Life & Work with Kristina Saleem of Ventura, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Saleem.

Hi Kristina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
From a young age I have had a love of baking, my passion peaked in high school and college when I would use baking as a stress reliever and procrastination technique, also known as procrastibaking. Family, friends, schoolmates, and colleagues benefitted from this regularly, as I couldn’t eat everything I baked myself! Eventually I became the go to person to ask to bring baked goods to family gatherings, parties, and events. Family and friends would go on to “order” sweets from me for special occasions. Fast forward to the very beginning of 2024, I had settled into a career that had nothing to do with baking, I had a husband, 2 kids, and a dog. I still baked for all the gatherings and parties I was invited to, I delved into the world of bread and LOVED it. I started to bring my bread and sweets to our weekly run club, and the feedback was overwhelming. Everyone loved what I brought and started to ask if they could buy my bread from me. This was the first time I considered that I might be able to make this into a more serious hobby. Its one thing for family and close friends to tell you that you are talented, its another for strangers. So I decided to test the waters and take part in markets as a vendor selling a few bread offerings and a few sweets items. Again I was so shocked at all the love I received. My husband and I started to brainstorm names for the “bakery” to make it look and feel more official for these pop-ups I was doing. We settled on Big Cheeks Bakery. It is an homage to both my daughters who had very chubby cheeks as babies, my youngest so much so that her nickname is Chipmunk. The secondary meaning of the name is that if you eat a lot baked goods they can give you big cheeks! And that’s how Big Cheeks Bakery came to be!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Overall, yes its been relatively smooth, just in terms of taking something that was a hobby and a passion and having the ability to grow organically and have people love what I make. But there have been a few bumps along the way. I have zero background in business. I love to bake and make things that bring joy to people but I loathe all the technical sides of running a business, it just doesn’t come naturally to me and since it is not something I am passionate about it is hard to find the motivation to spend the time to learn that aspect of this. Thankfully my husband has been such a great resource and has taken the reins for this side of the business. In addition to his business expertise, my husband has spent countless hours hands on in the business. My dad has also been one of my biggest cheerleaders through this whole process, from threatening to quit his job to be my employee to helping us finance a bread oven! My other biggest struggle would be learning when to say no. I am a natural people pleaser and it goes against every fiber of my being to not be over accommodating. But I have learned that it isn’t possible to please everyone, and ultimately, if I want to still enjoy this I have to establish boundaries. This really hasn’t been easy for me, and it is something I am still learning. I am also a natural introvert so all of this is so outside my comfort zone and I have to push myself past that, pretty much everyday. Despite that, I will say that the community of small businesses here in Ventura have been incredible. Everyone is so supportive and just wants to see all the other small businesses do well. I would not be where I am without help, advice, and words of encouragement from so many others that paved the way before me. Jess of Awkward Pastry for being the ultimate hype woman, baking buddy, and mentor in all things, Whitney of Findings Market & Findings Flea is a true champion for any small business, but I truly believe I would not have grown the way I did without her allowing me to use her space to popup, she’s an all around amazing human, Jason of Ruffhouse BBQ with all sorts of business advice and support, Jesse of Shuck Brothers, again such a hype man, he is always supporting and telling me how much I am killing it, the whole team at Topa Topa Brewing have also been there from day one, as taste testers and are always down to have me popup and support me in any way they can, lastly Beacon Coffee, they were the first to carry some of my baked goods, it has been such an amazing and easy relationship that I really value. There is no way I could list everyone that has helped me along the way.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Big Cheeks Bakery is home cottage microbakery! I bake all sorts of baked goods from breads, such as sourdough, focaccia and baguettes, to other items you’d find in a bakery, such as cookies, scones, biscuits, and more. I really pride myself on sourcing the best quality ingredients. I use Kerrygold grassfed butter for my cookies and biscuits, locally grown strawberries from farmstands for my scones, and cardamom from this amazing locally owned spice shop in Ventura called SpiceTopia. I really feel that people can taste the difference when you source better ingredients, instead of finding cheaper option to lower your cost. The quality and freshness of my product is what matters to me most, and I think that is why people end up coming back.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I am always down to collaborate with other businesses that share my passion! My favorite part of starting this bakery has been the relationships I have made and the collaborations that have been born out of that. Anyone wanting to collab or work together is welcome to slid into my DM’s. As far as supporting, coming by a popup/purchasing a treat from me goes such a long way! If you’d like to snap a picture and tag us too that would another great way to spread the word and support! You can check my instagram for the specific dates for my popups, and where you can find Big Cheeks locally!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bigcheeksbakery.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bigcheeksbakery

Image Credits
The family photo was taken by Celina Kenyon.