Often times at shows or events, I get asked - "How did you start doing this?" and I've never had a great answer. Or at least, not one I can give in a 30 second elevator pitch. So here's a little backstory on how Barkville Bakery got started.
In Winter of 2016, I made my first set of dog treats. Now, these were kinda lame and REALLY ugly. Just your basic peanut butter treat. But the pups gobbled them up - quite
literally. I went outside for just 1 minute, and we came back to 0 treats left on the kitchen table. Just an empty plate.
They were a bit disfigured, but the boys didn't mind one bit. And it was really fun! But we went through them so fast...
So I made another batch the next week...
They might have been uglier than the first batch. It was the first time I used any oatmeal, and at this point I was using recipes I found on Pinterest. I was stumbling through to say the least. But obviously I was proud enough to take pictures.
In the coming months, Eric and I would visit a small town in the Northland of Kansas City called Parkville. It's a quaint little town that has the picturesque main street with small shops and bakeries. I fell in love. And as we were leaving, I told him that I'd like to open a shop there one day. Preferably a bakery.
Now, I didn't go to Pastry School - and I think that shows by the photos above - and I went to Engineering School instead. However, the idea of starting my own business - something food-related specifically - had been in my mind since I was young. I had plans drawn up for restaurant after restaurant - including bars, micro-distilleries (I'm a Chemical Engineer after all ;) ), and food trucks - but never any money or motivation to move it forward. It was a pipedream that I held onto in the back of my mind and scribbled in notebooks strewn about my house. But then, out of nowhere, I stumbled across a place in Kansas City.
It was a dog treat bakery - a what? <- that was my thoughts as I went in. It was a little shop in Brookside that had dog treats, food, toys, the works. And I was smitten. I started thinking about how I had been making they boys treats and how awesome it would be to have my own little shop. However, I couldn't get ahead of myself. Who would buy my product? Where would I set up shop? MY KITCHEN IS TINY?!
Lots of research and thinking about it got me a whole lotta no where that summer until I was hanging out with some friends and ran the idea passed them. They loved it and encouraged me to pursue. Things just started to fall into place from there. So I made up some of my own recipes and started down the track of getting them tried, tested and registered.
Of course, Parkville was behind the naming inspiration for Barkville Bakery. And maybe, one day, I'll get my shop there. But until then, I'll keep making my treats, in my tiny kitchen, and bringing them to you via my website and shows.
Have you read our other "Meet the Baker" series? Go over to our blog page and catch up!