Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Collins.
Karen, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Bisousweet has definitely taken many different roads to end up where it is today. I was one of the original founders/owners of Nashoba Brook Bakery, and when I left Nashoba, I really didn’t know what to do. What I did know is that I loved to bake, and I started baking in my house. I eventually realized that I wanted to start my own business, and started Babycakes and Confections in 2005. At the time, I made custom wedding cakes and cookies. In 2009, a local gourmet store (Idylwilde Farm) contacted me to see if I could make Passover desserts for them. Since ‘no’ is not in my vocabulary, I said ‘yes’ and quickly got to work on finding packaging, making labels, etc. After the holiday was over, the buyer asked me what else I made, and my business immediately pivoted toward becoming a wholesale bakery. Since that time, I have relocated twice and have also rebranded to my current business name, Bisousweet. I currently have 18 amazing people on my team and we specialize in biscotti, doughnut muffins, cookies, cupcakes, and whoopie pies.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’m a cyclist and have biked on a lot of different kinds of roads. I can say with certainty that the road for Bisousweet has been anything but smooth. There were so many unexpected bumps and potholes along the way, it is truly remarkable to me that I didn’t wave the white flag at some point and decide to quit. The biggest challenge I faced was when I was in a cease and desist law suit over my original business name. There’s nothing quite like having a certified letter hand-delivered to you in the middle of a work day. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed and my business name was protected in Massachusetts, but I knew if I wanted to grow the company and sell my products outside of Massachusetts, I would have to re-brand. The name babycakes was so meaningful to me because it was honoring the fact that all three of my children were basically raised in the bakery. Finding a new name that was trademark-able took forever, but once we came up with Bisousweet, the design part of it fell into place pretty quickly and the re-branding went exceedingly well. One of the most helpful lessons I have learned from my father is to excel at disaster planning and be quick to react and respond. This has come in handy and has helped me bounce back pretty quickly and not let the bumps in the road get me down too much.
Perhaps the most unexpected development that has happened because of Bisousweet is that I have realized how much I love to write. I started a blog a couple of years ago titled ‘As the Bread Burns’. The goal of the blog when I started it was to talk about just this stuff…the bumps along the road that are inevitable, regardless of whether the challenges happen in the kitchen or in life. The blog has really evolved into so much more, and I’ve found that writing has helped keep me grounded, motivated and growing as a person and as a business owner.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Bisousweet story. Tell us more about the business.
Bisousweet is a small wholesale bakery located in Shirley, MA. We make everything from scratch, and make a wide variety of specialty sweets including a soft biscotti, doughnut muffins, specialty cookies, cupcakes, brownies, pies and whoopie pies. Our top selling product is our biscotti. I love doing demos in stores because I will offer someone a piece of biscotti, they will look at it and say ‘no thanks…I don’t like biscotti’, and after I urge them to take just one bite, they almost always look at me and ask ‘Is this really biscotti – I love it!’ We also make doughnut muffins, which look & taste like a doughnut hole but is baked, not fried. We make a variety of flavors of doughnut muffins and people just love them. I am most proud of the team of people that works with me…from the bakers to my Director of Sales to my packaging team to my office manager – everyone gives their all for Bisousweet. They are my second family, and they are the backbone of the company. Everything else falls into place from there – the level of care we give to everything as we bake it, to how it’s packaged, to how we interact with our customers. I dedicate a lot of time on my co-workers’ and customers’ happiness, and the ripple effect is extraordinary.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’m a big believer in luck and good fortune. I have been so lucky to have my brother and my father helping me along the way. They have been critical in helping me grow as a leader and a business owner. My luck continues on the family front at home…my husband and children have been beyond patient, loving and supportive of me the entire way and I couldn’t have done this without their blessings. I also have been incredibly lucky to have found the team of people who work with me every day to help Bisousweet. The real story of Bisousweet is not the story of Karen Collins, but the story of the village who has formed around me, who help me each and every day do the best I can do.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2 Shaker Road,
E104, Shirley, MA 01464 - Website: www.bisousweet.com
- Phone: 978-425-5627
- Email: karen@bisousweet.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/bisousweet/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Bisousweet/
- Other: http://www.bisousweet.com/blog/
Image Credit:
Mollie McPhee
Kristin Teig
Michael Quiet
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
