Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Brittney Young, co-owner of Hǎo Bǎo Bakery, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Hǎo Bǎo Bakery is a home-based specialty Asian bakery and Toronto’s sweetest source of adorable delights! Inspired by the local bakeries I frequented growing up as a child in Chinatown, Montréal, we started Hǎo Bǎo as our way of sharing love & celebrating traditions together in a time when we’re apart from our loved ones.
We curate seasonal collections of handcrafted pastries by incorporating traditional techniques & familiar flavours with a modern twist for new audiences – all while remaining true to the palate that many know and love. With quality ingredients (like ceremonial-grade matcha from Shizuoka, Japan) and longer, more flavourful processes (housemade bean pastes, pralines, etc.), an order from Hǎo Bǎo Bakery makes for an incredible gift, whether it’s being shared with family and friends, or simply treating your snacky self!
Tell us about yourself
My name is Brittney Young! My partner Jake and I first started as a couple of 19-year-old students both pursuing business majors. We’d often bump into each other on campus, too shy to say anything, so who would’ve imagined that just two years later, we’d be co-owning a business together! After finally connecting, we first began living together in April of 2020. With food being my love language, I eventually charmed Jake with Tom Nook (Animal Crossing) sugar cookies.
The rest of our stay-at-home time was with me cooking and baking for him. He supported me at every step, always coming up with innovative ideas (even sparking one of Hǎo Bǎo’s best sellers: the Louis Vuitton roll cake!). With a lot of encouragement from friends, what started as a summer baking journal on Instagram under BritBratBakes has since blossomed into a beloved small business that works hard to serve all across the Greater Toronto Area.
Brittney: Leading up to Hǎo Bǎo, I was a nail technician with a loyal clientele, majoring in marketing. Commission-only jobs can be risky, but I’ve always loved doing unique, intricate designs, and this passion would have me fully booked nearly every day. Lockdowns and restrictions, unfortunately, had me laid off many times. Whenever we actually were open, I would be waiting in the salon for several hours a day only to receive one walk-in customer for a short service. Once at home, all my creative energy would be put into baking, starting with chocolate tarts and other treats my father taught me when I was little. Especially in times of high stress, Jake has been one of my prime motivations. He is an incredible partner who knows how to push me when low motivation.
Jake: Things started falling into place around the time I went to get my nails done for the release of my debut single, “Prettyboy,” available now on all streaming platforms!! That’s when the stars aligned for Brittney & I – we fell in love quickly, and as lockdown came around, I locked that thang down. After virtually wrapping up my senior year with a PowerPoint convocation, we graduated from Ontario Tech University. I was fresh out of business school, heading straight into unemployment. But with a superstar Masterchef girlfriend, a dollop of what felt like all the time in the world, and a pinch of pressure from my parents to get a job – we saw this as the perfect recipe. By blending my sweet with Brittney’s spice, Hǎo Bǎo, for me, has been baked golden to perfection into something that fuses our diverse skill sets to not only take on bigger challenges together but also allows us to give back to our own loved ones, and spread love throughout our community!
That’s what truly motivates us. It’s so meaningful for us to meet our Bǎo Buddies and know that we’re creating something special for them and their loved ones–whether it’s for a certain occasion or just casual snacking desserts can make anyone’s day a little bit sweeter!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Our biggest accomplishment has got to be the Hǎo Bǎo brand and cultivating such a loving, wholesome community around it. Through trial and error, we listened and learned to improve our processes every chance we get, and somehow turned this into something we can both be proud of. We still feel like kids, so it’s always mind-blowing to realize how far we have come over such a short time.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
When you choose to become a business owner, you’re essentially giving yourself five jobs rather than one part-time side hustle. It demands that you become well-rounded in everything from marketing, accounting, customer service, and all other aspects of business management–regardless if you did not major in any of these.
All while working logistically, it’s expected for your craft to be at peak performance for every order. Having to balance everything can sometimes be a challenge. Despite how warm & welcoming the community has been, ironically, we’re both quite shy with “strangers”! I especially still feel anxious to interact. Unfortunately, it may often take me days to respond, so I’ve been lucky enough to have Jake as a partner, who can motivate and take over at times.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Be sure to document the process from the beginning! This ensures that you have content to work with and helps measure your growth! Google Suites is perfect for editing spreadsheets, sharing documents, and storing media. Without photos of your work, it's very easy to forget all the effort you put in, especially when your product is consumable!
- Don't be afraid to ask for help! It's important to have a support system of friends to rely on in ooey gooey sticky situations. As a team of two, both now with other jobs, calling in for backup has taken huge weights off our shoulders, sometimes shaving hours off our delivery times.
- It's your business, do what you want with it! Friends and family would tell us we spread ourselves too thin by offering such wide varieties. Some would say, "You don't need to detail so much into a single cookie. Nobody does that." or, "That single pastry takes so long to make. You should just sell cupcakes." Our passion is a huge driving force behind our ability to offer hard-to-find desserts & delicacies. With that said, passion is what brings us success every time. When it's for something you love, "overworking" ourselves is never a negative. ❤️
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Being a young couple, we complement each other very well and happen to excel at almost anything the other does not. We share similar visions and put forth equal amounts of effort that some have deemed crazy. We feel very lucky to be this compatible as business partners, considering kitchens can often get heated🌶. Partners must be comfortable and patient enough to give and take orders in time & skill-sensitive areas.
Despite the success of Hǎo Bǎo, we have recently put higher-volume orders on a hiatus so we can each focus on the traditional careers we initially studied for. The bakery will still be relatively active, ideally in pop-up shops, custom-orders, and simpler menus whenever possible. With Jake leaving to pursue HR in the Canadian Forces and Brittney pursuing further culinary education and corporate work experience, we will continue to learn more about the world and industry. Whether it be in a few or several years, we can promise that there will someday be a Hǎo Bǎo Bakery storefront!
Where can people find you and your business?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaoBaoBakery
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haobaobakery/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hăo-băo-bakery/about/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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