Meet Christen Maynard | In-Home Bakery Owner & Custom Cake Decorator

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

Hi Christen, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ll start from the beginning! Baking has always been a passion of mine. My biggest childhood memories consist of baking cookies with my mom, or pound cake, cookies or pies with my sister and Oma. My Oma’s family moved to California from the Netherlands when she was a teen and her mom worked in Artisian Bakery out in California. A lot of my recipes come from her and my mom! In high school baking fun cupcakes for friends and family became a hobby of mine. I dreamed of opening my own bakery one day but knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and that likely wouldn’t be the best route right away. So I pursued teaching instead, in which found another passion of working with at-risk youth.

In 2018 I had my first daughter, Harper, and I quit teaching to stay home full time. I decided to start working through social media and started a blog (Family From Scratch) in which I shared my own recipes and all sorts of other mom-life “stuff”. This is also where I got the name “From Scratch Bakery”. I also started working for an MLM, but in 2020 really started to hate how glued I had to be to my phone with the blog and MLM. I was reading through a Facebook thread in a mom group about “work-from-home” options and came across this idea of a Home Bakery. I immediately started researching, studying, testing recipes, and teaching myself how to decorate cakes. At first, I honestly thought I would be selling things like muffins, breads, simple cupcakes and cake pops. But I kept getting challenged with these extravagant cake orders and decided to try it. Suddenly it’s all I do! It is like a hidden talent I never knew I had.

I thank God every day for this little hidden talent He’s helped me find because with it, I am also able to give back. From the beginning I wanted to also find a way to use this business to continue to help at-risk kids or children in need. I eventually want to open a store front and start a non-profit in which I can provide these children with their own extravagant cake. For now, each month I donate a portion of my income to the Tim Tebow Foundation to support adoption aid and the fight against human trafficking.

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?
I truly have to attribute the majority of my success to my amazing family and friends. The support I had from them in the beginning and along the way has helped my customer base and following grow more than I could have ever imagined. I currently get booked out about 4-6 weeks in advance and often am overbooked, all thanks to their support. Most of my customers are returning customers or are referrals of current customers who try one of my cakes at a party or a wedding. One of the things I am most proud of and love hearing is that a lot of is people say, “Not only was the cake beautiful but it was actually DELICIOUS!” Because of this amazing support system, I even got to participate this year in Buddy Valastro’s Greatest Baker Competition and actually made it to the top 1% in the US! All thanks to my supporter’s votes.

I am now on year 4 of owning this bakery and it definitely was not an easy road. There have been many tears shed, cakes thrown away and late, late nights. When I make these cakes, I am very proud of the work I do and treat every cake as if it is for my own family. It has to be perfect for me to put my name on it and send it out my front door. My love language is gifts, and I know often times these cakes act as gifts to others. It truly brings me no greater joy than to see the recipients face when they pick up their cake. I will never forget one little boy jumping for joy on my driveway when he picked up his birthday cake!

Aside from the cakes themselves I am also very happy I am able to pursue my second dream with this bakery in continuing to help at-risk youth. It is my dream to start a non-profit to be able to deliver these cakes free of charge to children in need. For now, I get to donate a portion of all my income each month to the Tim Tebow Foundation to support adoption aid and the fight against human trafficking. I am proud to say that every order/purchase I receive goes to “More than Just Cake.”

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?
Even though I grew up just outside of Denver, I truly am not much of a city gal! I grew up in the outskirts of Parker- so my weekend itinerary may be a little less “Denver” and a lot more “Colorado.” For starters, since this is a hypothetical question, I’m going to act like it’s a beautiful September weekend. I have to give a shoutout to our absolute favorite little hole-in-the wall restaurant, Bookmakers Bar & Grill- this would definitely be our first stop. My husband and I have always liked to find “our spot” wherever we have lived. Our first house in Aurora was down the street from another little restaurant Royal Hilltop where we would go weekly and had the same waitress. One day we noticed it going downhill and our favorite waitress was gone. We moved in 2020 and came across Bookmakers, where low and behold our favorite waitress, Alyssa, was there! She has known us pre-kids and now has seen all 3 of our girls grow up. We love this spot; absolute best burgers and fries in town!

For breakfast we are going to start our day at Heritage Cafe for the best breakfast in Southeast Aurora, followed by a drive up through Vail to see the leaves and go for a hike. While galivanting through the mountains we are absolutely stopping at the local breweries. Since this is a week-long trip, we would drive just a bit farther to Palisade to tour the amazing wineries and farmer’s market. We would take the long way home to get some good fishing in and more beautiful views in Gunnison/Crested Butte. Then we absolutely have to finish out the trip with a visit to Mile High (I will always call it that) for some Bronco Tailgating and a Bronco game. Again since its hypothetical, we would celebrate a win and finally having a good quarterback??

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to dedicate this shoutout to my husband, Jordan. My high school sweetheart, we just celebrated 10 years of marriage! I would not be who I am today or where I am today without him. He works so hard day in and day out to support me and our 3 girls to allow me to stay home with them full time, to homeschool, AND fulfill my dream of owning a bakery. He has always been my biggest cheerleader and supporter no matter what endeavor I took on. When I first presented the idea to him, he didn’t even bat an eye; he said “What’s it cost, let’s do it. You’re more than capable and would truly enjoy it.” Before 2020 I had never even decorated a cake before in my life besides frosting it! I had a lot of self-doubt and he believed in me before I even did. Without him I don’t think I would have ever had the courage to do it!

Website: https://www.fromscratchbakeryco.com/

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