We recently connected with Alexander & Whitney Ethridge and have shared our conversation below.
Alexander & Whitney, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
After serving in the military, we always knew that we wanted to start a business to create a better life for ourselves and to give our future children opportunities and experiences that we never had. Our family is very dear to our hearts and we wanted to do something that would honor them. Whitney’s grandmother had her own special recipe for biscotti, an Italian cookie that is commonly paired with coffee. This inspired us to think about opening a coffee shop specializing in biscotti and other pastries. For now, we serve our custom “Black-Tri” blend coffee and family recipe biscotti out of a vintage 1971 Shasta Starflyte camper turned food truck. Eventually, we strive to own a brick and mortar café and bring on more family recipes, like Alex’s sister’s homemade conchas, a Mexican pastry, or Whitney’s niece’s cranberry-orange scones.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
We are Whitney & Alexander Ethridge, the proud owners of Twice Baked Café. Together we will bring “twice the yum in every cup and crumb” to the Bulverde, TX community with our custom “Black-Tri” blend coffee and family recipe biscotti served to you out of a vintage 1971 Shasta Starflyte camper turned food truck.
Outside of our coffee camper, we are parents to three black cats and two Australian Shepherds. We enjoy traveling, experiencing new foods, and spending time with family.
We are proud to be regular vendors at the Bulverde Market Day that happens every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month. People in the area can follow us on Instagram @twicebakedcafe or Facebook to see our schedule and can email us if they are interested in having us pop-up at their business, event, or neighborhood.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Don’t stop! It was very difficult in the beginning to start because there are a lot of pieces to put together from forming an LLC to picking out the color of your logo. Stay positive and take mental breaks, but know that it will all come together in time.
Join a Facebook group! We are part of multiple coffee vendor or food truck groups that provided a wealth of knowledge on different topics and gave great advice on how mistakes can be avoided.
Have fun! It can be really difficult to enjoy the ride of owning your own business, but in the end you have to have fun doing what you do in order to sustain it. Spending time with each other, meeting new people, going new places and getting compliments on our products is what makes it all worth it.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
Each other. We each bring different skill sets to this business which helps us be successful. Alex is a great at sales, vehicle maintenance, and networking with our community. Whitney handles most of the back end of things, such as creating a schedule, bookkeeping, and social media. Both of us are great baristas and bakers and together we make a great team.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @twicebakedcafe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2xbakedcafe
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