Meet Christopher McCarthy

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christopher McCarthy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Christopher, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

Yes, let’s jump right in! While raising my young family, I also developed a knack for cooking. My skills reached the point where my children would remark how the dinner was better than eating at a restaurant. Kids being kids, they relentlessly encouraged me to open my own bakery, or restaurant.

At one point, when I was between jobs, I decided to take their advice and applied for an opening at a local restaurant. I had a stage (tryout) and the chef asked me to cut a chiffonade of some basil leaves. This is usually a question to determine how much kitchen knowledge you have, not to test your cutting skills because most people are unfamiliar with a chiffonade. I read cookbooks like most people read a novel. Cover to cover. Front to back. Culinary authors are great and they have so much to teach hidden in the pages when they write. You can gain a tremendous amount of knowledge this way.

The chef then took a 50 pound bag of onions, and asked they be cut in a small dice. All of them! It took a while, but when I was finished he came over, dumped the entire 22 quart container onto the workbench, and started picking through them. I thought to myself there was no way I was ever going to work there. My hands hurt, my neck was stiff, my back was screaming. Chef said “there are no skins in here, I hate skins.” I replied “So do I.” The chef then said something I wasn’t expecting, “You’re hired. You start Tomorrow at 2.”

After many years working in several restaurants, the time was right to start my own business. Having a career in marketing finally paid off for myself because I knew several ways to create great company names. The story is pretty unique, and I’ll let you know in a minute, but that was how Sinister Bakers and Sinister Bakers Cafe were born.

My purpose in life, and with everything I create boils down to making people happy. There is no better feeling than to see the joy in someone’s face when they take that first bite of something I have created. There is also nothing better than having your kids talk about you with pride, happiness, and respect.

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?

Absolutely, I would love that. The idea for Sinister Bakers started decades ago. When I first started baking at home, my three children would come home from school, grab a stick of butter, and eat an entire loaf of Ciabatta Bread. It was so good, they started calling it “Ciabatta Crack”. Conversations with the three of them seemed to always center around making up weird, silly, and odd names for whatever I was making in the kitchen. Together, we created the idea for Sinister Bakers – a playful, irreverent, unique approach to baked goods.

Currently, we have two separate operations. First, through the Colorado Cottage Food Act, we bake all types of special order treats in our dungeon laboratory in Erie, Colorado. Most people call us to order their favorites, or they order through the website. Usually we can deliver these locally for free. We have catered bridal and baby showers, recital receptions, and birthday bashes. Because we are a small operation we can sometimes do what other shops can’t. Once, I received a call at 8:00 at night for a birthday cake for the next morning. The woman on the phone forgot to order a cake for her son’s birthday, so we stayed up late on a Friday night to help create a special day for someone who undoubtedly deserved it.

We also operate a very eerie Cafe on the Boulder County Campus of Front Range Community College in Longmont, Colorado. We have some of the best coffee in Boulder County roasted by our friends Lynn and Eric at ResQ Coffees right here in Longmont. We brew roasted beans coffee from a single family farm, grown in the volcanic mountain region of Brazil. Typically, Espresso roasts are a combination of two different beans. Our Espresso uses a combination of three different beans to bring a robust, full bodied taste to all of our craft drinks. Even our cold brew is specially roasted and ground for cold temperatures.

Our Cafe is a scratch kitchen – meaning we make almost everything we sell. All of our breakfast and lunch “sandwitches” are made right in our kitchen We craft our own coffee syrups, blend our own hot cocoa mix, and concoct our own Chai Latte Mix. Our baked evil staples (we have a hard time saying baked “goods”) Include a Blueberry Muffin, Cadaver Cake, Boulder Bomb, Body Snatcher Brownies, Satan Spice Cookies and an adult version of the traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies made with browned butter, a greater percentage of brown sugar, and dark chocolate chips. I have always believed if you are going to do something, you should try to do it right. The difference in taste between a store bought coffee syrup and one freshly made with simple, great ingredients is amazing.

Right now Sinister Bakers Cafe is open year round, Monday through Friday 8:00 am until 2:30 pm. We especially enjoy serving our business and residential neighbors, although sometimes it is difficult for someone to overcome the hurdle of entering a college campus building. We try very hard to help everyone understand that the building is public and you can walk right in, just like a library or town hall.
So many people comment positively on our branding. They love the decor, the atmosphere, and our unique approach to naming all of the items we make. We even had a pastor buy a Satan Spice Cookie because they couldn’t resist the idea of polar opposites coming together!

Food and pastries can be such a fun part of life and we decided not to take ourselves too seriously. Well, we take our craft, safety, and sanitary practices very seriously. However, we believe a pastry and coffee business should be fun. People can come to Sinister Bakers Cafe to enjoy the experience in addition to phenomenal food and exceptional coffee and take a break from the daily “grind.”
Sinister Bakers is also a double entendre. Sinister is the Latin word for “on the left”. Our chef de patisserie is left handed. So, we basically have a sinister, sinister baker.

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?

You are right, obtaining success can be overwhelming. I would say there are three areas I think are important for anyone to succeed; Planning, Self-Realization, and Vulnerability.
First, it is important to have a written business and marketing plan. Planning helps you identify obstacles and the pathways to overcome them. The planning process helps you build a solid strategy for success. When faced with an obstacle, it is much easier to look back at a plan and make necessary adjustments than to try to solve the problem from the ground up.

Next, it is important to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Build upon what you do well and what you are passionate about. Then, find knowledgeable people to take over the tasks that are not as interesting to you, or are not strategic to the business. For instance, if you are terrible with numbers, find a good accountant, bookkeeper, or a good tax professional and let them do what they do best. Now you will have the time and energy to focus on the more strategic areas of your business.
Lastly, you need to be willing to learn, to grow, to accept feedback, and be vulnerable enough to ask for help. You will not have all the answers; however there are others who will. Seek them out. Ask them to share. Heed their advice.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The biggest challenge Sinister Bakers Cafe faces today is time management. When you are the entire organization it’s sometimes difficult to get everything accomplished. I am continually trying to find ways to work smarter.

As an example – because of our small size and our distance from Denver, it is impossible to find a purveyor who will deliver the products, food, and equipment to our Cafe. As a result we spend all day Saturday driving to Denver to purchase everything we will need for the coming week. This usually involves at least two different suppliers and 2 hours of travel time. Because so much of what I purchase is perishable, it needs to be delivered to the Cafe, and properly stored in the quickest amount of time. So we are always looking for companies who can and will deliver to the cafe, with prices that are reasonable enough to keep us going.

Time also comes into play when trying to create a production schedule. I can only create/cook/bake so many things in a given day. I have quickly learned that if something delicious is on the shelf, it will sell. Thus, optimum time management means more products available in sight, the more money our customers will spend, and the healthier the business will be.

Of course, there are other obstacles unique to our location. The Cafe is located inside a college campus. We have no problem building relationships with the students, faculty, administration, and staff. However, the larger potential market is outside the building in the surrounding business park and adjacent housing developments. Generally, people not associated with the college are hesitant to enter a college building. They feel awkward, unwelcome, and out of place. Much of our marketing is designed to help them overcome those fears.

Maybe it’s a first born”thing”, or maybe it was just my upbringing, but I love making people happy. It’s so nice to see when people feel good about themselves. I simply love what I do. Some of the best days are when you get to spend time with people. It is so fulfilling when you have an opportunity to interact with people, to learn about who they really are, what makes them tick, what makes them special. We are a little like a Body Snatcher Brownie; crispie and Sinister on the outside, but we are all warm, soft, and full of love, hope, and joy on the inside.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sinisterbakers.com www.sinisterbakerscafe.com
• Instagram: @sinsiterbakers
• Facebook: sinisterbakers
• Twitter: @sinisterbakers