Sarah from Three Bowls Bakery is one of my newest friends and (in my humble opinion) one of the best bakers in the Cypress area! I love supporting small, local businesses, and my past orders from Three Bowls Bakery did not disappoint. Most importantly, Sarah is a great mama to her three sweet boys and does a great job of keeping it real on what motherhood and owning a small business looks like. Spoiler – it’s busy! Follow her on instagram and Facebook for lots of bakery behind the scenes and subsequent drooling.
We are doing a giveaway of a dozen of her delicious cookies on my instagram. Please go check it out and enter if you are in the Cypress area!
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Without further adieu, here’s my interview with Sarah!
Tell us a little bit about you and your family.
I had never imagined myself as an entrepreneur. My dad is a serial entrepreneur and honestly, seeing some of his struggles had previously had me thinking that I would NEVER go down that road! Isn’t it funny how when we say “never” God seems to say “you’ll see…”? I’ve always loved to bake, and one of my biggest passions has always been feeding people. I love to make people smile, and it’s been my experience that a delicious cookie or cupcake will ALWAYS make somebody smile and brighten their day. That’s what I live for! My husband and I have been together since we were ten years old. I think we’ve always known on some level that we were going to be together forever, even when we were little. We’ve been through everything together and I feel so blessed that we’ve been able to be there for each other as we have grown up. We’ve been married since October of 2010 (7.5 years) and we have three boys who are each about two and a half years apart. Aaron is six and a half, Ezra is almost four and Judah is 18 months old. They are my number one taste testers and they love to help me in the kitchen!
When and how did Three Bowls Bakery start and where did you get the name?
Three years ago our family decided to sell some chocolate chip cookies to raise money to buy blankets to hand out to homeless people on the street. My husband took two dozen cookies to work one day as samples and he came home with orders for 30 dozen cookies! At that point we realized that God had big plans for our little fundraiser. We sold 140 dozen cookies in the span of 21 days which purchased 120 blankets, 66 bottles of body wash, 144 combs, 65 hair brushes and 90 full sized candy bars for The Mission of Yahweh homeless shelter. That was before the official birth of Three Bowls Bakery!. The following year, we decided to make it official and start a home bakery. We named it Three Bowls Bakery for our three boys. We almost named it Three Whisks Bakery, but that wasn’t nearly as catchy! We launched it when our third son was only three months old. It’s been a whirlwind experience, but SO rewarding!
Where did the idea come from for your Cookies for a Cause fundraiser, and how has it grown?
Before our very first fundraiser, our oldest son (who was three at the time) saw a homeless person on the side of the road and asked my husband why he was there. My husband explained that he didn’t have a home to go to and asked Aaron what he thought we could do to help him. Aaron said that he wanted to build him a house. Asa explained that we didn’t have the resources to build him a new house, but we could probably give him something to help keep him warm. The first year (2015) we bought blankets and other items (see above), the second year (2016) we sold 235 dozen cookies in order to buy enough coats for the entire Mission of Yahweh homeless shelter (140 coats) and this past year (2017) we sold 133 dozen cookies, raised $3300 and provided 168 coats for three different Houston organizations.
What has been the high point for you as a business owner?
I don’t think it’s what most people would expect. My absolute favorite part of owning a small business has been building a community. I never wanted Three Bowls Bakery to be just about people buying delicious baked goods from me. I’ve poured my heart and soul into the bakery and SO many people have responded to it! I’ve found new friends and encouragers. I’ve learned so much about myself and I’ve been able to meet the most incredible people. God has really been driving this entire idea, and every step of the way He has provided opportunities for me to stretch my wings and come into my own as the woman He created me to be, and it has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Every day is a new high point!
What advice would you give to someone wanting to start their own business?
FIGURE OUT YOUR “WHY”! Figure out WHY you want to do what you want to do. If it’s just to make money… don’t do it. Find a better reason. Find purpose beyond getting paid, because if your heart and soul isn’t in it for more than that, your customers/clients will sense it and you won’t get very far. My second piece of advice would be to prepare yourself to work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life. Building a business from scratch is a marathon of epic proportions, and there will be SO many ups and downs. Don’t let the failures defeat you, and celebrate every little win that comes your way!
What does the future look like for Three Bowls Bakery? Any big projects?
Honestly, we don’t have a perfectly clear picture yet of where we want to take our business! We know that we do want to grow it and eventually run out of a commercial kitchen or a bakery with a little cafe. More than anything we want God to be in charge of where it goes, because apart from Him we never would have even started!
If you own a small business in the Cypress area and are interested in being featured in my Cypress Spotlight series, reach out to me at route2healthandwealth@gmail.com.
