Meet Kelsey Burack | Pastry Chef & Owner | Bottom Line Bakery

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

Hi Kelsey, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I approached a local restauranteur with my mom in 2010 and began my journey at 15 learning the food industry. Through jobs, graduating from Johnson & Wales, externships in Manhattan, studying abroad in France, there was always only one goal; to learn all I could from diners to Michelin Star restaurants to one day open my own business. Why work for anyone, giving away hours of my day, years of my life to another when I could do it for myself and my own family?

Sure, there is safety and security in an established company, but I prefer to make half a corporate salary and show up everyday for myself, creating a small business that can rally a community behind purpose and good pastry than trade twelve hour days for an empire who doesn’t know my name.

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?
Bottom Line Bakery was a concept in my head for years. When I closed my eyes, I could see the glass windows, the stainless steel tables, the way the sun cast shadows on the pastries. When a thought is this clear, so clear in your minds eye that it pulses and vibrates in color, it cannot be ignored.

The pretty pictures, stunning cakes, customer feedback, and clean aesthetic of a brand and small business are an easy shield to hide behind, but I think it’s much more important to share and discuss the hard parts. Building a business takes grit, hope, courage, a dash of stupidity, and a heaping cup of work. A friend of a friend reached out to me asking how I went from a home based business- making cakes for friends and family, to opening a location and they emphasized how working from home they were ~exhausted~ and that their goal was to have a store and employees and “just manage”, my response:

“I opened my my bakery by liquidating my 401K from my pervious DC job, about $15K. I quite literally put all of my eggs into this one basket and I work 12-15 hour days, 6 days a week, cutting employees hours and opening and closing myself on slow days. At nay given moment this past summer, I had $500-$1000 in my bank account, depending on every single sale to purchase paint, cleaning supplies, pay plumbers, electricians, and open the space. I do social media myself. I write and send emails to my email subscribers. I pay all the bills. I coordinated and paid for my LLC and business licenses. I use quickbooks and my uncle for taxes. I found my location and cleaned it and painted it and went to restaurant auctions all over the southeast for cheap penny on the dollar used equipment. In no way was this some glamorous build out where I hired out all the work and sat back as my vision was stitched together. I was burnt out in DC working 10-15 hour days for someone else. I’ve never worked more in my life than I have the past two years and I’m more passionate and fulfilled than ever, paying myself $12 an hour for a “40” hour work week that’s actually 60+ hours. I don’t think I have any real answers for this kind of question and for that I am sorry. Ever single step of this journey, I’ve figured it out as I’ve gone and it was always two steps forward and ten steps back. To be frank, there is no road map for this shit, no “how to guide”. I’m sure I’ve done a million things wrong, but every single day I show up to the best of my ability, pay the bills, share delicious food, and make the next best decision. If you’re already burnt out working from home for yourself, you need to take a break and evaluate what you really want. What do you want your life to look like in 5 or 10 years, and are you willing to work harder than you ever have to get there? Opening a brick and mortar does not mean immediate management and success. It means bigger bills with more liabilities and a team of real people trusting and depending on you to provide for them and their families. Things are going to get a lot harder for a lot longer before it gets anywhere near oversight or operations. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but I feel there are a lot of misconceptions about posh business owners having it all together when in reality most of us are in the trenches just trying to make it through the day.”

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My response for this question is going to be widely disappointing, you’ve been warned. My best friend grew up and lives here, so if my next best girl was in town, we are basically 60 year old ladies who enjoy charcuterie, wine, sitting in our comfy cloths, and catching up. My spouse and I recently found our forever dream home in South Carolina on 80 acres and we really just leave for work as we slowly become little self-sustaining micro farmers and homesteaders with our chickens and eventually some pigs, ducks, and our local venison supply. So if I didn’t have to work (cue laughter) and my friends were able to come into town, we would definitely spend about 80% of our time at our home, snuggling chickens, mudding on the trails, hiking, swimming, and enjoying each others company. The beauty of the south is the land, the stars, and just being able to enjoy the country. With the other 20% of their visit, I would certainly bring them by Cork & Flame in Evans to enjoy some phenomenal food and cocktails. We’d visit Sheila’s Baking Co in North Augusta for donuts and swing through downtown Augusta at Ubora for a coffee. After taking an afternoon walk on the greenway by SRP park, we’d wind into Hammonds Ferry and finish up at Manuel’s Bread Cafe for a delicious meal.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The dedication of my shoutout is a bit complicated. While I am where I am today because of my hard work and my family’s support, no story is that simple. My parents always encouraged my older brother, younger sister, and I to pursue anything we had a true passion for. For my brother, his calling was found in foreign policy and the inner workings of capitol hill. My sister has found an interest in mathematics and engineering, leaving myself to fill the role of artistic and tattooed entrepreneur. Staying with family in New York during my externship at Daniel in Manhattan brought me closer to my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would not have achieved all I have in my 28 years, or have had to courage to even try without the passion, love, guidance, and kindness from my entire family. As my Pop always said, “No matter what you do, do it to the best of your ability, that’s the bottom line.”

While it is fantastical to thank all of those who believed in me, I think it’s more important to acknowledge and thank all of the folks who didn’t. Every single bully and nagging nelly in grade school and high school, especially the adults who laughed – thank you for keeping me out of the cool groups, it was clearly for the best. The Pastry Chef who told me I would never be promoted at 23 – thank you for injecting me with a red hot fire of work ethic and passion for this brutal industry, but most importantly for showing me the exact type of manager I never want to be. The Chef who traded everyone else’s time – thank you for showing me I can pursue my passion while also finding love and creating a life I never need to escape from. The companies – thank you for training me and giving me the most invaluable life experience and knowledge of how to run a terrible business with an even worse work environment, I strive to create a business and legacy nothing like yours.

Website: www.bottomlinebakery.com

Instagram: bottomlinebakery

Linkedin: chefkels

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

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bottom-line-bakery-and-cafe-evans

Image Credits
Sam Guillebeau