Meet Trailblazer Katie Magner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Magner.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have long loved to bake. My grandmother was my inspiration. She always had cookies in the cookie jar at her house. Her baking was such a central part to my mom’s family that we have a family cookbook with our family’s history alongside my grandmother’s recipes.

After a decade long career in investment management and a few years out of the work force raising my children, I found myself twiddling my thumbs. I was arguably spending more than a reasonable amount of time baking for my family… and baking more than they could consume! When I learned that the much-loved bakery in our Denver neighborhood was for sale, I immediately thought I could translate my love for baking into a business endeavor. Cake Crumbs was approaching its 10 year anniversary and the founders of the business were ready to move on. It seemed serendipitous! Confident in my business acumen after years of analyzing companies for investment and interested in nurturing my creative side, I jumped on the opportunity.

I was a customer of Cake Crumbs since its inception. I appreciated what the business provided to the community. It provided a place to gather among neighbors over coffee and food. I also saw many opportunities. As a business founded on custom cakes, I felt that the food offering was an afterthought. I believed that putting more thought and intention in the menu would build the breakfast and lunch business. As a business run by its founders, I observed that there was a fair amount of control over the business by the owners. I did not see many members of the staff having a vested interest in the business. They were generally non-committal to its success. I saw an opportunity to provide some creative autonomy to the production team and to allow customer-facing staff to provide input on our processes.

I hired culinary professionals to run the kitchen. With my input, they have built a menu that our customer enjoys. It’s interesting but approachable. I have shared with them my culinary vision and they have worked with those guidelines. Making the cultural changes has made a huge impact. Our pastry and cake offering is much more dynamic. Customers can look forward to their regular favorites and new features in our pastry case as well as a variety of beautifully decorated cakes. The staff notices that the success of the business hinges on their efforts. They take care and pride in their work. They constantly make suggestions on how we can improve what we do every day. And I always remind them that the success of the business will impact all of them. The rising tide lifts all boats.

After a little more than two years, we have really hit our stride! This was demonstrated most this summer when our typically very quiet month of July was up 10%. We have seen a large number of new customers coming not just from our neighborhood but beyond. Our brand is spreading! And while we always will deal with the blows of bad yelp reviews, we have many 5 stars and positive reviews on all platforms.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Taking over a neighborhood institution felt like a huge responsibility. I did not want to let anyone down from the staff to the customers.

The staff did not like the uncertainty of a new boss and I experienced a very high employee turnover in the first 6 months. During a particularly challenging stretch, I worked about six weeks straight mostly filling shifts vacated by people who quit without notice. I cried a few times during that period. By the end of the first year, I had retained 2 people out of 20 of the original staff. I had to hire cake decorators, pastry cooks, line cooks, customer service staff and managers during a time when the unemployment rate was at historical lows. I was drinking from the firehose. With every staff departure, I was forced to learn another aspect of the business. This was the silver lining. By the end of the first year, there was no stone unturned. I could pick up anywhere in any capacity in the shop and get to work.

The neighborhood had a close eye on me. The regular customers remarked about the changes that we were making. One customer wondered how I could ever operate the business without the help of then departed original manager. I had to be resilient to criticism, confident in my skills and rely on the conviction of my vision for the business.

Some things I envisioned had to be scrapped. I had some ideas drawn from observations made at other cafes. And then I tried them at Cake Crumbs and they failed. But I continued to try new things until we started to see traction with the customers. I had to be flexible.

I was impatient. I wondered whether all this effort was worth it. It took a while to see the energy that I was putting into the business pay off. Some people told me to give it a year. And when I hit a year and didn’t feel any better, I wanted to give up. One step forward was followed by two steps back. At about 18 months, when people would ask me how I was doing I was finally able to say that I was really enjoying myself.

I have found a place to exercise my creativity. Staff members have told me that they have never loved their job so much. Community members thank me for providing a place for them to be with their friends, family, and neighbors. This experience has turned much more purposeful than I ever anticipated from owning a business.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Cake Crumbs Bakery & Cafe – what should we know?
Cake Crumbs Bakery & Cafe is known as a place for community. We specialize in custom cakes; we offer a tasty, approachable and freshly made breakfast and lunch menu; we have a full case of scratch-made, delicious pastries stocked daily; we support local businesses by serving local brands of coffee, burritos, bagels, meats, produce and bottled drinks.

I summarize my vision of Cake Crumbs as the confluence of three great things. There is not one person, one flavor or one cake design that makes us special. Cake Crumbs is special because we have a great, supportive and loyal customer base; we have a great staff that loves their jobs and makes our customers feel welcome; we serve great food in which we take great care and pride. It is really hard to replicate this without having the combination of these three dynamics. I truly believe this is what sets us apart. The restaurant industry is a very competitive business and yet I remind myself that Cake Crumbs will always be okay so long as I tend to each of these 3 things every day. I am at the shop 5 days a week. I pitch in anywhere my staff needs support. I have regular conversations with our customers. I participate in recipe testing on a weekly basis. In fact this week I made a test batch of Lemon White Chocolate Chip cookies. It was a winner and we will be filling this cookie sandwich with raspberry buttercream!

Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
I was fortunate to live overseas when I was in elementary school. My father was relocated to Spain where I spent five years of my childhood. This planted a lot of curiosity in me. I have always been game for trying new things, meeting new people and visiting new places.

I am a pretty driven person. I do not give up. When I put my mind to something, I work tirelessly to ensure its success. I am independent and have a fair amount of confidence in myself that I can take care of most things. I am also a bit of a control freak. In all honesty, this is probably the byproduct of having an alcoholic parent. Some of these personal characteristics have been huge challenges for me in managing a staff of people and running a business. I have had to accept that I can’t “do it all”. I have to rely on other people. I have to trust them to take care of things. I have to believe that they have really good intentions and want to do the right thing. I am quite proud of myself in taking on this challenge. I am almost 50! This experience has lent itself to a lot of personal growth.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2216 Kearney St
  Denver, CO 80207
• Website: www.cake-crumbs.com
• Phone: 303-861-4912
• Email: info@cake-crumbs.com
• Instagram: cakecrumbsdenver
• Facebook: cakecrumbsdenver

Image Credit:
Katie Magner

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