We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David Huffman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David below.
David, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I have been lucky that leadership skills came pretty naturally to me. When you are the one that people look towards for guidance and direction, you better have some confidence in the decisions you make. I have also been able to recognize my strengths (time management, identifying and developing people’s skills, sense of humor, creative thinking) and use them as cornerstones to pick myself up when I’m questioning myself.
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?
Bitchy Vegan Homo (BVH) started out as a YouTube cooking show and has now grown into a thriving bakery business. I’ve always loved to cook and bake but never imagined that someday I’d be paying my mortgage with the goodies that come out of my oven. I started doing events to promote the YouTube show and the amazing response I received from the public showed me that there was a potential business that I hadn’t even thought of. After 5 years of BVH being a side-hustle, it is now my full-time job. I am currently working on the steps to launch national mail order so soon the entire country will be able to buy my treats.
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?
Marketing. Math.
Dedication.
I worked in marketing for years so I had the advantage that a lot of people starting out don’t have. My brand had a pretty distinctive voice and aesthetic from day one. I am also very good at math and understood the importance of figuring out all of my costs to make sure my business would make a profit. As I worked a day job and developed my business, there were a lot of very long and tiring days. Because of my dedication to building my brand, I made some sacrifices but still found time to live a life.
If you’re just starting out, realize it’s a marathon and not a sprint and it’s OK to take things at the pace that feel right for you.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Planning and time management are the best ways to fight being overwhelmed. I have my schedule for events, baking and business duties all mapped out on a calendar spreadsheet. I work backwards from each event and plan out what needs to be done on each day leading up to that deadline. It is very scary to think about having to make a thousand+ pieces of bakery for a large event. It’s much less scary to think about the few hundred that need to be done each day. When I have a busy week, I also make sure I have plans with friends in the evening so that I know that I will have down time to relax.
Contact Info:
- Website: bitchyveganhomo.com
- Instagram: @bitchyveganhomo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bvhbakery
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dave-huffman-BVH
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/bitchyveganhomo
Image Credits
Bitchy Vegan Homo
