Today we’d like to introduce you to Mikala Everson
Hi Mikala, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up loving to bake. I have been in the kitchen since as long as I can remember. I never knew I could make this a career but now I can’t imagine doing anything else. My Granny was the one who got me to fall in love with baking. She and I use to bake together all the time. She is the one who pushed for me to make this a career and we talked about opening a bakery together. Unfortunately, she passed away my sophomore year of high school. I made it my life’s mission to open this bakery and teach everyone what granny taught me. A week later the Culinary Institute of America came to my high school so I knew it was a sign to make this dream come true for the both of us. As soon as I graduated from Prosper High School, I started at the Culinary Institute that summer. I got the opportunity to learn from chefs who have been in the industry for decades. We had a different class every three weeks that focused on a specific part of the industry. For example, we had a class for breads, entremets, confections, chocolates, etc. One of my favorite parts of the program was our externship. We got to choose where to work for an entire semester so we can get a glimpse of what it will be like before we graduate. I moved to California to work at Google. I spent time in their pastry kitchen, I learned how to be a barista, and assist the savory chef in their innovation kitchen where googlers learned how to cook. Shortly after I finished the externship, I graduated with my associates degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. After graduation I had some down time before I could start my bachelor’s program. I chose to pack everything up and move to Tennessee. I got the opportunity to work at Gaylord Opryland as one of their many pastry chefs. It was really cool to experience a fusion of fine dining and catering. They had events all the time and it was cool to experience pastries on such a high volume. After my time in Tennessee, I moved back to New York to start my bachelor’s degree. I studied business administration with a minor in Entrepreneurship. In this degree we got to come up with business concepts, pitch them, and then make the winning concept come to life. We had an innovation kitchen in our dining hall that changed every semester for the students that went through this program. Our class went with the concept of bao buns and called it Bao Town. We created a business plan, created manuals, hired people and ran the restaurant on a small scale. It helped us realized the true struggles that business owners face to run a successful establishment. We ended up having the highest profit from all fourteen concepts that went through that kitchen. This degree really confirmed for me that I am right where I am supposed to be. After graduation I worked on National Geographic Cruise Lines as their pastry chef. I loved this job. Not only did I get to travel the world doing what I loved I got to learn how to be 100% self-sufficient. I prepped five breakfast pastries, three lunch pastries, and a plated dessert for dinner as well as thirty loafs a bread a day. I worked on the boats until covid hit. This ended being the biggest blessing for me because that lead me here today.
Alright, 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?
My journey wasn’t the easiest, but I always remembered my why. Why I did this, why I wanted to make a difference, and who I did this for. After a ton of prayer and waiting for God’s timing, I knew this is where I needed to be. I learned that what I wanted wasn’t always what the customer wants. I learned that everyone on my staff has different strengths and to lean on those. I learned that this is a lot of hard work, but I love coming to work everyday. I learned a WHOLE LOT about construction because I have never built a house or store before, so I got the fast track version of how it works at the ripe age of 24. I learned that budgeting and costing is what makes or breaks your business as well as marketing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The bakery has baked goods (such as cakes, brownies, cookies, cake balls, truffles and custom cakes), breads that are baked fresh daily, coffee, beer, wine, charcuterie boards, grab and go salads, grab and go sandwiches, and a party/classroom for events.
Our whole concept is pretty unique. We are going for the all-in-one approach. We have everything you need to come and hangout. If you want something sweet you can grab a pastry and some coffee and if you want to come spend the afternoon with a glass of wine with a nice charcuterie board or sandwich you can do that too. We also offer classes to find everyone’s inner pastry chef. I will teach you how to frost cakes, make bread, pipe, or even pair wines with food. If you love Granny’s as much as I do you can host a party there. We have a conveyor belt oven where you can make your own cupcake. You will customizing your own batter, put it in the conveyor belt, fill, frost, and decorate your cupcake just the way you like it. We also have a completely visible kitchen. We want you to feel as involved as possible. We want you to feel like you are home with us learning all the things we love about baking. I also have my first car in the bakery that we use as a display for our cookies and brownies.
Any big plans?
My future plans are to hopefully expand and open more Granny’s around the DFW area.
I am pretty adaptive right now with the bakery and we change with demand (like recently we added Blue Bell Ice cream because we had so many request for it).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://grannyssweeties.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grannys_bakery_celinatx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grannyssweetiescakeandconfections/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@grannys_bakery
