Meet Kerry A Fitzmaurice of Better Than Mom’s in Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerry A Fitzmaurice.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
By “better than Mom’s” I mean better than MY Mom’s. No guarantee that it is better than YOURS!

My mom bought me my first cookbook when I was about 8. It was called, “The Kid’s Cookbook” and it gave me the basics on how to get started. I started making chocolate chip cookies and my mom said “you could be the next Mrs. Fields” When other kids made cereal and toast for their Mom’s breakfast in bed, I whipped up pancakes and fruit. By age 11 I was selling my own chocolate chip cookies at school – two for a quarter. I have since learned to sell at a loss is no way to run a business, yet my Mom always encouraged me, and always bought my ingredients.

When I was about 15, Mom once attempted to make zucchini muffins that came out so rock-hard that my stepfather and I joked they could be useful as baseballs; even the dog wouldn’t risk them once he lent them a sniff. I subsequently spent a big portion of my adult life working long hours in a very stressful office environment, but it was always a pleasure and joy for me to come home to cook meals and bake desserts for friends.

Many people – including my Mom – encouraged me to quit the stressful workplace and start baking full time. It was a big, scary jump … but I did it. Five years ago I left the office environment and three years ago with the encouragement of my husband David, my mom and a couple of friends I applied for my cottage permit and started Better Than Mom’s. My mom was the one who said I have to call it Batter Than Mom’s. I was unsure seems that is a big claim but she said, you can bake better than ME and that is what you are claiming. Better Than Mom!

And I DON’T want to become Mrs. Fields! I don’t want to become so big that I could no longer use totally fresh ingredients. I prefer REAL food – real butter, real sugar, real fruit, really yummy. If I make something I don’t think tastes perfect, I don’t want anyone else to eat it.

I’m not a huge chain or a corporation obsessed with artificial makings. I love the fact that people enjoy and enthuse about the stuff that comes out of my very own kitchen. Not only that, they come back for more and make special requests, and I, in turn, enjoy the feeling that each item is made especially FOR someone.

My mom passed away on December 31, 2016, and I am keeping Better Than Mom’s going as a tribute to my biggest supporter and make her proud to see me doing something that I love to do not just a job to keep surviving with.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? Well, the process of getting my cottage permit and setting up was easier than I thought it would be, but keeping a business going in this day and age is not easy. It is hard to get people to notice a small business and get them interested in them.

Social media has taken over as a way to promote everything but with so many choices out there you have to keep coming up with ways to make your product stand out. I can put out amazing Instagram photos but getting people to the website and to purchase yummy baked goods is not as easy as posting a picture. It doesn’t cost someone anything to “like” a photo.

I have had good word of mouth. I have a handful of regular customers who had a sample of something and really enjoyed it and decided to come back and try something different. Or they were gifted with a bread or jam and loved it so much they order items regularly. Also, being a home-based business and not having a storefront, people are not always willing to take the chance.

They can’t just walk in and pick items in a display case and walk out eating them. They have to place an order and it will not be to them until the next day. I make all my baked items, cookies, bread, muffins, FRESH when ordered. That way the customer receives the best item possible. So without the instant gratification, people don’t always take the chance.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Better Than Mom’s – what should we know?
I love to bake and cook for friends and baking makes me happy. I worked at my last office job for 15 years and every year for the Christmas season I would bake my co-workers a goodie bag. Pumpkin bread, three/four different types of cookies, fudge…. one year I did not make pumpkin bread and every single person in the office came to me and said, “where is the bread?? I look forward to it every year” and so I realized I have at least one amazing item that everyone loves. I would bake bread and give them away to friends after dinner parties or boxes of cookies.

My pumpkin bread is called, Mom’s Original Pumpkin Bread, I bake it year round and the recipe came from my mom. She was not good in the kitchen but pumpkin bread was something she did well. This recipe when she handed it down to me was given to her when she was young and I have the piece of paper framed and in my kitchen. It is older than me!

My second best selling item is actually chocolate chip banana bread. The thing about banana bread is I don’t like bananas at all. So when I started making banana bread I asked all my friends to taste it and took their suggestions and made some changes to the recipe and viola, came up with a bread that everyone loves, and it seems chocolate chips make everything better.

What sets me apart, my breads are made fresh and remain moist. I have had pumpkin bread made by others and it is usually dry and crumbly. I had a friend tell me she froze the last loaf of pumpkin bread she bought and forgot about it. She said she found it almost a year later in the back of her freezer, thawed it out and it was just as good as when she bought it fresh! She was amazed that it was so good still. I said fresh ingredients make all the difference.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My mom, Cheryl Hardy, was my biggest cheerleader. She told me for years that I should go into some sort of cooking/baking business. I was working in an extremely stressful office and spending two hours driving to the westside in the morning and two hours to come home and night.

I was miserable and my mom said if I really wanted to quit she would help me. I was scared to death about leaving a stable job but it was actually killing me, so I did. She gave me some startup money to get the permit and purchase some minimum supplies but it got me started.

My husband, David J. Schow, was also my biggest supporter. I never would have done it if he was not standing behind me and telling me I should do it. Leaving a job that pays you a regular salary to start a business where no money is coming in and you are spending money, that’s a big step, I never would have done it if he did not support the decision, he also washes a lot of pans for me as well as being my taste tester on any new items I try to make. He actually really likes that part. The last person who really deserves credit, or blame I sometimes joke with her, is my friend Dana Renee Ashmore.

She has was a big cheerleader for me to get my cottage permit. She had started her own gift boxing business, Gratitude Collaborative, and she said if she could do it, I could do it. As a way to give me that extra push to believe in myself she said if I get my permit and went into business, she would put my jams and cookies into her gifts. Well, that sold me! If she believed in my products to be willing to sell them in her gifts, they must be pretty good.

Pricing:

• Jar of jam with spoon $8
• Mini Bread $3
• Small Bread $6
• Large Bread $12
• Bakers Dozen Cookies $12

Contact Info:

• Website: www.betterthanmoms.net
• Phone: 323-630-2237
• Email: kerry@betterthanmoms.net
• Instagram: @betterthanmoms
• Facebook: @betterthanmom

Image Credit:
Better Than Mom’s, Dana Renee Ashmore, David J Schow

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