Recent guest Carly Baker on Positively West Virginia describes why she left the white-collar world to build cheese boards. Carly said, “I always felt like there was more to me than sitting at a desk.”
For years, the hunger to create led Carly to believe that she wanted more. Later, she started building cheese and charcuterie boards for friends and family gatherings, and something just clicked. Over time, Carly began to build a business based on her unique ability to create beautiful gifts, entertainment centerpieces and date night perfection.
What started as a nice gift has become a new enterprise for Carly Baker. With the help of her social media and constant word-of-mouth recommendations, Carly’s business is thriving. Not even a pandemic could slow her down. When quarantine started, people started flocking to the Baker Cheese Company to grab one of her high-quality cheese and charcuterie boxes.
The Baker Cheese Company offers custom cheese and charcuterie boxes, boards and tables for any event. She only uses the highest quality ingredients and top-notch class to design every handmade product. She even offers classes to impart some of her wisdom to anyone who might be interested in creating beautiful boards within their own home.
Carly’s business is successful because she has put so much thought and research into what she is doing. She researches every product to see what it pairs well with and how it should be eaten before designing a board. The high-quality ingredients she uses are purposeful and tend to be locally sourced from local bakeries and other makers.
Right now, Carly is the most excited to be creating Christmas boards that she can add a new creative and festive touch too, like sugared cranberries and rosemary sprigs. Aside from the creative aspect, her favorite part of this venture is the classes she offers to teach people some of her craft over zoom. However, in the future, Carly hopes to own a storefront where people can browse selections and purchase a premade board at a moment’s notice and where she can teach in-person classes with wine pairings and more.
With an eye for elegance, taste and a background in marketing, Carly happily reports little to no hiccups in beginning this local service. The challenging aspects of the Baker Cheese Company are pricing and delivery. All of the love put into each board has to be protected by a personal delivery from Carly herself, which can be taxing at times. Although it’s hard to remember the drive when she receives photos of empty boards from very happy customers.
Carly suggests that new business owners “just go for it.” Carly said, “If you have a true passion for something, then do it. If you fail, you fail.”
Her last piece of advice is to do your best to maintain balance, especially if you have a family. Carly wakes up early every day to enjoy her morning and makes sure to do all of her prep work at night so she can get up and get started. She also suggests making lists and crossing them off to keep yourself organized and moving forward.
Listen to Carly’s whole podcast here:
https://positivelywv.com/podcast/episode-147-carly-baker-baker-cheese-company/
PWV QUICK BITS | CARLY BAKER
- PIECE OF ADVICE: “If you have a true passion for something, then do it. If you fail, you fail,” advised Carly.