Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Hardin.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started baking pies about 7 years ago. I called my grandmother, who is probably one of the best bakers I have ever known and asked her to come to my house and tech me. She came over and spent the whole day with me and we made a lemon meringue pie from crust to meringue. I laugh now because it took me FOREVER, and now I can make 12 pies in an hour! I took my new knowledge of pie and started small. My first business name was Dixie Loves Pie, and I did a couple pop ups in my mom’s store, Workerbee Studio in downtown Rockwall. I started gaining momentum but then life happens and I had to put away my pie shop dreams for a while. Fast forward to 2016 and a good friend approached me to start doing pies again. So with her encouragement and help we started doing pies again! We started having pop ups again and then were contacted by Melissa Tate of Photowagon. She wrote about us and then asked us to do pie for her wedding reception. Her wedding reception ended up being so fabulous it helped put us on the foodie scene. After we started gaining more customers I asked my mom again if we could open a pie counter inside Workerbee and sell pie on the weekends. We have been open now for a year and a half and are not stopping anytime soon!
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?
Where is the fun if there are no struggles! Owning your own business can get very overwhelming. My friend that started with me decided she was not loving the pie life and we parted ways in October. She is wonderful person and we still see each other all the time. But when we decided to part ways, it was just before the holiday season. I was so overwhelmed and rethinking my career choice. I would have not made it through my first holiday season without my mom and grandmother. My best advice for any woman trying to start a business, is you cannot do it alone! I have so much support, from my family and friends. Whether it’s my mom who has now become my business partner, to my dad and brother who will deliver pies for me, to my husband and kids that always encourage me, to my grandmother who always has to test my new recipes, my best friends who always believe in me, friends, and even aqquantices who have come in to just buy a slice and say hi. This adventure has also brought the support of fellow boss babes, who are now friends. I have some rough days but I never stop dreaming and scheming because if you want it, you will get it.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Bonafide Betties Pie Company – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Bonafide Betties Pie Company specializes in nostalgic pie flavors with a twist. About 98% of my recipes were handed down to me by my grandmother. But I love to add some flair to them. I am best known for my Hott Mess pie, it is a buttermilk with a coconut pecan praline topping. It put me on the map for sure. I am most proud of how we have not rushed anything, I love making sure my customer loves our desserts. I feel like we always make sure the customer leaves with a fabulous experience. Food has become such a “thing” that people forget about the experience and the art of good old fashioned conversation. What sets us apart from other bakeries, is probably our customer relations and we always do things on our terms because we are just two ladies trying to live our best life, one pie at a time!
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
The biggest barriers today for women are slowly getting smaller, but in my case it is my growth. I honestly think that is the problem for a lot of women owned businesses. I think that is why women will always have to fight harder and longer to get what they want. When my grandmother was growing up they steered women toward being the homemaker, in my mom’s generation the steered women more in to having careers, and in my generation they want you to do it all. There is more pressure to have a great job, make sure everything at home is great, and look like Beyoncé while you are doing it. As a small women owned business I am always looking to grow my business and make sure I keep the charm of being small. I have had many people surprised about me having my shop and making the pie. People like to put an age or gender on what you can accomplish in life.
So I love to prove them wrong! I feel like if you let them put barriers on you it makes you doubt your abilities, so I try really hard to not take things personally and try doing it another way when I get told I can’t.
Contact Info:
- Address: 103 S. San Jacinto St.
- Website: Bonafidebettiespieco.com
- Phone: 970-692-1457
- Email: weeatdessertfirst@gmail.com
- Instagram: @bonafidebettiespieco
- Facebook: Www.facebook.com/bonafidebettiespiecompany
Image Credit:
Meggie Taylor
Mike Rigney aka Speed Racer
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