Kwame Onwuachi. Then I picked up my phone a couple of weeks ago and started looking into similar books on Audible, and all of a sudden I had listened to three more books. “Black, White, and the Grey” by Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano, “Eat a Peach” by David Chang, and most recently “Burn the Place” by Iliana Regan. For as well known as Iliana is, I hadn’t heard of her. To my surprise, she grew up not to far away from where I grew up and possibly where a lot of you grew up. It was so fun to hear pieces of my own childhood to be talked about so poetically. Ever since I’ve moved back, I’ve appreciated the soil of the Midwest more than ever, so this was such a nice listen. I suggest all of these books if you’re into that sort of thing. Oh and if you are into it, tell me what I should listen to next!
Adding in a photo of the last thing I did which was the apple fritters at Commissary! Thank you guys for all of your support!
Until the next newsletter,
Amanda
Have you read the book “the E myth” by Michael E. Gerber? It’s a pretty awesome glimpse into the mind of a why people start business and how to maintain the business. More importantly, though, how to maintain your sanity and love for your product. Just thought I’d throw that out there. I hope to be able to try something of yours sometime! Whenever that may be, I can’t wait!