IAM1342 – Creative Director Offers Authentic Italian Cookies

Amy DuVall is CEO and Creative Director of From Politics to Pastry in Alexandria, VA. From Politics to Pastry offers authentic Italian cookies and custom pastries and provides virtual, in-home baking and pasta-making instruction and parties. Before opening from politics to pastry, Amy studied environmental engineering and law and worked as an environmental lawyer and lobbyist for more than 20 years in downtown DC. After realizing her dream of helping to enact major federal environmental legislation in 2016 (Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act), she found herself ready for the next chapter and decided to focus on her much-neglected creative side and her love of the culinary arts. from politics to pastry aims to put smiles on people's faces, one cookie, one scone, one treat at a time!

• CEO Story: After working in the political world, Atty Amy explored her options whether to lobby for a different cause or to ignite her creativity in the kitchen. Amy loves culinary arts and so her pastry company was born.
• Business Service: Selling Italian cookies, scones, pies, and rolls for delivery and pick up.
• Secret Sauce: Italian cookies set her apart. Her exposure to meet different people. The guts to try and take a big leap.
• CEO Hack: The ability to ask for help or advice in order to learn new things.
• CEO Nugget: You don’t know unless you try. It’s always worth trying but give yourself grace and some space to plan it out.
• CEO Defined: Pride of ownership and leadership. Pride of responsibility.

Website: www.frompoliticstopastry.com

Facebook: frompoliticstopastry

Instagram: frompoliticstopastry

LinkedIn: amy-duvall

Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE

Transcription

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!
Please Note: Our team is using the AI CEO Hacks: Exemplary AI and Otter.ai to support our podcast transcription. While we know it's improving there may be some inaccuracies, we are updating and improving them. Please contact us if you notice any issues, you can also test out Exemplary AI here.

00:17 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEO's without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you come to the right place. Gresham Harkins values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:44 – Gresham Hakless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Grash from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Amy Duvall from politics to pastry. Amy, super excited to have you on the show.

00:54 – Amy DuVall

Hey Grash, so good to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

00:57 – Gresham Hakless

Definitely, excited to have you on and, super excited about all the awesome things that you're doing. And of course, before we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Amy so you can hear about some of those awesome things. Amy is the CEO and creative director of From Politics to Pastry in Alexandria, VA. From Politics to Pastry offers authentic Italian cookies and custom pastries and provides virtual and home baking and pasta-making instructions and parties. Before opening From Politics to Pastry, Amy studied environmental engineering and law and worked as an environmental lawyer and lobbyist for more than 20 years in downtown DC.

After realizing her dream of helping to enact major federal environment legislation in 2016 Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, for example, she found herself ready for the next chapter and decided to focus on her much-neglected creative side and her love of the culinary arts. From Politics. From Politics to Pastry aims to put smiles on people's faces, one cookie, one scone, 1 treat at a time. Amy, excited again to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

01:58 – Amy DuVall

You bet. I sure am.

01:59 – Gresham Hakless

Awesome. Well, let's make it happen then. So to kind of kick everything off, I know I touched on a little bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

02:07. – Amy DuVall

Yeah, I mean, we could probably talk about this for a couple of hours. My journey, I always like to tell people it was not an overnight decision as I'm sure probably isn't for most CEOs and most entrepreneurs. It was honestly about a two-year journey. As you mentioned in the intro, I had worked on some major environmental legislation for about 10 years. It became law in 2016. And after that, I took about two years to try to figure out my next steps. And that was everything from maybe I lobby on a different cause maybe I lobby for a different employer or maybe I do fundraising.

And I kind of slowly started to move out of the political sphere with my considerations. And ultimately, to be completely honest, I was working with a great therapist who was helping me with some anxiety issues thanks to the political world. And one day she said, have you ever thought about doing something completely out of this space? Like, let's talk about what makes you happy outside of work. What about your creative side? And one thing led to another.

And like I said that, I mean, we could talk about that for hours, but one thing led to another. And she said, what about exercising your muscles in the kitchen? Have you ever thought about doing this professionally? And honestly, Grash, I laughed at her. I said, no, I have never thought about doing that. Why would I do that? And you know, a few months later, I applied to pastry school and here I am with my own company. It's just kind of crazy how things evolve.

03:42 – Gresham Hakless

Yeah, absolutely, which is why I love, you know, kind of unpacking, you know, the journey and hearing how those things happen. I think the the quote that I always go back to is that the secret of overnight success, it takes 10 years or five years or whatever. It's different for everybody. Yes. So we just see you with the shop and all the awesome things that you're doing. But a lot of times we don't see those behind the scenes of all the things and all the considerations. I imagine things that you went through to kind of get to where you are.

04:07 – Amy DuVall

Oh yeah, lots of planning, you know, and I never want to discourage people from making a change like I did or creating their own business. To be completely honest, when I decided to study pastry, it was not on my radar screen to own my own business. That was not my goal. I know there are a lot of CEOS out there and that's what has driven them right to own their own business. I actually quite, I mean, was scared to own my own business. It's not something I'd ever done before.

And it's a completely different ball game, I guess. I went to law school. Yes, I have an engineering degree, but I'm not an accountant. I'm not a marketing manager. I'm not a social media maven. You know, these are all things I've been learning as I go. And really what ended up happening was in the process of studying pastry. My husband's family is Italian and I really wanted to master a lot of the baked goods that we've enjoyed in Italy and that I couldn't find back home. And so, you know, I have some very gracious neighbors who as I was working my way through products that I was testing just for my own enjoyment, you know, they would be lovely and say, oh, the, the thing that you made not last week was really great.

This is really good too. But when I got to the Italian cookies, suddenly everything switched and people were like, what are these? Like you need to think about selling these and at the end of 2018, I thought, all right, let's see if there's any interest at the holidays. And it was a massive interest. And so in 2019 I took the leap and formed the LLC and started selling at farmers markets and have been you know, tap dancing and pivoting on one foot and you know, 2 toes like every day since so.

05:54 – Gresham Hakless

Absolutely, you kind of have to have that mentality, and I appreciate you talking about, you know, some of those resources that help. A lot of times when you look and see the people that have become successful and you drill down a little bit more, you realize that it's, it's definitely been a, you know, a whole family and a whole group and a whole village that kind of helped out to them getting to where they ultimately are. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more. I know I touched on it, of course, when I read your bio and you did as well too. What are you doing from politics to pastry? How are you serving your clients and how are you making that impact?

06:25 – Amy DuVall

Yeah, so when I first got started, I was selling almost exclusively at 2 farmers markets in the Alexandria area, and then, I was teaching actually part-time in person at Sur La Tab., I know they're a national organization, but for those of you who aren't familiar with Sur La Tab, it's like a kitchen supply store with a teaching kitchen in, in-store as well. So I was actually doing that part-time. I just decided, yeah, you know, I really like this, but it's not going to work out. I need to focus on my business. That's my first priority here. And the business was about, you know, a part-time gig at that point. I was slowly trying to grow it.

And so the bottom line is for COVID and I guess really, I mean, as the middle of March through of July of 2020, I just kind of closed doors, you know, virtual doors per SE and tried to regauge, you know, what am I going to do now? And I ultimately decided I had enough customers that said, hey, you know, what if you do contactless delivery and pick up like I don't, you know, I'm going to get in the car and come to the market, why? I'll go somewhere else to meet you. So I decided to pivot and do that and then start offering virtual classes, and amazingly, my business has grown every year since. So sticking with that right now, but you know, talk to me tomorrow and maybe it'll change. It's just literally every day is different.

07:52 – Gresham Hakless

So yeah.

07:53 – Amy DuVall

So we like, like you said, I specialize in Italian cookies. That's you know what, what launched the company, but I also do a lot of scones and really just kind of follow the request of my customers. I had a couple of customers last Thanksgiving who said, you know, hey, this is cool that you've been offering scones and shoofly pie, which is actually from my side of the family. It's a Pennsylvania Dutch thing. So I was offering that because I grew up with it. But I had a customer who said, what about rolls or bread, like to go with our dinner table, you know, at Thanksgiving. And I was like, oh, I love to make bread, but I never thought about selling it, so sure, why not? Those rolls took off, so they're now a part of my permanent menu. So I just kind of continued to evolve that way based on supply and demand.

08:40 – Gresham Hakless

So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce and this could be for yourself, your business doesn't have to be for the pastries, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

08:48 – Amy DuVall

Literal standpoint, Italian cookies, you know, set me apart. That's the whole reason I started the company that I couldn't find. There were very few to be found in the DC area. I will say that secret sauce for me is a combination of the fact that I moved around quite a bit as a kid. My dad's job is not military, but we moved around quite a bit for his corporate job. And some people, I think, would say that that, you know, that's really difficult. How'd you do that?

But I think it may be the outgoing, extroverted person I am that when I step, I still get nervous when I step into a room and introduce myself to people I've never met. I don't always like mingling. You know, sometimes that's stressful. But I think that experience as a child really, you know, is constantly starting in another school and needing to meet people. So that's the secret sauce. Another thing is my parents always said, you know, it doesn't hurt to ask. You just won't know unless you, unless you ask. And kind of, a corollary to that is you won't know if you don't try. And I think I'm living proof of that.

I mean, I can't tell you how many people are like, oh, you know, I can't believe you did this amazing jump, this amazing leap to another. And I'm like, you know, like there's, yes, I think I'm a, a, you know, I'd like to think I'm a, a good human being. And yes, I, I mean, I, I try to live every day to its fullest, but there's nothing special about me per SE versus somebody else who wants to give this a try. So you just never know unless you ask or you try. The worst that can happen is doesn't work out and you move on to the next step.

10:21 – Gresham Hakless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I always say that sometimes we think the worst pain that we can have is the pain of, you know, failure, but it's also often the pain of regret. And I almost wonder if that's the CEO. Heck, so many times people, especially in the small business community want to help, but they don't know how they can help unless you say, hey, do you know an accountant? Hey, how did you do your pricing with XY and Z? And then that's sometimes where that opportunity comes from. Do you feel like that's kind of like something that you know, you feel like it's kind of a hack?

10:48 – Amy DuVall

Oh, I think it's definitely a hack. So the first time I went to fill this out, this was a completely foreign concept to me. And I got this form in the mail and I was like, what the like really like, do you need me to list every cookie cutter? I own hundreds of cookie cutters. On each one is a line item on an Excel spreadsheet. So I, I literally sent, you know, emails to a handful of other small bakeries that I knew. And I said, you guys, like, you know, if it's not trade secrets or you're comfortable with this, I'd love to know. You've been around longer than me.

Can someone give me an idea of what you did on this? And people, you know, gave me feedback. I did, of course, call the city of Alexandria and ask for their advice too. Depending on, you know, like any other government organization, depending on who answers the phone that day, you may get a different answer than the previous day. But these are the kind of things that, you know, you can forge relationships over. And people were very forthcoming. Things like paying, you know, court-estimated quarterly taxes.

That was something I had never done before, you know, reporting sales tax on a monthly basis. That was new to me. So, you know, I didn't have to reach out to small business owners who were in the culinary space to learn a lot of those things. They just had to be in the same city tax-wise. And so I, I learned a ton. I don't think there was anybody I contacted who blew me off or wasn't willing to help. And, I've tried to do the same, you know, because I've had people come up after me. I've, you know, met a handful of folks who've been trying to, you know, create their own small businesses since I did mine, and I've tried to return the favor best I can.

12:24 – Gresham Hakless

Nice. Yeah. It's so important that you start to again create that environment when you give a lot of time you'll receive and then it creates such a great energy around that. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call CEO Nugget. You might have already touched on this, but this could be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Maybe a piece of wisdom you would share with somebody who came up to you or something that if you hopped into a time machine you might tell your younger business self.

12:47 – Amy DuVall

Yeah, that's, that is, that's a tough one. Probably similar to my secret sauce. I really, do think you don't know unless you try, right? And it's always worth trying. But you have to have to give yourself some grace and, and give yourself some space to plan it out. Doesn't, you know, need to be planned down to the exact detail. But I, I do think that you know, you can't just wake up today and tomorrow and say I'm leaving my job and I'm going to do this like you, you need to have some plan of attack.

And yeah, I, I think that that's really the best advice. Like, and, and never be afraid to ask for help for it. Similar way, you know, it kind of kind of goes, to the same piece. Yeah. I realized my secret sauce and my CEO nugget are probably very similar, if not the same. But I can't emphasize, those things enough. And they are definitely advice that I've been giving people who have asked.

13:45 – Gresham Hakless

Absolutely appreciate that. And I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be ACEO. We're hoping to have different quote CEOs on the show. So Amy, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:56 – Amy DuVall

Yeah. So, you know, the first time I was introduced as the owner of my own company, I honestly like a tear came to my eye. It was, it was a little overwhelming to think that you had created something completely from scratch. So to me, you know, a chief executive officer doesn't have to be somebody who created that company from scratch. But in my case it is. And so I would say pride of ownership, pride of leadership. You know, I'm, I'm a sole proprietor, so I don't have any other employees, at least at this point.

But pride in owning and creating something and at the same time recognizing that, yes, you get to celebrate the good, you also got to take ownership of the bad, right? So, you know, there's good and bad, the responsibility is yours. I would say that the good far outweighs the bad. But so that's what I would say, CEO, pride of ownership and pride of responsibility.

14:52 – Gresham Hakless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Amy, truly appreciate that. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know, and of course, how best people could get a hold of you about all the awesome things that you are working on.

15:07 – Amy DuVall

Gresham, thank you so much. I really appreciate this. It's so cool to talk to the I AM CEO community today. You can find me on the web at From Politics to pastry . com. And probably not surprisingly, my tagline on Instagram and Facebook is also From Politics to Pastry. And yeah, it was. We've already talked about contact lists, pick-up and delivery in Alexandria, and virtual classes globally. , I recently taught a class in Singapore. Thanks to Zoom you can talk to anyone anywhere which is super cool and I hope to meet many of you in person at some point in the future.

15:45 – Gresham Hakless

Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Amy. I truly appreciate it. We will have the links and information in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you. But thank you so much for your, your, your story and reminding us of how important it is to kind of, you know, go for it and not, you know, have that regret of not going for it. So thank you so much for doing that and reminding us of it. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:04 – Amy DuVall

Thanks, you too.

Outro – 16:05

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]