Meet Briana Johnson | Bakery Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Briana Johnson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Briana, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I worked in Social Services for over 10 years and have always baked as a side hobby. When I decided to turn my hobby into a business, I was still very afraid to take the leap and do it full-time. I liked the security of having a job to go to every day.

My plan was to continue to bake as a second job and ONLY leave my day job when I was able to open a storefront. I started a website and became more active on social media so that people could find me. I was loving my daytime job and baking in the evenings was a great stress reliever.

As the years passed, and my customer base grew, I realized that I was turning down more and more orders/opportunities because my day job required so much of my time. I had to really decide what made me happy. My passion is baking. I’m happiest when I’m in the kitchen. At this point, my fear of losing that job security was not as important as serving people through my love for baking. So, in the middle of a pandemic, I decided to quit my day job and become a full-time baker.

Even before the pandemic, I was aware of the number of businesses that open a storefront and close shortly afterward. Since I’ve had so much success running my bakery online and staying in my home kitchen, I decided to stick with my current business model.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Someone once asked me what makes my bakery so special that they’d pay for one of my cakes as opposed to a cake from the grocery store that costs half as much. All I can tell people is to give me a chance. I’ve been baking for 30 plus years. People have told me that they can tell I love what I do and I’m very passionate about baking. You can look at my work and see I produce a beautiful product. The true test is in the taste. As a baker, taste comes first. I’m not sending out a product that will have you only partially satisfied. I want you to feel like your money was well spent. There shouldn’t be a compromise when it comes to having something that looks and tastes good. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes here. I take a lot of pride in my work and that means doing a lot of research to find what works. From recipe testing to learning new techniques, I’m always trying to improve my skills as a baker.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, a good place to hang out is Legacy Hall. I like to start with wine tasting at Vinotopia. For lunch, I highly recommend the chicken sandwich from Roots Chicken Shak. Grab a seat outside to soak up some sun and then take a stroll through the shops of Legacy West.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve had so much support from friends and family from baking as a hobby to baking as a career. I would have never started my business if the idea hadn’t been planted by one of my former co-workers, Margie. She deserves an entire cake for giving me that little push. The biggest shoutout has to go to my mama though. EVERYONE knows my mama. She’s my sidekick. She’s my cheerleader. She’s my taste tester. She was the person I went to before taking the leap to be a full-time baker. Knowing I had her support made the decision 1000 times easier.

Website: sweetbrisbakery.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sweet_bris_bakery?utm_medium=copy_link

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/SweetBrisBakery/

Other: Tiktok: @sweetbrisbakery