Entreprenista

Susie L. Sarich, SusieCakes: How Community-First Growth Scaled to 31 Locations

November 3, 2025

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  • Susie Sarich's business philosophy is rooted in her grandmothers' advice: "work hard and be nice to people," which became the cornerstone of SusieCakes' culture and growth. 
  • Bootstrapping SusieCakes required significant hustle, including overcoming over 20 rejections from banks and securing initial capital through small checks from friends and family, while prioritizing investor returns over founder salary early on. 
  • Community-first growth, achieved by actively engaging with local customers, donating to community causes, and intentionally creating a supportive culture for its 85% female workforce, is credited for scaling SusieCakes to 31 locations. 

Segments

Founding Inspiration and Philosophy
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(00:00:57)
  • Key Takeaway: SusieCakes was founded on honoring grandmother’s recipes, addressing a market gap for authentic Midwest desserts, and creating careers for women in food service.
  • Summary: The core philosophy of SusieCakes is ‘work hard and be nice to people,’ derived from the founder’s grandmothers. The business was inspired by a desire to offer nostalgic, scratch-made desserts in a market saturated with overly composed food trends. A key goal was building a business model that supported progressive careers for women in the hospitality industry.
Initial Business Planning and Funding
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(00:07:06)
  • Key Takeaway: A comprehensive business plan utilizing all aspects of the Cornell Hotel School education was crucial for securing initial capital after facing over 20 rejections from traditional banks.
  • Summary: The founder spent a year and a half developing a detailed business plan that demonstrated a viable financial return, leveraging all areas of her hospitality education. Traditional banks dismissed baking as a hobby and doubted the concept’s viability in California, leading to over 20 rejections. The initial $250,000 capital was raised over a year through friends and family, with deals structured to prioritize investor repayment before the management team took significant salaries.
Early Growth and Hyper-Local Marketing
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(00:12:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Achieving cash flow positivity within six months relied on the founder being the face of the brand, engaging directly with every customer, and deep community involvement.
  • Summary: Entrepreneurs expanding brick-and-mortar locations must maintain cash working capital reserves to cover the first year, as immediate lines out the door are unrealistic. Early success stemmed from the founder personally meeting customers, learning their needs, and aggressively supporting local schools and nonprofits through donations and participation. This hyper-local, word-of-mouth strategy was essential for getting the high-quality product into people’s hands.
E-commerce Transition Challenges
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(00:16:41)
  • Key Takeaway: Launching e-commerce post-COVID presented a completely different business model, complicated by logistics like shipping heavy, scratch-made products using hazardous materials like dry ice.
  • Summary: The founder initially resisted e-commerce due to branding concerns about freezing and shipping daily-made products, but COVID necessitated the shift, launching in early 2022. Shipping heavy cakes required hiring specialized consultants experienced in gourmet food packaging and navigating complex regulations, such as obtaining hazardous material licenses for dry ice.
Hiring Strategy and Team Building
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(00:19:16)
  • Key Takeaway: Hiring success relies on bringing in experts for skill sets the founder lacks (like digital marketing) and utilizing the Predictive Index (PI) tool to match personality traits to specific job roles.
  • Summary: The founder hired a permanent digital marketing expert to manage the e-commerce arena, emphasizing the importance of empowering team members to operate within their specialized lanes. The company uses the Predictive Index (PI) assessment for all hires, from dish prep to CFO, to ensure natural traits align with job requirements, such as ensuring cashiers are not averse to repetitive tasks. The interview process focuses on life-based questions tied to company values rather than standard business inquiries.
Navigating Health Challenges and Legacy
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(00:24:21)
  • Key Takeaway: The founder chose initial privacy regarding her cancer diagnosis during the pandemic to maintain team focus on saving the business, later realizing the power of sharing her story to empower others.
  • Summary: During the simultaneous crises of the pandemic shutdown and her cancer diagnosis, the founder kept her health private to prevent team distraction, prioritizing business survival. She is now committed to sharing her story and advocating for initiatives like covering wig costs for chemotherapy patients, believing that personal struggles can fuel positive change for the next person. Her ultimate legacy goal is proving that women can build viable, scalable businesses while intentionally supporting a female-dominant workforce.
Intentional Culture and Expansion Decisions
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(00:31:40)
  • Key Takeaway: SusieCakes intentionally structures its operations—including closing major holidays—to offer women flexible careers, which is a key driver for its successful scaling.
  • Summary: The value ‘we build more than cakes, we build careers’ guides the company’s structure, appealing to women at all life stages by offering operating hours that are not all-consuming like traditional hospitality. The business closes for extended periods around major holidays (like three days after Christmas) to allow staff adequate recharge time, reflecting the founder’s past operational struggles. Expansion decisions are now data-informed but still rely on the founder’s intuition after sitting in front of potential vacant spaces to gauge the local demographic.