In this episode of Chefs Without Restaurants, I sit down with Maria Baradell, the founder of Leaf & Loaf, a thriving home-based sourdough bakery. Maria shares her inspiring journey from baking bread for her family to building a successful cottage bakery—and how she scaled up quickly to meet demand.

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Have you ever thought about turning your love for baking into a real business? That’s exactly what Maria Baradell, founder of Leaf & Loaf, did. Starting in her home kitchen, she quickly scaled her sourdough micro-bakery into a thriving business. In this episode, she shares her journey, tips for success, and how she turned a viral moment into brand growth.

We discuss:

• How Maria got started in the cottage baking industry
• The realities of running a profitable home bakery
• Using Hotplate (https://www.hotplate.com/) and other tools to streamline orders
• Social media marketing for micro-bakeries
• Her viral TikTok moment—mixing sourdough on an airplane

As always, stay connected to the Chefs Without Restaurants community (https://www.facebook.com/groups/chefswithoutrestaurants) and look out for the Personal Chef Business Startup Guide podcast, launching January 2025.

MARIA BARADELL
Maria's Instagram (Leaf & Loaf) (https://www.instagram.com/leafandloafco/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@Leafandloaf)
Find Maria's resources (https://stan.store/Leafandloaf)
Buy the bread pans Maria uses (https://amzn.to/4gBthv9)

CHEFS WITHOUT RESTAURANTS
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Chris Spear's personal chef business Perfect Little Bites (https://perfectlittlebites.com/)

PERSONAL CHEF BUSINESS STARTUP GUIDE
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