Meet the Face Behind Your Favorite Brownies

Ever wonder who’s behind the amazing brownies we send out and donate each Thanksgiving? In this episode, we sit down with Melissa Roiter, founder of Yummy Mummy Bakery, to share her story. Melissa has a pretty sweet story: from baking brownies in her home kitchen as a mom of triplets to building a beloved Westborough bakery that now ships its famous treats nationwide. Get to know the person — and the passion — behind the brownies our clients look forward to every year.

Find out:

• How Melissa grew from home baking to a full retail bakery

• The joy and challenges of running a busy small business

• What strange request they received from a Youtube creator with 60+ million subscribers

  
  

Brendan:

Hey, thanks for joining me on another Coffee with Waymark. If you enjoyed the brownies we sent out for Thanksgiving, you're gonna love meeting the person behind them. I'm here with Melissa Roiter, founder and owner of Yummy Mummy Bakery in Westborough, Massachusetts. She's also a client, and we wanted to give you a quick behind-the-scenes look at the small business that helped make your holidays a little bit sweeter.So let's jump right in. Melissa, thanks for joining us.

Melissa:

Thank you for having me.

Brendan:

To start, tell us a little bit about yourself and the bakery.

Melissa:

I'm from Massachusetts. I currently live in Southborough, but the bakery is in Westboro, Massachusetts. I have 21-year-old triplets who are in their final year of college.

Brendan:

Congratulations, by the way.

Melissa:

Thank you very much. Still need to sell some more brownies to pay for that tuition. I come from a family of caterers and bakers and started a brownie company, and then the bakery just on a love of food. It's really taken off, and I'm taking every day at a time and seeing where the company goes and how it's growing. It's been a lot of fun.

Brendan:

Gotcha. So, I love your backstory. What inspired you to get into baking and actually open up your own bakery?

Melissa:

My grandmother was an at-home baker and had an amazing brownie recipe. Everywhere I went, I would bring the brownies, and people encouraged me to sell them. I started at local farmer's markets and baked out of my home for over eight years. I started when my kids were two, so it got to a point where there was no food in the refrigerator except butter and eggs, and I knew I needed to make a decision if I wanted to grow my company and move it out of my home. That's when I decided to open the bakery and hire talented staff who went to culinary school. They know how to decorate cakes and cake pops and cupcakes and make really fabulous things.

Brendan:

Yeah. Running a bakery is no small task. I know that you wake up early. I go to the gym and see you coming in bright and early before the sun rises. What are some of the most challenging parts of running a bakery, and what are some of the most rewarding?

Melissa:

We'll start with the rewarding. That's having fresh baked treats every day. Even though I also go to the gym, I do love my sugar. But I have to say my favorite day here is Saturday, when most of the production is done for the week and kids and people come in to pick out their birthday cakes and other treats from the case. It's joy; we're bringing people happiness. I've been in business long enough that we've done everything from gender reveal cakes to baby showers, to then the kids' fifth, sixth, seventh birthday parties. Watching my customers grow and age has actually been-

Brendan:

Melissa, you gotta tell the audience about the most recent one where you got a call from a TV show that wanted to do a cake.

Melissa:

Oh, the beef cake?

Brendan:

Whatever it was, I think you told me you had to turn it around in like six to twelve hours, same day.

Melissa:

Yes. We got a call from—now you're putting me on the spot—Dude Perfect. They're an online group of guys who do crazy feats. We got called from the DCU Center in Worcester and they wanted us to make a cake within six hours. I said, “Okay, send me a picture of what you're looking for.” When I opened the text, I was shocked. It was literally a slab of beef, and I said, “You know this isn't actually cake, right?” But my staff did it remarkably, and it was part of their show, which was super cool. I learned they have over 12 million followers, so I was very happy that I got a little bit of publicity from them.

Brendan:

And that was what—two months ago?

Melissa:

Yeah, it was recent. Very cool. Great opportunity.

Brendan:

For those who might want to try something other than your brownies, talk a little bit about how they would do that and what some of the things are that you offer.

Melissa:

You can come to our retail location and we have a lot of pastries—muffins, cupcakes, custom cake pops. We specialize in, whatever holiday it is, we have a lot of fun decorated things. We have—if I can reach behind me—some Grinch-inspired Rice Krispy treats. We do a lot of cake pops as well. If you come in, you'll see a case full of cupcakes. We have cakes in our case, and we're trying to do a little bit of savory items as well. We have scones and little tartlets. We make popovers, which are fantastic, every Saturday only, and they are worth the drive over here.We also do mail order, as your clients know, and a lot of corporate gift-giving, platters for catering, a little bit of everything.

Brendan:

Awesome. Well, again, Melissa, thank you for carving out a little bit of time, I know this is your busy season in the holidays. Thank you so much for partnering with us and sharing your story. We hope our clients get to share the work. And to everyone who's watching, thanks for joining us, and remember to be well and do good.

Brendan is the Managing Director for Waymark Wealth Management. He has extensive experience in comprehensive wealth management. His focus includes retirement planning, behavioral finance, investment portfolio construction, education funding, insurance & risk management, taxes, charitable giving, and estate planning. Brendan has an ability to take clients' complex visions and distill them down to simple action plans, helping them move from where they are today to where they want to be tomorrow.

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