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Interview with Lorin Rokoff and Laura Paterson – Co-founders of Hot Blondies Bakery
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http://shop.hotblondiesbakery.com/
I learned about Hot Blondies Bakery through Crain’s. They were the headline business in a feature article about online bakeries. A friend of mine from business school is considering a similar avenue so I opened up the Crain’s article to have a peek at what these ladies were up to. Laura's and Lorin's story of making the leap from stable jobs to entrepreneurship was inspiring so I hopped over to their site. Their market positioning and branding is unique and fun – I like the edge they take with their baking and they clearly have the business savvy to match their sumptuous baked goods!
Christa - What kind of work did you do before starting Hot Blondies Bakery? Did that work help to inform your own start-up?
LR: Laura and I met working at the Museum of the Moving Image. Laura was in marketing and I was in development. Neither of us had any experience in the food industry beforehand. Laura's background is in branding and marketing and mine was is in the nonprofit field.
LP: Lorin used to bring her baked goods into the office all the time and I was her biggest fan, especially of the blondies. I thought starting a company tying blondies (the baked goods) in with blondies the girls would be a sure fire hit. My experience in strategic marketing and brand development at Rockstar Games, where I spent seven years, has been extremely beneficial in how we’ve developed the brand of Hot Blondies Bakery.
LR: My experience at the nonprofit organization Hedge Funds Care, which was a start up when I began there, was a great help in teaching me various components of a start up in terms of legal, financial and the business end of things. However, no amount of training can prepare you for the food world. That has been a new and exciting learning curve for us and has kept us on our toes.
Christa - Was there a specific experience that made you realize you wanted to strike out on your own venture?
LP: Lorin and I are both creative people and we wanted to start a bakery that was different from all the rest. We saw a hole in the marketplace and decided that Hot Blondies Bakery was a perfect fit. New York City is saturated with bakeries specializing in cupcakes and most of them have that sweet, cutesy look and feel. Hot Blondies Bakery is not your average, traditional bakery. Our vibe is edgy, yet fun. From the conception, we knew we wanted to establish Hot Blondies Bakery as a unique, luxury baked goods brand specializing in blondies and brunettes online.
Christa - Did you feel any fear in starting your own business?
LR: Of course! There is always a fear of failure when you put everything on the line. Besides the obvious financial risks, part of me was terrified that people were only giving me lip service all of these years and my baked goods were not as good as I thought the were. Luckily, that was not the case.
LP: It’s always scary making a career change. Especially when you’re putting your savings into it. I’m a strong believer that you get what you give. Lorin and I are smart girls with an incredible work ethic, so we’ve never really doubted we’d be successful.
Christa - Did you keep your day jobs while getting Hot Blondies up and running? If so, how did you balance the two and when did you decide that you needed to and could focus on Hot Blondies full-time?
LR: We kept our day jobs in the beginning and were working basically every night and weekend. But I had to leave soon after because, once we started getting orders, the baking was too time consuming. Then Laura followed soon after once the good word of mouth spread and our orders started increasing rapidly.
Christa - What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs, particularly in this tough economy?
LR: Stay positive! If you have a good product, and offer discounts, people will buy. Try to rethink ways of pitching your product to fit in with the economic environment. For example, a lot of corporations are cutting costs in gift giving for the holidays. We offer them less expensive but still luxurious product that they can send out to clients.
LP: Make sure you love what you’re doing. Inevitably there will be ups and downs, but keep plugging away and good things will happen. It’s also important to network. Connecting with people has really helped us expand our reach.
Place your order for blondies and brunettes online at: http://shop.hotblondiesbakery.com/
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