the brownie boss { south florida lifestyle photographer }
This month starts my new blog segment, in which each month I interview a different woman who owns their own business in South Florida. We will be discussing their business, their life and the balance between the two. For the inaugural blog, I am very excited for everyone to meet Alison Turner, the brownie boss of Signature Bites. Alison's brownies are beyond delicious - and a perfect gift for Valentine's Day!
British-born Alison Turner is the Brownie Boss and owner of Signature bites – a company that sells gourmet, hand-made brownies. Now 41 years-old, she spent her working career as a business journalist and then as a Corporate Communications/Marketing professional for global brands in both the United States and England. Alison lives in Coral Springs and runs her Fort Lauderdale-based brownie business online at www.signaturebites.com.
Q: Tell blog readers about your business… A: Mine is a classic tale of having baked these brownies for years and friends shrieking “Turn them into a business!” And in typical fashion, I didn’t get around to doing that when I had a regular income because I was too busy handling the 40-70 hours a week at my job, which provided a nice, but ultimately false, bubble of security. I was laid off in June 2008, rehired in August and laid off again in February 2009. Within days, I set about getting a web presence, asked my fiancé to set up the accounting system and launched into action. Everything that’s been done to date, we’ve handled ourselves because we can only reinvest in additional equipment, ideas etc. when we’ve sold some brownies! I love baking, I love cooking and I love marketing and promoting – so whilst it’s tough going, it’s a good kind of tough (compared to corporate tough!) We offer just two flavors of brownies right now, and my vision is to stick to a very limited selection, perhaps six options at the most. I’m also working on a line of “adult” brownies that are big on alcohol flavors like rum, and other types of “bites” that are not brownies, or cookies – I really want our product line to be different than other artisan bakers out there.
Q: How do you balance work, family and fun? A: To be honest, the quick answer would have to be, I don’t. I try really hard though, but I certainly haven’t got the problem solved. Some weeks are better than others, and it took me 9 months of being “unemployed” to realize that I need to schedule my days as I did when I went to an office environment – block out chunks of time on my calendar for the various things I need to do. My iphone is incredibly important – just silly steps like setting appointments to have reminders really helps. I was trying to manage all that activity in my head, and stuff was falling through the cracks – a lot. I try to ensure my fiancé gets the bulk of my free time, but I do try to see girlfriends maybe one evening a week, attend useful networking events and work on charitable efforts, as well as attend to my step-daughter’s high school needs and schedule too. I broke down recently and put up a wipe-off board on the refrigerator so everyone knows the week’s appointments, meetings and comings and goings. And remaining flexible in mind and spirit also helps!
-- brownie photos courtesy of Signature Bites
Q: What’s the most rewarding aspect to owning your own business? A: Not having to deal with office politics anymore! Yeah! What a relief to not have to deal with irrational colleagues or bosses, hare-brained executives and corporate red tape. Of course, this is replaced with customer politics, irrational vendors and hare-brained business regulations – but it’s still preferable. I find it weird to explain to people that I’m a business owner – it feels somewhat pretentious at times – but it’s getting easier and I’m becoming more and more proud of myself for doing what I’ve done.
Q: What’s the most challenging thing about owning your business? A: That’s easy, time management. When you’re wearing multiple hats, acting in the various business capacities I need to do (baker, sales woman, bookkeeper, PR etc.), it’s challenging to switch from one to the other and fit it all in. What I think I have done well at doing though is managing growth and customers’ expectations. I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew – yet.
Q: If you had to describe your life, your business, as a movie title, what would it be? A: I’m going to pick “Mamma Mia!” because people have said that when they’ve eaten my brownies, and I can be heard shouting that myself – it’s the polite option when you have a teenager around and have had a stressful day!
Thank you Alison!