Back to Basics with Susie Sarich of SusieCakes

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to another edition of Give an Ovation, the restaurant guest experience podcast, where I talk to industry experts to get their strategies and tactics you can use to create a five-star guest experience. This podcast is sponsored by Ovation, an operations and guest recovery platform for multi-unit restaurants that gives all the answers without annoying guests, with all the questions. Learn more at OvationUpcom, without annoying guests with all the questions. Learn more at OvationUpcom. And today I am so excited because we have someone who's got such a fun personality, a fun brand, a great Instagram Susan Sarich, the founder and CEO of Suzy Cakes, with what I believe is 26 locations. Now you guys have.

Speaker 2: 0:40

That's correct, we do.

Speaker 1: 0:41

Across California, expanded to Texas hoist to go nationwide. She's been featured all over the internet and Susan thanks for joining us.

Speaker 2: 0:50

I am thrilled to be here.

Speaker 1: 0:52

Now talk to me a little bit about you know, reading your story, reading what you're doing at Susie Cakes. One thing I'd love to hear is like, why, like, why did you start Susie Cakes? What was the root of it?

Speaker 2: 1:04

It was twofold. The first was that I had been in the hospitality industry my whole career. I worked for hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, country clubs.

Speaker 2: 1:16

Graduated from Cornell, the hotel school, yeah, and so during my career I loved my career. I was always in different aspects of F&B. I noticed a lot of women leaving the industry because it was really just too hard to have a life outside of work because you were always working every Saturday night and coming back Sunday morning to work brunch and working all holidays. And so my mind started tweaking around my early 30s of I'd love to have a business model where women could have careers in hospitality without having to be working every holiday, night and weekend. So that was kind of part one. The second part I was living in San Francisco and it was a time when desserts this is like in the late 90s, early 2000s, where desserts were like so highly, you know composed or decomposed, or had all sorts of weird ingredients in them, like you know lavender oil and you know rose water and things that like. For me growing up in Chicago, in the Midwest, we just didn't put that in desserts right.

Speaker 2: 2:19

So we get this menu and you're like God, I don't want anything on this dessert menu. How is that possible? You get this menu and you're like God, I don't want anything on this dessert menu. How is that possible? So I really at that point thought California was in a dessert deficit of sorts and really needed an old fashioned Midwest chocolate cake with chocolate, buttercream, frosting made with butter, flour, sugar, eggs. And so that idea to honor my two grandmothers because all of those recipes I received from them on three by five handwritten recipe cards and to give a business model with women in hospitality that has workable hours, if you will. So those two married together.

Speaker 1: 2:56

And did you do a lot of baking before you started? Susie Cakes no not at all. The recipes really were.

Speaker 2: 3:03

You know, as I stated my grandmothers, they were tried and true from my whole life and I had been. You know, when I was in the industry, I was really always front of house. Whether it was, you know, restaurant manager, banquet manager, catering manager, sales and marketing, I always was in the front. And so I think I approached it less of oh, I'm a baker and I want to open a bakery, and more of oh, I'm a hospitality professional with a vast array of experience in various aspects of the industry, and approached it from a business sense.

Speaker 1: 3:36

So you're basically the Will Gadara of sugar.

Speaker 2: 3:40

That's a great compliment. I'll take that.

Speaker 1: 3:42

And he will be joining us on this podcast soon. So, anyway, you're in good company. Well, and obviously, being front of house, the thing that is probably on the forefront of your mind always is the guest experience. And so what's the most important aspect of guest experience nowadays, especially as you're rolling out to nationwide and 26 locations I mean you know nationwide and 26 locations, I mean it's. You know you are the secret ingredient to a lot of the success of what's there, but how do you keep that secret ingredient when you're no longer there?

Speaker 2: 4:13

Yeah, you know, it has to be embedded in the culture and I think that it starts with. Our mission at Susie Cakes is connecting through celebration, right. So I always say we're in the celebration business, I'm not in the bakery business. Yes, we sell cakes and we make amazing desserts, but we are in the celebration business. And when you frame it in that way and think about every guest who's coming through the door as somebody who is celebrating a milestone in their life, whether it's a wedding, or their first baby, or their parents' 50th wedding anniversary or their grandparent's 50th, or we made it through a Wednesday, as the case may be.

Speaker 2: 4:49

Or we made it through. A Wednesday. Let's celebrate, yeah. So either big things or small things, and sometimes someone will just come in and get a chocolate chip cookie and say, man, I just want to celebrate myself because I just had a great call and I think I'm going to get a new job or whatever it is. So it could be small things, big things, but the team knows that we have a core value of we make days better and our team members have the ability to do anything to make a guest day better, whatever that is, and they know that they will always be supported, no matter what they do.

Speaker 1: 5:21

I think that is so powerful. How do you systematize that, though? How do you systematize that though? How do you make sure that people aren't abusing that? Because I think that's the thing that theoretically right, susan, people are like, okay, I get you, susan, like, yeah, sure, I want to do that too, but I also, you know, I'm not running on like 50% margins I can't give stuff away Like how do you systematize that?

Speaker 2: 5:47

Yeah, you have to have an inherent belief that you are hiring the right people. So we actually hire to values from our application through our interview questions. The vein of that is this is an individual who naturally ticks hospitality right, especially for front of the house and guest services. We call it, and so if you hire for that, then you have to believe I'm hiring somebody who, absent of rules, will do the right thing. And you know, there certainly are times when you know somebody might, you know, actually just got off the phone with somebody who said you know, the wedding cake in transport collapsed, right.

Speaker 2: 6:21

So we had a bakery remake the cake, we delivered it ourselves, we fixed it for the guests. She just said I think we should do something above and beyond and I said what do you think we should do? She said I think we should send them a $200 gift certificate that they can use for their first anniversary cake. I said great, do it right. So to me that'll probably be, even if that was above and beyond, the extra act of saying we're going to replace it and we're also going to invite you back builds lifelong guests. I just have to believe that with time people will not take advantage of that. But the guests on the receiving end will say, wow, that was so amazing. I'm going to go to Susie Cakes forever, right? Like look what they did for me and they'll tell 20 people.

Speaker 1: 7:07

Right. Is that something that, by the way, did the cake collapse and transport like were they driving it or were you guys driving?

Speaker 2: 7:13

it. No, we weren't driving it, it was a third party delivery system.

Speaker 1: 7:17

So yeah, my goodness, that is like the worst. And this is like I'm assuming that a wedding cake isn't delivered like weeks before the wedding. Right, this is probably.

Speaker 2: 7:28

Like an hour yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:28

Hour, two hours, oh my goodness.

Speaker 2: 7:30

This is probably like an hour, yeah Hour, two hours, oh, my goodness, totally. But we made it happen and so that's just one example. And so hiring the right people, making sure it's embedded in your culture, celebrating those things. So we have a company call every month and I always call out kind of the best, we made things better moment of the month and acknowledge that person and we have that team member on the phone for their extraordinary service and it helps everybody else go oh wow, yeah, I could do that, yeah, I could do that. Oh, I get it, I get it. And then finally, it clicks with people what we're trying to do.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Yeah, because I mean, this is I got Will in the mind but like the hotdog story, right, going out and getting a hotdog and cutting it up for them, plating it, it's like one of those things where you talk in stories. So people get the principles of it right Because you know, like, we have our five ovation values, but people don't necessarily remember all the ovation values, but what they remember is every month we go through and everyone gets a bonus that they have to give somebody else in the company, and so we read it in our all hands meeting. We read who gave whom their ovation and why, and so having these like stories that we're telling all the time of hey, susan did this and it was so awesome. I just want to thank her for it. I think that you can also show by example that culture, and I think that you allowing them to give that $200 gift card and is really cool, so I love that. So what are some tactics?

Speaker 2: 8:57

Susan, that you've used to improve the guest experience. You know, I think it's making sure that the guests I mean really I think it boils down to that guests need to feel truly cared for right, whether they're in a fine dining restaurant or in fast casual, the dollars they're spending and the time that they're taking inside your establishment. They need to feel cared for, and so what it feels cared for for one guest may not be different than another. So we always, you know, part of our staff of service is to ask everybody what are you celebrating today, right? So? And you know someone's like, oh, I'm not celebrating anything.

Speaker 2: 9:31

Then it could be great. You know we're so happy you're here on Tuesday afternoon. But if they open it up and say I'm getting a birthday cake for my father, say okay, tell me about your dad. You know what's his favorite flavor, does he have any sports or a favorite hobby that we can decorate the cake with and actually become invested in that with them, so that we're not just taking, actually become invested in that with them, so that we're not just taking orders right and trying to build relationships, if you will. And again, it's really hard to scale that, but it comes down to the hiring practices. I take it back to the basics.

Speaker 1: 10:03

So are there any questions that you ask to kind of try to like suss out? Is this person going to be really good?

Speaker 2: 10:09

Yeah, there's one. I actually just shared this with someone before. I will ask somebody See, now I'm giving away my secret. Now anybody who's oh?

Speaker 1: 10:16

we don't have to give away any secrets. We can talk about Mario Lopez, because I do want to ask you about. Is he really that cool? I know that you met Mario.

Speaker 2: 10:25

I say, tell me, how would your best friend describe you when you're having a bad day? And people will be really honest with this question. I think it kind of like when you ask it like for somebody you know in a third person.

Speaker 1: 10:36

Wait, say that question again. That was like that's such an interesting question. How would your best friend describe you on a bad?

Speaker 2: 10:43

day Right. And so they'll sometimes say oh, I'm quiet. Or some people will say, oh, I get really cranky and crabby, and then I follow it up with well, what constitutes a bad day.

Speaker 2: 10:54

And so if somebody says traffic right, well, if you're living in Southern California, then every day is a bad day, right? Or then somebody might answer you know what, susan, I don't really have a lot of bad days unless it's something really serious with health of my family or loved ones. Like I make the best of things. Like that's the answer, right, or some version of that. And questions like that where you can, you know, learn about a person versus oh, tell me what you did, you know, when you managed Starbucks. That doesn't tell me anything about them.

Speaker 1: 11:27

That is such a great question, not just for interviews but for like going on yeah, for life. If you're on going on dates or you know, with your spouse, like just what a great question to try to get to understand. How does somebody perceive themselves, and I like the way that you put it in terms of like asking a third party about it, so it's less like you know they don't have to feel bad about bragging or they could be a little bit more honest. But really, though, I do do want to know is Mario Lopez a cool guy?

Speaker 2: 11:56

He's so cool oh my gosh. He is so fun and down for anything.

Speaker 1: 12:01

Like he just eat desserts.

Speaker 2: 12:04

You know he had a bite.

Speaker 1: 12:06

Oh, he did. Cause he does not look like he does not gentleman who eats sweets.

Speaker 2: 12:11

No, he is definitely in great shape but really, you know, is just a wonderful host. To make his guests feel like you know they're the most important person in the room. He does a wonderful job, so fun. That was a great segment.

Speaker 1: 12:24

So I'm guessing you guys connected pretty well on that, because I feel like that's kind of like your MO, you know. Yeah, and so when you look at one of the questions I had was around like pricing, as you're looking at these celebrations and things like that, obviously, like a wedding cake it's not a $20 cake and you know your cookies aren't, like, you know, dollar Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, like. So how do you look at pricing and how does that relate to the guests? Because I think that's something that obviously you have a premium product and it's working and people are liking it and it allows you to spend a little bit more time with your guests. And you know, have you found that people are talking more about price or they, you know, mentioning it more, or does your brand just kind of let people know that, hey, we're a premium product?

Speaker 2: 13:12

Yeah, it's definitely the latter. We try to educate and say we are using real butter and our buttercream it's premium, it's European style, it's the most expensive butter money can buy. We're cracking eggs. That what you're getting at Susie Cakes. You cannot compare us to a grocery store or any bakeries where the product is coming in car baked and they're just finishing it right. So there's an education piece to that, where people they know it tastes good, but I also want them to know it tastes good because it's baked fresh today.

Speaker 2: 13:44

And these people behind the you know this glass window into the kitchen that you can see, they're doing everything by hand and we are so proud of our ingredients that all our kitchens are open. So there's that aspect of it too. And there is a quote, and I cannot remember who said it, but it is quality and service is remembered long after price is forgotten. And so I think, as long as we keep hitting on having a great product, and you must have the great service to go along with it hand in hand, to have guests say yes, I will pay this, because of course, everything is getting more expensive now and it's hitting everybody, and so you got to make sure that when people are spending their money, that they're getting both of those aspects and then if you don't hit on both of them because stuff can happen right With scratch, baking and eggshell can get in something, or, you know, a team member might be having an off day and doesn't give the greatest service how we recover and make up for it has to come into play.

Speaker 1: 14:43

Love that because I think totally making it more than right and giving that premium service is just as important as having that great product. So love that. Now, obviously, you've been in the industry for a little while. You know a lot of people. Who's someone in the restaurant industry that deserves an ovation? Who's someone that we should be following?

Speaker 2: 15:02

I mean I love Richard Melman and Let Us Entertain you restaurant group out of Chicago I think he was such a visionary started his company in the 70s, kind of did the first you know theme restaurants, if you will. I also worked for him and just found his passion for the business and for food and hospitality to be infectious and something that lives on today. I mean, the company is now what? 50 years old, right and still thriving, and so I have huge respect for him right and still thriving, and so I have huge respect for him.

Speaker 1: 15:35

Awesome, yeah, rich is phenomenal, and one of his protégés, wow Bow, jeff Alexander, also phenomenal. So well, susan, where can?

Speaker 2: 15:48

people go to learn more about Susie Cakes or if they want to follow you, yep, our website is susiecakescom and I am at Susie Sarich, and our Instagram for the bakery is at Suzy Cakes Bakery.

Speaker 1: 15:58

Awesome. Well, for leaving us the crumbs to your success and celebration. Today's ovation goes to you. Thank you for joining us on Give an Ovation, susan.

Speaker 2: 16:07

Thank you, I appreciate it so fun.

Speaker 1: 16:09

Awesome. Thanks for joining us today. If you liked this episode, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen. We're all about feedback here. Again, this episode was sponsored by Ovation, a two-question, sms-based actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurants. If you'd like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience, visit us at OvationUpcom.