Life & Work with Annie Chapman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Chapman.

Hi Annie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started my path down pastry lane baking with and for friends in college. I didn’t have any background in it (barely knew how to feed myself), but I really enjoyed and enjoy making people happy.

After college, I had a few jobs I didn’t really like before landing at Broken Spanish. I told chef after my stage, “I don’t know anything, but I want to know everything.” He’s been a wonderful friend and mentors to me ever since and even recommended me to Chef Della at Spago. I was blissfully exhausted for about six months, working 60-70 hours per week between the two restaurants.

Unfortunately, loving my work wasn’t enough to pay the bills and I had to move to a corporate job to get my head above water. But even there, I kept baking and gifting items to my coworkers. Finally, one of my coworkers (shoutout MA!) convinced me to start marketing my stuff for sale rather than just giving it out.

Fast forward three years of 9-5s and growing my business, and finally, I took the leap in 2021 and went 100% Butter-Lab! It’s scary and awesome. I’m so grateful to even be able to do this and work for myself.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Truthfully, I expect to have a lot of ups and downs, but I am super grateful to say that I’ve got a really strong support system behind me.

Specifically, something I struggled with was how to value myself and my products. I think it’s something that a lot of small business owners struggle with. It’s hard to look at your competitors and their pricing and not be tempted to undercut them, even if it means you aren’t getting the proper hourly rate.

For me that happened because I wasn’t sure if people who didn’t know me personally would want my stuff. But they did! They do! And honestly, I put a LOT of work into making a quality product. If people want super cheap desserts, they have so many options, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for taking that route. That being said, I individually prepare, decorate, package, and deliver anything that I make. I need to get paid for at least one of those jobs! Haha.

I think it’s taken me a while to fully understand how much I invest in each item baked, but now that I know, I can confidently price my items and know that I’m not overcharging (which is important to me, personally) or undercharging.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have a pretty diverse menu at Butter-Lab: year-round pies, brownies and blondies, bread pudding and custard desserts, custom cakes, cookies, you name it! Literally – I tell people all the time that I love to experiment. “You name it” should probably be on my menu.

Without a doubt, my most popular item is my ube crinkle cookie. There are other ube cookies out there and even other ube crinkles, but I think what separates my cookies from the competition is the fact that I use whole purple yams as the base of my dough. I make my own halaya (a Filipino “jam”) from the potatoes. This gives my cookies a little extra oomph. They’re pillowy soft, not too sweet, and a little bit addicting. From this base recipe, I’ve developed a pretty wide range of other flavors – corn-saffron, Thai tea, matcha, and (’tis the season) pumpkin pie!

Other than the crinkles, I have been growing the custom cake side of the business as well. I am able to do edible printing, buttercream design work, custom flavors, and I’m getting better at working with fondant (although I will never recommend a fondant covered cake). What people appreciate the most about my cakes is the flavor. Neither the cake nor the frosting is overly sweet, and I love to experiment with flavors. Most recently, I’ve had special requests for Ferrero Rocher cake, matcha/red bean, even sweet potato/chestnut!

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think the most important quality for success is having a great work ethic. Owning a small business is not easy, and it’s not always fun. You have to be willing to put so much effort into what you’re doing – even if you have everything down pat and things are going smoothly.

As an example, I went cold-calling to cafés in the Los Angeles area earlier this year. Probably visited ten locations, four of which were interested in a follow-up, and one of which did become a wholesale client of mine. 10% success rate doesn’t seem like much; but when you consider the fact that there are 240 coffee shops listed on Yelp in Los Angeles proper alone, that 10% could mean a six-figure salary. There’s so much opportunity, but you have to be willing to keep working for it, keep asking, take rejection and keep moving.

Even then, once you have the clients, you have to make sure that quality never dips, response times are quick, deliveries are complete, invoices are sent (and paid!). The list goes on! If you don’t have a good work ethic and let any single thing slip, it’s all for naught.

Pricing:

• Single-flavor dozen cookies – $16
• 6″ cake (serves 10), no decorations – $40
• Pies – $28 each

Contact Info:

• Email: Hello@Butter-Lab.com
• Website: Butter-Lab.com
• Instagram: @butter_lab_LA
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ButterLabLA
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/butter-lab-los-angeles-2

Image Credits:
Arian Mahboubian, photographer of final 5 images Ramon Camacho & Isabel Camacho, dad & daughter