Blog

AMIE SMITH, owner of AMIE® Bakery, is a chef, writer, and visionary. Originally from Wayne, New Jersey, Amie studied speech communication and journalism at Northeastern University, where she later returned to teach. She began her steadfast corporate career, growing a network of meaningful connections as a high-tech consultant. In her spare time she traveled and attended cooking and baking classes all over the world. After attending pastry school at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, a lifelong love for baking was realized and she reinvented herself mid-career. She spent the following 5 years creating her brand before opening AMIE Bakery in 2014. She teaches recreational cooking and baking classes at her flagship location, home of AMIE Académie. On the blog, enjoy entrepreneurship stories, recipes, and lessons learned as she pens her debut novel.

As any business owner can attest, starting a business can be daunting and require stepping out of your comfort zone. It's a huge risk in every way. There's not an hour that you don't worry about your business, customers, team, and reputation. You can interact with hundreds of people in any week. It's constantly juggling to take care of your customers as well as your team. Both are equally important—and essential—to running a successful business.

Most of our interactions are professional and pleasant. Occasionally, when service falls short, situations can linger in your mind and keep you up at night. But the work never stops; you dust yourself off, you take things into consideration and try to put your best foot forward each day. As a business owner, you're responsible for it all—and people can be quick to blame and scrutinize you. Sometimes it’s legitimate and sometimes it’s baseless and without any facts. Such is the life of owning a business.

Reviews are part of doing business. We have always welcomed positive and negative feedback as it tells us what we are doing right and where we can improve; in short, it provides an opportunity to learn and grow.

This week, the bakery was reviewed on the Cape Cod Restaurants group on Facebook where locals and visitors can share recommendations and dining suggestions. The review itself was mostly kind and encouraging. The contributor complimented the thoughtfulness that goes into the bakery and our pastries but expressed it was a shame that our staff was not friendly or particularly welcoming. Some of the comments echoed the same sentiments, while others posted positive remarks about our staff and their experience. Some enthused and said the bakery looked great and they'd give us a try. Others rebuffed and said thanks for letting them know, they’ll go somewhere else—not even giving us a chance.

We know there are many choices. We know competition is all around us. That’s why each day we strive to do our best—and when we fall short, it is not taken lightly. The review, like any other, presents a coaching opportunity.

Our manager, Pam, who is and has been a rock star running our front of house, alerted me about the post. She could have easily let it slide and not told me, and I might have missed it. But she cares. And my team cares. We looked at this review as we would any other—as an opportunity to evaluate feedback, review protocols, and make sure we are on and stay on our A-game. Pam met with the team, and everyone took the feedback to heart.

What I’d like you to know is that we're listening, and we're always trying our hardest. To everyone who hoped the owner would take notice, I assure you I do. It's my job to ensure that anyone representing the bakery treats our guests in a friendly and professional manner. I also expect them to fulfill orders correctly, perform the job accurately, concentrate, and treat our products with great care.

I frequently receive high praise for my team, many of whom have been with the bakery long-term, with some here since the beginning of 1254 Main Street and others with us from back in the day on Wianno Ave. Others are new and still in training. When we fall short, we want to know.

Moreover, it’s immensely helpful to find out in real-time when you feel things are off. Ask for me. Ask for a manager. If something isn’t right, it’s helpful for us to correct course in real-time or so we can quickly identify who needs extra training, for example. If you've ever been disappointed with the friendliness of any person at a counter or register—not just here, but anywhere—I encourage you to try them again another time. I apologize to anyone who did not feel we met that expectation. For those that have not been to the bakery, please come in and try us firsthand before giving up on us. If you’ve had a negative experience, please give us a second chance. I’m not from Osterville, but I joined this community and have gotten to know many of its business owners—and long before I opened AMIE Bakery, I was a patron here. I was never treated rudely and don’t understand why Osterville businesses get a bad wrap for being snobby. Every business owner here does not take your business for granted. I think I can say that with confidence—so please support them—and every small business everywhere.

We truly have wonderful employees both behind the counter and in the kitchen. I assure you they are all kind individuals that care. We love welcoming you and watching you enjoy our scratch-made pastries—which is a dying art—that we take great care in making. And yes, our prices are higher. We are using whole ingredients that cost more than buying cheaper mixes or buckets of premade fillings. Like everywhere, our overhead is up double-digits. We are a year-round, community-focused bakery. We're here early in the morning, open every weekend, and open all major holidays. We teach classes year-round, because we enjoy connecting with the people of Cape Cod. To connect with you and feed you has always been the point. We love seeing your adorable kids, cute couples on dates, sweet families and groups of friends enjoying themselves. We love watching you all through the windows and we love when you all wave back.

Thank you for your feedback and helping us ensure we deliver the products and service at the highest standards. We hope to see you soon!

Your friend,
Amie