The Forrager Podcast for Cottage Food Businesses
The Forrager Podcast for Cottage Food Businesses helps listeners start a home-based food business by sharing stories from cottage food entrepreneurs across the United States. Host David Crabill interviews people who legally sell homemade food under their state's cottage food law, explaining how they grew their operations. Episodes cover marketing and selling from home, online, at farmers markets and events, and in stores. Listeners learn practical steps to take—and mistakes to avoid—when launching a cottage food business.
Episodes
Why People Pay $33 for Something They Could Make at Home
Jackie Struble of Nolensville, TN shares how she got a little-known product into stores in 7 towns by educating customers, pricing with confidence, & staying intentionally small as a one-woman shopGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/178
Why Her Cakes Sell Out 18 Months Ahead (It’s Not the Decorating)
Sara Jean Warnow of Topeka, KS shares how she built a wildly in-demand cake business with an 18-month waitlist by focusing on community, storytelling, & generosity rather than traditional marketingGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/177
This Couple Bet $5,000 Before Making a Single Sale — Here’s What Happened
Matt & Ammie Dudley of Collinsville, IL share how they turned a $5k bet into a successful cottage food business by relentlessly tracking data and focusing on the three Ps: product, people & packagingGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/176
“I Thought It Was a Scam, But It Was an 800-Cookie Order!”
Ashley Withers of Salisbury, NC shares how she quickly grew her cottage food bakery by focusing on marketing, networking, & product quality, despite ignoring trends & juggling stay-at-home mom dutiesGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/175
Six Figures From a Home Kitchen: Jennie Teske’s Gluten-Free Bakery
Jennie Teske of North Branch, MN shares how she built a rare 6-figure cottage food business without being salesy by selling exceptional products, leveraging systems, and supporting her communityGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/174
The Crazy Cotton Candy Lady: Turning a Childhood Dream Into a Business
Kristie Armstrong of Shelburne, VT shares her crazy story of how she quit her job and turned her passion into a successful business, despite lacking confidence due to being labeled "dumb" as a childGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/173
A Bakery Built on Saying No: Betsy Tranquilli’s Intentional Small Business
Betsy Tranquilli of Waimea, HI shares how she built a unique and successful bakery that works around her busy schedule by staying true to her identity and focusing on what she's most passionate aboutGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/172
Cupcakes Paid the Bills: Amber’s Cottage Food Survival Story
Amber Stokstad of St. Cloud, MN shares how a dark time in her life turned into a rainbow: a cottage food business that has had a profound impact on her family, her community, & her personally as wellGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/171
She Collects Ocean Water and Turns It Into $25 Jars of Salt
Anna Eves of Cape Ann, MA shares how she turned a unique passion into a successful cottage food business by focusing on quality, branding, & community, despite facing unusual challenges along the wayGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/170
She Got Sued for a Wedding Cake… and Won (Porsha Kimble’s 6-Figure Baking Journey)
Porsha Kimble of Dallas, TX shares her 20-year journey including starting as a home baker, competing on the Food Network, teaching around the world, and building a 6-figure packaged food businessGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/169
Nurse Turned Jelly Maker — 50+ Flavors, 10 Stores, All From Her Home Kitchen
Halei Musil of Crescent, OK shares how her unique award-winning products led her to a surprising cottage food business journey that has enabled her to become an integral part of her local communityGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/168
From Empty Nester to Cookie Business Explosion: How Tammy Brennan Transformed Her Life
Tammy Brennan of Vancouver, WA shares how she started a cottage food business as an empty nester and grew it into a huge success, with hour-long lines at markets and over 150k followers on InstagramGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/167
One Year of Slow Sales — Then Everything Changed
Yanhui Chen of Virginia Beach, VA shares how she transitioned from a cottage food business to a food truck and built a thriving business by constantly trying new things until she found what workedGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/166
From Laid Off to $55K: The Cottage Food Business Success of Kathleen & Drew
Kathleen & Drew Meyer of Boerne, TX share how they reached over $55k in sales within their first year in business by staying adaptable, implementing efficient business systems, and leveraging AIGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/165
From Math Teacher to Cake Pop Mogul: Amy Mucha’s Multi-Million Dollar Journey
Amy Mucha of Kent, OH shares how she massively scaled her home bakery and now sells over 100,000 cake pops per year, and then created a cake pop supplies business that is revolutionizing the industryGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/164
Katrina Bland with Sweet Benefits
Katrina Bland of Catonsville, MD shares how she boosted her small cottage food business by investing in professional coaching, focusing on ecommerce, and landing large corporate ordersGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/163
Beth Ford with Joe’s Bakery – Baton Rouge
Beth Ford of Baton Rouge, LA shares how she found new purpose, passion, and peace in life by opening a cottage food bakery and growing it until she could quit her job and focus on the bakery full-timeGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/162
Lauren “Lolly” Anderson with Lolly’s Home Kitchen
Lolly Anderson of Sioux Falls, SD shares how cookies literally changed her life and led her to build a successful cottage food bakery and a digital product business that has done over $1M in salesGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/161
Brandy Nelson with Wild Currant Alaska
Brandy Nelson of Soldotna, AK shares how she built a strong customer base by selling very unique and healthy products, and the challenges she needs to consider to continue scaling her business furtherGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/160
Nicole Bendig-Lamb with Snarky Sweet Cake Chick
Nicole Bendig-Lamb of Arvada, CO shares how she overcame self-doubt and became not just a successful cottage food entrepreneur, but also a recognized influencer, author, speaker, and business coachGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/159
Melanie Scofield with Farm & Flour
Melanie Scofield of Jacksonville, OR shares how her battle with cancer led her to create one of the country's best farm stands by focusing on building community, serving others, and being consistentGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/158
Jacy Vinson with Joy-Full Bites
Jacy Vinson of Eagle River, AK sells both physical and digital products with her bakery business and shares how this hybrid approach has allowed her to provide for her family in a sustainable wayGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/157
Tanya & Mike Clowers with South Street Cookies
Tanya & Mike Clowers of Williamsburg, IA share how their cottage food bakery literally changed their life, saved them from financial trouble, and led them to quickly grow a huge social media followingGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/156
Alecia Ryan with Lee Cee Pie
Alecia Ryan of Ardmore, PA shares how she built her cottage food business into a success by focusing on branding and customer relationships, despite facing many unpredictable changes along the wayGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/155
Katie Sacoman with Sweet Pea Bakery
Katie Sacoman of Albuquerque, NM shares how she transitioned from custom orders to markets to wholesale by remaining adaptable and embracing the messiness that comes with growing your own businessGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/154
Alina Eisenhauer with Cottage Baking Success Academy
Alina Eisenhauer of Worcester, MA shares the lessons learned from growing her small bakery into a major restaurant, including avoiding burnout, becoming profitable, and leveraging productive systemsGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/153
Lisa He with My Custom Bakes
Lisa He of Orlando, FL shares how she built on her success as a cottage food baker by creating a popular online course business and a thriving software business for cottage food entrepreneursGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/152
Lisa He with Borderlands Bakery
Lisa He of Orlando, FL shares how she built a thriving cottage food bakery, won a Food Network competition, and leveraged that success by creating a popular cookie decorating supply businessGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/151
Cottage Food Influencers
In this special 150th episode, many cottage food industry influencers share some of their best business advice for cottage food entrepreneurs on the topics of mindset, marketing, management, and moneyGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/150
Alanna Ti’a with Sugar, Butter, & Flour
Alanna T'ia of Columbia, MO shares how she became a 6-figure baker by creating a professional setup with streamlined systems, exceptional customer service, and consistent high-quality productsGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/149
Lauri Lee & Bob Stafford with Lauri Lee’s
Lauri Lee & Bob Stafford of Surprise, AZ share the strategies they’ve used to scale their business by becoming a major presence at markets, adding wholesale accounts, switching to a copacker, and moreGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/148
Soralla Gonzalez with Delicious Healthy Bakes
Soralla Gonzalez of Tampa Bay, FL shares how she has overcome struggles to find customers by being resilient, implementing marketing strategies, failing fast, and staying focused on her true passionGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/147
Stacey Kimball with Bluebird Confections
Stacey Kimball of Caldwell, ID shares how she went from cottage food to commercial kitchen to her own storefront by building relationships with her community and focusing on slow and consistent growthGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/146
Amanda Sharp with The Little Bakery
Amanda Sharp of McCalla, AL shares how she fulfilled her lifelong dream of building a successful bakery, despite overcoming health challenges and facing a curveball that almost wiped out her salesGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/145
Annie Wang with Little Moon Bakehouse
Annie Wang of Oakland, CA shares how she turned multiple passions into a very successful hyper-niched and eco-friendly bakery by starting small, scaling up, and completing a massive rebrandGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/144
Ana Delgado with Apple & Jars
Ana Delgado of Wingdale, NY shares her incredible cottage food business journey that includes starting over twice, overcoming a midlife crisis, and dealing with burnout on her unlikely path to successGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/143
Georgi DeCosta with Georgi’s Goodies
Georgi DeCosta of Kaneohe, HI shares how she used baking to help overcome depression, and turned her baking therapy into a legitimate cottage food business that has given her a new purpose in lifeGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/142
Rita Magalde with Sheer Ambrosia
Rita Magalde runs Sheer Ambrosia in Salt Lake City, UT and shares her roller coaster baking business journey of 17 years that includes big risks, life changes, surprises, failures and successesGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/141
Michelle Chesser with Home Sweet Home Bakery
Michelle Chesser of Millersville, MO started her home bakery 16 years ago from humble beginnings and built it into a "monster" that changed her family's life and led her to become an online influencerGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/140
Chris Martin with bakernobakery
Chris Martin of Charlottesville, VA shares how she used her experience working at 3-star Michelin restaurants to build a successful cottage food bakery, and then reinvented it despite its popularityGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/139
Davia Delgado with Raven Cakes Bakery
Davia Delgado of Trenton, NJ has experienced incredibly fast growth in her cottage food bakery, and shares how she achieved many $2k and $3k sales days within her first year of businessGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/138
Elena-Maria Hert with European Baked Delights
Elena-Maria Hert of Billings, MT shares how she persisted to create a successful cottage food bakery, despite struggling to acquire customers, source ingredients, and achieve work/life balanceGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/137
Allyson Grant with The Better Baker Club
Allyson Grant of Baldwin City, KS shares her wild journey from starting a home bakery to growing a chain of cupcake stores, appearing on the Food Network, and coaching cottage food entrepreneursGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/136
Rachel Laukala with Cakepops by Rachel
Rachel Laukala of Ravensdale, WA shares how she built a very successful cottage food bakery selling only cake pops, amassed over 100k followers on Instagram, and started an online cake pop schoolGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/135
Meggen Wilson with Pine & Palm Kitchen
Meggen Wilson of Whitefish, MT shares how she converted her cottage food business into an ecommerce brand, and covers many topics including licensing, branding, copacking, ecommerce, SEO, email & moreGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/134
Matt Rosen with Sergeant Shortbread
Matt Rosen of Eden Prairie, MN shares his unlikely journey from non-baker to bakery owner, including a major rebrand, a fortuitous commercial facility, and a business decision that tripled his salesGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/133
Delaney Peters with Delaney’s Sourdough
Delaney Peters of Wasilla, AK shares how her cottage food bakery became a massive success within its first year, despite having modest business ambitions and also being a stay-at-home mom of an infantGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/132
Maci Reed with Bake-a-Reed
Maci Reed of Dover, NH shares how she rapidly built a successful cottage food bakery by focusing on helping others and fostering community, and eventually sold over 1,000 baked goods in a single dayGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/131
Denise Golia with Dee’s Little Sweets
Denise Golia of North Providence, RI shares how she started a very successful bakery by niching way down, despite being limited by a personal injury and not being able to start from her home kitchenGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/130
Jondell Lafont-Garcia with Fluff Marshmallow Co.
Jondell Lafont-Garcia of Pflugerville, TX is one of the foremost experts in the homemade marshmallow trend and shares how she built her cottage food business despite facing a major personal challengeGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/129
Wynter Hosier with Etta’s Gooey Goodies
Wynter Hosier of Greentown, IN shares how she built her cottage food bakery into a successful storefront by persevering and giving back, despite facing many unexpected twists and turns along the wayGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/128
Joan Eppehimer & Jason Madison with Aunt Joan’s Pearl City Popcorn
Joan Eppehimer of Jamestown, NY shares how she raised thousands of dollars for charity with a cottage food business, and (with the help of her nephew Jason) rebranded her business to boost salesGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/127
Kristi Otto with One More Bite Organic Desserts
Kristi Otto of Fort Myers, FL shares how she leveraged her extensive food industry experience to succeed with her cottage food bakery, despite her community not resonating with her products initiallyGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/126
Nicole DiMarco with All About The Freeze
Nicole DiMarco of West Deptford, NJ shares how she took the leap with a new product, and leveraged her sales, retail, and social media experience to quickly start a successful cottage food businessGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/125
Steph Uittenbogaard with Fifi’s Patisseries
Steph Uittenbogaard of Loveland, CO never thought she'd run her own home bakery, and she shares her atypical business journey, including both the triumphs and challenges that she's faced along the wayGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/124
Jenn Bowersock with Jenn’s Backstube
Jenn Bowersock of Sidney, OH runs an authentic German bakery from her home, and shares how she went from struggling as an entrepreneur to experiencing rapid success by finding product/market fitGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/123
Alexis Kron with Bakednaz
Alexis Kron of Bullhead City, AZ shares how she built a successful cottage food bakery selling luxury custom cakes, despite overcoming personal challenges and facing resistance from her communityGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/122
Tyler & Angie Worthey with Worthey Peppers
Tyler Worthey of Neoga, IL shares how he built a very successful cottage food business during high school, and how he and his mom Angie now work together as a mother/son team to take it to new heightsGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/121
Ka’Terra Dettbarn with Sweet Addiction
Ka’Terra Dettbarn of Ocean City, MD endured lots of trial and error when starting a cottage bakery with her sister, but by persisting and listening for guidance, they transformed it into a successGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/120
Valerie Allensworth with The Donut Lady
Valerie Allensworth of Sitka, AK shares how she built a very successful cottage food business by focusing on consistency, despite living on a remote island in Alaska and facing many unique challengesGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/119
Marci Larson with Kahler’s Cakes
Marci Larson of Sioux Falls, SD shares how she turned her longtime dream of selling baked goods into a reality and built a successful cottage food business by selling wholesale and at many eventsGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/118
Jenifer & Tristan Hoke with The Drunken Chef
Jenifer & Tristan Hoke of Tecumseh, OK share how they used sheer persistence to overcome early sales struggles, and found a business model that works so well that they now can't keep up with demandGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/117
Rob Sanz with Rise Artisan Sourdough
Rob Sanz of Rockville, MD shares how he's added a cottage food bakery to a busy family life and career, and why he has intentionally kept his microbakery small, even though he could easily grow itGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/116
Elisa Marie Lords with Elisa Marie Baking
Elisa Marie Lords of Placentia, CA shares how she overcame early struggles with her sales and built a thriving cottage food bakery by focusing on community, consistency, and customer serviceGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/115
Tiffany Hill with Think Pink Bakers
Tiffany Hill shares how she built on her success as a cottage food baker by creating a thriving online community/course and a packaging business, both of which have experienced unprecedented growthGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/114
Tiffany Hill with The Pink Crumbb
Tiffany Hill of Apple Valley, CA shares how she switched careers and built a full-time income from her cottage food bakery, after initially struggling to make sales and nearly shutting it downGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/113
Mark Elvidge with Vermont Nut Free Chocolates
Mark Elvidge shares how he and his wife started Vermont Nut Free Chocolates from home in 1998 and built it into an international brand with over 1,000 wholesale locations and constant growth each yearGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/112
Monique Germaine with Kneading to Bake
Monique Germaine of Nashville, TN shares how she built and rebuilt her cottage food bakery in 3 different states, plus a crazy commercial food business journey that got her products into big retailersGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/111
Michelle Dukes with The Cookie Cutters
Michelle Dukes of Penfield, NY shares why she shifted her business model after 10 years of running a cottage food bakery, while keeping focus on the most important aspect of her business: having funGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/110
Shupan Abraham with Cakes By Shupan
Shupan Abraham of Lawrenceville, GA shares how her cottage food bakery transformed once she hired a coach, and what she's learned about putting herself out there and marketing her business effectivelyGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/109
David Bock with Buzzed Honeys
David Bock of Altadena, CA runs a multifaceted honey business that specializes in rescuing honey bees, and he shares local marketing tips that helped him build an email list of 3,500+ subscribersGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/108
Jessi Deily with Colby Jack Rabbit
Jessi Deily of Helena, MT sells macarons and custom-decorated meringue cookies with her cottage food business and shares her journey from struggling artist to successful baker and TikTok influencerGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/107
Eric & Denise Steilberger with Fudge De Fûge
Eric & Denise Steilberger of Ocala, FL sell their homemade fudge all year long and share how the lessons they learned from running a cafe in Alaska helped them build a successful cottage food businessGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/106
Kristyn Suemnick with Old Oak Sourdough
Kristyn Suemnick of Murrieta, CA shares how her discovery of sourdough bread led to building a thriving home bakery that allows her to stay at home with her kids and better connect with her communityGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/105
Megan Shonka with Happy Mango Bakery
Megan Shonka of Papillion, NE shares the highs and lows of her home-based bakery journey, the importance of being involved in her community, and her plans to expand into a brick-and-mortar storefrontGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/104
Angela Awunor with Angyono Cakes
Angela Awunor of Glenn Dale, MD shares how she moved her thriving custom cake business from a commercial kitchen into her home, and how she maintains work-life balance with two full-time careersGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/103
Denae Spiering with The Sugar Shack
Denae Spiering of Bridgeville, DE shares how she realized her long-time dream of building a brick-and-mortar bakery despite life getting in the way and pausing her cottage food business for many yearsGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/102
Deanna Martinez-Bey with The Fiery Whisk Bakery
Deanna Martinez-Bey of Wake Forest, NC is a multi-faceted food entrepreneur and shares her experience in building a cottage food bakery, writing books, managing social media, and running pop-up eventsGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/101
Episode 100: Where Are They Now?
In this very special 100th episode, previous guests come back on to share an update of what's changed since they were last on the show, what's surprised them, and what they've learned along the wayGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/100
Starting A Mission-Driven Business with Nancy Chang
Nancy Chang of Oakland, CA sells healthy soups with her home-based micro-restaurant and shares how her mother's battle with cancer inspired her to provide nourishing food to those facing health issuesGet full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/99
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