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September 21, 2012

Behind the Scenes Live on KTLA


Happy Friday all you Sweet fans!

This past week we were so lucky to be asked to go Live on KTLA Morning News with Allie Mackay to talk a little about our business and how fortunate we have been to have an amazing kitchen such as the Chefs Center in Pasadena to be able to help what was once a small start up company to thrive in today’s economy without having the overhead of building out a kitchen and also giving us the opportunity to have a support team in place to start.  Unfortunately, when we scheduled the interview I didn’t realize I was actually going to be out on my 10th year anniversary with my husband in Maui so I turned the interviews over to my Sweet Team Margo, Rebecca, and Stephanie and I was so thrilled and impressed with the girls screening!  They really captured Goodie Girls just as I would have!  If you missed the show, you can watch all 3 segments here:


If you are familiar at all with our store, most of you know we do not bake in house.  We go to our kitchen at Chefs Center at 4:30am, bake up a storm, and transport everything to our store by 10:30am to open our doors! 

Before I went on Cupcake Wars, I never knew Cupcakes were going to consume my life!  After we filmed the 1st Cupcake Wars that we won, I knew this was what I wanted to do and I am the type of person who HAS to do what I love and give it my all.  So I started researching how I could make this all happen at a slower pace since I was still working a full time job.  I came across a couple different kitchens, but none of them compared to Chef’s Center across the board for me.  It’s conveniently located, not in the middle of a traffic bound area, it has a large open kitchen with the ability to have a private kitchen as well, it has rental storage space to keep all your goods there instead of transporting pans everyday, there are knowledgeable chefs on staff who can really help you learn the business side of things, and so much more.   The best part is you can rent it by the hour for $25/hr!!  So no monthly fees, no leases to sign, and yet you get an entire licensed kitchen to work from!   This was heaven.  So I started up at Chefs Center. 

My first few times I went were to do some charity work jobs I had gotten.  Then Larry from Chefs Center approached me and asked if we would like to be a part of their Friday Food Fairs.  At Chefs Center, they have these Food Fairs on Fridays that have rotating food trucks and then allow all the vendors who cook at the kitchen an opportunity to sell their products to the public.  This was amazing as it was the first time I would have a “store front” feel where I could set up my display how I would like and really see how people react to our cupcakes and also see how well they would sell.  And to be able to be a part of these trucks like the Grilled Cheese Truck, Slammin Sliders, and Coolhaus who have so many followers who could say no?  After the first Food Fair I was sold!  People were going crazy over our flavors and we kept getting asked “Where’s Your Storefront”?   I thought….storefront??  Oh yeah!  Lets do that!  Haha… so my husband and I without any hesitation went for it.  We lived in Glendale at the time and I was always in love with this building across the street.  I knew it was the PERFECT spot.  So one things led to another and within a week I had a store…well an empty shell, but I could see it all glammed up with pink and crystal chandeliers!  So for the next few months, we built the store out.  This is where Chefs Center REALLY helped me as well.  I decided to do a pre-packaged only store front and still continue to bake at Chefs Center.  This saved me thousands of start up dollars AND it was much less stressful to deal with all the permits and Health Department.  I chose to do it this way because I had never owned a food service store before and I really wanted to get a feel for what it would be like, test out recipes, get a marketing plan together, get my merchandise set, logo’s, test out what works as far as boxes and bags …. This was the perfect route to be able to really get a solid store running without having to feel in debt.  I also chose to have my store a little hidden as well to not have an overwhelmingly line outside my door (although always appreciated!!) immediately so I could get used to working a register, figure out how much product I would need daily so I wasn’t wasting or undercutting, etc. 

Now I am proud to say…we are opening store #2 in La Canada, Calif. In January 2013!!  This one IS in a shopping center and we are ready for the high traffic and high volume. 

My biggest advice to anyone starting a food business (online, wholesale, or storefront), come to Chefs Center (if you are local) or find a kitchen similar in your area and see what they can offer you.  It’s much easier to figure out what works and what doesn’t when you aren’t strapped in and in debt to begin with.  I will always thank everyone at Chefs Center for all their help and allowing me and my team to pursue our dreams!  There is no better feeling in the world than to do what you love to do! 

If any of you ever have any questions, I am always here to help!  You can email me at chefannette@thegoodiegirls.com.

For more info on Chefs Center please visit: www.chefscenter.org.

Here are more photos from our appearance Behind the Scenes:



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