I got to interview May Houri, Founder of Chocolata Bakery, and Sweet Stuff. Based out of Montreal, May started baking part-time as a side hustle. However, when she was let go from the corporate world, she decided to pursue it full-time. As a solopreneur, she's been doing what she loves for ten years, all while sustaining her revenue needs. Listen to May Houri's interview or read May Houri's story in the transcript below.
Show Notes
Notable Quote:
"At first, you're like told you gotta sit in a space by yourself, close your eyes and just think of nothing. I started learning to meditate, you don't really have to do that you actually have to be doing something that you liked. And right, so writing, painting, baking, it puts you in a zone and it puts you-- It puts you somewhere where you don't, like-- where you want to be. And it gives you that peace of mind. And it allows you to just kind of flow with where you are. So being mindful, you know, making sure I have the right ingredients, the right you know, all that stuff. And it just allows me to, you know, be in the moment of things."
Follow the transcript and listen at the same time.
Transcript of Interview with May Houri
Laura L. Bernhard
You are listening to The No Formula Podcast episode number 28. May Houri is the Founder of Chocolata Bakery and Sweet Stuff, desserts and branded sweet tables for corporate events. With 10 years of experience, she's been featured in, Pretty My Party, Elegant Wedding, Bride and Groom Canada and received the Fearless Business Owner award. In this episode, May reveals how she got into baking and how baking was her form of meditation. Check out her website chocolata.ca for your dessert needs. In the meantime, keep listening to hear when May started making a profit in her business, how she differentiates her services, and how being let go from her full-time job was just the push she needed to do her business full time.
Introduction
The No Formula Podcast offers a glimpse into the lives of real entrepreneurs who possess a variety of experiences and backgrounds. Through raw conversations, learn about their passions journey setbacks and milestones. Join host Laura Bernhard. She confirms that there is in fact, no formula to success. Get inspired and stay motivated throughout your entire journey. Subscribe today.
Laura L. Bernhard
Hi May, thanks so much for being here today.
May Houri
Thanks for having me.
Laura L. Bernhard
I actually reached out to May on LinkedIn because, I saw in her description that you created treats, (chocolate treats) and I was like, I need to know more about this woman and what she does. And here we are! Right now you are-- you create treats for corporate events. But how, what were you doing before you became an entrepreneur?
May Houri
So I was in-- I actually graduated from hotel restaurant management, back a long time ago. Because the program has changed, like drastically now. So I studied hotel restaurant management. I didn't want to get into hotels-- uh, I mean to restaurants, but I started doing hotel sales. So I worked in hotels for a long time, I did sales for a long time with hotels. And then I decided to kind of switch over and do something completely different but still in sales. I went into shipping for 10 years.
Laura L. Bernhard
What do you mean by shipping?
May Houri
Shipping, so I worked for a company that shipped mail-- mail pieces for companies within Canada, but taking it and shipping it internationally. So Canada Post has a monopoly of Canadian mail. So we did international mail. So I had to go out and find companies that did mass mailings and things like that, so magazines, invoicing, you know, small packages, things like that.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, cool
May Houri
I did that for 10 years. Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
So then how did you, how did you get into baking?
May Houri
Um, I like desserts I've always liked. So that's a given. I've always I baked but not tremendously, like I baked here and there. And then when I was on mat leave with my third child is when I started really taking a liking to baking. My sister in law sent me a blog post about cake pops. And it was something new. Nobody knew about and I started making them and they're pretty easy for me to make. And then from then on, I was like, Hey, I could sell this. So when I was on mat leave, that's when I started.
Laura L. Bernhard
And how did, how did, you decide to, to service corporate events? Like how did that come about?
May Houri
Um, I was actually-- when I first started I was-- I was like I-- two corporate companies actually reached out to me to make cake pops for them. So that's where it kind of started where I was like, Okay, this is something that corporate companies would probably want on a regular basis. So the first one I did was with like, H&R Block.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh nice.
May Houri
Yeah, we did cake pops in with their tags and everything we gave them during tax season when they are going out, I guess promoting themselves. And I did another event. It was a media company called C3 Events and they wanted 1000 cake pops for an event that they had for their corporate client. Yeah, it was a lot of work. Yeah, it was a lot of work, yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh, yeah, 'Cause you make them yourself, right?
May Houri
Yeah, I'm make them myself.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh my god, so 1000 of them by yourself?
May Houri
All by myself. Yeah, it was tough.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh my god.
May Houri
That was hard. Holy crap, that was hard, yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
How long did it take you? If you don't mind me asking.
May Houri
That one, I think, took me almost a week.
Laura L. Bernhard
Ahh
May Houri
Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Like you have to pump out like 100-- 100 a day minimum.
May Houri
Yeah, I had to really focus on scheduling myself properly during that week, like when to bake, when to roll, when to dip in chocolate, when to bag them, like it was, yeah. I think I stayed up 'till three in the morning the last day,
Laura L. Bernhard
Ahh, to make sure everything was perfect, if that makes sense?
May Houri
Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
And-- okay, so they've found you and they reached out to you, but at this point, that means you must have had some kind of website, Facebook--
May Houri
Yeah, well, actually so yes, I had a website, it was really badly done, a Blogger.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay.
May Houri
Anybody remembers, Blogger, like back in the day? That's what I had, and that's how they reached out to me and-- and then I started a Facebook page yeah. But, that was really slow because not everybody used Facebook back then.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, so we're talking over ten years ago.
May Houri
Yeah, yeah-- mhm, yeah. That's an 11. Yes. Yeah, that long ago. Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Yeah. But that-- that-- that's awesome because that means you're, you're still doing it and it's over-- You know, like people say, when you start a business, you have three years to see if it works and you've been doing it for almost, 10 right? So...
May Houri
So I was lucky because while I was doing my side business, I had a full-time job. So that covered, a lot of the expenses, that covered you know, my-- you know, mortgage-- my everything, so that-- my full-time job allowed me to pursue my side business and, yeah, it took me-- 2015 I was-- 2015 I was let go, and that's when I started full time.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh, you were let go?
May Houri
Yeah, I was let go, so after the shipping company, I actually worked for another company for a year, for a water company. And they-- after a year, they let me go because I wasn't performing to their
Laura L. Bernhard
Really?
May Houri
Basically.
Laura L. Bernhard
So, that's when you decided, "okay, it's time, I'm going to do my own thing."
May Houri
Oh yeah. Well, that's the thing. So for that year, I was there at that company, that just made me push me that much harder to do more of my side business. So I feel bad. Like I know, I wasn't really concentrating on my full-time job because I was really trying to push my, my, my business
Laura L. Bernhard
okay.
May Houri
Yeah, and then I wasn't doing the numbers so they let me go but the business-- that company wasn't really nice to a lot of the employees. So...
Laura L. Bernhard
Ok
May Houri
...they let go of a lot of people and yeah, so,
Laura L. Bernhard
okay, so you don't, you don't, feel that bad
May Houri
Hah, no I don't feel bad at all, trust me. I think within the first couple of months being there, I saw how that company worked and I knew that wasn't it wasn't for me.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay. Yeah, but you. Okay, so this actually, this whole kind of story, I guess, brings about my next question, which is, do you think it's possible to, to have your full-time job and grow your side business without your full-time job like, suffering?
May Houri
Absolutely. Yeah. So I did it with the other job. So okay, okay. Yeah, I didn't get the job. So,
Laura L. Bernhard
Yeah. Okay, so then, okay, well, I didn't know that part. So you were let go, you start your full-time business. So how is that, how is that shift? Because now you're gonna start making your own schedules. You have to, you have to make sure there's income. Like, how is that? How does that shift for you?
May Houri
Well, and that's the thing, right? So when you're full time, working on your side business, you really have to make sure that once your side business becomes where you're able to bring in that income, and it covers your full-time income, that's when you know, you can go.
Laura L. Bernhard
So how long? How long did it take you to get to that level?
May Houri
Um, so when I started 2011, so 2015 is when I was able to become full time after they let me go, so I was able to Okay,
Laura L. Bernhard
yeah. And if you don't mind me asking you from 2011, how-- how long did it take for that for your side business to become profitable? Like that extra source of revenue?
May Houri
I think 2014
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, so it took a few years. Yeah. Okay. Okay, that makes sense.
May Houri
I will tell you, right, five years. Yeah. Like within five years, three to five years you're able to, you know, make an income out of your business.
Laura L. Bernhard
Yeah. And you did that on the side to my face. I think they say that for full-time businesses. That's true. Yeah. Right. So you were able to do it part-time.
May Houri
Mm hmm.
Laura L. Bernhard
And so going back to your, to your business and, and serving events and stuff. Can you tell us more about the experiences that you've worked with, with bigger companies?
May Houri
With corporate companies?
Laura L. Bernhard
Yeah.
May Houri
I actually like working with corporate companies, they, they know what they want, they have a budget. They give you everything, you know, they lay everything out exactly what they want. And they tell you to, you know, service them basically to give them exactly what they want. And it's, it's easier than doing weddings, it's easier than doing birthday parties and social events because you're working with smaller budgets and you're working with, okay, you're working with people that have a certain budget and they want to know in a certain way, and they're more meticulous and they're more pickier. So they don't allow you to be more creative. So with--
Laura L. Bernhard
And they're more stressed,
May Houri
--They're more stressed. And they want to make sure they're calling you all the time, "are you sure it's gonna be working, you know, make sure it's gonna look nice." And so with corporate companies, they let you do your thing. They let you be creative, and there's so happy in the end with what you come up with.
Laura L. Bernhard
I like that you chose your market, and you chose one that worked for you. Mm hmm. Which I think is very important, especially in smaller businesses, and you're doing them all by yourself.
May Houri
Yes, I do everything by myself.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh, my gosh, and you must have a limit on how many how many cake boxes you can make a week?
May Houri
I'm a lot faster now. So I think I can do a lot more than 1000. But--
Laura L. Bernhard
Woah
May Houri
But I'm doing, like, cupcakes. Now. I do cakes. I do everything. So I mean, I do have to have a schedule how I bake things. So like, you know, I start Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday type deal. So yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, so I'm thinking of the logistics if you don't mind going into that more. Sure. You have let's say you have three clients, they have events, I guess you go to these events to set up too, right?
May Houri
Right
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, so you go up, you go to these events you set up, that obviously takes a lot of time, you have to actually make the treats. That takes up a lot of time. So what does a week or maybe a day in the life of May look like?
May Houri
Um, okay, so a lot of Okay, so corporate events take place during the week and then I have a lot of events that happen during the weekend. So basically, it's scheduling myself properly during the week. So I know what I can make. Two days three days in advance and I no one can make on the day. Everything is everything has a perishable date, I guess you could say so cupcakes has to be made on the day off. Cake pops you can make a week before, macarons you can make a few days before so I mean, it's um, it's really scheduling all the items properly during the week, making sure I have all of my fillings. And all that stuff done way ahead of time so that when it comes to like frosting, a cupcakes, everything is prepared. Yeah. And then I do sweet tables as well. So I have to pack all my stuff accordingly to the theme or the event. So I have all these boxes everything, everything's packed. And then yeah, if I go. Gonna do a remote setup and I go back and pick it up. Oh, you don't stay there. Oh, yeah, I guess that makes no yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh, I didn't even think about like the packaging because you have to bring. You have to transport all that stuff there. Right. Yeah. Okay, so now I want to, I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about being an entrepreneur. In your opinion. What is the hardest part about being an entrepreneur?
May Houri
Working from home and balancing work life.
Laura L. Bernhard
Really?
May Houri
Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Can you go into more detail?
May Houri
Well, because my kitchen is based out of my house, okay. And I As a home, when the kids were younger, it was a bit harder to keep them separate. I had to make sure that I did everything when they were sleeping or, to make sure that my husband took them for the day, like all weekend away. Now it's better just because they're older and they understand, you know, my boundaries, you know, they'll come into the kitchen, you know, while I'm working and things like that. Um, but and it's also because I do everything I work late, like, like an all nighter and not see my kids. So that's the hard part.
Laura L. Bernhard
So at any point in your entrepreneurial journey, did you ever feel like you wanted to quit?
May Houri
No, never. Never, never. I don't want to go back and work for someone else.
Laura L. Bernhard
That's that's what it is. Right? Yeah. Is your husband also an entrepreneur?
May Houri
Um, yes and no.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay.
May Houri
Yeah, it's weird. He also works full time but he also has a side business. He teaches martial arts so he keeps he's really good at keeping them both separate. His martial arts studio is at night and on weekends, and then he works full time during the day. So it's easy for him to keep everything separate. So,
Laura L. Bernhard
yeah, I think it's also helpful that both of you share that entrepreneurial bond.
Laura L. Bernhard
Yeah, I guess yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Helps you guys get through.
May Houri
He'll never he'll never do his business full time. Oh, no. Oh, never know. Cuz he just doesn't want to he likes a maybe he likes it. He likes his job. He likes this ability. He likes everything about it. So he will not Yeah, he likes the fact that he has something on the side to go to as well. So yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh, that's very interesting. Yeah. Yeah,
May Houri
I know. It's weird.
Laura L. Bernhard
Yeah, well, no, it's just uncommon, right? 'Cause you hear people are like, yeah, I can't wait to you know, leave my full time job and, and go at this full time. But no, it's very interesting perspective here. Come on, come on, we can all chat now.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, just if you don't mind me asking, how do you get most of your clients?
May Houri
Um, a lot of it is actually a referral. So, a lot of my clients are for me to their friends, family to other clients. I do a lot of social media helps a lot as well. And doing collaborations with other vendors. So they refer me to--
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh. Ok so how does that work? Like you guys both offer something to an event or a client? Yeah, so
May Houri
I work with different vendors, balloons, um, you know, wedding shop or like, you know, other a caterer or anything like that. So they'll refer me because they don't do what I do. So they'll refer me to a client.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, that's
May Houri
And vice versa. So we refer our services to each other.
Laura L. Bernhard
That's so nice that everybody in the community kind of helps each other.
May Houri
Yeah, it's nice.
Laura L. Bernhard
It's not usually like that for all entrepreneurs.
May Houri
No, it's not what like we have our own competitors. Um, and yeah, so it's, it's better to work-- cross, sell or cross, I guess collaborate, to collaborate with someone that's doing what you do. Like, don't get me wrong, like in our baking community. We do refer each other business if we're busy.
May Houri
But you see a lot of them that are more competitive.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, and I guess that's how you got featured in like, Elegant Wedding, Bride and Groom Canada?
May Houri
Yeah. So we do a lot of collaborate, like a collaboration and shoots and styled shoots. So we bring in all our services and then we basically put everything together and get it photo-- photographed and then we get we send them off to get it featured. That way you get SEO, backlinks, things like that. So yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh, that's very cool. Yeah, so I guess you you find them through your vendors because for anyone listening, they're probably like, Well, how do I get in these magazines or on these websites? So do you have any--
May Houri
It's a lot of networking, a lot of you know, emailing, you know, different vendors that you like, that you see on Instagram or on Facebook that you like what they do and you want to work with them.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, so you do a lot of outreach?
May Houri
Yeah, we do. Yeah. Both of us, actually. Yeah. Yeah. So other vendors and event stylists will contact me and be like, I like what you do. So you know, I'm putting on a style shoot. These are some of the vendors with me. Would you like to come on board?
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh, very nice.
May Houri
Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
And do you have any, any tips for people to get their brand exposed to some vendors that they like other than emailing?
May Houri
Reaching out through Instagram, being-- being very social, I guess. That's the word so honestly, it's-- it's to reach out to these vendors and really be honest and open with them and say I like what you do. This is what I do. And I'd like to collaborate with you.
Laura L. Bernhard
So just very genuine. Yeah, that's, that's awesome. I really I'm still hanging out over like how helpful the community is with each other. Usually I'm interviewing people and they're like, yeah, a lot of competition and like that stops that.
May Houri
Oh, well, I think everybody has their competitors. And they're, you know, every photographer has their own competitor, and they're in their spectrum.
Laura L. Bernhard
Mm hmm.
May Houri
But I find that I think the longer we work in our industry, the more we find people to work with, and the more we understand that my style is not going to be the same as another Baker. So, so clients for each other,
Laura L. Bernhard
okay, okay. So that's how you differentiate yourself? Is your--
May Houri
You have to well, you have to I think, because, like, I think when it comes to especially like someone that makes cupcakes I mean, everybody Makes a cupcake so I think you're gonna have to find something that makes you stand out more than the other person making a cupcake basically so
Laura L. Bernhard
so how do you make yourself stand out like what is your like oh yeah that's me yeah
May Houri
So I'm-- I started off with cake pops but, I quickly got into doing styled tables and two styles and tables and the themes and the colors and things like that so that's how I try to stand out with a lot of being in between competitors. So now a lot of people do suite status tables. They do but they don't I'm everybody has their own style so I'm very like thematic with the colors with-- let's say you give me your logo. I will like brand the crap out of your table with your logo on cookies on everything. Make sure I bring out the colors with like tablecloth with plates, and kickstands so that's what I that's what I do try to stand out from other vendors.
Laura L. Bernhard
I can see how corporate likes that.
May Houri
Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
Right, yeah, just their logo, everywhere.
May Houri
The colors, the logo. Yeah, everything. Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
And then I also remember from one of our previous conversations that you said that baking was a form of meditation for you. Can you also tell us how that how that has affected your life?
May Houri
So baking now has become more of a job. Right? I mean, it's with anything, right? Once you find your passion and you do it, it becomes a job. So I'm grateful for it because it brings in an income right into my home. So baking has always helped me de-stress and allowed me to be in a zone where I don't have to think of anything else. And so I discovered meditation while I was on, like, 2013 14 while I was very like, I didn't like where I was in my life, I guess you could say and at first, you're like told you gotta sit in a space by yourself, close your eyes and just think of nothing. And then I started learning to meditate, you don't really have to do that you actually have to be doing something that you liked. And right, so writing, painting, baking, it puts you in a zone and it puts you-- It puts you somewhere where you don't, like-- where you want to be. And it gives you that peace of mind. And it allows you to just kind of flow with where you are. So being mindful, you know, making sure I have the right ingredients, the right you know, all that stuff. And it just allows me to, you know, be in the moment of things.
May Houri
Yeah, I don't know a lot about meditation, which is why I was very curious to ask you, and I never I never looked at meditation like that. I always thought it was very much complete silence, no thoughts. you're by yourself. I don't know. I'm sure a lot of people can relate. But I can't do that I can sit there and do nothing. However, yeah, yeah. But if I'm doing something that I like to do, like, let's say baking, painting, or any example that you gave before, I can see how that helps you distract from all your thoughts and you're focused, you're putting your energy towards something that you're doing. And that's what helps you focus on instead of nothing on this project,
May Houri
Right,
Laura L. Bernhard
A form of meditation and calming.
May Houri
Very, all these ideas come to you after because you're in a state of you know, gratefulness, you're in a state of, you know, just being in the moment. So then all these ideas start coming and pouring in because there's nothing blocking them from coming through.
Laura L. Bernhard
I might try that, or something.
May Houri
It's just been a bit you can have music, you can I mean, some people like
Laura L. Bernhard
I'd start dancing and then ideas don't flow and I'm, you know, doing the Gangnam Style like, ideas don't flow in.
Laura L. Bernhard
Okay, so a personal question for you, Do you think you're successful?
May Houri
Well, that's tough. Oh,
Laura L. Bernhard
Well first, to backtrack? How do you define success?
May Houri
That's so funny. I was actually listening to something today about that. Um, there's so many ways I could go about this. How do I define the fact that I can do what I do? on my own terms, that Success to me right now? It's gonna change I know. But I mean right now because I'm able to work from home. I see my kids, even though I'm so busy, I get to see them and I'm grateful that I was able to be home for them.
Laura L. Bernhard
To be at home with them,
May Houri
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's great success. That's Success to me. Yeah.
Laura L. Bernhard
And do you think? Or rather, what is the one thing that got you to where you are today? If you just have to pick one thing? One thing
May Houri
I guess perseverance.
May Houri
Just to keep going. Yeah. Yeah, that definitely helps.
Laura L. Bernhard
And then, before wrapping things up, I have a very, very important question. What's your favorite dessert to make?
May Houri
Okay, to make Um, okay, so I like raw chocolate chip cookie dough. Okay. And so I can make it without eggs and then making sure that there's no, nothing bad so you can eat it, raw. You can tell me to run out that's perfect. Yep, yeah, so that's my favorite. My second favorite is actually. So when I went to London last year, I did a bakery tour. I went for a week and I toured all the bakeries that I want to go see everything that I found on Instagram. You know, my friend was there. She was there. So she took me all over the place. And two of my favorite desserts that I didn't even know were my favourite. Were eclairs from Maitre Shu. Mm hmm. Amazing. And doughnuts from a place called Bread Ahead. And I yeah, so like, it's like, biting into like this soft, pillowy heaven. It was amazing. And I started making the donuts. So, they're not as, they're not as perfect as theirs, but they're pretty close. They're pretty good. So
Laura L. Bernhard
I'm still shocked that you went on a bakery tour.
May Houri
Oh my god. It was the most amazing tour. That's the best. Yeah,
Laura L. Bernhard
you just go all around and you eat dessert. Yeah, pretty much and do they teach you how to cook them?
May Houri
No, because I didn't contact them beforehand. Okay, so I would have if I knew that a lot of them offer classes I would have done it. We went and we did a whole week all day just going around. Testing desert. Different bakeries, like I bought them of course, but yeah,
Laura L. Bernhard
yeah. Okay, but this gave me the baking is like you and your friends you you kind of planned it and
May Houri
you went. So yeah, so my friend is in the UK. She's in London. Okay. And yeah, I said I wanted to-- so we kept sending each other messages. Oh, you should try this out whenever you come to London or you should try this when you come to London. So I finally was able to go to London for a week by myself. No kids, no husband, nothing. And it was so good. It was so good. I recommend doing something like that. It doesn't have to be bakeries, but something like that just a week by yourself. That was a complete meditation for me. It was me in the moment, enjoying every single place that I went to.
Laura L. Bernhard
Oh my god, that's awesome.
May Houri
Everything like my friend was like, we go everywhere. I'm like, Oh my god, London's so beautiful. Oh my god, it's so gorgeous. Oh my god, it's so nice here. And she's like, What? Really?
Laura L. Bernhard
I'm sure she would. Same thing if she came here though. Right?
May Houri
Right. Exactly.
Laura L. Bernhard
Yeah. Oh my I feel like if ever you want another stream of revenue to start managing baking tours.
May Houri
Oh my god, that would be so good. Yeah, right. Yes.
Laura L. Bernhard
That would be good. You should totally consider that and then you can go anywhere in the world and get people to come with you.
May Houri
Oh my god, that would be so good. Yeah. Okay.
Laura L. Bernhard
Just teach us your top. So, so May thank you so much for being with us today is very interesting to learn about. An industry I had. I never knew anything about. I love the community aspect of it and how you transitioned into doing something you're so passionate about. Before we leave, do you want to say any last words?
May Houri
No, just thank you so much for having me on and letting me just talk about something that I truly love doing.
Laura L. Bernhard
Yeah. Well, thank you so much, and we'll talk soon.
May Houri
Okay.
Laura L. Bernhard
Before ending this episode, I want to highlight a few elements of May's business that we can learn from. First, her services cater to a specific niche-- pun fully intended. Second, she went out of her way to provide a unique service that helps differentiate for business in the industry. Three she collaborates with other professionals in the industry, which exposes her to new customers. For she figured out processes that allow her to scale Her services when and combine this allows her to continuously succeed.
Laura L. Bernhard
Thanks for listening everyone.
You may be interested:
Join the Facebook community. In 2021, I will use the group to add additional free content and marketing tips for entrepreneurs. Join today to help shape the content on the show!