Rory’s Bakehouse
“All the SBDC advisors I have met have been a constant source for guidance, looking at next steps, and planning for the future. I trust my advisor, Anni, inherently. If I’m in a position where I have to make a decision and I don’t know what to do, she is always the person I turn to.”
What a difference five years can make in the life of an entrepreneur.
In spring of 2020, Rory Kandel, furloughed from the restaurant industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, started baking cookies from her home. Those cookies became so popular she moved to frozen products people could bake in their own homes. Before she knew it, she had a business, aptly named Rory’s Bakehouse.
Now, five years later, she has a storefront in Napa with her own commissary kitchen and Rory’s Bakehouse frozen products are on the shelves of several local stores.
“We have a lot of irons in the fire right now,” she said. “We’re really looking to the future and looking to grow a national brand.”
As Kandel operates Rory’s Bakehouse, there is one person on her team she cannot imagine doing this journey without – her Solano-Napa SBDC advisor, Anni Minuzzo.
Kandel was first paired with Minuzzo, a food operations and start-up expert, in spring of 2020, when, she said, she realized that while her dream was to own a business, she did not know where to start with permitting, licensing, and other vital components. Minuzzo was right there to assist and guide her each step of the way.
“The SBDC has all the tools and resources to help guide a person, who has really just the basic knowledge of entrepreneurship, into owning a successful business,” Kandel said. “All the advisors I have met have been a constant source for guidance, looking at next steps, and planning for the future. I trust my advisor, Anni, inherently. If I’m in a position where I have to make a decision and I don’t know what to do, she is always the person I turn to.”
Minuzzo has been by Kandel’s side as she has made significant moves to help Rory’s Bakehouse grow. Over the last five years, she has transitioned from a home business to operating out of a shared commissary kitchen, to having her own storefront and providing commissary space to local bakers like herself.
Minuzzo was also instrumental in guiding Kandel through the process of obtaining her California processed foods permit, which allows her to sell her products in grocery stores.
“Anni has been by my side at every step,” Kandel said. “She has given me a ton of emotional and positive support. Every day, there is something. Having someone on the other end who has been there and experienced it themselves, someone you can bounce ideas off and share your struggles and successes – it makes you feel a lot less alone. We’ve become close over the years because we have worked together so long. She treats me like family, and it’s made such a difference for me.”
In addition to the one-on-one advising, Kandel was also part of the SBDC’s Napa Success Accelerator program in 2024. Funded by Napa County, the seven-week Napa Success program guided business owners through the process of creating a pitch deck for their business. Kandel and other participants received $2500 grants at the end of the program.
“I’m so grateful to the SBDC,” she said. “It makes me sad to think that there are people starting businesses who are not connected to the SBDC and do not have the ability to have advisors they trust. I have someone who I know is there for me, and I want all business owners to have that.”
Learn more about Kandel and her business at rorysbakehouse.com
You can purchase Kandel’s products at the Rory’s Bakehouse storefront at 2766 Old Sonoma Road, in Napa, or in Biscuit Barbecue and Heritage Eats in Napa, or Sunshine Market in St. Helena.
