Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Celine Ikeler, owner of Karma Baker Inc., located in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are Karma Baker Inc. A pioneer in vegan and gluten-free baked goods. We provide the best vegan and gluten-free donuts and cookies and cupcakes, birthday cakes, and fun holiday treats to everyone in the United States. Most people who are vegan and/or gluten-free have learned to cope with less than stellar treats. We want to change that for everyone. We believe that food is a part of our celebration of life. And we often use food to celebrate. When people are left out of a celebration due to food restrictions or allergies, it can leave a mark on their soul. And we feel that is totally not OK. So we have created the best products that everybody wants to eat regardless of their restrictions or not. And the super plus is we get to be higher than mighty about saving animals and our environment and your health while we do it.

Tell us about yourself

I am a hard-core creator. If left to my own devices and a couple of hours of free time, I will create something. My mind just never stops thinking of new and interesting things that haven’t been done before. I started this bakery because 20 years ago, my next-door neighbor‘s daughter was deathly allergic to about 20 staple foods, and she could eat nothing normal, let alone delicious. I’m not even talking about amazing desserts; even the brownies and cookies that her mom would make for her were literally inedible. I needed to fix that for her. So just in my own kitchen, I started creating a gluten-free flour that she could use and found other rare ingredients that would work. Thankfully I was really good at it, and I did not only create some fun things for her to eat like chocolate chip cookies and brownies, but I also surprised everybody around me by making the most amazing cakes, banana breads, and piecrusts. And then, with quite a bit of pressure and inspiration from my friends, I decided to start the bakery in 2013. I just felt it wasn’t fair to people who didn’t have this option. So Karma Baker was born. The fun thing about owning a bakery is that taste styles and flavor profiles change throughout the year and throughout our culture. So there’s always a fun opportunity to create something new.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as a business owner has been sticking with it. My partner and I put in hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of hours in creating this business and sustaining it while it got its legs. We started in 2013 and didn’t pay ourselves until 2017. You do the math -not fun nor easy. But there was just no way I could allow Karma Baker not to be the huge enterprise I always saw in my heart. I’m sure Mrs. Fields felt the same way. There is something about having a vision of your business in the early days when you’re an entrepreneur. You must hold that vision way out in front of you and up very high like a mountain peak so that as the road in front of you gets difficult; you know where you’re headed. You just look up, and you see that mountain top of your goal, and you move to it every single day.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

I think the hardest thing about owning a business is the multitude of hats that you must wear and wear well. There are many tasks and jobs that Arek and I have been able to split up and apply to our strengths. Doing that has helped us be able to maintain our integrity and get what we want out of this business. Managing money is definitely nothing I ever thought I would have to do on a daily basis, nor is hiring or firing people in my bailiwick. But I have learned to find my way in the harder jobs that need to be done. And if I hate it too much, I can always ask Arek to do it. ;)

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

I think my top three tips are, First, Have a lot of money. Secondly, don’t take yourself very seriously. This business is not about you; it is a business, and you need to separate yourself from it. Its success does not define you. You need to be willing to make changes to that business as it evolves. You can’t be attached to how you used to do something if it doesn’t work for the company anymore. And third, find your people and fall in love with them. Meaning your customers and your employees. Hiring your people is like finding a new family. You must fall in love with these people because they will be your family, and they are going to support your business as though it is their own. You can’t treat your employees like they work for you. You have to treat them like you work for them.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://karmabaker.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekarmabaker/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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