Meet Mechelle Coate | Bakery Owner

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

Hi Mechelle, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
That I am stronger and more capable than I thought. I have never done anything in my life like this. I was terrified of failure. I have learned that my sheer desire to treat those around me the way I believe all people should be treated has developed such an amazing team. Putting your heart first in business is probably not always the best idea, and may not work in most situations. However, I could truly not be me if I changed that. But because I can’t not care about those around me, I have developed some incredible relationships from within my staff and our community.

What should our readers know about your business?
We are a very small franchise, but each location is independently owned and operated. All of our breads, pastries, cookies, etc are all made from hand and from scratch. We only use high quality products, no chemicals, no vital wheat gluten, and no ingredients that you can not pronounce. It was very important to us to put out quality products that were not only tasty, but still good for you. Thankfully, we have had an amazing local response and support. We won our first Best Bakery award 4 months after opening, and have one a multitude of local awards since then. And no, it was not easy. In the beginning I was easily putting in 14 hour days (if not more) and months went by before taking a day off (more like a year, but who’s counting). It took a lot of patience and an amazing staff to finally get us where I do feel I can take a step away and not be worried about my bakery. My staff has as high of standards as I do, and because of that, it made it a little bit easier to hand over some of the day to day controls.
I have learned that I do have control issues. Where I wanted to think, “If I do it, I know its right, I know its on time, I know its done the way I want it to be”. That is great but you can not sustain a business that way. I had to learn how to trust that the staff I trained would do things the way I trained them to do them. And of course, they do! I also learned that you can not take everything personal. This one was hard. If I got a bad review, it was hard to not feel it deeply personal. I still strive to make everything right, if someone does not have a good experience. But unfortunately, I have learned that I can not please everyone. That one is still a daily struggle for me.
I started this venture at 47 after having been a stay at home mom for almost 18 years. I no longer had “marketable” skills and knew I was not ready to just sit around with nothing to do. Starting a business at 47, with no knowledge of running my own business was the scariest thing I have ever done. Yes, oh my gosh yes, it was hard. It is still hard, however, I am beyond proud of what we have built and what we have achieved in a year and a half. It has been the most incredible experience.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would start at House of Bread of course!!! I would most definitely taking them to Chido Taco Lounge in Frisco. This is by far one of my favorite taco and tequila cocktail places around! If you haven’t been, you most definitely must go.
I would schedule us both facials and massages at Destiny Day Spa by Donyea in Frisco. After a night of tacos and tequila we are probably going to want a day of recovery anyways!
We would spend a day walking thru downtown McKinney, there are so many cute little shops (locally owned) and some great places to grab a snack and a drink. CT Provisions is one of my favorites downtown, and we are anxiously awaiting Rye to reopen.
And of course, we would spend an evening nursing cocktails at Rare Books.
And to end off our eating and drinking adventures, Union Bear is best!!! Great menu, and their bourbon cocktails are superb.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Without the support of my husband, Dustin, there is no way on Earth I would have taken this leap. He believes in me more than is imaginable. He talks me off the cliff better than you can imagine. And he is the first to remind me of what I have developed in only a year and a half.

Website: mckinney.houseofbread.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/houseofbreadmckinney/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HobMckinney

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/house-of-bread-mckinney?osq=house+of+bread

Other: https://www.toasttab.com/house-of-bread-7551-eldorado-pkwy/v3