Balancing Business and Family: Lydia's Journey from Teacher to Cookie Entrepreneur

The Mastermind Mixer

Kassie is joined by Lydia, who shares her story of transitioning from a military spouse and school teacher to a custom cookie business owner. Lydia explains that her husband served in the Marine Corps for almost 11 years, after which she became a teacher until she became pregnant with her sixth child and found teaching overwhelming. Lydia then decided to quit her teaching job and focus on her side hustle of making custom cookies, aiming to replace her teaching salary with her new business.

Despite the challenges, including a premature baby, Lydia successfully replaced her teaching salary with her cookie business within six months. Over time, she expanded her business to include cookie classes, raising her prices and optimizing her processes to work less while earning more. Currently in her third year, Lydia has further scaled her business by adding a booth in a storefront, teaching cookie classes, and securing significant corporate clients like a local casino.

Lydia shares how her initial marketing strategy of featuring local shops on her cookies quickly gained popularity, but she had to stop due to becoming too busy. She discusses the automation of her business's backend processes, including inquiries, contracts, and invoices, to handle the increasing workload efficiently. Lydia uses her website to streamline orders and employs automated responses to manage customer expectations and communication, ensuring she maintains a balance between her work and personal life. The conversation then shifts to the importance of setting boundaries and implementing automation to sustain business growth.

Kassie truly enjoyed her conversation with Lydia and looks forward to the next one!

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