We recently connected with Bailey Morris and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Bailey, thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout
This has been a major struggle for me since starting this business. I believe every business owner and creative has gone through burnout, but the important thing is to find ways to get out of the rut before the burnout takes your business. I have gone through *many* periods of burnout and feeling defeated by the direction of my business, customer interactions, and just getting through life every day. Maybe I had a baking day where everything went wrong, or a customer was difficult to deal with. My worst periods of burnout occur when I have put too much on my plate, I have difficulty saying no, I always want to be a yes person. I want to show that I can do it all and that I am capable. I feel like I need to prove something, especially as a young female entrepreneur. But to who? I, like many, have fallen victim to hustle culture. It’s so great when you can turn a passion or hobby into a business, but sometimes I think we need to let it stay just that. We wouldn’t have some of our favorite businesses if someone decided to just leave their hobby as a hobby, but in our culture it’s often looked down upon when something that we invest our personal time and resources isn’t making money, and that is sad. Once my hobby turned into not just my side hustle, but an entire profitable business, I did find my passion changed. I didn’t feel as much joy when taking an order or getting to meet new customers. I found I was more forgetful and even forgot entire orders at times, which is so embarrassing. I now was responsible for this little business baby I created and that is a heavy weight no matter the size of your business. The best thing I can do when I go through these periods is to just stop for a bit, and that is so hard. I hate admitting that my plate is too full, or that I just don’t have any more mental energy to contribute. But these little breaks, even if it’s just for a week, give me the mental breather to get myself in check and inspire me to not only keep going, but to build on. I take these little breaks to inspire myself. I’ll go and visit coffee shops and bakeries and research things I want to try or what I want to improve. I can’t get inspired if I busy myself to the point I never leave the oven and see what delicious things I could try and make. I think burnout is unavoidable. The go, go. go, of hustle culture says you can’t stop, you can’t ask for help, and it always comes down to money. It’s so difficult not to fall into this trap. But it’s important to step away, revaluate, get inspired, and come back better than before, each and every time. It is completely up to you how deep into burnout you get and if you stay. YOU have to be your own voice to get yourself out and move forward.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I started baking when I was pretty young as a hobby because I love sweets. LOVE. During high school I started thinking I could actually make some money selling what I baked, because I loved baking and I loved anything business related. I created a Facebook page, made a tiny little menu, and set up at a local farmers market. It went great. The more my business grew the more I experimented with different items and baking methods, from hand decorated cakes to organic pastries. I was obsessed with foxes in middle school so somewhere along the way The Tasty Fox name came around and it just stuck ( I do not endorse eating foxes LOL). I continued to go to farmers markets, vendor fairs, and expand to custom orders. I have met some amazing people through this journey and I have also seen who is and is not supportive of my ventures. During this time of building my business I graduated high school at 16, worked at multiple local businesses, went to my local community college, became a barista and manager and fueled my caffeine addiction, met an amazing guy who has been so supportive, and I’m now in the process of getting a brick and mortar place of my own, which is equally exciting and scary. Big risk comes big reward. I’m a huge fan of supporting other local businesses so I love collaborating or sourcing my ingredients locally when possible. The journey towards building your brand is not easy or straight and many times it felt like I’d take 2 steps forward then 4 steps back. These are the points where you learn the most.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The first would be learning to believe in myself and take my business seriously. I am completely self taught. I’ve never done any formal training and Youtube, Google, and trial and error have been awesome teachers. I used to have imposter syndrome about this. I didn’t feel like a real baker or business owner because I didn’t have the degree to show it. I had people look down on me or go “what a cute little hobby”. It’s very condescending honestly. I have worked HARD on my business and what I make. When people brush it off as “she’s just a little girl with her easy bake oven” (not lying, I have heard this EXACT thing), it makes me feel belittled. All I ask is that I be treated with respect and what I do be taken seriously. This comes up a lot with pricing especially. People try to negotiate my pricing and belittle what I do because “I’m not a real baker, this is just a hobby”. To these people I say I don’t need your business, or want it frankly. I do not have to prove myself to you. You would never go to your bakery downtown and ask for a cheaper price on their cupcakes, which they have taken their time, resources, and expertise to create. I feel extremely disrespected when this happens to me, so I have learned my boundaries to say no to people like this. Unless you are a baker or a home baker you will never understand all the time it takes to bake and/or decorate items. Do not diminish another persons business because you think it’s lesser than. I am very proud of everything I have taught myself and built for this business. I don’t think my younger self would believe her little dream could actually come true. Second, my family and upbringing have impacted me greatly. I come from a family of business owners so I think this inspired me starting my own thing instead of going the traditional college to working for someone else route. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I have never ever seen that as my long term. I have learned so much from every place I have ever worked and it has impacted my skill set and business knowledge, but I take those experiences and build from them. I’m so grateful for my parents who have instilled my entrepreneurship and work ethic.
The last thing is that you have to be driven. You cannot build a business if you are lazy, simple as that. You have to pour into it, even when everyone around you doesn’t believe it will work out. One those days when I just want to give up I remember it is up to me to get through it, and come out better on the other side, I have to learn from my mistakes, take constrictive criticism, and takes risks and try new things. I cannot wait around for someone else to do my dirty work. It is all up to me. That is the biggest thing to learn when running a business, that it is YOU that will make those big changes, whether positive or negative.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
I am going through a pretty heavy season of doubt and self confidence right now. My business is not my entire life, but it’s still there when other things in my life change. I’ve always have very low self esteem regarding myself and that flows into what I do. It’s normal for a person to point out their own imperfections only they notice, but I fixate on them and let them get in my way. I always need to and will be improving, but I tend to over look everything that I have done thus far and all that I have gotten through. I’ve had a lot of personal life changes over the last year but I’m learning to focus on the now, getting through today, and seeing the good that is here around me. As Matthew 6;34 states, Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow has worries of it’s own. Don’t let the unknown of tomorrow steal todays joy. A few big steps I’ve taken to help with this: I’ve always had a full time job elsewhere while also running my business. I’m always tired and always reaching for that second coffee. It’s a lot to keep up with. I finally left a toxic job situation and stepped into a part time job, which as a workaholic was hard to do (although I genuinely enjoy my current job as a barista, anything with coffee makes me happy and I love my coworkers, SO to them!). I started to respect myself and stop letting people step all over me, even if that meant leaving my well paid dream job and position. Best decision I’ve made all year. I also started taking my health more seriously. When you are physically and/or mentally unwell that pours into your business first. I never saw other people taking medication as a bad thing, but for myself I was highly against it. Taking down that mental wall I had regarding meds was a little tough at first, I kind of felt like I failed (at what I don’t know). However something to help lessen my anxiety and sleepless nights and get through my day a little bit calmer has definitely helped. It’s very easy to let your thoughts stop you and prohibit you from going forward, but asking for help and acknowledging the things in your life that are doing way more harm than good( and you know what those are) are little steps that can actually make a huge difference in the long run. Every point in my life teaches me new things and shapes who I am. I am always learning and always growing, not striving for perfection anymore.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: thetastyfox
- Facebook: The Tasty Fox
Image Credits
Junia Marie Photography
