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- [00:01]
Chef Schomburg
Hey sweet friend.
- [00:02]
Sam
Before we jump in today's podcast episode, I want to let you in on something special. Mark your calendars because June 19th at 6pm Central 2025 this year I'm having a free training and you are invited. On that night, I'm going to be showing you how I doubled my sales with corporate clients. If you're a baker, decorator or treat maker who's feeling stuck trying to get more consistent sales, or you're tired of posting online and still not seeing any real come in, or maybe you're just not ready for digital products yet, then this is definitely for you. Because when I first started, I was in the exact same position, wondering how can I grow my business without burning out and without doing custom orders that take up all my time, especially on the weekends. I want it to be with my family and my husband too. And so for me, that all changed when I started booking corporate clients. And now I'm hosting a free live training called How I Doubled My Sales with Corporate Clients and I would love to see you there. To register, go to www.baking for business.com training that's www.baking for business.comblash training. In order for you to register, sign up and make sure you get to come out to the live. And right after the class, I'm also having a free Q and A. No questions go unanswered. And so I cannot wait to meet you and help you in any way, way possible. I want you to be there as I'm pulling back the curtain and walking you through exactly how I did it, what I pitched, how I priced myself, and what I say to keep companies coming back to order with me. And not only that, but you're also going to get to hear from amazing students who have graduated from my signature program, More Dough, which shows you all the details on how you can add corporate clients to your business. So what are you waiting for? In order to register, go to www.baking for business.com backslash training. That's www.baking for business.comet R A I N I N G In order to attend the free info session, learn how I double my sales with corporate clients and how you can too. Can't wait to see you June 19th live at 6:00pm Central. All right, now let's get into the next show. Hey sweet friends. My name is Chef Schomburg. I started my baking business with a bottle of Di Serrano and one Bundt cake pan.
- [02:35]
Chef Schomburg
Fast forward to today.
- [02:36]
Sam
From news to magazines, speaking on national stages and more, I can truly say that baking has changed my life. So now as a bakery business coach, I get to help others have the same success. I've helped hundreds of my students across the world and my global membership program create six figure businesses, mainly from home. The Baking for Business podcast is an extension of that, from actionable tips to valuable tools and resources that can impact you as a business owner. I truly believe y' all, we would never have been given a gift if we couldn't profit and prosper from it. So come on, darling, what are you waiting for?
- [03:15]
Chef Schomburg
Hey, what's going on, you guys? And welcome to another episode of the Baking for Business podcast. I pray that as you're listening to this, you are having an amazing day. Today you're in for a sweet treat because we have a cake bomb artist on the podcast and I don't think we've ever had a. A cake bomb artist before. But Catherine is the owner of Bomb Babes, located in Georgia, and her business specializes in cake bombs. And we're going to talk all about what those are, how she got started, as well as how she continues to grow her baking business. So, Katherine, thank you so much for joining me today.
- [03:54]
Catherine
Oh, thank you. I love this podcast. I've loved it since I first listened to it two years ago, so I fell in love with it completely. So I'm really excited to be here. Yay.
- [04:05]
Chef Schomburg
Oh, you're so sweet. And I have actually, as you guys who are listening, I've actually met Catherine in person and I've actually had an opportunity to taste these. And they are. These cake bombs. They are. They're really, really good. The martini was my favorite. Of course, you guys know anything. The one with alcohol would have been my favorite. But they' really are delicious. They really are decadent. And there's so many things I love about her brand. And I'm going to break it down to you guys, but first, Catherine, you share with me what got you started into baking. How did your baking journey evolve?
- [04:40]
Catherine
Yeah, so I started baking. I've always baked like, as a kid and here and there mostly for, you know, just like birthday parties and just sort of whenever I wanted something sweet. And yeah, I just, I. When I was pregnant, I. Which was like eight years ago, but when I was pregnant with my daughter, I always wanted something sweet and I didn't like how anybody else made their items. So I, I just started making it the way that I wanted to make it. And then I just decided, you know, I think I can do something. I can make a business out of this. But I really didn't want to do all the things that, you know, all of the cakes and breads that everybody else makes. I think that's kind of lame. And, I mean, it's not lame, but, you know, for me, it was. I didn't want to do what everybody else does because you could find it anywhere and so many people do it. So I thought, how can I make it different? And. Yeah. So here we are.
- [05:38]
Chef Schomburg
So what exactly in your definition is a cake bomb?
- [05:42]
Catherine
So a cake bomb is a combination of a truffle fudge and a cake pop. And so it's like a cake pop, but instead of using remnants from cake parts, we intentionally bake the cake to be turned into a cake bomb. So it's made to taste very rich and decadent. It's almost like the truffles that you wish you would get inside of a truffle box, you know, like, because when you get them, they're, like, really small and they go fast, and then you're like, oh, I'm out of truffles.
- [06:15]
Chef Schomburg
So the name Bomb Babe is quite distinctive because when we hear bomb, a lot of times, people think of cocoa bombs, which are usually a very seasonal item that are generally popular. And they were popular especially when home bakers were doing them, but now they're more widespread and commercialized. So what made you decide to go with the name Bomb Babes?
- [06:42]
Catherine
So, full disclosure. Before I had my daughter, before I became a baker full time, before any of that, I was actually in lingerie modeling. And I. I like the idea of something a little audacious, a little bit like, wait, what? What is that? What did she do? You know? And so for me, I think if I'm going to create a baking company that is based in creativity, a name like Catherine's Bakes is just. It doesn't suit the brand that I set out to create. So when. When we started, we did actually start selling with hot chocolate bombs, but then we. We changed it because it, you know, the market changed and it was no longer winter. And so we. We actually changed it to cake bombs during that, you know, winter transition. But when we named the business, it was like, it all just came to me like, you know, like lightning. You know, like, it has to be Bombay. It's like, it has to be something that people are like, what is that? What? Wait, hold on. You know, so a little audacious, a little, like, cheeky, a little. What are we doing here?
- [07:51]
Chef Schomburg
You know, I love that because too often people do not think in terms of how will I be perceived? What is an audience going to think of me? And then sometimes people are actually afraid to go a particular route that may be risque. And I always tell people it's better for you to stand for something than to fall for anything or to not stand for anything at all. And usually it is those things that are on the edge that really attract people. I used to have people always tell me, well, if you bake with alcohol, aren't you worried that you won't get any children's orders? And I would tell people, no, I don't want children's orders. And I'm okay with that. And people will always feel like, well, if I'm turning away, people are not losing people. But it's like, no, you're not. So I love with the name that you're being bold, that you're being cheeky because you're going to find those people who are drawn to it who are like, oh, this is cute, this is cheap. And they don't mind those, those flavors. So I love the name. You've really innovated with your products such as the cake bombs and cakesicles, and you really have a lot of bold flavors as well. Like I said, the martini and other things. Where do you get your inspiration from when it comes to your flavors?
- [09:06]
Catherine
So honestly, I'm inspired by whatever, like just dessert. I like having the dessert is like a little like of a. It's like a nostalgic throwback to your favorite childhood classics, but with a twist. So they're intended to be a throwback, but they're also like, also going to be something that's like a new approach to desserts, you know. And I, I just. So for me, I, I like. Well, first of all, I love chocolate cake, so that was a no brainer. But something like one of our more unique products is a cannoli cake. And it's like a challenge for me, like, how can I turn a cannoli into a cake truffle? And so for me it was like, okay, a cannoli can be made into a vanilla marscapone cake with all these other great components. And, and here we are. So I think, I think it's more like the challenge of how can I turn it into a truffle? You know, so many people are always.
- [10:01]
Chef Schomburg
Scrambling to get clients and to put their name out there. And you've grown over time, definitely by doing. What I recommend a lot of people do is to step away from social media and get active in your community. And one of the Things you did was you participated in Dessert Wars. And so tell me about that experience and how did that help you with brand visibility?
- [10:26]
Catherine
Yeah, so we. I found out about Dessert wars on my birthday, and Dessert wars was like a week away, and so I signed up because I was like, well, let's just. Let's just give it a try and see what happens. So they called me and they were like. They were like, yeah, so do you want to do this? And I was like, sure, let's do this. And they're like, okay, can you make a thousand desserts by this day? And, like, it was like a week in advance. And so I was like, yeah, I can definitely do that. No problem. You know, and then I hung up the phone, and I was like, oh, my gosh, what did I commit myself to? But it was really cool because I really got to connect with so many different people. I actually met somebody from TC Treat, owner of TC Treats, and she was on your podcast too. So that was really cool. I connected with her, and I got to. I really got to just meet a lot of people in the community. We were one of, I think over 175 applicants. They only accepted 75 people, and we placed in the top 12 best desserts in Georgia out of all of that. So that was really cool. And it was like, my first time doing anything like that, and it was. It was really cool. So we kind of walk around with, like, oh, we have the best dessert in Georgia. You know?
- [11:44]
Chef Schomburg
Absolutely. As you should. As you should. A lot of times, our accomplishments and things we go through are really some of the things that separate us from our competition. So that is an amazing accolade for you. And I know you've been following the Baking for business brand for a while. And so aside from your regular local orders, you also do corporate orders, and you're a graduate of More Do. So can you tell me a little bit about your experience with More doe? What made you decide to add. Add corporate clients to your business?
- [12:18]
Catherine
So I really kind of view my business growing in three verticals. Local outreach, special events, weddings, and all of that. And then our other source of growth is. Is through corporate orders. And so, you know, I think corporate clients are great because they order consistently, they order your basic flavors that you can do pretty easily, and they order items that you can just. That are really unique for us. We make a product. It's a cake medallion that's a shape like an Oreo, and you can print a logo directly on top of that. So it's pretty Cool. It's like a sugar. It's in the same vein as a sugar cookie, but not a sugar cookie. It's cake bomb. And you can get whatever flavor that's. That's in there.
- [13:01]
Chef Schomburg
I love that. That's awesome. It's nice to know that you have three separate ways that you like to bring revenue into the business. Because a lot of times people are just like, I want sales. And I'm like, well, what are you going to do? And they think over the clients are going to come. But to know that no, like, I want local, but then I also want, you know, wedding favors, and I want this. It's nice that you have those broken down into those three buckets. And so you had a really big. You've had two now, but you had a really big corporate order. I know you had messaged me about it a while back. So tell me about that. Because sometimes people are afraid to take big orders. So tell me about that, and how did that help your business?
- [13:44]
Catherine
Okay. So it's been a while since that time, and I've had a lot more large corporate orders since. But there was one in particular that she ordered. We have. We offer these gift boxes that are of four. Four cake bombs. And she ordered. She ordered like, 200 boxes. So 200 times four, whatever that number is. I'm bad at math, but mental math is not my thing. But so we. We had to make, you know, 800 new time. That. Yeah. Yes. Thank you. Oh, my gosh. And we had to make 800 cake bombs. And this was right after dessert Wars. And so I was tired, and I was really like, oh, my gosh, how am I going to get through this? This is so exhausting. But. And I did it. And it was. It was really. It was a lot of work. It was so much. But. But the client was so happy at the end. And to be able to gift something that was totally unique and new to a client. So it was really rewarding to be able to provide that service for somebody, to give them the gift of something new and unique. So. But yeah, we've had a lot of corporate clients ever since then, and it's been great. And, you know, learning a lot from Mordaux was a big thing for me. Figuring out what to offer and how to, like, simplify things, you know, was really what I learned how to do through your course. That was. That was cool.
- [15:08]
Chef Schomburg
I love that. A lot of times people, bakers will say, I like the fact that you said you've had tons more orders since then, which Is great because a lot of times people who are new will say, well, I'll just go to YouTube or, or maybe I'll, I'll learn it from YouTube or I'll watch a video. How has investing in your brand paid off? Do you feel that taking more dough was worth it and you can be honest?
- [15:31]
Catherine
Yeah, I do, I do. I think for me the biggest thing was like, the biggest thing I learned is that I don't have to do it all, you know, like what I learned in from there was like, you can take some like, shortcuts. People, people really don't care as much as you think that they do. Not to say, like, serve them, you know, awful things, but just like, I don't have to make fresh laminated pastry dough. I don't have to do. I don't have to bend over backwards to kill myself to fulfill corporate orders. Like, they can be very simple and it doesn't have to be a thing, you know, so.
- [16:09]
Chef Schomburg
Absolutely. I'm big on processes, especially from, yeah, from a retail background. And so I love that you found the simplicity in having processes to your business. And so now I know when you started you were home based, but now you actually have a storefront or that, that you're starting. So tell us a little bit about that.
- [16:32]
Catherine
Oh my gosh. Yeah, so a few weeks ago, I was walking through the outlet malls with my daughter and I was trying. We were, I don't know why we were there, but we were there. I saw this little kiosk thing and it said there was a little sign that said for lease. I thought, huh, I wonder what that would be like, you know? And so I just, I took a picture of the number, I called them, they called me back and they told me what the rent was. And I was like, oh, there's no way, there's no way, you know. And so then they were like, can we set a meeting? And I was like, sure, sure, that's fine. So we set a meeting. I went in thinking, like, this isn't going to be anything. This is. I'm going to have to tell them no, this is just. It'll be what it'll be. And I went in there and they were like, yeah, we can work with you on your budget. We can do all this stuff with you. It's not a big deal. I put together an offer and I just sent it over thinking they're going to reject it, so we'll just see what happens. And they were like, yeah, let's do it. And so then I was like, oh, shoot. Now they. They accepted my offer, and now what do I do? And so I remember talking to some of my friends, and I was like, they accepted my offer. What the fuck do I do now? And they were like, it's an opportunity. What are you talking about? And I was like, it's a scary opportunity. And they were like, no, no, it's not scary. Just keep going. Just do it. And so I was like, okay, so I did it. Now we're there. We're kind of transitioning over into a new phase of our business, but that location is doing really, really well. And we've only been there two weeks, and we already made our rent back, so that's cool.
- [18:00]
Chef Schomburg
Amen. I know that's right. Amen. I love that because I have. I know I need to redo this because I share this tip every year, and people go crazy, but I have a YouTube video that's extremely popular, and it talks about places to sell, and I mentioned in that video all the other options besides a actual, like, brick and mortar storefront. And a kiosk is one of them. And so I love the fact that you have a kiosk and your kiosk is located in the mall.
- [18:32]
Catherine
Yeah.
- [18:33]
Chef Schomburg
And that's what I love. Because too often bakers, a lot of times bakers, they assume, well, if I get the brick and mortar, the store, then the clients will come. And I'm like, no, you have to bring the clients. And if you weren't bringing them at your house, how you gonna bring them to a store? However, with a kiosk, it's almost like, I don't want to say, you don't have to do the work because you still. You're gonna do the work. You want to tell your people about you. But there's this cushion because you're inside of a mall that have built in traffic. And so I just want to say I love the fact that you did kind of go the kiosk route. Honestly, I wish everybody would start that way before even going to a brick and mortar. And so I think that's really. That's really awesome. And you said it's only been two weeks and you've already made back your rent.
- [19:23]
Catherine
Yeah, and then some. So that was cool. And I invested in a giant. The way that the kiosk is set up is that it's got windows, but the windows don't open. So it's confusing for my customers to, like, come around and see, like, where do we order from? So I closed off the windows. Completely. And I actually bought, invested in a large refrigerated bakery display case. And so it looks really cool now. And now people are like, wait, what is this? And they come up and they ask questions and we get to talk about our products. And you know, one of the things I love about it is I love, I really love connecting with my customers. I love like seeing them. I mean, if I could just like connect with my customers and have other people sell it and do like the day to day business, that's, that's the goal, right? I, I love that experience so much of connecting with them. And so I love seeing them like take a bite of something and be like, oh my gosh, this tastes just like my favorite chocolate chip cookie. But it's not a chocolate chip cookie. It's different. You know, like, I just, I love that reaction. So seeing being able to connect with my customers there is great.
- [20:29]
Chef Schomburg
So that is awesome. I'm so happy for you. And so what are your plans for the future? Do you have any other plans to grow the kiosk or anything new coming up?
- [20:42]
Catherine
Yeah, so I spoke with somebody in franchising last year. Not last year, last a couple weeks ago before I started the kiosk. And this was sort of the deciding factor, right, of, of doing the kiosk is I see Bomb Babes as a franchise, you know, in a similar vein as Sprinkles Cupcakes, my plan is to franchise. I spoke with somebody in franchising last a few weeks ago and they told me you need a year's worth of data to see if your business is viable. So just get, get some data, see if there's actually like, if there's actually going to be a need for this product in the community. And so get a year's worth of data. So next year our plan is to start the franchising process. I'd like to see where it goes. And yeah, so that, that's in the plan. I don't know if it's going to necessarily be kiosks or mobile food trucks. I haven't quite figured that detail out yet, but it'll come to me, I know it will. You know, I'll figure out like the best method of, of where and when we'll sell them, you know.
- [21:48]
Chef Schomburg
Well, that is wonderful. Well, I love to hear about your goals and it's been so nice to watch you grow over the years. From the bottom of my little southern heart. Thank you so much for coming on today. And before I let you go, we're going to Play a game of lightning round. Are you ready?
- [22:03]
Catherine
Yeah. Let's go.
- [22:04]
Chef Schomburg
Favorite color?
- [22:06]
Catherine
Well, pink.
- [22:08]
Chef Schomburg
All right. Favorite kitchen utensil?
- [22:11]
Catherine
My bench scraper. I love that thing. It's great for cleaning and it's great for everything. I do love it.
- [22:19]
Chef Schomburg
Favorite book? You cannot live without.
- [22:22]
Catherine
Okay. Ironically, it is. Oh, the places you'll go by Dr. Seuss. It's. It's a childish childhood book. But the theme of, like, keep going in life.
- [22:36]
Chef Schomburg
Absolutely.
- [22:37]
Catherine
That's what I love about it. You know, I love that.
- [22:40]
Chef Schomburg
That's beautiful. What is one dessert you cannot live without?
- [22:43]
Catherine
Chocolate cake. Chocolate cake. Bombs.
- [22:47]
Chef Schomburg
And who is your celebrity crush?
- [22:50]
Catherine
Oh, Henry Cavill.
- [22:53]
Chef Schomburg
Okay.
- [22:54]
Catherine
Yeah. So if Henry Cavill hears this podcast, I have a major crush on you.
- [23:00]
Chef Schomburg
I love it. I love it. Darling, thank you so much for taking the time to swing by and to share your story with others. I really do hope it motivates, and I wish you all the best in your business.
- [23:11]
Catherine
Thank you. Appreciate it.
- [23:15]
Sam
She is such a sweetheart. It is always such a joy to watch you guys grow, and it really is a great example of what's possible when you put the right strategies into action. She's definitely taken what she's learned from the more dough course and turned it into real results, you guys. And just growing even beyond that. Big orders, more income, and just having a greater confidence in her business is something that I love to hear, and I would love to help you guys do the same if you're ready to start getting consistent sales and want to learn how to book more local as well as bulk orders. And I would love to invite you to my free training, showing you guys how I doubled my revenue with corporate clients. And I'll walk you through the same proven steps that help students just like Katherine and so many others to add corporate clients to their business and overall just to grow their brand. So if you guys enjoyed this story, be sure to click the link in the show notes or to register for that free training, Simply go to www.bakingforbusiness.com training. That's www.baking for business.com backslash training. Once again, special thanks to Catherine of Bomb Babes for sharing her story and her testimony. I know that Georgia is going to be a sweeter place because they have her. And thanks to you guys for listening to the podcast. As always, take care and bye for now. Sam.