Hidden Gems: Meet Stephanie Meek of Five Daughters Bakery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Meek.

Hi Stephanie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Our story with Five Daughters Bakery began when we were pregnant with our 5th daughter. Isaac has always been a creative and home chef, but he was cranking as a CFO in a company with little time to focus on family or creativity. Our goal was to be able to make our own schedule and work together. With some encouragement and research, he decided to try his hand at a croissant donut one weekend and fell in love with the process.

I (Stephanie) posted a photo of the donut on Instagram and a local coffee shop reached out and asked if they could carry the product that week! The process took three days at the time, so the fastest we could supply them was for the following weekend, and they sold out in 30 min. We were fortunate to have some great friends come alongside us with prayer and connection to the commercial real estate industry. Each week we sold our donuts at the farmers market and local coffee shops until we moved into a commercial kitchen. Four months into the adventure Isaac was able to replace his CFO job and salary with our new business. The rest is history and favor from God.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
For the first year and a half of building our business, we barely slept for more than three-hour stretches. For one, I had just had a newborn and we were baking every night out of our own kitchen. Isaac still worked his finance job for the first six months of us starting, which meant he would arrive home, roll out the dough, proof dough, cut dough, fry dough, and decorate with me. Squeeze parenting and a newborn into this rhythm.

This happened from 6 pm-6 am every day. At 6 am he would shower, leave with donuts to deliver to coffee shops, and then drive 45 min to his real job. Rinse and repeat. The challenge was exhilarating because we were starting something new together despite the long hours. We were creating together and building a community of support through every challenge which made it all very rewarding.

We’ve been impressed with Five Daughters Bakery, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Five Daughters Bakery is a family business, owned and operated by Isaac and Stephanie Meek along with their five daughters in Nashville, Tennessee. Our pastries are made daily with love from scratch, always non-GMO, sourcing locally and organic. We are located in Nashville, TN, and Atlanta, GA, and we are known for our 100 Layer Donut.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fivedaughtersbakery.com
• Instagram: @five_daughters_bakery
• Facebook: @fivedaughtersbakery
• Twitter: @five_daughters
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/FiveDaughters
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/QCpSRWDmqib

Image Credits
Amber Kelly Teale Gunter