Today we’d like to introduce you to Vickey Hopkins.
Hi Vickey, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
A life-long baking enthusiast, Vickey graduated with an Associates in Applied Science degree in Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie and Baking in 2006. Not long after, she unfortunately discovered that the final price tag for such an education was significantly higher than the minimum wage a fledgling pastry chef could earn fresh out of school. So Vickey traded in her spatula for a stapler and dove into the corporate world of livable income instead. She then spent the next fifteen years working her way up from office assistant to paralegal. The cubicle walls may have changed from time to time, but baking was always in her heart and constantly on her mind. Yes, the bills were paid, but Vickey’s dreams had been put on hold and “indefinitely” was starting to look like “permanently”. Then the world stopped in 2020…
A US Marine Corps military veteran, Ken is no stranger to corporate life either. After being honorably discharged from the Marines, he worked his way through college to earn his Bachelors of Arts degree in Organizational Management. Ken had a completed education, a new wife and was looking forward to owning his first house. So, naturally, pursuing a management position in a large corporation was the logical next step. Years passed and he crushed milestone after professional milestone. Once Ken reached the peak of his workplace game, he began to experience a spiritual rut, as every day at work seemed to mirror the one before. Things were good enough, but a creative fire within him was starting to long for more than office life could offer. As time continued to pass, it was getting increasingly harder to ignore that feeling. Then the world stopped in 2020…
From what we have learned, there is no event in human history that has impacted every single person on Earth simultaneously until the recent pandemic. At best, the pandemic lockdowns gave people cabin fever and headaches from too much screen time. At worst, our fellow citizens of the world lost precious loved ones that they can never replace. We all lived in various shades of fear, worry, sadness and exhaustion. Then the world started to return to normal. Only for Ken and Vickey, a return to their corporate jobs was no longer an option. The calling to spend their days creating deliciousness and spreading happiness was simply too strong to ignore.
Ken is now our head bread baker and the brilliant mastermind behind our famously fluffy cinnamon rolls. Vickey is of course our resident pastry chef, thrilled to be able to professionally flex her culinary muscles to their fullest extent.
Hopkins Baking Company was created out of a desire to find light after a darker time and share joy with our community. We want to be a part of your special occasions and sweet memories. We feel that food unites us all, and bakeries possess a very wonderful kind of magic.
Our goal will always be to brighten your day and fill your belly with something scrumptious. We fully intend to bake the world a sweeter place, one sensational bite at a time.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been far from smooth, but absolutely rewarding. Like most new businesses, we have struggled with internal process development, construction setbacks, financial disappointments, advertising mishaps, equipment failure…you name it! ALL of the struggles, every last one, can be considered valuable learning opportunities that make us a better company today compared to when we first opened.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Hopkins Baking Company is set apart from other bakeries for a couple of reasons. First, we offer a full organic menu. Other bakeries offer a few organic items, but ours is a full menu of organic choices. This is NOT an easy thing to do, as many bulk suppliers don’t have organic options for us (we currently use 8 different suppliers to acquire our organic ingredients) and the ones that do charge sky high prices. We stick with it because we believe in the benefits of eating organically (we could talk about that for hours). Plus, how could we sleep at night if we aren’t going to eat something in our organic household, but we are willing to feed it to someone else?
Secondly, we are a completely from scratch bakery. Most people think that all bakeries make things from scratch, so why is this a big deal? The truth is, most bakeries either 1) order premade items like cake mixes, frozen dough, buttercream tubs or premade fruit fillings from a factory catalog offered to them by a bakery food supplier (which then becomes more food assembly rather than actual baking) or 2) pay another bakery to make the product for them, then sell it as if they made it themselves. Doing things this way can save time and money while yielding bigger amounts of product and higher profit margins, so it makes sense why some would choose to do this. However… you can usually taste (and sometimes see) the difference. Factory made fruit filling often tastes bland compared to a freshly made fruit compote. Factory made buttercream uses shortening, which leaves a slick film in your mouth instead of melting like real buttercream made from real butter. Plus, factory made items almost always contain preservatives, additives, flavor enhancers, artificial colors and other chemicals used to enhance dough performance and product longevity. A lot of these additives are now linked to some serious health concerns, which circles back to why organic baking is so important to us. We aren’t the only from scratch bakery of course, but the truly from scratch operations are the significant minority. One quick insider’s tip: completely from scratch bakeries usually have smaller operating hours because baking from scratch takes so much time (think about the time it takes to make just one cupcake; that’s time used for making filling, baking cake, making frosting and then assembling the final cupcake. Now imagine the time it takes to stock a full bakery counter). If you see a bakery that is open seven days a week, 12 hours per day, that bakery is probably using premade items to some degree (unless they are a rare exception and truly have a giant staff working around the clock).
Our menu changes every 6-8 weeks, so we have many fan favorites. We are probably most known for our Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls, which are made completely from scratch every morning that we are open. People are also enamored with our sourdough bread and our scones. We also have really scrumptious cakes, bars, and cookies, to name just a few items.
I think we are most proud that we are going against the typical bakery grain (no pun intended) and doing things differently with integrity and care. This is not an easy path, but this is a very rewarding path.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Customers can support us by arriving hungry and leaving happy! In addition to our cake case and bakery counter, we offer pantry staples like granola and croutons. We also have a catering menu and offer wedding cakes.
We are always open to collaborating with other companies; we have participated in multiple farmers markets and community events. We would love to start teaching classes and our own workspace is limited, so we are always on the lookout for a good setting (a community kitchen, a parish conference room, etc).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hopkinsbaking.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopkinsbakingcompany
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HopkinsBakingCompany
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hopkins-baking-company-whitehouse-station?osq=Hopkins+baking+company
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hopkinsbakingcompany?lang=en
