Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicola Collie.
Nicola, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
PICNIC Baked Goods was born in June 2021 after a good few months of planning. I’ve always been into food in general. I just LOVE to eat it, talk it, make it. Hands down, it’s the thing I think about most. I go to bed at night thinking about breakfast. Finish breakfast and think about what’s for dinner. I think you need that kind of slightly unhealthy obsession to get into food professionally. When the pandemic happened, I could finally be in the kitchen as much as humanly possible, without feeling the guilt of “Oh but this isn’t my career, so I shouldn’t be giving it this much time and attention.” For context, I have my Bachelor of Contemporary Dance from the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia. I’m originally from New Zealand, and initially moved to New York eight years ago after graduating to pursue freelance contemporary dance and choreography. I signed with Wilhelmina for modeling and fell into acting and met my now husband that way – so in the first 10 months of living in the States A LOT happened.
All that to say – baking was quite a different pursuit. I just figured it would always be a hobby and I was totally cool with that. The pandemic led to an outrageous volume of baking coming out of the kitchen and being dropped at neighbors’ houses (because I have no sweet tooth, ironically), and a friend suggested I start something local. I certainly resisted at first, my identity was pretty wrapped up in my other work…but twelve months later I figured – what’s there to lose! I gave it a whirl. I had no idea it would get as busy as it has! Or that I’d fall into the wedding industry. My husband and I eloped to the Ventura courthouse and had a charcuterie board instead of dessert, so there’s some irony there. But it’s been a wonderfully pleasant surprise just how empowering it’s been having my own thing that I have control of. Baking is one of those beautiful processes in which you get to use both the analytical parts of your brain and the artistic, and I had unwittingly really been craving that. With acting, dancing and modeling, you’re often so at the mercy of others and their definition of what’s ‘valuable’, and whether you’re it. I think subconsciously that didn’t sit well with me for a long time. PICNIC has been my sanity and anchor while still juggling freelance work in Los Angeles – and to be honest, it’s been the most rewarding thing to date.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think anyone running a small business (particularly in CA) has ever had a smooth road! Unless you have a ton of money behind you to mitigate the hurdles. Initially, the kitchen I had been working out of was TINY (I’m talking, being able to have one hand on the oven door and the other on the sink faucet and my workable space being within that arm span…) but it’s wild what you can do with a tiny space if you have no other option. Learning to scale up for big orders, and how to structure cakes to be what I lovingly call – ‘desert proof’ – 50% of the roads I deliver on are corrugated dirt roads so cake’s gotta be STURDY. And just in general, it was unintentionally a baptism-by-fire approach with PICNIC. You learn necessary processes and tips and tricks on the fly after promising you can deliver on something, and then having to scramble to test these things and prep them so the end product is epic.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Aside of still working in the industry in LA within dance/acting/modeling, I’m a self-taught pastry chef and baker. I was born and raised in the South Island of New Zealand and moved to the States almost a decade ago – initially to New York and eventually to California, landing in the high desert. During the pandemic, a small food idea turned into as full-time profession. The PICNIC approach to desserts is equal emphasis on balanced flavors and aesthetics and finish. A cake better taste as good as it looks….if not better. The dynamic I really wanted to establish was to have customers coming to me for the signature PICNIC style – which is focused on great-tasting cakes adorned with fresh flowers that have movement in the way they’re frosted and finished and aren’t too perfect. I don’t find inspiration in anything too neat, or “finished” looking – for example fondant or a really sharp clean finish on frosting. We eat with our eyes first, and I think that allowing those beautiful swoops of Swiss meringue buttercream to be seen and celebrated and to see the little vanilla bean specks in there only makes something more enticing to eat!
I truly believe cake looking like cake is ENOUGH. There’s a real allure to it! I’m not interested in themed cakes, writing on cakes, etc. I find it a bit redundant and obvious. I love a little more subtlety. So I feel fortunate that the cakes have been well received and fostered the kind of work environment where I have artistic freedom – because that’s where the magic really happens. Imitating a reference picture or someone else’s work just isn’t where it’s at for me. Not to mention it’s someone else’s intellectual property. I think there’s a hyper-awareness of that from working in film etc. I’d go as far as to say – you have to be aware of this starting up and just say no to things that aren’t aligned artistically or ethically. Having the type of clients that give me either total freedom or loose constraints to work within is a real treat – i.e. – this is our floral color palette to match, or, we love vintage piping can you do your own take on that. If your focus is on trends etc, you never develop your own true artistry.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Technically I’m not in LA proper anymore, but I still come in a good 2-4 x per month for freelance work or larger cake orders/weddings, etc. LOVE the sunshine. HATE the traffic. That probably echoes everyone’s sentiments.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.picnicbakedgoods.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/picnicbakedgoods/
Image Credits
Claire Fagin (only for the personal photo)
