Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiffini Adams.
Hi Tiffini, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am the owner and head baker of The Crumb Well Bakery which is a conscious baking experience that specializes in vegan and dairy-free baked treats. Interestingly enough, I’ve been baking since I was a little girl and became interested in baking everything from scratch after watching my mom meticulously whipped up her amazing sweet potato pie and banana pudding for family gatherings. I always wanted to bake like her because it somehow would put a smile on everyone’s face, so I too began making things with my own spin on it (always from scratch) because I desired to take control of what I was putting into my body and wanted to extend that same care onto the others around me. It became such a norm that people sort of expected to always be well fed in my presence and would get excited for my desserts.
During my second year of grad school at SMU (Southern Methodist University), I took a Mindfulness and Well-Being course where my professor challenged me to commit to a weekly task that brought me peace as I embarked on my Educational Leadership Capstone and document my findings for a grade. So, I remembered baking was the thing that I loved doing that I was missing out on while teaching full time, going to grad school and interning to become a principal. I was also a newlywed. In lieu of all of this, I discovered that I had P.C.O.S. (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), which basically means my hormones are out of whack! And after doing research, I realized my diet had quite a bit of control of how I could manage it-along with other things. Since I was newly committed to baking for this class, I began experimenting with dairy-free and vegan dessert options and fell in love.
Then came 2020, after graduating and completing my sixth year of teaching, I began trying to navigate into leadership positions, but due to the implications of Covid-19 restrictions and the difficulty of landing a new position, my husband encouraged me to pivot into another passion of mine; baking for others.
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?
I wouldn’t say everything has been smooth, but the support has been insurmountable. Right out the gate, our first patron at the Las Colinas Farmers Market was a God send. The gentleman bought one cupcake and gave me a $40 pay-it-forward cash offering from his church. It’s amazing how that was my very first sell. We’ve had a couple customers who have become dear friends. However, that’s not to say that we haven’t experienced a few hiccups. I’m still learning how to rely more on others because I’ve found that trying to control every tiny detail of the business by myself only stymies our growth and I had to get better with creating systems for our baking processes. One day our electricity went out before an event while baking cupcakes in the morning, so we had to prep in the dark before a market. My very first cake delivery was a train wreck so I’ve learned how to plan things out and to always have a contingency plan for when things go awry. There’s also the huge challenge of trying to put Texans on to the mere idea of veganism, that’s a huge challenge, but I love when they try our bakes and are surprised with how good it actually tastes.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Crumb Well Bakery?
Although we were established in 2020, we are moving full-steam ahead. We love baking specialty cakes and pastries that are vegan and dairy-free. We bake everything from scratch and do not use any artificial preservatives or GMOs and love to incorporate locally-sourced produce. We have an affinity for community and local farmers as well as small-business owners that we find at farmers markets. If there is a special occasion and you need some sweet treats, we offer a variety of different options from cakes to beignets and cookies. We deliver and do grab-and-gos around the Dallas Fort Worth area. Our specialty is our assortment of vegan cinnamon rolls with the most popular flavors being the Bourbon Pumpkin Pecan, Spiked Peach Cobbler, Blueberry and Cranberry Orange. Honestly, I think what sets us apart from others is that we’re not afraid to test the boundaries of peoples flavor profiles. We thrive off of being original and true to never using pre-mixed ingredients. We truly hope that all that we do is WELL received, down to the very last CRUMB. Doing custom orders and events all across the DFW metroplex is our jam.
Can you talk about how you think about risk?
From the company’s inception of May 2020, everyday is a risk. I think being an entrepreneur as a woman, as an African-American and from someone who is pivoting into a completely different career field is all one big, fat risk. Nothing about the business side of this experience has been comfortable. There’s a couple books that I often refer back to when I’m feeling crumby. I love the book Failing Forward because it teaches me that failure is inevitable, yet it’s about how you pick yourself up and resolve issues that matter. The other is The Lean Startup and that book helps me see how the business space operates in a continuum and how owners must apt, revise and revisit certain processes and procedures while tweaking them accordingly. Before opening the bakery, I was an educator who taught first through fifth graders and then began training teachers. That was my safe-area. It was all I knew that I was good at, but being a self-taught baker and testing things through trial and error and curating my own recipes is certainly risky business. But that’s the exciting part because I was an educator and had to teach others to be risk takers in the classroom and I’m now practicing my own philosophy and taking my own risks in the global classroom.
Pricing:
- Gourmet Vegan Cinnamon rolls $40
- 6 in” 3-layer Vegan Cake starting at $30
- Texas Turtle Cookies 1 dozen $20
- Vegan Fudgy Brownies $20
Contact Info:
- Email: thecrumbwell@gmail.com
- Website: www.thecrumbwell.com
- Instagram: @thecrumbwell
- Facebook: @thecrumbwell
Image Credits
Micah Adams
