Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendall Melton.
Kendall, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Vivian’s Boulangerie began in July of 2020 as a way to dip my toe into a decades-long dream of running my own bakery. My darling cat, Vivi, had passed away in January of that year from cancer and this was not only a way to honor her and work through the grief but a way to bring her larger-than-life personality to the community. What started as a side project quickly turned into a full-time gig.
During my career in pastry, I’ve always loved creating French-inspired pastries with a bit of a twist. Whether it comes in the form of local produce, an unexpected bit of salt, or a pile of glitter, I try to make the pastries stand out from the crowd. With Vivi as the face of the bakery, Austin has shown me how much people love their cats! They pose them with pastries, send me pictures of them, and even bring them to the ghost kitchen to meet me. It’s a wonderful shared experience and something I didn’t expect from just making pastries. Quite honestly, it’s my favorite part of creating Vivian’s.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not having a storefront has certainly been the most concrete challenge; folks are confused as to what we are, where we are, how we do things. People have been incredibly adaptable and willing to go outside their pre-2020 thoughts and beliefs to get to our ghost kitchen. It’s also been a, dare I say, fascinating challenge to navigate running a new business during a global pandemic amidst very important and necessary cultural shifts while trying to maintain a sense of sanity and humor. The very strange and surprising thing to see is that Vivian’s customers continue to support me as a human and the business itself. The immense dedication people have is wildly humbling.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well, it really all started with my mom. I grew up in Dallas, an alum of Ursuline Academy, and my mother is an amazing cook. I would do little things to help her in the kitchen, and she bought me kid-friendly cookbooks growing up so I could do it independently. It became an outlet for me, where I could escape the frustrations of the world, focus, and work out any issues, a bit of a meditation, really.
After college, my parents divorced, and I immediately went straight back to baking and cooking. At the time, I lived in a house with several roommates, and I would just cook, bake, cook and bake, and it became my therapy. Every time I attempted to dabble in a new career, I would always come back to the kitchen. My mother again became the catalyst for me to finally admit it was the career I was meant for and to start pursuing it. And both she and my dad were, and are, 100 percent behind me.
I’ve always felt that what sets me apart is the care and genuine joy that I put into my work. If I’m happy, excited, angry, full of rage – it all goes into the pastry, and I think the personality comes through. It sounds silly, of course, but I think the food I make tastes like home. It’s comfort and care, being able to nurture someone or bring back a memory, transport someone to a moment in time or a even into a dream. Of course it’s about technique and focus and business, but really, at the end of the day, it’s about love.
Most of all, I think the almond croissants are the stand-out pageant queens for me. I learned how to make them in Paris, and I still have lunch with the chef who trained me every time I go back to visit, he’s a lovely person. They’re crunchy, caramelized, soft, buttery – they’re like nothing you can typically find. Even sometimes, I’ll find myself slowing down and having one, dipping it in my coffee and wishing I was sitting at a café with a book, smoking a Gauloises, writing postcards, and watching the world go by.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Be yourself. Be weird, be loud, be sparkly, be passionate. Give a damn about people. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Listen, learn and do your best not to take it personally. I’ve been incredibly lucky in discovering mentors and networking. I have a few mentors that have been crucial to my success, personally and professionally, and it’s incredibly important to me to cherish and care for those relationships. I’ve found that vulnerability, while incredibly hard to show, is imperative. It’s okay to not know. It’s okay to learn. It’s okay to grow.
Contact Info:
- Email: kendall@viviansaustin.com
- Website: www.viviansaustin.com
- Instagram: @viviansatx
- Facebook: facebook.com/viviansatx
Image Credits
Christian Remde
