KANSAS CITY, MO — From when she was a young girl to her time in the US Army, retired Lieutenant Colonel Erinn Roth’s passion had always been desserts. While stationed overseas with the military, she cooked and baked for those who couldn’t go home for the holidays, becoming the go-to source for soldiers with containers for leftovers.
Erinn opened her first business, Ms. Jo’s Petite Sweets, in 2016 and named it after her mother, Jo Bradford Hardaway, who passed away in late 2015. Established just shy of her retirement after a 24-year-long military career, the business, which at the time operated in a commercial kitchen, was the sapling for what would grow to become a brick-and-mortar patisserie and cafe.
Yet, the baking industry wasn’t the direction Erinn expected to take.
“When I started in the military, I never thought I would be a professional baker, so when I decided to start a business, I realized I wanted to get a certain set of skills, and I knew I was going to remain in the [Washington, DC-Maryland-Virginia] area,” she shared. “I wanted to ensure that my skills were above par. For me, that meant attending a pastry school.”
A new direction
In January 2017, Erinn forged a new path for herself, starting at L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, MD, just two days after her retirement. Once she graduated from the program, someone recommended Dog Tag Bakery’s Fellowship Program during an event Erinn was catering.
“I got home that evening, looked it up and realized they’re right here in DC,” she said. “That’s why I applied to the program. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.”
The five-month entrepreneurial program offers veterans, military spouses and caregivers resources and know-how on running a successful business through the lens of a bakery. Of the 316 program alumni, about 32% of the participants describe themselves as entrepreneurs and open small businesses. Approximately one-third of those alumni operate businesses in the foodservice industry. Erinn, an alumna of the summer 2018 Dog Tag Fellowship Program cohort, used the experience to open a retail bakery.
As a fellow, she gained insights from professors at Georgetown University and other business owners with real-world experience. Erinn strengthened her arsenal of skills and formulated a business plan to develop her bakery and cafe into a brick-and-mortar operation.
It took about a year to build out the 2,900-square-foot McLean, VA, bakery, with the start of the project occurring in tandem with Erinn’s participation in the first season of Fox’s Crime Scene Kitchen in 2021. The insights from the program and support from her fellow alumni helped her along the way.
“It can be a lonely existence because people don’t understand the rigors of being a small business owner,” Erinn said. “However, my fellow Dog Tag alumni understand. You can call them and count on them. They support you, and you support them. It’s great because they get it; you don’t have to explain it.”
Army of support
When Mrs. Jo’s Petite Eats Patisserie & Cafe (adapted from the original business name) opened in June 2022, Erinn, CEO and executive chef, was surrounded by college classmates, military associates, Fort Foote Baptist Church members, and, of course, Dog Tag alumni and leaders.
A couple years in, the patisserie found its niche, offering a variety of baked goods, and breakfast and lunch items inspired by Southern cuisine with a French flair, which nods to her personal background growing up in Mississippi and her pastry school education.
For other veterans looking to enter the retail baking industry, Erinn’s advice is to dig in and understand the business from all angles and take the chance.
“You’ve got to take that step of faith,” Erinn shared. “You’ve got to do something. You can’t sit and analyze a situation to death; you have to figure out a plan.”
This story has been adapted from the December | Q4 2024 issue of Craft to Crumb. Read the digital edition here.
