What It's About
A mortgage broker whips up a sweet formula for baking success.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Here's a tip for you: If baking is your cup of tea, talk to your county and learn the rules. Discuss the process with people who have done it before. In New York, you have to have a commercial kitchen space, so Amanda started working out of a church kitchen because they aren’t used as frequently although they’re still up to codes.
Fun Fact
Mundy Cakes is baking for court! A local baker in her town didn’t fulfill a customer order, so the customer took her to court. And not just any court...Judge Judy! The person who took the baker to court also reached out to Mundy Cakes to bake cookies for their Judge Judy viewing party!
Notes from Chris
Episode 783
We’ve all heard of mortgage brokers, but have you ever heard of a mortgage baker? You know the ones who spend their days supporting people in buying homes, and then fill their homes with warm baskets of cookies? For Amanda Bernardini in Buffalo, New York, that’s not too far off from the reality. Amanda or “Mundy” (as her family and friends call her) spent much of her childhood in the kitchen. She would watch her grandma and mom create the perfect baked goods from Italian Wedding Cake to rich, buttery, sugar cookies. As their little sous-chef, she learned and developed a love for the art of baking. Fast forward to today, and you’ll still find Amanda in the kitchen baking during her downtime. As a mortgage specialist by day, she uses her analytical mind in a focused setting. Baking serves as a more creative outlet. For years, she would show up at parties with a plate full of perfectly made sugar cookies. Friends would rave about how yummy and artfully designed her cookies were, and she started receiving requests for birthday parties and other special occasions. She soon discovered that she could make money from doing custom orders. At first, she received orders from friends and word of mouth referrals. When Amanda’s orders and popularity began to grow, she knew it was time to take it to the next level. She soon found herself whisking in about $400 a week. While it was profitable and fun, she was working way too much and knew something needed to sift. She had a bigger vision for Mundy Cakes and wanted to open her own bakery. So she switched to a part-time role at her mortgage company and used the rest of the time to find a space to rent. In November 2018, the doors of Mundy Cakes opened. Seeing her vision come to life was exciting. She had no idea when she started filling custom orders for family and friends that it would lead to her actually owning a real storefront business. Like many new ventures, it wasn’t always smooth. There were challenges with renovating the space and making, sure enough, business was coming in to hire employees to help run it. But she did it. Mundy Cakes has been in business for a few months now, and Amanda has already made back half of that business loan. She has two and a half employees working for her, one who happens to be her Mom. They support her while she is working at her day job as a mortgage broker. She has no plans to leave that job, and is happy for Mundy Cakes to remain a side hustle. There’s more to come from Amanda and Mundy Cakes. She is looking to add ice cream to her shop in warmer months, collaborate with local event planners for larger events, and most importantly, prepare for the birth of her first child. It’s been a year of big change, and she’s glad she followed her dream.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Mundy Cakes: Check out all of Mundy's sweet and delicious creations over on her website
- Squarespace: The website building platform that Amanda used to create her website
SEE ALSO:
- Tinder Matched Couple Swipes Right to Sell Cupcakes: After meeting on Tinder, a couple takes a long walk through Central Park and decides to sell cupcakes for $20 each. Surprise: it works
- Game of Cones: Two Women Make Architecturally-Inspired Ice Cream: A nouveau-cream wave of ice cream debuts at Coachella, and everyone freaks out
- Delicious Cookies Arrive at My Door in Portland, Oregon: A late night craving evolves into a cookie delivery service spreading chocolate chip goodness throughout the land
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Resources
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