Meet Tom Bailey of Accidental Spices

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Bailey.

Hi Tom, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Even though my first job out of college had me making pimento cheese, I didn’t take a straight (or short) path to Prof. Bailey’s Pimento Cheese.

That first job was at the well-remembered Clayton Blackmon, where, in addition to making their pimento cheese, I got my first real education in cooking. It took many years and careers (time spent as a labor economist, bartender, marketer for a publishing house, archivist, and alumni director) for me to get back to food.

I couldn’t take being in an office anymore, and people were offering me money for my pimento cheese. So, with more optimism than common sense, I took the leap and started Accidental Spices LLC. Three months later I was selling Prof. Bailey’s Spicy Pimento Cheese and Pimento Cheese Biscuits at the Nashville Farmers Market.

Accidental Spices? I gave the company a different name than Prof. Bailey’s to leave myself room to add in different brands at some point (which we finally did this year with the launch of Damma Good Cinnamon Rolls). I chose Accidental Spices because the final version of Prof. Bailey’s came about because one night I accidentally doubled the spice (Yes, I had a beer or two).

Prof. Bailey’s? I named our pimento cheese (and biscuits and gougeres) brand after my great-great-grandfather who came to Nashville in 1873 to set up the music education programs for the city. It’s his picture on our labels. I inherited his bald head but totally missed out on the music gene. When I was in the high school musical they requested that I lipsync.

The first year of being in business was a lot like being back in middle school: Wild emotional swings from exaltation to despair and constant insecurity. If it hadn’t been for the encouragement and support of friends, I am sure I would have caved during that period. Most particularly I need to give a shout-out to my high school friend Tom Mason who did (and does) all the design work for our labels. Also, Tom Lazzaro of the late great Lazzaroli Pasta encouraged me, put my products in his store, and gave me the scale I still use. Also, Chris Chamberlain gave me my first coverage in local media. There were many more, but the point is there is no such thing as self-made anything and I can only take partial credit for the success we have had.

Since those early days, we have grown quite a bit. We are in over a dozen stores, have some online sales, and are regulars at several farmers’ markets. One year Nashville Lifestyles named our pimento cheese as of the five best Nashville-made foods. In addition to pimento cheese and pimento cheese biscuits, we also make pimento cheese gougeres and we are in the process of launching Damma Good Cinnamon Rolls. At some point last year, we crossed the threshold of over 100,000 items sold.

The next step is to figure out how to scale up and go from a small company to a medium-small company. I’m sure it will be like going through middle school all over again….

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A smooth road? Anyone who claims to have had a smooth road is incredibly lucky, insanely rich, amnesiac, or fibbing. That being said, It’s been a really easy smooth bumpless road… just kidding.

We’ve been impressed with Accidental Spices LLC, 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?
We make Prof. Bailey’s Pimento Cheeses, Pimento Cheese Biscuits, and Pimento Cheese Gougères. We also now make Damma Good Cinnamon Rolls (named after my great-grandmother Damma). We don’t have a storefront instead we sell at local farmers’ markets and through local stores (a complete list is at www.professorbaileys.com).

It sounds weird, but the fact that we survived is the thing I am most proud of. That a middle-aged space cadet kid could actually start a company and have it work makes me a little giddy. And part of that success really is running into people I don’t know who actually are fans of what we do… if that isn’t an ego boost worth the effort, I don’t know what is.

The pimento cheeses come in Savory, Spicy, and Spicier. Even the spicier is still well within the medium salsa range as far as heat goes, we are much more about flavor than heat. Our pimento cheeses are made with extra sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack with just a touch of mayo, so each has a strong satisfying cheese flavor at its base. Because we use less mayo, you can use it in everything from omelets to cornbread to lasagna… pretty much anything you put cheese on or in!

The biscuits are buttermilk biscuits with more pimento cheese in them than flour. They come frozen ready to bake (freezer to oven, 375, twenty minutes), in pound and a half bags, and three sizes. You get 50 to 60 small biscuits in a bag (they are a one-bite snack size), 30-40 medium (they are great replacements for dinner rolls), and 18-20 large (a perfect breakfast biscuit with a little ham and some pepper jam).

The gougères are made with a Pâte à Choux (the same dough used in eclairs and beignets). Each bag comes with 60 to 70 frozen ready to bake. They are about forty percent pimento cheese and are a puff pastry to die for.

Damma Good Cinnamon Rolls are our latest. They are individual rolls (a little over 5 ounces of roll and a little over 1 ounce of icing) that are already baked then frozen, all you have to do is take them out of the freezer and warm them up.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Apparently, I am a unicorn because I was actually born and raised in Nashville as were my parents and their parents, etc. I’m the youngest of five kids. Both of my brothers live in town and my two sisters flew the coop. One is in New York and the other in North Carolina.

Opinions differ on what I was like as a kid. With my siblings, it ranges from nerd to weirdo to spoiled. There is a general agreement that I talked about. Endlessly. I may be blocking a lot out, but all in all, I really enjoyed my childhood. I had and still have great friends from then who I still see. Even my high school and college summer jobs were fun: tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame, messenger for Sheriff Fate Thomas, and waiter at the Blue Grass Inn.

I went to St. Bernards for kindergarten through 6th. Harding Academy for middle school, and USN for high school.

When I was 12, I found out that family lore had it that the great-great-grandfather I am named after was the last person in the family to go to Oxford, so I bet my mother that I could get in. She said that if I did she would pay for it. When it came time to choose a college, I went to Middlebury because they had a junior year abroad program at Oxford. I managed to get one of the three spots and once there convinced them to let me stay and finish my degree. I majored in History and wrote plays about Jim and Tammy Faye Baker while there. My mom kept her part of the bet.

If that isn’t a clear path to a career in pimento cheese, I don’t know what is.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.professorbaileys.com/
• Instagram: professor_baileys
• Facebook: @ProfessorBaileys