Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Thompson.
Hi Stephanie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Growing up, many of my fondest memories were being in the kitchen with my great-grandmother, grandmother, or mom. I have always loved being around people who cook. I am inspired by food, all the flavors and aromas that come from ingredients and spices people all over the world use to create their own unique foods/meals. I love the feeling that food can trigger and how it can bring back memories, create ideas, and spark emotions. I’ve always been what some might consider the “creative type” and being in the kitchen allows me to be creative and work with delicious ingredients to make edible art.
I graduated college with a degree in interdisciplinary studies and taught elementary age children for many years before pursuing my passion for food. While teaching, I took advantage of my love for food and worked with my students in the garden. We grew, tasted, cooked with, and cultivated interest in various flavors and healthy eating. I would cook and bake often as catharsis when work was stressful. In college, I made cakes and cookies for friends and families I nannied for over the years. I continued to do so while teaching when I had the time. I married my wonderful husband who shares my passion for food and drink. In 2016, my love for teaching ended up feeling less and less like my true passion and my husband began to notice my shift in energy toward a job I swore I would do forever.
My husband asked me what I would do if I could just quit to pursue another passion. After some thought, I realized how much I truly enjoyed the creative aspects of my work, the kids, the interaction with people, teaching, inspiring, sparking joy in learning something new, but I didn’t love the politics and non-teaching parts that came along with my career. I was raving about a meal recently eaten and it dawned on me that I would love to learn more about the craft behind our favorite meals and the people who work at our favorite restaurants that were responsible for our most memorable dishes. I told my husband that if I could quit to do anything, it might be in food. He responded with ” why don’t you then? Try it out for a year or so and if you don’t love it, you can always go back to teaching!”
I’m lucky enough to have had his support to do just that. I finished the end of the school year in 2016, applied to a handful of my favorite restaurants in town, and was lucky enough to get a couple of interviews and land a job I was thrilled to be able to learn from. I worked in many restaurants and learned SO much in such a short time. I have been fortunate to work with some really incredible, hardworking people who taught me not just how to make great dishes/ desserts but who also took the time to teach me the things they learned in culinary school and the science behind why and how cooking techniques and ingredients work to make food taste great. I was allowed to experiment, create, and further cultivate my love for food.
Finally, when we decided to start a family and my son Henry was born, I decided to start a business from home so I could continue to do what I love and create memories with my son. Working in the industry and seeing how much waste there is and how so many chefs strive to work with less waste helped to spark my curiosity in creating a more sustainable business and got me more interested in learning about all the ways people in the world create waste. I wanted our family to live more sustainably and in doing so gave me more reason to use my small business as a platform to help inform others and to show my son that giving back and caring for others and our world is worth doing.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would never say owning a business of any kind is a smooth road. I don’t know anyone who would disagree either. Baking is a science and there is always so much that can go wrong. Ingredients matter, time matters, order matters, environmental factors matter. No matter how many times I’ve made something, there is always a chance something could (and certainly a time when it has) gone wrong. It usually means starting completely over. Cooking or baking for my family or for myself is one thing, but for a paying customer, it has to be perfect. Products I sell I want to be a reflection of the passion I have for what I do. Baking in a home kitchen without a commercial oven and commercial sized equipment can be limiting as well. Not to mention having to do all the dishes! Most restaurants I worked in have people who would wash dishes for us or have commercial sized sinks to clean up in. Working from home is a lot more time consuming and I have had to learn to work much cleaner and tidier, have had to invest in ways to make tasks more efficient. Being a full-time mom (and now pregnant with #2) means I often have to work hours when I’m not taking care of my 2-year-old son, which means I work late or early often and have very long days.
Getting people to care about living more sustainably is hard. It’s not always easier or more convenient and that is a huge turn-off for many– especially families with less time to dedicate to research, cook, and find alternatives to things that already work for them. I have to get better at finding time to blog about my passion for living more sustainably and how easy it can be! There are so many easy swaps for eco-friendly items that we use every day, ways to cut down on waste that most people don’t even think of! Also, sharing information as I find it. If people aren’t willing to seek it out for themselves, how else will they know? I hope to share simple, easy ways to help save our earth, to inspire others to investigate further into waste and climate change and prioritize leaving a better world to future generations.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a professional baker and I specialize in creating sweet treats! I am most well-known for cakes, cookies, biscuits, and my scones. I have a wide variety of customers, but my most requested items are usually cakes and cookies. (Especially during the holidays) I’m usually most proud of my cakes or cookies primarily because they are time-consuming and allow me to be most creative. I am always so grateful for a rave review of something I’ve put so much time and energy into.
I hope that my passion and dedication to using the highest quality ingredients help set me apart from others. I use organic and local ingredients and love that what I create is a reflection of how I like to eat and care for others.
What makes you happy?
Food, wine, coffee, family, friends, travel, and the holidays. These are all connections that share memories, feelings of love and inner peace that bring me joy. These are what make life worth living and sharing.
Contact Info:
- Email: abundanceatx@gmail.com
- Website: abundanceatx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abundanceatx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Abundanceatx/
