We recently had the chance to connect with Tiny Baker Tiny Baker and have shared our conversation below.
Tiny Baker, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
What is a normal day for us? Busy, busy, busy! We are very blessed and have so many exciting things going on! As many know, but some may not, we are a family owned and run bakery. There are 4 of us – spanning over 3 generations: Cindy, Ana, Jane, and Christian. One our owners, Ana, along with her husband recently welcomed their first child into this world. We are so super excited, so we now have another addition to our Tiny Baker family! We are so excited and blessed!! Ana is our head cake decorator and will be out on maternity leave for a while, so we have come up with other fun and creatives ways to continue making money while she is out.
Every morning, we start our day with family/friend devotions at the bakery and then everyone heads to their “areas of expertise.” Mom/Grandma (Cindy) is our savory guru and bread maker, Ana (Cindy’s Daughter) is our head cake decorator, Jane (Cindy’s Daughter/Christian’s Mom) is our business manager but also does a bit of everything from cake prep, food prep, basic decorating, customer service, etc.), and Christian (Jane’s Son), who is currently only 19 years old, was taught by Grandma Cindy and has taken over and does all the baking. As it takes a village to raise a family, it takes a team to run a business.
Morning is typically prepping for the upcoming day. We stay pretty busy from 11 am- 2 pm with lunches. We offer both dine in and carry out of delicious homemade food made from scratch. We have a variety of soups (typically 4-6 different soups daily), variety of sandwiches on in-house homemade breads, salads, ribs, cabbage rolls, and a wide variety of sides. Don’t forget all our delicious baked goodies to go with lunch!!
After the lunch rush, we all are working on cleaning up and finishing up any orders due for that day. As a vast majority of bigger celebrations happen on the weekend, our weekends are certainly very busy. With Ana being out on maternity leave, we have (and by popular request) brought back our summer baking camps where we teach a wide variety of baking and decorating skills. We are even doing both adult and kid’s edition of Tiny Baker “Nailed It” Competitions. We are halfway through the summer and have had SO much fun!!
So even though our days are long, we have so much fun and are so very blessed!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
As we have briefly mentioned, we are a Christian family owned and operated small business bakery. We have always been a very close family and have always done so much together – everything from traveling and vacations down to cooking. Tiny Baker, LLC. opened our doors officially, on February 12, 2018 on First Street here in Union City, Tennessee. There were only 3 of us when we first opened, but quickly added another family member to the business – Tom and Cindy McWilliams (Dad and Mom), Ana Reeves, and added Jane Minnick. Dad, by career was a C.P.A., Mom was our baker but now our savory guru and bread baker, Ana – our very incredibly talented cake decorator, and Jane our business Manager. Unfortunately, in March 2019 we lost Tom (Dad) to cancer. Shortly after that, we gained Christian Carnes (Jane’s son). Cindy worked closely with Christian and taught him everything he knows. He is now 19 and has completely taken over all the baking and does an incredible job!
In February 2021, we had the opportunity to buy a building. It took us nearly a year to do the renovations as we did a vast majority of it ourselves. We are so proud of all the progress we have made throughout the years. We officially opened in our new location (411 S. 3rd St. here in Union City, Tennessee) January 14, 2022. It was such an opportunity and an incredible blessing. As Dad always used to say, “God is good ALL the time, and ALL the time, God is good!”
Like many bakeries around, we do a wide assortment of sweet treats, unlike many around, we specialize in custom cakes – we work with fondant, can do tiered and carved cakes, and have even done cakes with lights, sounds, and moving parts!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
Work – we have always been workers! All of us have been raised to work hard and work as if we were working for the Lord. With having big families, working hard is an everyday thing – needing to provide for the family, making sure all chores and tasks get done. It for sure has been an ongoing generational trait in our family to work hard – both at home and at work. Being raised with a work ethic and dedication, it is no surprise it crosses over into the professional world. Dad’s (Tom) father was a Marine and for decades lived the military life. Mom’s (Cindy) Dad was in the Army, and they also lived the military life on top of having 6 children. Both sets of grandparents were of Depression era – being frugal and hard working was just a way of life – which was taught to their kids, who in turn taught these values to their kids. etc.
Being a business owner, is so much more work than most people realize or understand. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes – especially to make and keep a business open and growing. It does certainly help when a family team is able to work together closely and so well in unison, especially for as many hours a day that we are together. Working hard is such an important quality – in all aspects of life and business.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Being kind is so important, but being honest is too. I think we all, at least at some point, feel like we have failed, haven’t done enough, haven’t been good enough, etc. Mom and Dad, (Cindy and Tom), have been so instrumental in who all of us kids are today, as I know they feel the same about their parents before them. Our parents were strict, but lovingly so. If we did wrong, we were corrected. Likewise, when we did good, we were praised or acknowledged for it. From 1994 through 2004 my family were missionaries and we lived overseas in several countries. While God absolutely blessed us for sure, there were struggles along the way – our childhoods were not “normal.” As the struggles of growing up can be tough enough, doing it in other countries and learning other languages, missing out on family and friend’s special occasions, etc. was tough. We wouldn’t change a thing though! Despite what seemed like mountains and trials at the time, made us who we are today. The countries we visited were beautiful, the cultures were amazing, the food and experiences were unforgettable. While we were living in Guatemala, we were blessed to adopt Ana – without her, we wouldn’t have our business or be able to do what we do and love. Our parents taught and showed us that every experience we have, every trial we live through, even the good times we have – help form us into the people we are. Dad always told us, “This too shall pass” and “God will NEVER give you more than you can handle” and would quote Jeremiah 29:11 “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I would, again, repeat this to myself – it is true. I would also remind myself you are doing great, keep your head up – you have and omnipotent God who loves you and wants nothing but the best for you, stay strong, and work hard…better things are coming! (And they really have!!)
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
What is most important to us – our God for sure! Our faith is very important to us. Being Christians is such a blessing and honor and truly defines us, who we are as individuals, as a family, and as a business. We strive to do our best to demonstrate the love of God to all who we see and serve and pray our fruits show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Being honest, doing the right thing, caring for others, treating others how we want to be treated, serving others, and in all of this maintaining our morals and standing for what we believe right even when it isn’t easy or popular. We strive that our attitudes and service reflect God’s love – in all we do. This of course, applies not only to our personal lives, but in our business as well. We want all of our customers to feel as if they are family. We have been so blessed as a bakery to have some truly incredible and supportive customers – so many we have adopted as our family. Family is so very important to us and we are grateful to be so close with one another and get along so well. It is difficult for many to spend as much time together as we do and still actually WANT to vacation together as we do. We are blessed!
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
We would hope it would be a two-fold emptiness and sadness if we retired and closed down – we, of course, would hope they miss all of our delicious from scratch baked goods and homemade food, but would miss the friendships and relationships we have made over the years…I know we would!! While our days certainly would be so much shorter, and probably easier, they certainly would be sadder. We love making and cooking or probably wouldn’t have done it for so long and continue to do it, but more than anything we would miss all the friendly faces that come in on a daily basis – our regular customers who are much like our neighbors who come to visit and spend some time with us. We are grateful for every last one of them!! Without our customers, our friends and family, we would not be able to do what we do every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tinybakeruc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinybakeruc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tinybakeruc
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