Oh, it's just you too. Okay. So And y'all are best friends and your sisters. And they're gonna share their story. So my first question, we're gonna have to share microphone today because things are our charging. This is just real life. And we're using a coffee cup for our stage right now. You don't you have to do. But I want them to share their story because something that did you think it was bad? What happened to you? Like, are you upset? Yeah. Okay, so how a good things good things come out of these things. And then there's burnout, like burnout is real. And we've all been burned out at something at some point. And so sharing that aspect of it already does some of the story is really important. But that's, that's what we really want to focus on is like sharing the burnout and how good things can really come out of it like with your family, and now they're here. They've been here for two days straight yesterday today, went all in, but their business is still running, even though they're here. We're all here. Okay, we're gonna start off since we have to share the mic.
I was a biomedical scientist. I worked in Ann Arbor, Michigan for almost eight years. I was working on a project for preeclampsia. And it was a great project had a lot of things was working very hard, like 50 hours a week. Just crazy. And then COVID hit. And in November of 2020, I ended up getting laid off from my position. They did a pre recorded zoom call with like 30 people and just said at the end of this call, you no longer work here. So I pre recorded zoom call. Yeah, yeah. So I got a meeting invitation that morning that nobody else in my group got. And so I was like, That's really strange. Like, okay, now, I thought something was up, but I didn't know get like I had been working my butt off and like
so you were working on this for how long?
I was working on so I was at that company almost two years.
Okay, so two years of your life that you've dedicated 50 plus hours a week to plus commuting and you get a zoom pre recorded Zoom video not a real person telling you Yeah, that's effed up. Yeah. So I mean, serious. At least here's what I say this, like, how did that make you? Like me serious? No,
it's definitely it is crazy and it made me feel very low and not undervalued and just absolutely like shit like I wasn't appreciated enough to even have like an actual person telling me this and like all the work that I put into, it didn't matter. It was not great.
And so I'm like there's, you know, big sister ever the like trying to make things positive and turn it around person and I went and got her I'm sorry, you've been laid off makeup. And I'm pretty sure I probably brought some Ben and Jerry's or something like that to like, try to say, you know, like, this doesn't define who you are, right. But the cool thing is, we already kind of had hopes and dreams and ideas and goals. And so I think this is kind of the universal lining to really put you in the position to be able to do that. And then I originally tagged along for the ride and now Holy moly. Here we are.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, pretty much.
So everything happens for a reason. That's the whole point is you never know. But just to back up a little bit, do you now you're doing something for yourself? And for others, because they need what you guys have? We're gonna get there. But do you think did did you stop and reevaluate? How have I been spending my time for the last two years? And I will never work this hard for somebody else again, ever. Like, it's almost like you feel like something's been robbed from you. So that's like, can you talk to?
Yeah, so? Absolutely, like, totally. At the time, my I was pregnant, and I had my, um, and my oldest was very young. And it's just, it was just a lot going on. And so it did totally make me irrelevant, reevaluate everything in my time, and the company wasn't fantastic. And my direct boss was even worse. And just I had even mentioned before that, and I had been looking for other jobs. So like, like you said, it was just kind of like the universe was like, Hey, go, here's your opportunity, like, do something for you. Don't Don't waste your time on things like this. Yeah. It was good. Yeah. Good.
Yeah, so um, I am a licensed professional counselor. And so I have done mental health works since I was 21. So at the time, when COVID hit, I was a director of outpatient services, who oversaw like case management departments, psychiatrist, outpatient therapist, jail programming, school programming. So my position was really intense. And I felt extremely valued. And I had a huge, awesome team. But my self and my husband were both working full time from home COVID hit and we were just about, I had three kids that I have still three kids. Now, at the time, I had three kiddos, but my oldest was just about to start virtual kindergarten. And I couldn't envision a world where she's doing virtual kindergarten, I'm working from home during this really intensive position, my husband's working full time from home. And then we also have a three year old and an infant. So it was one of those things where I intentionally chose to leave my position to become a stay at home mom. And in hindsight, not only did it support my family, but it gave me the opportunity to really recognize where it was to speak about burnout, right. So I had been in that role for a very long time. And as much as it was a critical role and an important role and a valuable role. It was definitely more draining than feeding for me personally. So it was definitely one of those things where, in hindsight, I see now how much healthier my mental health is having the opportunity to step away. And again, do something for myself that's really more energizing and creative and more packed, like my passion area, for sure.
Now that you know, the backstory, now I'll tell you what they do, and the idea and how it all came about, because it's still very fresh and new. But what I can say about both of you is that you've already been through corporate careers, and you've had the honeymoon of, oh, this is cute, we're gonna start our own business. And no, and that does have to do with age and life experience. So the fact that you're not 21 And if you're 21 is starting your own business like Cleany Santa's who's holding receiver right now. Just learn from older people. And it doesn't always mean age, it means life experience. So all the experience and life experience and now that you've had the opportunity to evaluate your time and you already know the value of your time and you know, how it makes you feel when it's not meaningful and purposeful. And you don't want to feel like that. And so coming up with what you guys I know that like from a success rate, I don't have to worry about you. It's like I meet people, and then I leave and I'm like, I'm kind of worried about like, I think they're a little bit fantasy or you know, but it's like you're past that. So it's like you said earlier like you know the business side of it. You know, you need the right people and you're in a different phase right now. And but I want you to share the story of like, what was the idea? How, like, was it at a kitchen table? Was it like you wrote down the name on the napkin, like, tell me all the details.
So, I had left my I had given it like 10 week notice, because I knew my position would be, it was ridiculous to fill. And even then they fill my position with two other people at this point. So. So the position, right, so the position I knew would be difficult to leave. And personally, too, because I felt a lot of value in my role, right? So you have this really super long notice. And I knew that I was like, going to have all this free time, right? And Madison had sort of always dreamed of baking cakes, right? Is that was that your like? Yeah, it was. I
remember in high school, like when you had to choose your job shadowing I job shadowed at an event, like venue and ran the kitchen in the back because like, I just always thought that that was the cool area to cook and like make things for people.
Yeah. So she texted me. I don't even remember what day it was. But she texted me. And she's like, Hey, what if we just started making some cakes for fun. And this was during I mean, she probably texted me in June 2020, which was like the lock downs, were just starting to open up. And so July 2020, we made our logo. And our business is called the Five forks. And so between us, we have five kiddos, and we were kind of taste testings and recipes and kind of getting this idea up and round. And we would lay out five forks on the counter and then line up all the little kiddos and we'd say, Okay, do you like it? Do you not like it? Like, is there anything you you know, those kinds of things. And they take their job very seriously a lot of feedback. We're not allowed to roll out new product unless they've tested it first. The oldest one is eight. My oldest is eight. And her youngest is two. So they're between Well, three, she just turned three. She will she will be three. I was right, the rest. So they're just they give a lot of good feedback and a lot of you know, brutal honesty. This and put it on your we should have we still could now I bet. Well, they don't they're not on our social media a ton. Just, you know, we want to kind of be Yeah, yeah. Respectful at least audio maybe. For sure we could do the audio would be hilarious. Yeah, perfect. Yeah. So anyways, we just decided to like give it a try. In the first year in our business, we did a lot of like 12 Serving cakes for like your little COVID Mobile, right, like all these people in your life that you just wanted a nice celebration for, and it started to just kind of organically grow. And then we're to that point where it was July January 2022. Was that correct? Timeline was when we got our LLC. Yeah, so we were kind of in a position where we either needed to probably start thinking about going back to the corporate world, or where we were going to turn this into something real. And so we kind of set a deadline for ourselves, and we said, we're gonna do the LLC, we're gonna start treating this like a business and we're gonna see how it goes. We're gonna give ourselves one year. So in that one year, we got our LLC. We applied for several different grants and fellowship opportunities. And we, we successfully obtained all of them. And we went from from January 2020, to have cooking in our kitchens and just a couple orders our business in that timeframe from from then to December 20. Our business grew 400% 4% 400 even knows. Right? Yeah, yeah. What's your first color? Green? No, she's green. I'm goldish. greenish, oh, this greenish. But I'm definitely goldish green is indoor just a little bit. Yeah. So our business grew 400% We signed the lease, and then we gave ourselves six weeks to renovate the building and we opened our brick and mortar shop and in that timeframe, we've been open three and a half weeks and we have almost well we've exceeded three of the four quarters last year but almost exceeded in three weeks. The revenue that we produced in q4 of last year, which is always the busiest season for cakes, so we are kicking ass if I give you
Yeah, yeah,
because as you know, shipping always easy. It's not it's not always easy. Shit isn't always easy. But what my question to you all is what do you think a tree has attributed like how had Did you grow 400% So quickly, and how did you do these things? Well, first, they're green gold. Okay, so there's those combinations again, they start things and they get shit done, but then they also realize that they're going to maintain it by leaving and stepping out to have someone else maintain it because there's other things that then you can Take it to the next level. So it's like What is your secret sauce to doing those things, because those are very good numbers and very short period of time. Again, do not compare yourself, if you're 21 years old, just starting a business, they have a lot of life experience. Okay. And the other thing that I will say is, I don't know, orange wise, but like, and I know people in our respect that who don't want their kids on social media, they don't. But the story on the homepage of your website have a 32nd thing of Wi Fi forks, because I've been wondered that when I looked at your website, I'm like, why five forks. And then I go, and I look at the branding that I didn't see. Now, again, I'm not a good reader. And I'm not going to scroll. And I'm not going to look hard for it. I'm just being honest. And it's like, but when you just told me that it makes me want to even support you more, because like the five forks is after the five kids. And then you lay out the five forks. And like, I love that. So it's like, remember, like your story and your brain story. And like where things come from if you start to learn people's stories, people are way more invested. And if it's like, I wanted these guys from the CIA to be my video the other day, and they're like, oh, no, we can't. It's like, it's okay. But can you turn around backwards? They had hoodies, and then wear your hoodie, you know, to the front, that's the back of your head with the hoodie. And then you put sunglasses over the hoodie, no one's gonna know who you are. Right? They still don't want to do that. They're like, we can't be in it. They get it they follow the rules, right? I mean, they're green gold. So but how did you do it so fast? Because that's what's great.
I think a lot of it kind of speaking to your point about life experience that the two of us are very dynamic duo, right? Like medicine coming from chemistry is recipe. Yeah. Yeah. Like, the quality standards are just insane. So we entered the market saying that we are high quality high end like we at no point in town, have we or have we ever identified ourselves from being in town like did the cheapest, most affordable option. So we can came in strong with our brand identity. And I think so her coming from her background in chemistry and being able to help us with the recipe development and the consistency and surprising amount of creativity, if I'm going to be really honest with you. Because, like, I've always kind of been the creative one. And she's been the analytical one. And so it's really cool to see her use those skill set. But if you look at our website, you see like these really awesome geometrical cakes, and some really cool symmetrical designs. And some really technical designs, those are typically from her because she uses that mind, mind that skill set in that mind frame to be able to create those. And then I think I just came from naturally creative, naturally kind of a little more outgoing of the two of us. And I definitely thrive in positions of leadership, for sure. So like I like the idea of building a business and creating something sustainable and scalable and being part of something where I do personally thrive on like recognition of doing a good job. And so hearing positive feedback has just been awesome. So I think identifying our strengths and playing off those more than anything has been a big, a big contributing factor to our success. growing our business organically. So to your point that you spoke to earlier, like you have 14,000 followers, but every single one of them, you know, yeah, it's very intentional. And I think that we've made some very intentional steps to along the way. And then I think opening ourselves up to opportunities. So there have been multiple experiences that we've had, that no one else has done before us. And there's some very like regional specific things that we have done. But opening ourselves up to opportunity getting the shit done, right like like being intentional about choosing to do it and making sure that we actually follow through and that's how we received several grants a couple of different funding opportunities. So kind of being intentional again about who you're networking with opening yourselves up to those opportunities and making sure that you've you've do the follow through pieces and all of the components to really get yourself to that position.
So who taught me that about it was a green like everything that you just said it was me making the decision of bringing on a green and so they heard the story earlier that were it's just like you know, high green just to get on my nerves there's so many questions because I don't want to be question I just want to do it but that's not it is not the right mindset rest me Don't do it, I did it, but the value that the like the greens and the golds bring to the table and those numbers because the numbers don't lie. And then but but being your personality, and and yours too. So the question for you is going to be because I know obsessiveness and getting the geometry and the shapes and the formulas of recipes. And then I hit because I don't cook anything. I'm burned out burned out but it's like, you know that you can give someone a recipe but it tastes different if other people do it right. And so it's like we just put a little Dasha here. So I want to know how your brain handles the exact formula of chemistry. And then you like throwing in recipes for you. And then because you are green gold, and you do have that intuition, again, being very purposeful, and you knew you were going to leave your job, and you gave them 10 weeks for someone who's not green. And for somebody, you know, listening, listening or watching and they want to leave, like if you could, while we're answering this question, think of like, Are there five must steps, I'm putting you on the spot green tape that we put on the spot, they like to think it all through. But if you're green, orange, you can roll with it. But everything that you just said, everything is, is Audra was our very first green, she is still a team member, she also has her own business, she's still she's probably one of my best friends the whole world. Because she will shoot the shit straight to me and be like, girl, you need to slow the F down.
And there's somebody like that, yes, yeah,
you need different but the point is like, you need other colors around you. But it's all in how you look at it. And if you're looking at someone for what they are, or what can they offer, and you're just not listening, or you're not asking the right questions. And so if there's like five things you did, or three things like things, three, to prepare to leave, I'd love for you to share that framework just to help people. But how do you deal with the chemistry versus the recipes? It's like, it's time to go to bed just let's go you're like, but this recipe? I can just hear it.
That's yeah, that is accurate. Yeah, yeah, I am very, very particular. And it's still the case, where it's, everything is measured like to the gram, and it's measured in grams. It's not in cups, it's like very specific, because like a cup of flour can weigh different depending on how you measure it. And so everything is by weight. I have in my job as a scientist, I wrote protocols. So there are protocols, everything is very, very clearly written out.
Even though she even knows the weight of the measuring bowls, so that she knows how much batter is left in her measuring bowl, how much like what other looks so she has extra she knows like I can make a six inch layer I can make two foreign players or I can do this many cupcakes like she has that precise down on her measurements and things. That's true. You know, your,
this is called cost projection. And when you have any products, the amount of companies I go into, and I'm like, Okay, you have all this stuff, where are the orders are where it's like, weekly, I'm assuming like you would go ahead and you look ahead and you order ahead, and you know how much you need. And you always get a little bit of extra, but not like a million dollars worth of extra shit. I mean, come on people. So that's where that green in that numbers in that goal. Do we order on time? You know, we
it's been it's good. I think I've converted you to not do cups.
Originally, I was a little resistant. I won't lie. Like the greenest person I've ever met.
So originally, I was a little like, Oh, come on doesn't have to be this precise. But it really does. It's benefited our business. But yeah, for sure. Yeah. And now we're at the stage, which is exciting, but also a little nerve wracking for me that we're like, we needed someone to help us bake. So like, I know, my protocols are solid. And I know everything's written out. And it's very clear, but I'm still like, what if it doesn't go right? Like what if the oven does this like?
So what I would do if this were me, and this is just me like babysitting and slow rolling. But if I were in this situation, I would video myself putting every ingredient in every baggie and labeling the baggies of like, okay, these are all these are all the cake. This is just me like I'm a control freak, I would go in on Sunday nights. And I'm like, Okay, there's 13 wedding cakes that have to go out. And so I've already prepared all the ingredients I've already measured the mouth are in all the plastic baggies. They have label after color proof after numbers and steps like it's so dummy proof, you can't mess it up. You cannot mess it up. But if you do all of that, and you just set it and the ovens not working. What do you do? If you forget to set the timer? What do you do? Or if a water line breaks in the middle of you baking and you forget and you don't hear the timer? What do you do? So it's those types of things where you can have shit where you damn near think it's perfect. And then way bigger things that you're not thinking about are there but again, it's all on how you react. And when you have that open door to people but then it's like making those videos and doing it over and over. I would for 90 days have somebody with me. The person is going to take over for 90 days and then just watching for 30 days. Then then the next 30 days you do have they do have every other day in the last 30 days. Just they do it And you say nothing, then you take notes, and your hands don't work. And it's the heart in editing. When I'm teaching editing, like students, I've had people next to me, they're like, why don't you just like, reach up and like, do it yourself, like, the trap that is right there. And I'm like, is it teaches, I'm like, Well, some people, their hands don't work, you know the story to that. And the next video I get, and then next video I get in the next video I get from an editing perspective, they're gonna remember, and they're gonna know, it might take them a few times, but lining up the audio and lining up the eight count. I mean, it's a lot, it's a lot to look at. But when you have them do it, and they've got, it's gotta be, that's why 3030 30 There's a reason 90 days, like, I didn't make that up. But that's the reason and then you will feel good. But then you also know if people are proactive or not. So if they're proactive and the alarm goes off, or something, huh, it's like, you know that they have the experience that if there's not a policy in your SOP manual, and it's not like they're gonna go to Google Drive and be like, well, let me pull up the SOPs, while this shit burns down. You know, it's like, you've got to have people that can handle real life. And some of us work really well under pressure, and some people just fold. Okay, so this framework that you came up with, oh, yeah,
my framework on the fly. I think that there's probably several different things that I would encourage somebody to do, I think, number one, be realistic about what you can and can't do. I'm just gonna, yeah, I think to be totally transparent. I'm very privileged that I'm married to a man who had a good job that could cover our finances long enough, had I not been right, like I would have had to think about that differently. And not that I couldn't do it. But I would have had to a different strategy, for sure, right. And then, in lieu in continuing like the concept of finances, we're also very, like, precise in our pro forma. So we really can't like we have spreadsheets that we can kind of plug in our current numbers, and it will project to us in the next 369 months, what is it going to look like? So we can use that information and plan ahead. And there's tools that we have available to us, again, by looking at resources. So for us, we use the Small Business Development Center. And that's an organization that's really intended to kind of help you set up to be sustainable. So those are communities that, yeah, lean on your 100%. And there are resources out there for sure. There's tons of them out there. So just look for those opportunities and supports for yourself. So I think the financial aspect is a critical, right? I mean, that's to be like you can't do it without that being in place. Right. Um, I think that one thing that we've maybe learned from experience that hasn't always been smooth, is kind of a time management acts aspect. So having three young kids at home. So leaving my position and working from my home from my kitchen, that was really difficult to like, all of a sudden, I had this like freedom and independence to I am home 24/7. And what does this time management look like and then to have that for a couple years, and now all of a sudden we're in this bakery. They're in the bakery now, right. And so even last night, we ran, we didn't have enough powdered sugar to make the frosting for tonight's event. And I had to bail out a few minutes early on bedtime to make sure I got to the store before it closed. So I think just like the flexibility, but also like the true realization of how much time this is really going to take and what that looks like and how you can manage your time. Because I think there was sort of this moment where I had the honor, I went from working full time out of my home to working full time in my home to nine back out of my home and what does our systems and processes need to look like that at home to make that be successful? And then again, I think the the last kind of piece of advice that I would probably give people is find your people, right, like so it's part of the community. But I this business wouldn't exist without both of us like it just it's right. And not to say that you have to have somebody to lean on. But find the people that you can trust that you can respect and build up that team because there's no way to scale if it's just you, like there will never be a five works without I mean, like hopefully we grow teams, right? And that we're not always the ones mopping the floors at the end of the day. But find people and train them up and trust them and build up other skills so that they can help you grow and just think of it as a team. And yeah, there are leaders and those are critical roles, but every single position is important. So really, yeah, yeah.
And like just to be clear, because people will say, Oh, you can't go check your own email and oh, you can't go like put stuff on your own calendar. Like what is wrong, you know, like, Oh, are you too good for you entitlement like, it's not that and it's the person mopping the floor is the most important job at the end of the night and before the first person comes in. And if you use the wrong wax or you use the wrong I mean people can There's every you said it, every job is important. It's not that we can't mop the floor. It's not that we're too good to do it. All these things I don't want to do, like wash my hair. And I mean, you guys have heard all kinds of stories. It's like, I'm supporting someone else, you're supporting someone else, you're offering people an opportunity into your family, into your life into your business. And that's a big deal. And every job matters, every role matters, and it doesn't matter. But when you're the owner, you have to free yourself up in order to continue growth, because it's not sustainable. And what I was saying yesterday is there's people that can do shit better than you, and let them and like, it challenges you, and it makes you better. And I will say, if you're leading a business right now, and you don't want to be better, and you're burnt out, follow her framework. Because maybe just shifting from what you're doing is someone said earlier, and this is not what she said, I'm just going to use an example. But she's like, I'm a wedding planner, but I'm on goal sheet like I really want to travel and I want to be with my family more. Well, you can be a wedding planner, and travel and do destination weddings, and take your family. And your husband could be your social media manager doing behind the scenes, because when you show real life, people feel that and they see that, and it's just being real, not the have to put your kids faces, but I still think a video of with the five forks in the kids like that's everything.
I will tell you so the kids are at the bakery regularly, like all the time. And so my eight year old walks in and she puts on her little gloves and stands at the counter and can't wait for the first customer to walk in the door. So she can give them cupcakes. So yeah, you're right that it's very much real life and it's your
world, right for your whole company is around your five children. And there's a donut shop in Nashville called five daughters. And it's a husband, wife, they it's five daughters, and they get to pick their favorite donut or you know, whatever it's gonna be. And it's all around those five kids. And then they have their own little thing. And they're all so different. But the beauty behind that is when you have that many, and they all are different. You can hit the personality of any buddy watching. That's why friends did so well is because of their group. Everybody had a different personality, and everyone could see themselves in that story. You know, so it's like, I don't have kids, but I have nieces and nephews and like I love because again, it's a legacy automatically, that you can leave for them. Any one final like thought takeaway for people watching or listening.
There's never a great time to change. Just do it. I
was going to be perfect. It's never going to be smooth sailing 100% of the time. And and I think yeah, like don't be afraid to like, go for it. Yeah, be smart about it. But yeah. Let your little inner orange come out. Yeah.
Yeah, I would say that your last night, your orange. And if you're new and you have no clue what we're talking about, just DM me and we'll we'll get you the methodologies really fun. Thanks, girls. You guys are doing amazing things. Thank you so much for watching. You're tuning into business unveiled and we will catch you next week. Bye. That's it for this week's episode of business unveiled. Now that you have all the tools that you need to conquer the world and GSD get shit done. Would you share this with your friends and fellow business leaders? One thing that would really really help us and help new listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a comment and Apple podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you tune in and listen to business unveiled. You can check out the show notes at Angela proffitt.com/podcast and link up with us on social media so you can share your biggest insights. And I want to know your aha moments. Until next week, remember, the profitable shifts and structures you're creating and your business help you be more present in your life. So get out there and GSD