Today we’d like to introduce you to Becky Nelson.
Becky, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Phase 1: Creating a concept combining my passion for food and baking occurred in 2012 when I launched Le Gourmet Valet. Baked treats, gourmet gifts and gift meals were initially sold out of my home. My mission included promoting kindness, thoughtfulness and the notion of treating others as you would like to be treated… a.k.a. The Golden Rule. All orders were delivered to the customer’s home or office. Our tag line was Deliciousness delivered in Dallas.
Our first “storefront” was a booth at the St. Michael’s Farmers Market introducing our signature shortbread cookies, Not Too Spicy Pecans and prepared meals delivered to homes Monday – Thursday. The three summers at this neighborhood market served me well. I had moved back to Dallas after a dozen years of being away. The neighborhood Farmers Market gave me a chance to reconnect with old friends while introducing them to my new business.
Phase 2: From 2015 to mid-2017, we leased a church kitchen in the Devonshire/Greenway Parks area. It was a great next step. During this period, I was introduced to Sandy Korem, owner of Festive Kitchen. One of my dreams was to have our shortbreads sold by NeimanMarcus.com. However, I was certain the church kitchen was inadequately equipped to service an account like this. Sandy gave me a great pearl of wisdom; go after the business you want and figure out how you’ll fulfill once you have it. With her encouragement, I submitted several shortbread mockups to the epicure buying office at Neiman Marcus in Spring 2015. They selected one design packaged in our 12-piece gift box and it went online that October. Seeing our cookies in the Neiman Marcus gourmet catalog the first time was surreal… I was very glad I had listened to Sandy! To date, we have seven designs shipped all over the country throughout the year.
Given this new opportunity with Neimans, I realized I could not keep up the more complicated and demanding meal delivery service. In April 2016, it was eliminated. Shortbreads and catering, a natural addition, were the focus.
Phase 3: By the end of that year, we had outgrown the church kitchen and began looking for retail space in the same neighborhood. Being a shop owner had always been another dream of mine so when I discovered 870 sq. ft for lease just minutes from the church, I aggressively pursued it, signed lease and began design plans for the newly named company, Le Gourmet Baking.
The majority of the space is the commercial kitchen. It is outfitted with double convection ovens, commercial frigs and freezers, lots of prep tables and our vintage Hobart 30-quart mixer; a rectangular table in between the front of bakery and kitchen is our design and decoration center with a large dry erase board close by to keep track of the week’s orders.
The front of the bakery is bright, chic and cheery with beautiful chalkboard signage created by a close friend. Walk-in customers can place shortbread custom order, grab something from reach-in fridge stocked with containers of catering menu favorites… pimento cheese, chicken salad or roasted tomato soup.
It is a fun and convenient destination to visit. This Spring Break we offered cookie decorating classes for kids and have plans for adult classes and more Jr. decorating classes. We want to give you plenty of reasons to drop by!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, the road to Le Gourmet Baking has not been smooth. Here a couple of examples of my struggles.
Entrepreneurial dreams are gifts given to those of us with minds that never turn off, who love storyboards, wake up in the middle of the night with a new great idea and most prominently for me, imagine taking a product to market that will make a difference in people’s lives. Since childhood, I have thought out of the box, connected easily with others, loved competition and oozed with an adventuresome spirit. So many mentors along the way have encouraged me to become who I was meant to be. In contrast, my parents never understood this dimension of their baby girl. Stay between the lines my parents said.
In 2003, I heard Ina Garten speak. It rocked me and reawakened my dream for the umpteenth time. After emailing Ina, I received amazing response giving me 5 steps to starting my specialty food business. Trusting someone who I felt somehow related to, I began checking off her list which would take some years to accomplish.
Not only did my entrepreneurial dream shatter in 2006 but my personal life as well. My 25-year old marriage ended. I found out one morning on my way to yoga when my husband called and asked me to stop by his office. I sat across his desk and heard the words… I no longer want to be married to you.
Devastated does not describe my feeling about this unspeakable truth – failed marriage – even though looking back I subconsciously knew our relationship had major cracks.
Without a supportive spouse though, my lifelong dream of starting a business was impossible. Double failure. I had bills to pay, rebellious teenager to get through high school and pitiful resume qualifying me for retail or commission only sales. Life hurts. I was feeling hopeless for the first time in my life until
in 2012, the spiritual awakening occurred… through my hardships of getting fired twice, been beat down by several managers and earning unsatisfying paychecks, it was revealed to me to follow THE DREAM anyway. If not now, when? It’s not too late… even at 56! What if I failed? I would at least have tried. At least I had control over decisions being made about my life. These messages gave me hope and courage to DO IT, going outside lines of life like never before and officially becoming fulltime CEO of Le Gourmet Valet.
Today, humbled and forever a student learning daily how to become BOLDER (not just Bold) than I ever imagined, I continue to live out my dream. In 2017, I was turned down for a loan after my bakery space was half-way finished out. I owed the contractor $200k. I made SOS call to a new mentor who helped me put together a letter to friends and family to invest in my company. Within two months, I raised above that amount spread out among 20 individuals/couples. Challenges do not go away. However, nor does my determination and passion seeing this concept become a viable and profitable business while making a difference in others’ lives.
What should we know about Le Gourmet Baking? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?Our specialty is the shortbread cookie. The recipe is only 5-ingredients with no preservatives, therefore, has about a week shelf life. The premium ingredients add to the integrity of this cookie. We roll out the dough extra thick making them soft and cake-like instead of crisp like a traditional shortbread. Once baked, we glaze and decorate with a holiday, seasonal or custom designs. The shortbreads are packaged in one of several gift boxes and make a very personal gift that can be picked up at the store or shipped.
These hand decorated shortbreads are beautiful but as important they taste as good as they look. The shortbreads are labor intensive and the pricing reflects the time and talent required. If you come by the store, we offer samples of our shortbread for you to decide if they are as good as I am telling you.
There is no doubt how proud I am of having our shortbreads sold through NeimanMarcus.com. The cookie was created with a Neiman Marcus customer in mind and apparently, we accomplished that goal.
Another area of great pride is having the support of my three adult children throughout this journey. Without their encouragement and help, I would not be where I am today. My youngest, Ellan, has worked with me full time and part time since 2012. She has kept the website current and attractive with an e-commerce capability. She oversees our social media and my #1 marketing resource. Ellan lives in Austin. Whitney, an attorney by trade here in Dallas. She has helped with all things legal and is a go-to to discuss a plethora of decisions popping up constantly. Paul, my oldest, lives in NYC and brings his expertise in data analysis and excel sheets to the business. I love having our relationships deepen as we experience the ups and downs, highs and lows of building a business.
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
I feel I have had an advantage of getting my foot in the door because of the gift relational connection with people in general. Relating to people, displaying vulnerability and candidness goes a long way in getting a person’s attention and developing that first line of credibility. Women often do this far better than men in my humble opinion.
I also have discovered how important it is to find other women to champion you. I find other business women best understand what I have been through/going through and want to help see “a sister” continue moving forward toward her goals and achieving them. If at all possible, I’ll chose another woman to assist me in areas I lack experience or knowledge. As mentioned earlier, when having to raise capital for the construction of the space, I was referred to a friend of a friend. Carol was a retired banker and now works for non-profit helping women raise venture capital. She believed in my cause and helped me put together letter and documents to my friends and family to invest in my company over a weekend. Carol empowered me with her knowledge to dig out of a deep hole I found myself in while others before her tippy toed around issues and were not transparent with facts and obstacles. Surrounding myself with other strong and successful women has been a critical strategy to moving forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: LeGourmetBaking.com
- Phone: 469-3997460
- Email: becky@legourmetbaking.com
- Instagram: Le Gourmet Baking
- Facebook: Le Gourmet Baking
- Other: Linked in – Becky Nelson
Image Credit:
Koi Images and Events – Kristina Fanelli
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