My name is Michelle Kaiser owner of The Omaha Bakery. I specialize in Specialty Cakes & Desserts for all Occasions including weddings, birthdays, valentine treats and more. It was such an honor to be chosen to appear on the Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship in March of 2018. To say the last 18 months have been a whirlwind is an understatement. I was recently interviewed by GML Communications in Omaha. I thought I would share an excerpt from that interview.
The past 18 months have been a whirlwind for Omaha Bakery owner Michelle Kaiser, her husband Jess and their family.
After seven years, Alotta Brownies Bakery packed up in September 2016 and moved 35 miles from Fremont, Nebraska, to near 72nd and Dodge Streets (608 South 72nd Street), where it was rebranded and gained a fresh start with marketing and business assistance from 316 Strategy Group of Omaha. The Omaha Bakery’s sweet success has left Michelle wanting more.
In fact, the business expanded to double its space last fall at its home on the west side of 72nd Street about a block north of the Nebraska Furniture Mart. On Feb. 12, a national cable network announced Michelle would appear this spring on one of its shows. Of course, Michelle was thrilled, saying: “Dreams really do come true! There has been an overwhelming reaction from family and friends in person and on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. I’d just like to say, ‘Thank you, everyone, for your continued support!’ ”
Michelle is up for the challenge, having fashioned an extensive award-winning culinary career that first flourished in New York City during the 1980s and 1990s after she completed the six-month program at the New York Culinary Arts and Management School. She worked at the former Manhattan caterer Silver Palate on the Upper East Side, where Madonna, Mary Tyler Moore and Yoko Ono were regulars. At Silver Palate, Michelle’s recipe was honored with the customer-voted “Best Brownie.” After going out on her own with several business ventures in the Big Apple, the Central City native returned to Nebraska in 1997 to raise her family.
Michelle and her family have passed many tests since moving the business to Omaha. In a question-and-answer session, Michelle took time to reflect on the Omaha Bakery’s successes, challenges and future:
Question: Eighteen months after the move, how does it feel to be in Omaha?
Michelle: “Pretty exciting. The return on our hard-working efforts and investment has been wonderful. We haven’t even begun to start reaching a huge group of potential customers here. No knock on anyone in Fremont, but we’ve experienced more happiness here. There was no hope of rising higher in Fremont. I gave it seven years. The potential there was tapped out. We were getting a lot of Omaha customers coming into Fremont to see us. The challenge was to develop a loyal following. That’s what we’re working hard to establish here. We are getting some Fremont people who have followed us.”
Question: What are the Omaha Bakery’s goals?
Michelle: “Simple: Get more people through the door. We need to get more people to know we’re here. We need corporate business and social events. We are excited and happy for big events. We’ve met many new people every month here, and we want to continue that trend. Customers have been smiling, wonderful and happy.”
Question: Is your proximity to the Nebraska Furniture Mart helping?
Michelle: “There has been an impact, but there is an even bigger potential that we need to try to tap. Being near Penzey’s Spices, located just south of us, has been huge. They’ve sent many new customers our way. The word has gotten out about our catering, too.”
Question: How is the catering business going for social events such as wedding receptions?
Michelle: “It was interesting. We created an environment to promote weddings when we came here in 2016, but we did not book a wedding until Jan. 1, 2017. We wanted to get our hands on everything here first after moving. Then when we started booking weddings, it was amazing. We were booked from January to December. We booked 65 weddings for 2017. We had booked a wedding every October weekend in 2017; one weekend we booked three weddings. At Alotta Brownies Bakery, we would book out eight months to a year. We did 75 weddings a year in Fremont. Our goal here the first year was two weddings a week.”
Question: Did you ever feel as if you hit a wall emotionally after the move?
Michelle: “We were super busy for the first six to eight months. It was insane. In fact, I don’t sleep. My brain never stops. I love it here. This is my happy place. This is my home. I can take weekends off. Off on Sunday mornings. During warm weather, I go fishing and camping with my family if I do not work weddings.”
Question: You have pointed to Joseph Kenney, founder and president of 316 Strategy Group, as the primary reason for being in Omaha. Tell us about that.
Michelle: “Joe is Nebraska’s leader in social media management and recognized nationally for his bottom-line results. I have so much respect for Joe. He is truly one of my best friends. He is so honest. He tells me what I don’t want to hear. I truly believe God put Joe in my life. None of this would have happened in Omaha without Joe. He’s a saint. I never would be here without him and the 316 crew.”
Question: You’ve said your late brother, Troy Flodman, is a huge influence. Tell us why.
Michelle: “Troy died March 10, 2011 at age 42. He lived for 16 years after a freak horse-riding accident in 1995 that caused a spinal cord injury and left him paralyzed. He never quit on himself or others. Troy couldn’t work in farming operations any longer, so he became the office manager for a plumbing, heating and air conditioning company in central Nebraska. As far as his inspirational words, they went far and wide. For instance, he talked to the Husker cheerleader who suffered a spinal cord injury. Troy was a huge inspiration and my hero. He touched lives. ‘Never give up’ was his message. I could never give up if he never gave up. I learned from him that every day is a blessing.”
