Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Denman.
Jennifer, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was just always around food growing up. My mom owned a catering company and my aunt had a wedding cake business. As I was entering college, the Food Network was on its upswing and becoming really popular. It was the first time I noticed “real” chefs and started realizing it could be a career. After graduating from college with a Bachelors degree in Psychology, I attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. I loved it! It was like Hogwarts for chefs. Since culinary school, I have worked as a Pastry Chef in NY, GA, TX and CO. I gained experience working in high-end hotels and resorts, baking everything from wedding cakes to cookies. Locally in Colorado Springs, I was the Exec Pastry Chef at Glen Eyrie Conference Center for three years. Upon leaving this position, I decided to go out on my own and start Snowberry Bakehouse. I felt like there was an opportunity to bake for local coffee shops, providing consistent high-quality baked goods. Although we love selling directly to customers, wholesaling to the amazing local shops here in COS has become our bread and butter. It has been really fun forming relationships with the owners and managers of these shops. We are coming up on three years of operation and are excited about what’s to come!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Owning a small business, regardless of what kind of product or service you provide, is never easy! It’s really hard! However, the rewards that come from working for yourself and providing something that adds value to someone’s day or even life is definitely worth it!
Struggles of the small business journey can be things such as: cash flow, employees, equipment purchasing and maintenance, access to reasonably priced ingredients, etc. Your mind never really turns off. As a small business owner, you are always “on”.
The food industry is not for the faint of heart. Those who thrive in it have grit, perseverance and an extreme desire to please the customer. It asks a lot from you, but it also provides so many rewards!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
When Snowberry started, our foot in the door was to provide mainly morning baked goods for local coffee shops. This includes scones, muffins, quick breads and cookies. While these products are the backbone of our product line-up, over the years, it has been fun to add some more elaborate and advanced items.
For one of my coffee shops, I do Pop Tarts. Made from scratch, the pastry is like a mash-up of pie dough and a cookie dough. It is buttery and flaky, and the star of the show. We make all fillings from scratch as well, and we have a lot of fun with the variety of flavors we offer. We have done everything from Nutella, Triple Berry, Lemon Blueberry Streusel, and this summer we even had a Cereal Week where every Pop Tart was a fun kid’s cereal flavor!
At Snowberry, we are most proud of our customer service and willingness to always find the “Yes”. Even if we can’t do something per a customer’s request, we will always try to offer an alternative that we can do! We know most customers by name and enjoy hearing their excitement and feedback on our social media posts!
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was always active- whether it was dancing or sports. It is not a surprise that I have a career that requires a minimum of 16,000 steps a day! I was well-liked, yet pretty introverted- kind of similar to how I am now!
I grew up in a family that loved food! In high school I would throw elaborate holiday brunches for my friends. It would take days for me to make everything and I loved every minute! Deciding to go to culinary school was really a no brainer.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.snowberrybakehouse.com
- Email: snowberrybakehouse@gmail.com
- Instagram: snowberrybakehouse
- Facebook: Snowberry Bakehouse
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