We were lucky to catch up with Brian Duong recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brian, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
I think it started when I jumped at the opportunity to be a vendor at a local plant market during COVID-19. Before Brian’s Bitchin’ Bakery was born, I was a veterinary student doing “long distance education” from home. In between classes, I saw a post in a Facebook group for Houston plant collectors that they were looking for vendors for a new and upcoming plant market (now called Houston Plant Market). I sent the post to my friends saying, “what if I was a vendor” and we tossed around the idea that this could be my chance to sell my baked goods. I’ had been baking for years for family and friends who’ve always made those stereotypical supportive comments of “you should sell this” or “when you open a store, this needs to be on the menu.” And the more we talked about the Facebook post, the more excited I got.
Suddenly, my brain went into overdrive; thoughts raced for the menu, food packaging, booth decor, business cards etc. Imagining people outside my social circle eating my baked goods had my heart racing and anxiety levels skyrocketing. I couldn’t focus on classes for the rest of the day because of how excited I got with just the thought of sharing this passionate and creative side of me to a wider audience. After looking over the vendor requirements, I asked myself, “how badly do I want this? Will this opportunity come back again? When I look back at this moment five years from now, would I regret not taking this risk?” The combination of a voice inside my head and the gut feeling to just go for it was so strong and obnoxiously loud that I submitted a vendor application that same night.
A few days later, I was accepted as a vendor under the name “Brian’s Baked Goods.” I then actually asked the market manager two days before the market if they’d accept a name change to “Brian’s Bitchin’ Bakery.” THANKFULLY, they were as excited about the name change as me and accepted it. From then on, I started seeing risks as opportunities. And with each opportunity I didn’t take, I risked losing experience I could grow and learn from. Since then, I’ve risked the years (and student loans) I put towards veterinary school to pursue a new chapter in my life by running the microbakery full-time. Trusting myself and the process has been one of the most rewarding experiences money can’t buy. I’ve been able to grow the bakery to have cookies be sold in stores and other baked goods be a part of weddings and special life moments. All those risks/opportunities I took (whether or not the results were fruitful or painful) led me to where I am. And I’m confident in saying that I love my life and the person I’ve become because of the bakery.
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?
My name is Brian Duong and I’m a self-taught baker who owns and operates a microbakery called Brian’s Bitchin’ Bakery in Houston, Texas. Currently, the bakery operates in a home kitchen where New York City style cookies with an Asian twist and other desserts are prepped to be sold at pop ups, markets, and events such as birthdays and weddings, etc. (so no, there’s not storefront at the time of writing this!).
What I love about the bakery is that it truly stems from all the aspects I’ve adopted as a lover of innovative food combinations and dining experiences. Personally, I think feeding someone food you’ve made from scratch is an intimate experience. Memories where I got excited anticipating something new to eat and sharing that moment with the people I cared about are my favorite to relive. I baked for family and friends for years in hopes of making their day a bit sweeter which eventually led to establishing a new creative outlet through my newfound relationship with my stand mixer. Baking consistently gave me the experience to start having the ideas I had come to fruition; Vietnamese coffee & chocolate cookies, Thai tea tiramisu, white rabbit mochi muffins, etc. With the bakery, I get a bigger platform to share my love for food with people who are like me and hopefully get to be a part of their food memories as well.
An inside scoop for upcoming bakery news, we’re working on shipping cookies throughout Texas! It’ll be offered on our website soon so check on Instagram (@briansbitchinbakeryofficial) and the website for updates. Currently cookies are available in a few boba shops in the Houston area (constantly updated on Instagram for the most recent stock) and we’re hoping to expand to more areas. And lastly, a YouTube channel is coming with bakery, small business, and non-bakery related content!!! I’m SUPER excited about this as I’ve always wanted to share and connect with people by reaching a larger audience. Don’t tell anyone but I’ve been vlogging since January of this year and so I’m sitting on months of footage but speaking it out into this article is going to keep me accountable!!!
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?
With the bakery being my passion project, I’ve essentially taken on all the roles required to keep a small business alive; recipe development, marketing, communications, inventory, finances, graphic design, delivery, baker, janitor etc. I know I could not have tackled all of these responsibilities if I didn’t have experience as a leader, was passionate about food, and surrounded myself with a strong support system.
Having taken on multiple roles as an officer of a pre-veterinary organization in undergrad, I’ve been able to utilize that experience to run a small business. I had to recruit guest speakers; manage an officer team and ~60 pre-veterinary students; organize volunteer opportunities, meetings, and fundraisers; and so much more. I loved every aspect of it because it built a foundation of communication skills, adaptability, time management, organization, people skills, etc. I thrived under the pressure of each of our fundraising bake sales which honestly helped when I started vending at pop ups and markets for the bakery.
Without a passion for food I don’t think I would have considered running a bakery at all. That passion stemmed from an addiction to watching the food network, Masterchef, and countless other food content on a daily basis. I grew to love how all dishes can have both savory and sweet components; how textures can influence the mouth feel of food; how memories from trips around the world can revolve around food. We’re supposed to eat three meals a day (plus dessert) so I always thought, “might as well make those meals ones to look forward to.” Food influences the mood. So let’s have good food.
Behind every bitchin’ baker is a bitchin’ team. I could not have survived the past three years without the support of family, friends, and other small businesses. My family and friends constantly help me both physically and mentally throughout my journey running this bakery (and just life in general). They remind me of my limits and my capabilities. Additionally, growing and connecting with other bakers and small businesses owners has been an experience I never thought I’d have. The support we have for each other is like no other. We share the struggles of being smaller operations and cheer for each other’s success. And that’s what I love about being a part of the small business community I’m in. There’s room for everyone and we’re all struggling together; so might as well make friends along the way.
The first piece of advice I’d like to share would be to fight for your passions. If it’s truly meant to be and you want to keep it, do what it takes to keep that passion alive. Fight for your limitations. Additionally, the traditional route of pursuing a career isn’t the traditional route anymore. In other words, a career or any opportunity can appear unexpectedly (I majored in biology and minored in chemistry with the goal to become a veterinarian only to end up having what used to be my side gig of whisking flour, butter, and eggs to be my full time career). And lastly, expect and prepare for failure. All roads have highs and lows no matter where you are in your journey. Some days won’t be as successful as others and business can be slow sometimes. Learning how to adapt to these situations can be emotionally exhausting and laborious but you already know I’m gonna say that “you’ll come out stronger than before and gain more experience coming out of that low.” So utilize the resources you have; ask for help from those who may have experienced the struggle you’re going through. If you have read this far and you have questions on your small business journey, you can always contact me (via my website or even a dm on Instagram) and I’ll do my best to help you out on your small business journey!
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
In addition to having my cookies continue to be sold in boba shops and hopefully some restaurants, eventually I’d really love my desserts to be a part of those private intimate dining experiences. I’m obsessed with the experience and would love to create new desserts just for private tasting events. With the bakery’s YouTube channel on the way, I’ll take any sponsors (ayyyyy). Or if Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, HBOMax, wants me to be a contestant on any culinary show, I’M READY!!!! Please contact me at briansbtchinbakery@gmail.com I would love you forever mwah.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://briansbitchinbakery.com/
- Instagram: @briansbitchinbakeryofficial
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BriansBitchinBakery/featured
- Other: tiktok: @briansbitchinbakery
