Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Galicia
Hi Julie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up on a farm in rural Iowa and for as long as I can remember we always had good, hearty food around. I started helping make meals for my family of 5 by the time I was around 12 years old. I have many amazing women in my family that are talented cooks and bakers. My farm was about 2 miles away from my grandparents farm, and I spent many summer days and nights helping shuck corn, prepare and freeze strawberries, eat whole quarters of ice cold watermelon, and make endless amounts of apple sauce, apple pie, and apple crisp. I always had an interest in food and had a wonderful knowledge of where food came due to my upbringing. After high school I went to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Scottsdale, AZ, where I received an associates degree in culinary arts. I came back to the midwest after graduating and started my culinary career in Minneapolis. I worked at several country clubs and restaurants in Minneapolis and then decided to continue my education. I graduated from Metropolitan State University with a bachelors in business administration in 2012. After finishing my second degree, I got a phone call from an old classmate from the university. She was contracting for a local advertising agency, SixSpeed, at the time and needed to contract a local chef to work on a large photoshoot out in Montana. I took the job and ended up outside of Livingston, MT cooking for 30 men and one other woman for 18 days. It was an incredible (and tiring) experience with a great group of people and the most beautiful views. After working on a few more photoshoots, I was offered a job at SixSpeed. I stayed there for almost 9 years doing event production and business operations, including accounting, office management, payroll, and benefits. After leaving SixSpeed and spending time with my two young boys at home, I decided I needed a creative outlet and Farm Girl Bakes was born. In May of 2024, I had a logo, a business plan, a cottage food license, and an idea for an Instagram page. I officially started Farm Girl Bakes in July and offer monthly seasonal baked goods.
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?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but in my experience the bumpiest of roads lead to the best views. If you were to ask any woman in the culinary field the same question, they would tell you the same thing – it is hard. I constantly had to prove myself not only in culinary school, but in every kitchen job I ever had. I had classmates tell me I wasn’t good enough just by looking at me. They would tell me to quit and go home. I have had coworkers take credit for my work. I have had executive chefs not believe me when I was being harassed in the workplace. Being told I wasn’t good enough everyday, sparked my fire instead of snuffing it out. I started speaking up for myself and calling guys out for their words and their behavior. I started competing with them and winning. I found my self confidence, my voice, and my potential and used all of those qualities in other jobs that I held as well. Working long, difficult hours was the easy part of cooking, but the mental toughness took lots of practice. In creating Farm Girl Bakes, I had a clear vision for what I wanted to offer, how I wanted to offer it, and who my clientele would be. I truly believe everything I went through in my teens and twenties, taught me how to be a decisive, confident, business-minded adult.
As you know, we’re big fans of Farm Girl Bakes. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Farm Girl Bakes is a in-home micro bakery based in Eden Prairie, MN. I specialize in offering seasonal monthly baked goods to the greater Twin Cities area. I am known for my signature cinnamon rolls, as well as my homestyle cookies, bars and breads. What sets Farm Girl Bakes apart from other in-home bakeries is my blend of French-based culinary skills, knowledge of balancing flavors and textures, and knowing what Midwesterners love to eat. People have seen my Instagram account and said it “feels comforting” or “like home” to them. These type of comments are the best compliments. I want my brand and the baked goods I create to remind people of sitting at their grandmother’s worn kitchen table and eating their favorite sweet treat. I only offer 1-3 baked goods at the beginning of each month on my Instagram page as well as sending out a monthly email newsletter. These goods are only available for the month. For example for the month of November, I offered cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and apple crumb pie. I offer delivery, pickup, or meet-up for my baked goods and love meeting my customers! I also enjoy working with customers on special orders for wedding showers, family gatherings, or any special events.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think the quality of kindness has been the most important to my success. When I think about my life and where I have come from, it has been in part to the people and the connections that I have made. Kindness is about being friendly, generous with your time or heart, and considerate of other people’s emotions and time. Throughout my life, I have followed my parents model of treating everyone with these characteristics no matter who they are and what they do for a living.
In my business today, many of my first customers and Instagram followers were fellow colleagues or old acquaintances who were eager to help share my business with others. I credit the early success of Farm Girl Bakes to those people who supported me just from knowing me and the person I am. I think that if I had been not nice to work with or cutthroat, that people would not want to support me now when getting a business off the ground. The Maya Angelou quote “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” is something that I think about often in working in a customer-based business. I want to make sure people feel heard, respected, and comforted at the thought that I will create a quality order that they asked for and deliver it with a smile.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farmgirlbakesmn/
