We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kimberly Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kimberly, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience and work ethic were instilled in me by my parents from a young age. My dad’s relentless hard work shaped my understanding of commitment and perseverance. I started working at 14, which taught me to juggle responsibilities and honor commitments despite personal struggles. I was 19 when my dad passed away unexpectedly and I stepped up to support my family, driven by the work ethic he modeled. Later in life, I moved to Chicago alone, knowing no one. I relied heavily on my resilience to manage work, school, business, and survival. Over time, I learned the importance of balance, recognizing there were unhealthy parts of resilience I needed to unlearn. I lost sight of making a life vs. making a living. I realized that taking time to care for oneself doesn’t diminish resilience. It’s about maintaining a balance between working hard and enjoying life. Resilience is in my DNA; I’ll always have it.
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?
I’m the owner and chef of Susie Brown’s Bakery, LLC. I specialize in small batch baking/cooking, taking the nostalgic, soul-warming foods we all know and love and bringing them new life or with a fun, new twist. I make a strong effort to offer foods that are gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan, or whatever accommodations can be made to ensure everyone can have a little treat. I believe strongly that food is not just love, but connection. Food can unite groups of people who otherwise have nothing in common. It is the central point of almost every social atmosphere. It should bring joy, spark a memory, and create a lasting impression. I’m based in Louisville, Kentucky, and offer several options to be shipped nationwide on my website!
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?
1. Customer service and communication are crucial skills I’ve honed through diverse experiences in fields like human medicine, pharmacy, psychology, veterinary medicine, retail, and restaurants. These roles taught me to listen, empathize, and tailor my communication to a wide range of customers—skills essential for any client-facing business.
2. Lifelong learning is vital; I continually read and study food, business, and self-improvement.
3. Most importantly, discipline is key. As a mentor once said, if entrepreneurship were easy, everyone would do it. It takes immense discipline to persevere and build the life you want while your current life is giving you every reason to throw in the towel.
My advice for anyone just starting, and a reminder to the rest of us, is to ensure you’re learning from quality sources and setting realistic expectations. Remember that social media isn’t always real life and is almost always just a snapshot. Comparison to others is one of the biggest thieves of joy and progression.
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?
Running a business completely solo—without external support or financial cushion—while managing a chronic illness, fluctuating economy, and evolving public demands is incredibly challenging. Entrepreneurship can be isolating, with days often split between a separate full-time job and business duties, leaving little time for friends or family, which can be difficult for loved ones to understand. The constant need to juggle all parts of the business—product creation, marketing, sales, bookkeeping, inventory, etc.— makes downtime rare and even uneasy. Despite this, I’ve learned that rest is essential and can even be productive since we typically present our best ideas when rested. I’ve had to learn that success isn’t solely defined by achievements and actively work at avoiding burnout and maintaining a balanced life. As a manager, I would tell team members they’re always a human first before an employee… I’m working on taking my own advice.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.susiebrownsbakery.com
- Instagram: @susiebrownsbakery
- Facebook: @susiebrownsbakery
Image Credits
Allison Thomas
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