Conversations with the Inspiring Andrea Meyer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Meyer.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I found my sweet tooth at a young age and cannot remember a time when dessert wasn’t my favorite part of the day. I took French all through school and traveled to Paris for the first time on my honeymoon. Having spent months in Paris since then, immersing myself in the culture and indulging in all things pastry, I knew there was something more creative in my future. I chose to leave my corporate career as a project manager behind, embraced pastry as my passion at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and never looked back. I credit my years with Bouchon Bakery & Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, California for developing and refining my skills and further instilling in me a strong sense of integrity and respect for the food, my team and most of all my customers.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road! Some days things come together so perfectly that you can’t believe it, but most days can be a huge challenge. This isn’t a career you can do if you don’t truly have a passion for the work, the food, for people and for pushing yourself to be better each day. Any small business owner can tell you there are more challenges than hours in the day! From staffing to mentoring to finding time to be creative, there are always challenges to overcome. If it were easy, everyone would do it, right?

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Bisous Bisous Pâtisserie story. Tell us more about it.
I’d had a vision of Bisous Bisous in my head for years before I started it, long before it had a name. I was in love with the pastry shops in France and would travel there only to come home to a void of true French style pastry in Dallas. I wanted to recreate the parts of French pastry shops that I loved while also using our shop to be a place four our community to come together. I wanted to share my passion for pastry to cultivate happiness around me, inspiring the creation of enjoyable memories between family and friends and to make a positive difference in the experience of our customers and others around us.

We opened our doors in February of 2015, just over 4 years ago, providing a large variety of traditional & innovative pastries in an authentic French atmosphere. We’re definitely known for having the best French macarons in Dallas and we have at least 12 flavors every day.

In addition, though, we also offer creative seasonally rotating pastries like our Cruffins and Bi-color Croissants, which are hugely popular and unique to our shop in Dallas. We also can’t forget our beautifully executed cakes, from elegant, classic celebration cakes to the latest trend, Number cakes.

Just this past year, we debuted our co-concept, Rendezvous, an adorable food truck that’s the first macaron food truck in Dallas. She’s available for weddings, birthdays, corporate events and more! She’s been a very popular new addition to the Bisous brand.

If all that wasn’t enough, our team of professional pastry chefs also teach pastry classes to the public. We find they’re so much fun and they help us share our passion for pastry with our customers.

I’m incredibly proud of the work our team does every day and has done since our shop opened 4 years ago. We wouldn’t be successful without their efforts.

What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
This is one I have to say I consider often. In my opinion, female leaders, especially entrepreneurs, are limited by factors such as access to capital, mentorship, and familial obligations to name just a few. In our industry, it’s common for women to struggle to gain experience, the respect of their peers and equal pay to their male counterparts. At Bisous Bisous, I’m so proud that I’ve been able to create a culture that builds the skills of our nearly entirely female staff so that when they move on beyond their position with us, they’re better equipped for that next challenge they face.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3700 McKinney Avenue
  Suite 150
  Dallas, TX 75204
• Website: www.bisous-bisous.com
• Phone: 214-613-3570
• Email: info@bisous-bisous.com
• Instagram: bisousbisouspatisserie
• Facebook: BisousBis
• Twitter: BisousBis

Image Credit:
Chelsea Conway, Elizabeth Menzel, Katie Zachary, Anjali Khatri

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