Exploring Life & Business with Kristen Kamei of Happy Brain Bakeshop

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Kamei.

Hi Kristen, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I spent 16 years at a top Hollywood creative agency, most recently as VP of Accounts, building campaigns for film and streaming studios. It was precision work. Obsessing over every detail, managing a lot of moving parts, and making sure that our clients and teams were proud of the creative.

I started baking cookies as thank-you gifts. When a film or series we worked on debuted, I’d bake for our clients and customize the packaging. Our clients at Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros., HBO, Amazon, Paramount and Apple TV+…most of them are professionally hard to impress. And it felt so good to get their texts telling me how they devoured their cookies and asking about new flavors.

Every new cookie release brought back more smiling faces, and that’s the part that hooked me. I’d spent my whole career trying to be the best I could be at my job to make others feel good. Yes, a professional people pleaser. This was the most direct version of it I’d experienced– somebody takes a bite and their energy instantly becomes happier. How awesome is that! That’s where the name came from. One bite, and your brain takes you to your happy place.

In 2025 I moved into a commercial kitchen on San Fernando Rd in Glendale and started building Happy Brain Bakeshop as a real business, while still working full-time. This past July I wrapped my time at the agency to run the bakery full-time.

That career gave me everything I’m using now.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Has it been a smooth road? No. And the biggest challenge hasn’t been the baking. It’s that for a long time, I’ve been the whole company.

I develop the recipes. I scoop and shape thousands of balls of dough. I bake every cookie. I design the labels, print them, and stick them on. I do the packaging, the photography, the social, the sales, the deliveries, the invoicing. There’s a version of that I’m genuinely proud of, but it’s also the ceiling. When you’re the only person who can do the work, the size of your business is capped at how many hours you can keep sprinting.

Money shapes that too, of course. Everything I’ve earned has gone straight back in– equipment, ingredients, packaging, the kitchen. Cash flow doesn’t stop you from growing, but it absolutely sets your pace, and I have to make peace with building steadily right now to do this without outside investment.

So this year I’m doing the scariest thing yet: hiring. My first team members are coming into the kitchen to support on-demand ordering, bring our curated cookie experience to more private events, and get on the counter at more cafés across this awesome city.

It’s scary because quality is the brand. Handing someone the keys to the dough means trusting them with everything I built. But I led teams for 16 years, and I know how this actually goes. You don’t look for people who do it exactly like you. You find people who care, you train them properly, and in time they do it better than you. Then you get to be a better leader instead of the bottleneck.

We’ve been impressed with Happy Brain Bakeshop, 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?
Happy Brain Bakeshop is a Glendale-based bakeshop specializing in flavor-forward cookies, handcrafted in our commercial kitchen. We offer pickup and delivery exclusively, all orders are placed online (www.happybrainbakeshop.com). We bake to order, which gets you the freshest cookies and helps us reduce waste.

What we’re known for is something I call flavor intelligence. Every ingredient has to earn its place and the texture is just as important. Browned butter for depth. Maldon for contrast. Earl grey for intrigue. Our cookie menu pulls from more than one region of flavor, like black sesame and coconut almond in our cookie, “Balance.” Toasted sesame and red bean in “Zen.” Strawberry and matcha in “Vibes.” Pistachio and apricot in “Magic Hour.” We have our take on the classics too, but the ones I’m most excited about are the flavors that spark curiosity. They take your taste buds on a fun little adventure. I’m Japanese, Polish, and German, so my experience has always been about blending cultures.

I love planning with clients for their special occasions, when they really want to provide their guests with something memorable and delicious. Private events, productions, and gifting. I nerd out over the details and like to bring my graphic design background to the packaging elements as well. Dial it all in.

I know how it feels when you receive something generic with a poorly designed logo on it that feels mass produced with no heart. It sounds dramatic, but that stuff makes me die a little inside. For Happy Brain, everything is baked fresh and we take a lot of care into our packaging design. We want the whole experience to have a bit of magic from the moment you get your delivery, unwrap your cookies, take your first bite, savor the flavors, and come back for more.

We also work with a select group of wholesale partners aligned on quality and aesthetic, like Found Coffee in Eagle Rock, and we’re actively expanding that roster across the city.

In terms of events, we love bringing smiles to production sets (level up kraft services), branded activations (we can customize packaging and develop new flavors for the right fit), premiere after-parties, employee appreciation pop-ups, production wrap gifts, holiday gifting, weddings, and birthdays.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
If you’re planning an event, I’d love to learn more! I make custom menus and bring a cookie bar that looks as good as it tastes– self-serve or staffed, and ice cream cookie sandwiches are a fun option for adults and kids alike. I’m always working on new flavor combos. This week I had a pistachio apricot shortbread cookie sandwich with rose ice cream. Salty, sweet, buttery, aeromatic. Now I’m hungry again.

For productions and corporate gifting, whether it’s 50 people or 500, you get to pick from our wide range of flavors with the option to have customized branding and personalized messages.

If you own a shop in LA and you’re looking for an aesthetic, delicious, local treat to put on your counter, let’s talk!

In a nutshell, I love how food brings people together. This magical chemistry that turns into a cookie? I’m constantly inspired by ingredients, textures, aesthetics, and the whole branded experience. I nerd out about it. So if you want to collaborate or offload any event planning, let’s connect. My email is hi@happybrainbakeshop.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.happybrainbakeshop.com
• Instagram: @happybrainbakeshop
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenkamei/
• Yelp: https://yelp.com/biz/happy-brain-bakeshop-glendale
• Other: Email: hi@happybrainbakeshop.com

Image Credits
Kat Hanegraaf (portraits), Kristen Kamei (product)