To Build a Bakery is an ongoing series from Craft to Crumb featuring the stories of growth for bakeries of all scales. From establishing a first brick-and-mortar location to multiple shops and beyond, the series connects with bakers from across the country about how they’re scaling up their businesses. If you would like your bakery’s story to be considered for the series, please email Annie Hollon at annie@avantfoodmedia.com.
FLOWER MOUND, TX — Authenticity is the driving force behind Hive Bakery, an award-winning artistic bakery in the Dallas suburbs known for its custom cake creations, versatile baked goods and powerful voice locally and online. As opposed to the traditional pastel flair many shops boast, the Flower Mound, TX, bakery’s dark-colored interior lets its one-of-a-kind cake creations, pastries and other sweet treats shine.
In a little more than five years, Hive Bakery has bloomed from a home operation to an established part of the retail baking community. The bakery’s origin story begins in the home of Haley Popp, owner and executive pastry chef of Hive Bakery.
Built from scratch
Before she owned this award-winning bakery, Haley started her career in the fashion industry — and quickly found it wasn’t a fit.
“I hated my life, my job, my co-workers,” she said. “Everything that I went to college for suddenly came to a halt, and I said, ‘This isn’t it.’”
She stepped back from fashion to start a family, raising her children while freelancing for different companies making fashion prints and more. When her eldest’s first birthday arrived, inspiration from the TV show Ace of Cakes led Haley to give cake decorating a go.
“I was like, ‘I believe I can do that,’ because art is in my blood,” she recalled. “I made my first cake ever, and I didn’t know anything about decorating.”
That first cake completely fell apart, but Haley was hooked on this new artistic medium, creating a sea change for her future. In turn, she continued her freelance work and began making cakes as a side gig.
Nowadays, baking tutorials are in abundance on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, but at the time, there were no resources for Haley to learn. As a result, she taught herself everything she knows.
Once her kids started school, Haley went from bakery to bakery trying to hone her craft, but none of the bakeries where she worked were a fit, whether in business or culture. In turn, she decided to do things her way and establish her own bakery.
“I got tired of everybody else trying to put me in a box, trying to tell me I look different, and I can’t work for them because of it,” she said. “I got tired of it; I don’t play well with others.”
After nearly 10 years as a home baker, Haley set her mind on opening a brick-and-mortar shop. But before she opened Hive’s doors, she established a clear goal for her social media.
“I started working at a grocery store bakery to save as much money as I could and started making more and more cakes from home, eventually building a social media following,” she shared. “I wanted at least 10,000 followers on social media before I even thought about a brick-and-mortar shop.”
In growing this audience, Haley let her voice drive the business and the cakes speak for themselves. Within a year, the business took over her home, and a change had to be made.
“My house became a bakery, and I was like, ‘I can’t live like this,’” Haley said. “There was no separation between life and work.”
The rise in popularity of Hive Bakery led Haley to take the plunge on a brick-and-mortar shop. This move was a significant risk on many levels, nonetheless a financial one.
“We bit the bullet, basically leveraging everything we had — my mortgage, my husband’s 401K, everything we owned — to open this because I knew I wasn’t going to fail,” she said. “Thank God [my husband] believed in me. We opened up that door, and we’ve been busy for the past five years. We paid back all of our loans in a year and a half, and that’s unheard of.”
Now at a profitable stage, Hive Bakery is growing by creating baked goods for local customers and even partners with the art production company Meow Wolf at its Grapevine, TX, art experience location.
Advocacy in Bakery
Haley kept baking, documenting her journey and elevating her voice all in one, a rarity in the food industry but a decision that made her stand out among peers.
“I’ve received backlash because of it, but I’ve also received the warmest welcome from the best people,” she said. “For me, that was central, and I think that people resonated with the fact that there was an authenticity to this business that doesn’t exist in a lot of places. They just gravitated toward it.”
In combining the bakery’s creations and her values, Haley leverages her platform and position to speak out on critical issues, which can pose a challenge as a progressive voice in a conservative town. While the bakery has faced everything from boycotts to threats of arson, she continues to raise her voice.
“We make cookies and cakes that are politically charged because it’s important,” Haley said. “I built this platform with a voice, so I feel it’d be foolish for me not to use it.”
A New Hive Mentality
There’s no template in Haley’s creations, and each is unparalleled to the next. From the daily menu to the custom cake orders, it all stems from Hive’s owner.
While she’ll pull inspiration from source material such as a movie, concert or event, each Hive design is original. And once it’s created, she moves on to the next.
“Every cake is designed by me; that’s something I’m pretty insistent upon because it’s essentially my brand, and I’ve come up with an aesthetic that is 100% Hive Bakery,” Haley said.
This approach lends Hive the opportunity to serve as a thought leader in the retail baking community, originating ideas and providing inspiration for other bakers. In fact, Haley always permits people to copy Hive’s work, seeing it as a form of flattery.
“Honestly, this is what we set out to do,” she said. “I want to be the bar, you know? I want you to want to be me. I’m not chasing, I want to lead, and I feel like we’ve achieved that.”
This also applies to making gluten-free and vegan offerings. Having recently transitioned into veganism after being vegetarian since she was 15, Haley is tweaking Hive’s vegan and gluten-free offerings.
“We have some trade secrets that don’t exist out there that make ours taste better,” she shared. “We figured out a baseline for cupcakes and brownies and can go from there and come up with different flavors.”
Hive’s Reign Continues
In just over five years in business, Hive Bakery has made a name for itself. What began as a passion project for Haley became a brick-and-mortar establishment that has racked up awards, accolades and recognition on a national level with appearances on TV programs such as Food Networks’ The Big Bake — which Haley won with her team in 2020 — and Halloween Wars.
“Five years later, what we’ve achieved blows my mind, and it’s truly only in its infancy,” Haley said. “So, I’m like, ‘What the **** is going to happen in five years if that was our first five?’”
With a strong voice and proven products, Hive is set to thrive.
