Turning Trials Into Triumphs: On the Road to Entrepreneurial Success With Molly Ott

Molly Ott is the Owner of Corina Bakery, an award-winning establishment nestled in the heart of Tacoma. With a passion for culinary arts and a keen eye for creating delightful confections, Molly has transformed Corina Bakery into a beloved local gem. Boasting a diverse array of delectable treats from artisanal cakes to freshly baked pastries, Molly’s commitment to quality and creativity shines through in every delectable bite. Her reputation for fostering a warm and welcoming atmosphere has made Corina Bakery a go-to destination for those seeking a delightful blend of taste and community.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

Molly Ott discusses her career journey and entrepreneurial venture
Growing a business from humble beginnings
The challenges Corina Bakery experienced and overcame
A guide to collaborating with fellow community bakers
Why did Molly and her husband decide to relinquish her business to her son?
Molly’s advice for aspiring baking entrepreneurs

In this episode…

In entrepreneurship, the journey from modest beginnings to significant achievements often involves confronting many challenges that put one’s resilience and determination to the test. How does a business owner emerge stronger after weathering such difficulties?

Business leader and baking entrepreneur Molly Ott’s experiences are a testament to personal success and satisfaction. Despite facing numerous obstacles along the way, Molly’s bakery has survived and thrived under her guidance. She attributes her bakery’s success to a combination of adaptability, perseverance, and a willingness to confront failure head-on. From financial setbacks to operational hurdles, she’s learned valuable lessons. According to Molly, success is not just about overcoming challenges but embracing them as opportunities for growth. With determination and a commitment to learning from successes and setbacks, she believes aspiring entrepreneurs can transform their dreams into reality.

On the latest episode of the Celebrity Gourmet Podcast, host Odette D’Aniello sits down with Molly Ott, the Owner of Corina Bakery, for an insightful conversation. Molly shares her entrepreneurial journey, tracing the evolution of Corina Bakery from its modest origins to its current success. She offers valuable insights gleaned from the challenges she’s encountered as a business owner, providing listeners with a candid look into the realities of entrepreneurship.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

Sponsor for this episode…

Today’s episode is brought to you by Celebrity Cake Studio, a family-owned and operated cake boutique.

Celebrity Cake Studio has been baking joy into all of their artistically designed cakes and desserts for 21 years.

They are proud to work with a vibrant team of cake designers and bakers that help you celebrate the sweet moments in your lives.

They have received numerous awards, winning Best of Western Washington for many years in a row and various small business accolades.

To learn more about how you can celebrate yourselves or the ones you love, visit www.celebritycakestudio.com or email them at info@celebritycakestudio.com.

Episode Transcript:

Intro 0:03

Welcome to the Celebrity Gourmet Podcast where we feature top a bakery and specialty food entrepreneurs from around the world and share stories and tips on how to create a successful life in the baking world.

Odette D’Aniello 0:16

Hi, I’m Odette D’Aniello, the host of Celebrity Gourmet Podcast where I interview women in the bakery and specialty food industry to hear how they live creative lives and share their adventure in running a bakery specialty food business. I want to encourage you to go back and check out our past episodes with Stephanie Kriebel of OMG! Pretzels of Philadelphia. My cousin Brittany Despi of Delight Bakery in Seattle, Katie Poppe, the founder and owner and a friend of Blue Star Donuts, Olga Sagan of Piroshky Piroshky, and Patti Stobaugh of PattiCakes in Arkansas. Today, I’m so excited to talk to Molly Ott, from Corina Bakery. Corina Bakery is in my town of Tacoma, Washington. And I am so excited just because Molly and I have known each other for over 10 years. Corina Bakery is the go to place in Tacoma for bakery treats. It has been in business for 16 years and has been voted the Best Tacoma Bakery for multiple years in a row. Molly and her husband bought of the bakery from a couple who I had met when they first started the bakery. This couple worked for Magnolia Bakery in New York City and brought just such delicious products to our town. And that was back in 2008. So since then, Molly and her family have created this third place hanging out and everybody wants to go to create a bakery. Have a treat, scone, or then you have savories, too, right?

Molly Ott 2:09

We do. Yeah,

Odette D’Aniello 2:12

Delicious coffees. So it’s very, very, very cute. Today’s episode, everyone is brought to you by Celebrity Gourmet Ventures, Celebrity Cake Studio, and Dragonfly Cakes. We’re a family owned and operated specialty cake bakery in Tacoma, and at Celebrity Gourmet, we’ve been baking joy into all artistically designed cakes and desserts for over 25 years. We are proud to work with a vibrant team of cake designers and makers who will help us celebrate the same moments in your life. To learn more about how you can celebrate yourself, or the ones you love, visit as a Celebrity Cake studio or Dragonfly Cakes or email us at info@celebritycakestudio.com. So thank you for for that. Molly, I wanted to say thank you for being on this podcast. I’m so excited to talk to you. And I wanted everyone to know your story because you had such an amazing journey in the bakery space. And you know, just tell everybody how you started. And were like what’s going on now?

Molly Ott 3:22

Well, sure, thank you so much for having me Odette, it’s a pleasure to talk to you and share my story. I had been a field executive for several different luxury brands. And it found me being away from home several nights a week, traveling all over the US and Canada. And I think that the purchase of the bakery, stems from my love of wanting to entertain, and I like food. And so I’ve thought, you know, why not parlay this love that I had for serving others into a business. So through a mutual friend who had been working at the bakery, which had only been open several months, I found out that the the owners of the original Corina Bakery, as it was, had to transfer to another state and therefore put the business up for sale. And so at the time, wine and cigar bars were actually a big thing. And I thought, well, you know, buy the business will turn it into a wine and cigar bar. But it turns out that the business model was doing well on its own and had merit worth keeping the business model the same that the way that it was so we decided to just start building upon the items that were available at that time and it was in a little itty bitty space on Sixth Avenue. Probably no more than, I would say 800 square feet. And the bakery itself was the footprint of the retail shop. But it was two floors up with no elevator. So every 50 pound bag of sugar, every 50 pound bag of flour, every three-tiered wedding cake had to be walked up and down those stairs for about three years. And it’s kind of how it all began. It’s just, it was. I’m not even sure how I got here. To be honest, it’s been such a, it’s been a long time, but it seems like it’s gone by just in a heartbeat.

Odette D’Aniello 5:41

Your products are delicious. I remember. I remember that little space because it open at the bottom of the Grand Cinema, which is a local theater here in Tacoma. And we had to go down the stairs to go and go and go into the bakery. Newest writing tiny, tiny.

Molly Ott 5:59

No dishwasher. Just two ovens. Everything, just freestanding refrigerators. And yeah, very, very humble beginnings for sure.

Odette D’Aniello 6:13

Yes, but the best thing was you had the products were delicious. The products were so good. So tell us more about how you transition from that little space to where you are?

Molly Ott 6:25

Okay. Well, I think one of the big turning points for the bakery was when two spaces within the Merlino Art Center, which is where we’re located, opened up at the same time. And there was an opportunity to conjoin those spaces and renegotiate a lease to move into those areas. And virtually, it was really, I think, tripled the space that we had before. And it was very scary to do it. But it was I had FOMO, fear of missing out and I knew in my heart in my head that if I didn’t take a chance and go for it, that I would regret it. And it turned out to be quite amazing how few people knew to turn the corner out of coming out of that theater on Fossett Avenue and turning left on six, they didn’t even know we were up there. But when we came down around the corner and moved right in next door to the Grand Cinema, it was like a whole new neighborhood, a whole new atmosphere, a whole new opportunity for the bakery. So that’s kind of how we started and again, with very minimal equipment, very archaic equipment. But from there, we as we started to do well and become profitable, we took small steps to improve the surroundings improve the equipment reinvested in the business. Slowly but surely, it began gaining a following. And we just kept building upon that. And we knew that if we were honest, and made a good quality, consistent product that people would come back. And so we treated our customers the way you know, we all business owners like to be treated when we go out and you know, open our wallets, in restaurants and in the community. So that’s kind of our mantra is, we are here to serve others. And not only just the community, but I as a business owner wanted to be a servant to my employees, because I knew that if I made them feel that their job was just as important as mine that they would be happy and therefore flourish. So my whole job was to nurture and just kind of bring this sort of family type field to the business as much as as I know you do with your family. Oh, I

Odette D’Aniello 9:16

love that. I know I did it. The thing about owning a bakery is that it’s such it’s it elicits such warmth, a family and just like it is a place where you can really rest even if it’s busy. It’s because it’s a happy business. I mean, you know, it’s a it’s a happy kind of occasion. It’s like, oh my God, look at all these treats and look at this beautiful stuff, right? Yeah, you know what? One of the reasons why I really appreciate you these because you and I met and you know in our town, we can be considered competitors because people can go get cakes from you Oh, are tweets from you, or they can go to me. So usually when people do private occasions like weddings, etc, they can go to Celebrity Cake Studio or Corina Bakery. We’re like the two top choices. But what I love about the bakery business is that it is a supportive industry and we help each other.

Molly Ott 10:20

I agree. Absolutely. As I as I have often thought, it has been very nice to be able to have somebody who is like minded and you can ask questions, you know, have you experienced this? How did you handle that? You know, and that is something that you were kind enough to offer me help on in my early days, and I’ve never forgotten it, and I, I, you are a competitor, but you’re also someone that is a confidence builder. And we can kind of play off each other. And as he said, their questions and commiserate if need be. Over different things that come up in the community over the years.

Odette D’Aniello 11:13

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it’s because you know, what, I do feel that we are just human beings to begin. So we’re just doing our best to manifest our dreams, and to do what we love. And that’s what we’re doing. And it’s not necessary at the very end. That to have connection with other people is the most important, whether or not you know, whether it’s reading that environment within our businesses, like what would I have in our bakeries, do this for the community. And what I love is that people love Karina bakery, because we do offer just that third space of coffee and have a meeting and it is it’s beautiful.

Molly Ott 12:05

Well, thank you very much. We we’ve had our ups and downs, we’ve had our challenges, as I’m sure you did, during COVID. And I know that you’ve also experienced challenges with the crime that’s unfortunately a part of our reality today, in our community. And, you know, I think when those kinds of things happen to you, you can either be defeated, or you can pick yourself up by your bootstraps, and figure out now how I’m going to make this you know, I can’t open my shop right now, how am I going to make keep the name of our business alive and also supply provide rather products for the community who still need something to look forward to. When when no one can come into the shop. So we figured it out. And we were able to keep paying our employees and just kind of made the little evolutionary changes as needed. I mean, we literally were going out on the sidewalk in the pouring down rain with umbrellas and iPads, taking orders and going inside, ringing them up and getting the orders backed up and bringing them out to the sidewalk. And we did that for months during COVID Just to kind of keep it going. And I mean, we lived through a three day power outage one year. I remember that was fun. And so after I had come in and done the morning bake off I have this whole cart full of pastries and coffee made but there’s no power so I can’t open my doors because the power had gone out. So everybody that walked up to the front door I opened the front door and said I’m sorry you can’t come in today but here is your free pastry and coffee because I can’t even sell it to you right now. But those kinds of things. When I added over the years just crazy things that I don’t think people realize can happen in a bakery and I’m sure you have stories that have things that you you just can’t make this stuff up. I always said I need to be a writer for Saturday night life we could have such good fodder for script Oh, I’ll

Odette D’Aniello 14:26

be one of the things is like you have to love what you do more than anything because the things that happen can be just so demoralizing. You and I both had our doors like jam. Yes, we have. Yeah, no. Yeah, I think that’s what happens when you own a brick and mortar right.

Molly Ott 14:49

Yeah. Yeah, I think the bottom line is that I just love the feeling that I derive when some I open the box to show Someone their cake and they just go crazy. And they’re so happy. That is just that’s, that’s kind of the drive. And I’m sure you, you get that feeling too When a bride looks at their wedding cake and they’re just elated is you’ve, you’ve put the cherry on the sundae for their day, so to speak.

Odette D’Aniello 15:19

Do you decorate, Molly?

Molly Ott 15:21

I have decorated but I’ll be honest, my forte is in general management, inventory management and, and merchandising. Really. So I’m not by trade a baker or a decorator, but I know how things should look.

Odette D’Aniello 15:42

You have that luxury eye. What What brand Did you work for?

Molly Ott 15:49

I work for the Chanel Corporation. Bobbi Brown cosmetics and then David Yurman jewelry. So the Manhattan based companies. So I yeah, I got a taste of the finer things in life. And that doesn’t really ever leave you. But I have to say that owning bakery has been extremely rewarding. And it’s been nice to have a team of people around me over the years that I can share these experiences with and kind of, you know, help them develop their own lives, their own careers along the way.

Odette D’Aniello 16:37

That’s beautiful. Now, you had told me that you you have any news for us like you?

Molly Ott 16:44

Yes, as of the first of January, I have turned over the key to my husband, Mike and I have a son, Jason Ott, who has been apprenticing so to speak as my general manager for the last four years. So he’s been learning all the bits and pieces of the business, from soup to nuts. And I feel extremely confident that he’s not only going to carry on the little legacy that we have built over the years, but I think he’s going to take it to the next level and breathe new vibrant energy into the bakery and take it to places that we’re not even aware of yet. And he’s got a great support system around him as well. The team is standing and we’re actually getting ready to have a big celebration next weekend. I’m really looking forward to thanking all my staff for everything that they’ve done over the years. And we’re kind of like a big family there. So So

Odette D’Aniello 17:55

announcing your retirement to your team.

Molly Ott 17:57

It has been announced, everybody’s aware of it. But I’m still kind of, they still see me walking in the door almost every day for one reason or another

Odette D’Aniello 18:09

life. So it’s like in your retirement.

Molly Ott 18:13

What are we going to do? Well, we will probably do some traveling, I think the one thing that I’ve missed over the years. And if I could go back and say I wish I would have done this a little bit differently, is to have been able to spend more time with my family, with five grandchildren and all of our adult children live in Tacoma. So between the 13, 14 of us have, I am really looking forward to being in everyone’s day to day lives. Just you know, spending time with people, I have my mother as well, that I’m looking forward to spending more time with. So just being part of the family and being able to go to, you know, a volleyball game or going to someone’s birthday party or watching a football game on a Sunday. I mean, I’ve worked every weekend by choice for over a decade. Because I do feel that in order to help ensure your success you will need to present I think Warren Buffett is the one that coined that phrase is if you want to be successful, you have got to be present. So that’s kind of what I’m looking forward to is being with family now.

Odette D’Aniello 19:37

So what is present mean to you? Like, what does that mean? You’re like you said you’re going to be going into like maybe babysitting?

Molly Ott 19:50

Well, yeah, I mean, the calls have already started coming in. But when I say be president, I was really referring to my role as the owner of the bakery. And I felt like it was important for me to be there, you know, not just the by namesake only an owner. Now I’m at really funny because the first couple days of not working for being so called retired, it was a little bit depressing because you, you really don’t know, okay, what’s gonna become of me. I’m not one of those people that sits around and does nothing, it’s very hard for me to do nothing. But by the third day, it’s like, wow, I can go do that I can go do this. Now I, you know, I started thinking of all the things that I can actually do and commit to and go to lunch with girls, and, you know, maybe go to a spa and things like that. So anyway, that’s kind of that’s kind of where my head’s at right now, looking forward to that maybe having lunch.

Odette D’Aniello 20:59

We could go hang out together. Actually, we could. Well, you used to bring these stones a lot. I remember that I still remember that. I’m like, Oh, my God, he’s so good. Because I don’t make any of those big guns, right? I think I only do the, you know, you are always so kind to do that. And we were supposed to meet up like, I know, I remember your day off was on Thursday

Molly Ott 21:24

That’s right, you’ve gonna good memory

Odette D’Aniello 21:28

each other for a long time. You know, so that’s the difference is it like that? You know, my, my family, my sister helps me run the business. Right. So she knows the boy for, for our business, and I do the outside, you know, doing all the other stuff that’s outside of the country. So I thought that’s, that’s, that’s really cool that now you and I can hang out. So now how did you choose Jason? Did he express interest in it? Was he in the business?

Molly Ott 22:05

He wasn’t my husband owned. He and his two brothers. And his father actually owned a couple of businesses in the transmission industry. So automotive transmission industry. And through the course of events, my husband, Mike and Jason, had worked together at a business that have sold about four years ago. And so once a quietly, Jason through the skills that he had in customer service, we thought it was going to be a fit of great fit a nice transition for him to come in and learn first, the customer service side of it, which is a lot of talking on the phone, and talking to customers and follow through, and a lot of details and inventory management. And so it just, it was very smooth transition from one category of business to another. And he is an amazing chef himself and a great lover of food as well. And so it was, it was just, it just all worked out. And he’s enjoyed it. And he’s done a great job at it. And I’m sure if you haven’t met him yet, I think you may have met him. At least seen him.

Odette D’Aniello 23:26

I was stopping by to bring a friend from Becky Palermo. Will has been on this podcast too. So my friend Becky from Creative Cakes in Chicago came to

Molly Ott 23:41

remember Yes, he was out that day. Yes, that’s over

Odette D’Aniello 23:45

to your place. I’m like, Oh, you gotta come see Karina bakeries? Because that’s delicious. So we went over and you guys were on sidewalk?

Molly Ott 23:54

Yes. That’s right. I remember that. Yeah.

Odette D’Aniello 23:57

So yeah. What do you like Becky was my third or fourth guest on this podcast? All right. Yeah, we’re just making up a woman. No big green coffee. Okay, here. Well, now, I have one more question. Before we end this as if you were to talk to your younger self, like what would you say?

Molly Ott 24:24

Well, I would say it as it relates specifically to the bakery, I would say, number one, location, location, location, which we have a great location, but buy your own building and design it from the back end forward. That is one thing that I wish that I’d had the foresight to do. And I know that that’s something that you have been able to accomplish and I’m sure I know that you’re probably just like Oh yeah, this is where it’s at having your own building. So that is definitely. And listen, also, you know, if something isn’t working, don’t keep doing it, you know, switch gears, figure it out, figure out a way to make it better embrace, you know, things that aren’t working for you, and turn it around. And just know that there’s always going to be someone that you aren’t going to 100%, please, but it’s okay. And it’s all about how you handle the negative situations. While they may be few and far between, we hope, you know, how you how you address it is the most important thing and don’t take things. So personally, you know, if, if something goes sideways, which it does, and I tell my employees this all the time, everybody makes mistakes, myself included, just learn from it, you know, and figure out how not to do it again, I will say that some of the mistakes that we’ve made over the years have actually turned out to be have silver linings, and that made us come up with product innovations that we never thought can be possible.

Odette D’Aniello 26:23

Like what? Give me an example.

Molly Ott 26:25

I knew you were gonna ask me that? Oh, I think you know, if we will, we are we’re an American style bakery with some French influences. So we don’t, we don’t profess to be an all French bakery, we, the beauty of what we do is that we, because we’re a single entity, we can do whatever we want, whenever we want to. So maybe we have made a product, a muffin that just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. Well, we can turn that into another product if we want to. And, and thereby curb waste. I think that’s one of the best thing that we have been able to accomplish. You know, if you have a cake lay that cracks and you need to rebake it well, a cake balls or some other parfait some other thing, don’t waste it, you know, turn it into, you know, some other delicious delight.

Odette D’Aniello 27:29

I had a podcast guest. And on this note, she takes all the leftovers from the day and puts it all in the mixer and calls it Washington pie.

Molly Ott 27:46

Yep, I think it’s awesome.

Odette D’Aniello 27:49

And then makes it pie. And so that was brilliant. I was like, Oh my God. That’s brilliant.

Molly Ott 27:55

Yeah, yeah. It’s great.

Odette D’Aniello 27:57

I was like, Oh my God. That’s great. Well, that’s so awesome. Thank you so much for for being on this podcast and having this chit-chat with me. It’s like me and you having coffee.

Molly Ott 28:07

It is. It’s great. And again, I’ve said it before, but you really are a unique individual that has a kind an open heart and very smart businesswoman. And I’m really lucky to call you a friend and have been honored to have been on this podcast with you. So

Odette D’Aniello 28:30

I’m so grateful. Thank you so much. You’re welcome. Soon and Okay. Thank you for being we’re being such a great friend. Thank you.

Outro 28:45

Thanks for listening to the Celebrity Gourmet Podcast. We’ll see you again next time. And be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.