For over ten years Cheryl Burr worked as a pastry chef at famed San Francisco eateries like Bacar Restaurant and EOS Wine Salon. Cheryl, however, had a self-acknowledged hard time with authority and knew that sooner or later she would have to become her own boss to be truly happy. Knowing that she needed comprehensive business training to couple with her exceptional skills as a baker, Cheryl enrolled in Renaissance’s Business Planning Class in the Winter of 2008.
After completing the course at Renaissance, Cheryl was able to launch Pinkie’s Bakery and her restaurant industry connections enabled her to secure enough wholesale accounts to break even in her second month of operation! Pinkie’s handmade loaves stood out from competitors because of the extreme attention and care that Cheryl and her staff put into each product. This reputation for quality led to a steady growth in Pinkie’s sales from both wholesale accounts and at their initial retail location in Potrero Hill.
Pinkie’s growth was threatened in March 2009 when Cheryl’s landlords terminated their lease making Pinkie’s future uncertain. Fortunately Cheryl landed on her feet, finding a new location in San Francisco’s emerging SoMa neighborhood. In less than a month, Pinkie’s reopened as a full-service bakery serving breads, specialty cakes, pies, cookies, breakfast pastries and sandwiches for both breakfast and lunch. Retail sales increased by over 300% in this new location simply because of foot traffic, and the larger space allowed Cheryl to pick up more wholesale accounts including those with some of San Francisco’s hottest restaurants like, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen (also a Renaissance Graduate), Maverick, Starbelly, Hog and Rocks and more.
The spacious new location opened up even more opportunities for Cheryl, and in July 2010 she and a business partner launched Citizen’s Band, a restaurant serving fun and delicious fine dining diner styled food right next door to Pinkie’s. Though she had never planned on owning a restaurant, Cheryl rolled with the punches and found herself with fifteen employees and a hot new eatery. Now a savvy entrepreneur, Cheryl says all of this wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance she received at Renaissance, stating that she “didn’t even know where to start the process of business ownership until coming to Renaissance. Renaissance helps you form what you want to do and form a plan of attack.” Cheryl continues to seek assistance from Renaissance, meeting regularly with Financing Resource Center consultant, Gwen Wright throughout her business expansion process.
Cheryl’s ovens won’t be cooling of anytime soon, and despite her newly increased capacity, she is still looking for a larger space in SoMa to house her overflowing wholesale operation. Congratulations, Cheryl! Renaissance can’t wait to see what delicious new ventures you have in store.