Rick (00:04): It takes a bit of a blend of art and science to get baking just right and having extra eyes, ears, and hands can make a big difference along the way. That's where Ab Maori, north America comes into play. We are the team behind industrial and artisan bakers that help optimize success. We'll discuss more on this episode of the Oven Light. So let's get going. Flip the switch.

Rick (00:31): The oven light is back in session for season number three and we've got a great guest. But before that, let's flip the switch. The oven light is on. Welcome to our good friend Leah Holter. Let me give you a little bit of background on Leah. So we've known Leah a long time. I mean even with her name of Leah Weber, you may know her as that. She's married. She's got a great husband, a great family Max, but you would know her from a long time ago. She was a baking ambassador for AB Maori. She also won the next Great Baker, a reality TV show, and she decided of all things outside of being an outstanding wedding cake maker here in the St. Louis area. She started her own bakery. Perfect timing during Covid. It's made by Leah, but she went back to her hometown and opened up a wonderful shop. Leah Holter, welcome to the show.

Lia (01:24): Thanks for having me. So excited to be here.

Rick (01:27): Yeah, I mean, we've known you for a long time. You've been friends of the family, if you will, and hopefully we're friends of your family too. So this is your first visit and hopefully not your last, but we got a lot to talk about. Right? So let's jump into it right away. And so you're a baker at heart. I gave a little bit of the background. You've been on tv, you've been able to handle those pressure filled moments. You've also opened up your shop and you talk about pressure, especially during a crazy time. What was your inspiration? What even got you into baking to start with?

Lia (01:59): Yeah, I've always loved baking since I was a little kid. I baked Christmas cookies with my grandma and my great grandmama and my mom and all my sisters. We have a big Italian family, and so I really just fell in love with being in the kitchen at a young age, baking Christmas cookies with my family and I kind of started at that and then I would bake or always help my mom cook in the kitchen. And so I knew that when I grew up that my heart and my love for being in the kitchen, I wanted to do that every day. So it's kind of where it all began.

Rick (02:28): Well, your family does have an interest in the restaurant business too, right? Tell us a little bit about hen's in florist.

Lia (02:35): Yeah, so my brother-in-law's family started hen's and Old town Florissant, and him and my sister run it now and they have for years. It's about 20 plus years old and it's just a little hidden gem and Old town Florissant. So it's a place to be, man. Their parking lot is hopping every night. It's awesome to see 'em so successful and busy.

Rick (02:54): I've been in there. It's fantastic. And it's only a quick little golf cart trip away to your bakery. So let's kind of move over to that right away. We're going to talk about Made by Leah, first of all, made Period by Leah. It's such an inspiration. I know we've talked about the naming, but how did you come up with it and then why was it such an important thing for you to go back to your hometown and start a bakery there?

Lia (03:23): Yeah, well, I came up with May period by Leah in 2012. I just got back from Italy. I studied abroad a little bit, well just more so partied a little bit in Italy and then ate a lot of pastries along the way. But that's when I came home and I was, I was so inspired by seeing all the pastries and everything that I knew I wanted to start my own business. I didn't know where to start. So I started on Facebook and it was like, what's your name going to be? And I was like, it took me a while and I was like, you know what? I could do baked by Leah or Cakes by Leah, but I was like, she's going to do Maid. I wanted it to be a little more broad than just cakes or just cookies. So I did Maid and I added the period just I thought it was cool and made Eylea was born, so, so then, as you know, I was working out of a Mari for many years and worked out of a tiny little apartment trying to just build and grow my business and then landed in Old Town Floors because I was North County born and raised and bought a house here, and the building popped up for sale just down the street.

Lia (04:27): So I was like, this is it. I'm going to start it in my backyard, basically.

Rick (04:32): Well, you talked about the relationship with Ab Mari. So let's go back and we'll have to give a shout out to a friend of ours that we have in common. Bill Dons right used to head up Pulaski Bank here, and he knew you and said, Hey, let's make a connection here. I think it was like the original Pancake House, and that's where the relationship kind of started. And we said, well, we're moving our corporate headquarters, this is back in 2015, moving from Chesterfield down to the Cortex Innovation District. And we said, wow, we need some energy and some action and some activity in our baking hub with our bakers, and you were making these wonderful wedding cakes. We'll come back to how many award-winning and all that, but you gave us some energy in some just attraction because we've got an open space and there was always something going on and you're baking and working so hard. What was that, those early days? Being in the lab,

Lia (05:26): Man, those days, I'll always remember those days I was just a hustle and grind nonstop. I kind of always felt like I was in a fishbowl. Everybody was watching, you'd have clients come through, but it was also really neat. It helped me build my brand. I had many people that were like, oh, I saw you in the baking cup and I order a cake for next weekend or whatever. So it was really a great way for me too, because prior to you guys letting me use your space, I was baking out of an apartment. So I had one half size refrigerator, I had a little oven, I had no workspace whatsoever. And I was doing all of this and trying to build my brand. I had just won next week Baker and I had tons of people wanting to have kicks and everything for me, and I kept having to say no, I just didn't have the space to do it. And so you guys offered me that ability to grow and to grow, not only the business on the kick side, but the social media side. And I just felt like a kid in the candy shop having all of the space I could ever want a big work table, multiple ovens, a dishwasher. I mean, it was so perfect for me, and I'm so grateful and thankful that that opportunity was there because without it, this wouldn't have happened. So it was just awesome. I had many early mornings, many late nights there.

Rick (06:39): No offense to our young bakers listening in, but it was not an easy bake, right, based on your kitchen. It was a lot going on. So with that, we talked about some of your award-winning. How many years is it now? Best of St. Louis for St. Louis Magazine. How many years now?

Lia (06:59): Yeah, so I think it was my fourth year in a row for the A-List, St. Louis, A-List Magazine, best Wedding Cakes and Desserts. I'm in the Knot Hall of Fame, which is a big one for wedding industry. That's it. You have to win the best of award for six years street or something. So I've been in the Knot Hall of Fame for the last probably like 10 years or so, which is pretty big in the wedding industry to be in the Knot Hall of fame. They're like almost every bride goes to this website to check out the best cake places, the best vendors, the best photographers and things like that. So got a really good rating on there too. So that's just a great way for brides to find me, even though now I'm like, I really don't need to even pay for marketing. I just have, we're so busy as it is, which is great. I'm thankful for that. But word of mouth and social media is just so huge these days. So I really don't need to do a lot of outside marketing with the word of mouth that already comes to our business.

Rick (07:58): You know what, we're going to take a quick sidebar here, a timeout on some of these hot and heavy questions. Let's talk about the hot pan. Alright, we're going to put you rapid fire questions here. First one, favorite baked. Good.

Lia (08:13): Oh my gosh, that's hard. Probably. You said, this is a quick question. That's a hard question for me.

Rick (08:21): Break it down into bread versus sweet goods. How about that? What's your favorite bread and what's your favorite? Sweet. Good.

Lia (08:28): Yeah, sweet goods. Let's see. I mean, I love anything that's fruity and tart, but also I love chocolatey with a little hint of salt. So anything that has that salty sweet or something that's very tart is usually my favorite. My lemon meringue tart, which is one of my signatures. I'd say that's probably one of my favorite baked goods. Or you can't go wrong with a classic big old chewy chocolate chip cookie.

Rick (08:54): Well, I would say this, Leah, if you've never been to Made by Leah, you should check it out if you're in the St. Louis area because she does have a mean chocolate chip cookie that is chewy and it's got a little bit of sea salt on it. But then she also does her own take on a, I don't know if I can say it here, but I will anyways, a Pop tart, but it's your version of a fruit filled tart that is pretty darn good.

Lia (09:16): Yeah, the cherry strudel. It has a really light SS flaky crust filled with our homemade cherry jam and then topped with a simple vanilla icing. Definitely has a take on the classic pop tared, cherry strudel or strudel toaster strudel that you grew up with. A lot of my stuff. I just want to bring you back to childhood. That's my main goal.

Rick (09:35): I love it. I love it. Okay, second question, is a hot dog a sandwich?

Lia (09:42): So I'm not a big hot dog gal, I'll be honest. I would say I would not consider it a sandwich. I see how people would debate that because it's definitely two pieces of bread sandwiched with condiments and things. If I walked into a deli, I wouldn't expect to get a hot dog. I would expect to get a sandwich. So in my opinion, I would say a hot dog is on its own level, not a sandwich. Final answer.

Rick (10:10): Alright. Alright. I love it. Okay. You're pretty adamant about it. And number three,

Lia (10:15): Also, I love sandwiches and I don't like hot dogs. So I would say that's my debate.

Rick (10:21): Okay, I got you. And final question, do you eat the heel of a loaf of bread? The ends?

Lia (10:29): It would depend on the type of bread. If it's a really good seeded ODI bread, I would pop that in the toaster and make a fancy toast with it. But if it's just a classic piece of white bread, definitely not.

Rick (10:42): Okay. Just so you know, I am a big fan. Most of my family, nobody touches it. I love it. I think it's the best. It's the best. That's how,

Rick (10:51): Okay, let's get back into it. So we talked a little bit and we dabbled about the next Great Baker, which is if you're not familiar with, is a reality TV show. And you had different bakers from around the country vibes to become the next great baker and showing off their skills. But there is a buddy, the cake boss, and although e b Murray has a good friendship with our good friend Doc Goldman, they've clashed on tv. So tell me about the whole next Great Baker experience and what you learned and you had the option to actually go work for one of buddy's businesses.

Lia (11:29): Exhausting and grueling experiences I ever was a part of. It was amazing, obviously since I won, but to get there was so challenging and we would film like 50 to 15 to 20 hours a day. They would barely feed us. Tensions were high, and we would just be exhausted waking up at the crack of dawn to get set to film and then work for eight to 12 hours on a cake. It was nuts. But each week teams kept getting eliminated and we kept staying. And by the end of it I was like, I think we actually have a chance to win this thing. And sure enough, we won, which was pretty amazing. And obviously we were up against a lot of talent, so it was just really cool to bring home a win back to St. Louis. And yeah, my prize was that I could have won or worked for Buddy, the cake boss, which great businessman, great business in general. I mean, he's known around the world and would've been an amazing experience. But my heart home is in Lewis and I would rather have been a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. And I just knew that if I took that job, I would've just become a number or just a baker at one of his shops and not actually have a name for myself.

Rick (12:48): Well done. Had you gone through that other path we wouldn't have met and you wouldn't be on the program. So tell me about who's your teammate during the next Great Baker, and do you still stay in touch with some of those people that you're vying against for that award?

Lia (13:01): Yeah, so my teammate on the next Great Baker was a coworker that I had at the time. His name was Al. I think he's actually no longer in the cake business, which is a shame. He was so talented.

Rick (13:10): Let's fast forward to the beginning of the pandemic. You're getting ready to open up your own shop and all of a sudden the world just changes immediately and you kind of have to adjust your plans after finding this cute little storefront and you and your husband Max and your friends and all that overhaul this place and make it a beautiful bakery. So give a sense of that.

Lia (13:37): I remember showing you this space when right after we bought it and you were, I don't know if you were like, well, that's a lot to bite off, but

Rick (13:46): It was a big space. But I tell you what, you and your team, I've been lucky to go in there and visit and buy some of your great goods, but you've got an unbelievable team that's really talented. Everybody's young and energetic, and it fits your mode.

Lia (14:02): Yep. Yeah, they're the best. I wouldn't be here without them, but yeah, so we were set to open in spring of 2020 and I had my grand opening date. I had the news and everybody ready to roll, and then two weeks prior, the whole world shut down and I was like, what are you talking about? I'm supposed to have my grand opening in a couple weeks. And so honestly, it worked out for us in the best ways possible. It sounds strange, but I was really able to drive up a lot of bus for the opening, which we ended up opening in August of 2020. So we had extra time to find a staff because at that time in the spring, I had one employee because my husband said, I can only afford one employee and we weren't ready. So in a weird way, it all worked out.

Lia (14:50): We ended over the summer having popups, which would sell out in a matter of minutes. I would post, I have cake bombs this week and cakes and this and that, and people would go online and buy 'em and they would sell out super fast. And then we ended up also raising money with a Kickstarter, which thank you to Rick and Cindy for contributing to that. But we did a Kickstarter to help us open the doors, that last final push we needed. And within 24 hours, we raised \$24,000, which was amazing. My goal was 15, and we exceeded that and ended up raising, I think \$25,000 to help us open our doors, which was amazing that the community and St. Louis and beyond contributed to it. And it was just, I'm getting emotional thinking about it. It was just so amazing how everybody was just stood behind me and backed me up and were there for me to help and help me achieve my dream. So it's really

Rick (15:44): Cool. That's awesome. Well, you've got a couple calling cards in my eyes, and you talked about social media, and I think you've done a wonderful job of trying to reach out to people and people really connect with you that way. And if like, Hey, this weekend I'm doing a special item, people do Flo and they go out and visit you. So I think that's one. The other one, I think we can't have a program, we can't have the oven light without talking about the tattoos that are on your wrist and find their way to cakes that are part of your logo. So give us the scoop. If you know Leah, you've seen kind of this flowery print, but give us the background.

Lia (16:19): So cherry blossoms have always been important to me. They kind of symbolize the shortness of life and how beautiful life is. And I've had close people to me that have passed away. So they represent that. They also represent the flowers that created hundreds of cherry blossoms at the finale episode of Next Great Baker. So I decided I wanted to tattoo that right on my wrist. And then when I started doing my social media for mainly Instagram, but Facebook too, I wanted to kind of come up with a unique way to take pictures of my cakes. And you can set a cake down on its table and take a picture. Yeah, that's fine. But I wanted it to be known that these were made by Leah cakes. So I would stick my hand out, hold the cake in my hand, and take a picture where you can see my tattoo of the cherry blossoms and then see the cake and it's become a signature look. I one time posted a picture with one of my employees holding the cake or something, and somebody on my Facebook was like, who is this? I think it's an imposter. They were just appalled that I put someone else's wrist on my Instagram or Facebook,

Rick (17:21): Hey, people notice everything. And when it's your signature and your calling card.

Lia (17:26): Yeah, I haven't done that since. I was like, okay, this is my signature thing. And it's funny, I never did it as intentionally. It just kind of became my thing. And then people just started recognizing it and they'll be like, oh yeah, that's one Aaliyah's cakes or whatever. So yeah, I've always loved social media and diving into how people relate, and I've just always been really real. I don't hide anything. I share a lot of things personal and with business and everything. And I think that's why people tend to support my business and everything because they know it's me and it's like a real person is behind this business.

Rick (18:04): Alright, Leah, we're going to turn our attention a few more hot pan questions here. You ready? We've got another three pack. We're ready. Yeast roll or cornbread?

Lia (18:12): Yeast roll.

Rick (18:14): Why?

Lia (18:15): Because it's softer and fluffier. Cornbread is just dry and sawdust.

Rick (18:20): Then you're just not having the right butter. Maybe not the right boil chili, but that's okay. I'll let you, this is your program. All right. Cake donut or yeast raised?

Lia (18:30): Ooh, that's tough because I would say my two favorite donuts is either just the classic sprinkle cake donut from when I was a kid, but I also love the yeast raised cinnamon and roll one that's covered in caramel and pecans. So that's a tough one. I would say that's a tie for me.

Rick (18:48): Those all sound pretty good. All right, last one. And you do both of these, cupcake or cake pop?

Lia (18:55): Definitely a cupcake. I think you can incorporate so many more flavors and textures in a cupcake, whereas a cake pop is just cake and buttercream rolled up till it's mushy and then dipped in chocolates.

Rick (19:08): We're going to take a little bit further on the cupcake. How do you eat it?

Lia (19:12): So I'm not super big on when there's too much icing, so I'll either take off most of the icing or if I have a knife or if I'm able to cut it in half and sandwich it together.

Rick (19:24): Okay. So that's our good friend Duff talked about and we saw it, and we use this as a family. You take the bottom portion of the cake and you flip it on top and you make a sandwich out of it. It's brilliant and it's so simple, but why didn't people think about this even in the eighties? Exactly.

Lia (19:41): Yeah. I don't

Rick (19:41): Know. Well, alright, let's continue on a little bit and we're going to talk a little bit about family. It's a big part of your story. You talked about on the upfront with cooking and baking with your grandmother, and you are married, you have a couple great kids. And so tell us about that. Why is it important? How does it keep you grounded when you've got a lot going on, obviously with a bakery and employees and honors and all that?

Lia (20:12): Yeah, I would say that's the hardest balance to do is the work life mom, life boss life, wife life, all the different hats that I wear, I would say is the hardest balance to do. And some days I'm on it, I'm like, yeah, I'm the best mom ever. And I'm doing great at being a boss and I feel like my business is awesome. And then there's other days where I'm like, I'm the worst mom. I failed or so it's just like it's really, it's hard and I'm still learning it and I definitely am not perfect for sure. But I think the greatest thing for me for my setup is that I live a block away from the bakery or a 32nd golf cart ride home. I'm also a block or two away from my kids' school, so I'm able to pick them up and bring them to school every morning.

Lia (20:57): I think living and working and owning a business in my community is the best thing I could have ever done. If I would've built this bakery elsewhere and lived here and then had to commute and all that, I don't think I would've been able to do it. I a six-year-old, four-year-old, I've got about 20 employees and then plus all the emails and everything you have to keep up with behind the scenes. It's a lot. But I have an awesome team, an amazing family. My husband Max is my rock. He is the one that he does all the payroll, does a lot of behind the scenes stuff. He still has a full-time job yet, he delivers wedding cakes with me every Saturday, and he does payroll every other Monday. And he does so much behind the scenes for the bakery that people probably don't even know that he's involved, but he is involved way more than it looks.

Lia (21:46): And so I'm just so thankful that we are a great team. We built this together, we sunk our whole life savings into everything into this bakery. And I always say that he bet on a horse, and I'm hoping that I'm winning the race. But yeah, so family is just huge for me. And living in the community where I have the bakery, it's such a blessing to be able to run home real quick if I need to. Or I could come in here at four in the morning if I have to get something done in order to make it to my daughter's soccer game or things like that. Just creating that balance of being able to juggle being a mom and a boss and a wife and a owner and all that. It comes with its challenges, but I think it was what I was meant to do.

Rick (22:28): Well, pun intended, Leah. It sounds like a recipe for success.

Lia (22:33): Oh man. Yeah.

Rick (22:34): So I'm throwing one more hot pan at you're not even expecting. And then we're going to dive into a whole nother area, which I think will be fun. And it's talking a little bit about the future. So here we go. You ready?

Lia (22:46): I'm ready.

Rick (22:48): Favorite brand of yeast?

Lia (22:50): Oh man, that's a hard one. There's so many good ones out there. No, I'm just kidding. The only brand of yeast that we use at my bakery and at home is flashing yeast.

Rick (23:01): I love it. That was a shameless plug. Thank you very much. This is not the first time we've really collaborated, right? We worked with our friend, Kat Neville at the time was creating a program for P B Ss called Taste Makers, and we did different baked goods in different parts of the country even. Are you going to bring back any of those recipes? And if so, is there one that you're like, this has to make it into this cookbook, this has to make it into this recipe book that is so important to my history or my family or what I'm about?

Lia (23:32): Yeah, I definitely think, especially if we're talking yeast, I loved when we went to San Diego with Cat Neville and for Tastemakers and I did a whole bunch of focaccia. I think that would be something that would be a recipe to add into the book, especially with our history with that. And I just think it would be a super fun recipe for people to make. You're so versatile. You can make it in so many different ways and so many different toppings. So I would definitely think that's going to be one that you might see featured in there. For sure.

Rick (24:01): Awesome. So Leah, what's next for you? Beyond, I mean, you've got a book, you've got a growing business. Are you ever entertaining opening a second shop or is there something else that's really important? You said you're a dreamer. What are those dreams? Yeah,

Lia (24:16): I mean, I'm always thinking, that's for sure. I would definitely say the cookbook is at the top of my list. The cookbook could lead to maybe a little mini YouTube series or a line of cookbooks. I love to bake, but I also have a huge passion for cooking. I cook every night at home and I just love cooking meals with my family. So I could see having a savory cookbook. I do painted cakes, which are really unique, so I could see having a whole book or series about how to paint on cake instead of on canvas and things like that. As far as expanding to another location, I'm not sure yet. I do have my eye on a building, an old town that I just love that I could see being like provision shop with fresh baked breads and craft wine and cheeses and things like that. But that's probably more of a long-term goal. But yeah, I think that this is just the beginning.

Rick (25:09): Well, Leah, we're thrilled that you've been on the program and for those that are listening, if you're listening in the office or maybe driving in your car or who knows, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, whatever, we appreciate you joining. And if you do have a question for Leah or for us at the Oven Light, you can send it to us. Email us at the oven light@abmaori.com. Again, the oven light@abma.com and we'll be happy to get back in touch with you. Might even send you some swag if you give us your address. But we definitely appreciate Leah, thanks so much for being on today's program.

Lia (25:42): Oh, so happy to be on and super excited. Thanks for having me. It was a blast. And yeah, if you want to reach out to me and if you have any questions, feel free to email info at made by Leah l i a.com.

Rick (25:54): So for now, the switch is off the oven, light is off, but we're excited about season number three and we'll have a great lineup of future episodes. And for now, thanks for listening. We'll see you soon. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of The Oven Light. Until next time, when we discuss more about the wonderful world of baking technology trends and more, the switch is officially off. Goodbye for now. See you next time.