Today we’d like to introduce you to Meggie Buenz.
Hi Meggie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Baked by Buenz began as a small dream in March of 2023 of teaching our homeschooled children about creating a business from the ground up, and the work that comes with it. We began by selling the kids favorite, focaccia. From there we evolved to homemade herb butters, bagels and other sweet treats that used only clean ingredients, no added sugars and tasted great. We started off selling weekly at the Pedernales Farmer’s Market and quickly gathered a following.
Throughout this time, we began getting many requests for Gluten Free bread options. And not just Gluten Free, but dairy free, egg-free, sugar free and no allergens. Well, this in itself was a challenge to meet, but Meggie set out to recipe testing for the next couple months. After 2 months of baking nearly every evening and researching the science behind several food alternatives, a recipe was born. It was a Gluten Free artisan round that was soft as real bread on the inside with a tough, sourdough like exterior on the outside that made it taste just like real bread. Not only that, but it was dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free, gluten-free and nut free. When we brought it to market, we sold out several weeks in a row and had to increase our batches. We started off selling plain, but then branched out to Seedsation (pumpkin, chia and sunflower seeds), Oat’s & Honey and other weekly favorites.
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?
Definitely not. There have been a lot of challenges. First off, the sourdough trend was huge when we began. We were up against other bakers who were creating their own sourdough and began offering the same items we had. So, we wanted to differentiate ourselves. When we broke into the Gluten Free baking, we found our niche.
Cost was another. Baking is not very profitable. Especially with GF flours and natural ingredients. It was a challenge to find the proper balance of cost and pricing that people were willing to pay.
Growth was another challenge and how to scale our product to the masses. This is our next goal for our Gluten Free bread Mix. We’d love to get this into Whole Foods or Central Market to the people who can really use it that have serious allergies, and those who just prefer to eat Gluten Free.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Meggie graduated from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing. Upon graduation, Meggie worked for several start-up companies that helped her learn about starting a business from the ground up. Anything from building a brand, creating websites, trade show attendance to data analysis and research. Meggie worked in Marketing until 2015 when her first son, Grayson was born. At that time, she decided to stay home to raise Grayson, and later Arlo who arrived in 2017. During that time, their father’s work had taken them from Chicago to California and eventually Texas in 2021. In their time in California, Meggie fell in love with cooking at home again and with the movement for clean eating being strong in California, she picked up many tips and techniques for clean alternatives. Everything was made from scratch, from pizza to BBQ sauce…there were no processed foods to be found.
Meggie began Baked by Buenz in 2021 to educate her homeschool boys on business, as well as meet others in the community. Baked by Buenz had a market presence at the Pedernales Farmers Market from March 2023 – June 2024, with a few other markets in between. Meggie is still baking and delivering to local customers and can be reached on the business instagram @bakedmeggiesmix.
Meggie has also gotten back into marketing as of April 2025 and has created her own consulting firm Mindful Elevated Growth, that specializes in using data and analytics to provide customers with mindful results to grow their business organization. In a world that is moving towards AI, we need to be prepared for the shift but also understand that the human aspect still plays an important role in marketing.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Just start. There are always “what if I don’t,” or “what if I fail,” or “how will I?” You can, you will, and you will figure it out as you go. Don’t let the fear of taking a risk stop you from what you’ve always wanted to accomplish. Worse case, you learn something and pivot.
I wish that I knew about all the different small business loans and benefits when starting Baked. There are so many resources and small networks out there that will help you with growth and questions along the way.
Pricing:
- $16 for GF Artisan Round`
- $12 for GF pizza
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brand.site/mindfulelevatedgrowth
- Instagram: @bakedmeggiesmix
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meggie-buenz-smolen-31826b321/
