What does it take to build a movement?
Lessons learned in creating the first grain tasting workshop
Hey y’all, it’s been a minute.
Since the clock struck midnight on NYE 2025, I feel like I haven’t stopped sprinting. I don’t consider this good or bad. A positive neutral. Here’s a quick summary:
Started HARD75 (Currently on Day 45/75)
Learned Otzi cannot be legally used and changed cake mix name to Ollin
Hired a designer to work on branding and packaging design
Had my first branding photoshoot + headshots (thank you, Paul of Sobremesa Studios!)
Started pastry school at Collin College
Locked final recipes for the first two cake mix SKUs
Had a fender bender that turned into a $3,000 mistake
Designed a grain tasting workshop and only sold two tickets.
The last two points sting. None more so than not selling tickets. Around December of last year, Communion Coffee agreed to have me host a grain tasting. The first of its kind (as far as I know.)
I spent the better part of January preparing for the tasting and all in all, cost about ~$150 with (currently) no return on investment. Where did that money go?
Hiring an illustrator to create a grain flavor wheel
Buying folders for participants
Purchasing reusable containers and table settings
EGGS
Preparing large batches of ingredients
Demo Grain Tasting Table Set Up
All of this was in preparation to host a demo tasting ahead of the official one. I invited friends over and some came, others no-showed. That day, I was at my wit’s end. I felt that I spent the majority of the time preparing the ingredients used in the cake decorating segment and baking the cookies. I estimate that it took about 12-15 hours to prep these items for an anticipated 12 people. This all occurred with the beginning of my pastry program and needless to say, I didn’t spend much time rehearsing.
I winged it. I gave myself a C- for my efforts.
Still, I didn’t have any good feelings about the official tasting workshop. In desperation, I set up my first paid ad campaign and spend an additional $34 towards Meta to get— Zilch. Nada. Nothing.
I’m not shy to express myself and this experience bruised my ego. I think anyone who is an entrepreneur— or in my case, an emerging one— understands that this is part of the process.
There are no-shows.
Investing money without seeing income.
Family that expresses doubt.
More-so, self-doubt.
When I’m feeling down, I often wonder if I picked the wrong hill to die on. Sometimes I go to my husband and ask him what he thinks, (metaphorically) shaking him for an answer as if he were a crystal ball.
“I don’t know,” he says. “No one can know.”
My personal remedy for self-doubt is a nap or a walk. By then, I can clear my head and get back to a state of positive neutrality. Once I enter that state and the clouds clear, I understand my rhyme and reason again. I believe in this and I will try again and again to discover a way to have grains resonate with a wider audience.
How is a movement built? Beats me. I’m going to keep trying until the end.
Tomorrow would’ve been my first tasting for an audience of two. Instead, I was able to postpone the event with Communion.
I learned some lessons in the meantime and even adjusted the workshop to omit the time-consuming cake decorating portion and focus solely on the tasting.
If you’re interested, join me in figuring out how to build a grain renaissance movement. I’ll even let you in on a secret— “GOODGLUTEN” gets your 20% off.
EDIT: Forgot to add the link to the event, oopsie.