Meet Ana Arriaga | Baker & Entrepreneur

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

Hi Ana, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
At the beginning of 2020 I decided to take a leap of faith and change careers. After living in Central Florida for 37 years, I took a chance to leave everything I knew growing up and a solid career that paid well and had excellent benefits, to move to a huge city: Atlanta, Georgia.

My brother, who I am extremely close with, had been living in Atlanta for 23 years and all the while tried to convince me that I needed to move there. After years of wearing me down and my own frustrations with a career that was making it very difficult to not be depressed, I told him the only way I’d consider moving is if my parents (who lived 7 minutes away from me in Florida) would move as well. Ever fastidious, he convinced my parents to move to Atlanta and they now live 4 minutes away from both of us. (Trust me, my mom has timed it.)

When I moved to Atlanta at the beginning of March 2020, I had several ideas on what I might be able to do for work, but what I hadn’t planned on was a global pandemic – and consequently hiring freezes. With a Masters Degree, and nearly two decades of experience under my belt, I could not find a job doing what I already knew.

What I really had hoped for was to further develop my baking
hobby into a new career path. In 2011 I had started a side hustle baking business, because I’d always enjoyed baking and needed something to serve as stress relief from my full time job. When I moved to Atlanta I had intentions of gaining experience at a bakery doing entry level work, as I had never received formal culinary training. I sent my portfolio out to several well established bakeries in Atlanta and either never heard back or, at two bakeries, was asked to come in for a working interview decorating cakes which is where I had the majority of my experience. After three working interviews (two times at the same place), I was told I didn’t have enough experience and was too slow. I was completely heart broken and felt hopeless-Like sobbing into my pillow hopeless.

How was I ever going to get experience if I wasn’t given a chance? Why didn’t anyone think I was a good investment? Those feelings of rejection turned into rebellion. I became resolute to carve a path for myself. If these places were not going to give me the chance – I was going to do it on my own. I decided to invest all of my time and efforts on rebranding my baking side hustle into my own full time business. I designed my own logo, website, and established myself locally by showing people what I could do. I started by selling cookies in my neighborhood at a community yard sale, then began taking cookie and cake orders from our community and surrounding community Facebook pages. Word of mouth spread and after several pop ups, I became a known business across Atlanta, and sought after nationwide.

Since establishing my business in September 2020, I participated in the first ever Dessert Wars Atlanta, clutching 10th place in the people’s choice awards out of 60+ vendors, was invited as a featured restaurant at the 2021 Atlanta Food and Wine Festival, and have had the opportunity to serve my baked goodies to the cast and crew of the CW’s Legacies, music legends Steve Aoki and Big Boi, and have had the support of local chef and owner of Buttermilk restaurant (and Chopped champion) Suzanne Vizethann.

I never dreamed I’d have these opportunities when I decided to start my own venture. When I saw what those bakeries I had interviewed for were doing on social media, I quickly realized that working there was not a good fit for me. I wouldn’t have been happy doing the things I saw coming from those bakeries and my desire to be creative would have been stifled. Now I have full control over what I want to produce and how I want to represent myself – and that feeling is priceless. I get to be me.

What should our readers know about your business?
Ghoul Next Door Bakeshop is like that strange kid everyone knew growing up. Not the one who was like, setting forrest fires – but the one who was a little awkward re-enacting Goonies by themselves in the backyard, or who listened to Depeche Mode all the time and wore a black lace glove on one hand just because. No? Just me?

As a brand, we take pride in embracing everyone’s differences and watching how the simple pleasures in life – like a cookie – can bring joy to someone’s day. When I decided to rebrand, I wanted to make my business feel like the best representation of who I am. I’ve always been a modest, girl next door type, but just a little….weird. I am forever cheering for the underdog, drawn to things that are unusual, and have never been your typical girly girl. I wanted to lean into what I knew best – the charm and mystery of being bizarre.

Our brand likes things a little dark and spooky, but always fun for everyone. We want each bite to spark nostalgia and pay homage to the innocence and joy of childhood. Our greatest achievement will always be the wow in someone’s eyes when they taste our treats. We love a good pun and we like our fans to be in on the joke, so when we get a hearty chuckle from a s’more cookie called Camp Crystal Lake, or a gingerbread sandwich called Gretel’s Revenge – we know we’ve struck a chord with our audience. They get what we are doing, and it means everything to us.

While we occasionally take custom cake orders, our efforts are now concentrated on our monster sized cookies – weighing in at a half pound each!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As a person who’s equally struck by and averse to the clamor and chaos of inner city living, if I had friend visiting I’d want to show them the wide range of experiences you can have in just a short drive in and around Atlanta. Something I’ve grown to love doing thanks to my brother is grabbing a chicken pesto sandwich (extra pesto) from Alon’s in Morningside to enjoy at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens or Piedmont Park. Shopping in Virginia Highland, with a stop at Ponce City Market, and hitting up Little 5 Points is a must. Gu’s Dumplings for their handmade sweet & spicy thick noodles for dinner is our favorite go to as well as the tonkotsu ramen at Okiboru.

Honestly – there’s just too many good eats in Atlanta so we’d be taking stuff to go and spend half the week in gorgeous Blue Ridge /Elijay for a cabin getaway. The Mountain View’s and changing of the leaves are the best part of living in Georgia.

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?
My number one shoutout will forever be to my amazing family. My parents and two older brothers have always given me support, encouragement, and love. They’ve instilled a strong sense of commitment to doing the right thing, being true to oneself even if it means being different from the herd, and have always been there to pick me up when I feel discouraged. My family is always in my corner and we do everything for each other. Family is always my number one priority and I am so grateful for mine.

I’d also like to give a shout-out to my fiancé who’s encouraged me to not give up when I’m feeling frustrated or overwhelmed. He believes in what I’m doing and has given me support along with his family. He listens to me carry on about what I could’ve done better as nauseam and he’s also been a wonderful taste tester.

Lastly, I have to shoutout to all my co-workers, friends, and supporters, new and old. They have been so incredibly understanding of my journey to get here and believe in my business aspirations as well as my capabilities, even when I didn’t believe in them myself. So thank you OPD, Otown friends and family, as well as the new friends I have made along the way. I will always have your back and I thank you for having mine.

Website: ghoulnextdoorbakeshop.com

Instagram: Instagram.com/ghoulnextdoorbakeshop

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-a-71a749191

Facebook: Facebook.com/ghoulnextdoorbakeshop