Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevika Rustagi.
Hi Kevika, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in the north suburbs of Chicago and I have loved to bake for as long as I can remember. No matter what job I was working or where I lived, baking was always one of my favorite hobbies; it allows me to relax, let go, and focus all my energy into what I am making. I earned my bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and started working in downtown Chicago, but I wasn’t finding as much fulfillment in my job as I wanted. I decided to make a change and move to Texas to work on my master’s degree.
I fell in love with the constant sun and slower pace of living in Denton, so after getting my masters I started teaching high school math in Denton. With the craziness of starting a job that required so much of my energy, it was hard to find spare time to bake. Once quarantine started, I was teaching from home and finally had some free time. I was baking so frequently that I had new baked goods every day, it was so much fun to get back into baking. My family encouraged me to look into selling baked goods, and with a lot of research, we started The Secret Lab.
I applied to be a vendor at the Denton Community Market on a whim and I am so grateful that I did. Being at the Community Market, surrounded by small businesses, inspires me to keep working harder on what I love. There is a strong support system of encouraging small business owners with so much passion for what they do – it reminds me every weekend that I should continue to share my passion with them too.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have been a few challenges to starting a small business while working a full time job; being a teacher can be overwhelming in itself, so baking in addition to teaching has been an adjustment. It is currently my third year teaching and I bake every evening after work, which helps me recharge after a long day. I absolutely love being able to bake for other people and try to update the menu so that there is always something new, but it gets difficult when I’m exhausted from a long week of work I’m still learning how to keep a balance between work, baking, resting, and my mental health. Even though it is a struggle to keep up some days, seeing so many excited faces for something that I’ve baked makes it all worth it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The Secret Lab specializes in baked goods ranging from sweet desserts to savory snacks. We are known for having nostalgic snacks that are baked completely from scratch. Some of our most popular menu items are our versions of oatmeal creme pies, cosmic brownies, pop tarts, and cheese its. I love seeing how excited people are when they are able to try a recreation of their favorite childhood snack entirely baked from scratch.
I like to experiment with recipes and create different flavors of popular items. We have had variations of our oatmeal creme pies that include s’mores, maple bourbon, and coffee cream. People love coming to try the next new flavor we have because they are the ones who decide what the flavor will be. I will enjoy involving our customers in the process, so I post 2 different options in a poll on Instagram – the winner of the poll is the flavor or item that I try to create for the next weekend. It keeps baking fun and exciting for me and it keeps the menu interesting so people can try the flavor they voted for. If you want to help decide our next menu item or flavor, follow us on Instagram: @ToTheSecretLab.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I absolutely love Denton – the culture of supporting local and small businesses is contagious. I adore the support system between small business owners – everyone is pulling each other up and helping each other out. Many times, we have customers who come to us saying that another small business told them to come try our snacks. There is so much positivity in Denton surrounding shopping local and everyone is looking to share their favorite businesses with each other. I love going to the small businesses in Denton and interacting with people who remember your name and love to talk to you every time they see you.
Contact Info:
- Email: TheSecretLabDenton@gmail.com
- Website: https://thesecretlab.wixsite.com/my-site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tothesecretlab/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSecretLabDenton
