Today we’d like to introduce you to Audrey McGinnis.
Audrey, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have a degree in Advertising and Communications from Southern Methodist University. From college, I ended up in Investor Relations, which is promoting public companies to Wall Street and not something that was ever on my radar….. it’s basically storytelling, which allowed me to do my favorite thing…. talk to people and teach them something! After 10 years in the business, our financial situation allowed me to become a stay-at-home mom to my then, 2 children. I have always loved to cook and when we started having children, I knew what my first tradition would be…making their birthday cakes! My road to baking started with my dad. He made all my birthday cakes growing up. They weren’t anything super fancy or complicated, but they were what I looked forward to the most each year! And, it was those memories and feeling of love that I wanted to continue sharing with my own children.
Early on, I tried to create cakes that were not the “norm”…. with both success and failure! But as more people came to my parties and saw my cakes, I started branching out and making cakes for other people. Strangers would go to my friend’s parties and then they would hire me and it just spread from there. It wasn’t a huge business at the time, but it did give me the chance to increase my skill beyond just my kid’s cakes. Fast forward several years and two more kids later and we come to 2008 and the crash our economy! I had been home for almost 9 years by this time. With my husband’s business slowing down by the day…. he was in real estate development, which disappeared, I had to find a way to help pay the bills. Going back into corporate was not really an option because it had been so long and what I had done before required a lot of travel and I now had 4 kids!
So, I began to cook, along with baking cakes. I started a service called “What’s for dinner Thursday” and would cook for our neighbors every Thursday. From there, I started making dinners for local real estate agents for their clients when they moved into their new houses. One of the offices asked me to cater and event, and even though I had never done it, I accepted the event for 125 people and a catering business was started!!! Around that same time, my kids challenged me to audition for Master Chef and so I did, and miraculously, I made the show! This really helped grow my business and open more doors for TV. I was honored to be included in the season 3 cookbook of the show as well! Since then, I have been on a lot of local morning shows, as well as Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship and CAKE WARS.
I am currently participating in a new cooking show as well, but not at liberty to give details at this time. It’s been a wild ride, but all along I have learned so much and have been given the amazing opportunity to share my passion for food with all sorts of people! Every Girl Gourmet as started after my experience on Master Chef with the concept of “if this every girl can cook (meaning ME), then every other guy and girl can cook too!” I go into people’s homes and show them how to prepare a 3-course meal in their own homes with their own equipment! You don’t have to be a trained chef to create delicious food! So today, I am a full-service catering company and cake artist! But, just when you thought I had got comfortable with what I was doing, something new came along….. Go-Go Dough!
After a client asked me to create an edible cookie dough for a marketing gift, and a local food truck had me create their base cookie dough, I once again thought, “why can’t I do that?” So, I started playing with ingredients and seriously had the DEVINE inspiration, to put it “on a stick.” Seriously, God woke me up at midnight with the thought of cookie dough on a stick! Four hours later, I had ordered molds and sticks and a new business was on its way!!! We are so excited to bring this concept to the masses! Everyone, we have shared our product with is excited and seems to really like it!! And really, who doesn’t like cookie dough! It’s the best part of making cookies!!
But now you don’t have to sneak a pinch from the bowl! We have put it in a perfect 2.5-ounce bar…. enough to satisfy the craving, without sending you to the gym for an extra workout!! We will be launching the online point of sales in a few weeks and will be available for in-person purchase at the Frisco Fresh Market in late Spring!
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?
As mentioned, the financial crisis of 2008 and beyond, really created a challenge for our family. Like so many other families, we had to be creative on how to pay the bills… that’s where food became such a large part of our lives. My husband really stepped up and was SO supportive of helping me grow my business. His contacts in the real estate market were crucial to my business success. It was through those contacts that some of my largest clients to date were discovered.
Another challenge was being a mom of four and trying to balance home and work, especially when there is a financial challenge going on…. it adds so much more stress to already crazy busy environment! But, our kids are amazing people and the whole experience only brought us closer to each other, especially me and my husband. We have been married for almost 22 years, but together for 32! (yes, we dated for 10 years before getting married! We were high school sweethearts) But, we have learned through our common faith that we are a team, grounded in a common belief that our strength doesn’t come from ourselves.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Every Girl Gourmet story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a one-stop shop for everything food related!! I am most known for my cakes. I strive to create one-of-a-kind creations! A lot of my clients want the cake to be the center point of their celebrations, so it makes my job both fun and challenging! It’s such a blessing to be included in family celebrations year after year! So many of my repeat clients have now become personal friends!
The trust they now give me gives me a greater creative license with their cakes. And while the cakes are the biggest attention-getter, my catering business is what really pays the bills. I am happy to say that my catering clients have now given me the same freedom as my cake clients. They just call and say, “make lunch for 75 people and just do whatever you want.” It really makes my job fun, because they’re so much freedom to be creative. I love telling people that I am a “boutique caterer”, which means that I don’t just have a set menu for them to choose from. I love working with the client to create specific menus that will fit their needs, themes, etc.
Once again, this allows for creativity! I think this is one of the things that sets me apart from others. I am most proud of the business itself… it was started out of the love my dad had for me and has turned into something beyond my wildest dreams. It has opened so many amazing opportunities for me to show people what I can do and how they can do it too. It’s also shown my kids that anything is possible if you just work hard and find something that makes you happy.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck… I believe that God has always had a plan for me and as long as I keep my eyes on Him, the path will be presented. I can’t say that I have always been the best at staying focused, but His grace has continued to stay focused on me and has carried me through many challenging journeys, some I brought on myself and others that were through circumstances beyond my control. He has opened so many doors and opportunities for me and continues to amaze me with His continued presence in my life. My family is truly blessed.
Contact Info:
- Website: everygirlgourmet.com and GoGoDough.com
- Phone: 972-740-4715
- Email: info@everygirlgourment.com
Image Credit:
Food Network
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
