S2: Episode 12: Nichole Starkman, Baker, & Resident of Finland

Nichole left her home in the U.S. and moved to Finland in 2015. She is a Marketing and Business grad with a passion for baking. She combined these skills to create and introduce her company 'Americana Cakes & Sweets' to Finnish people. As is typical of solopreneurs, Nichole does everything from marketing to inventory control, managing her website and baking the wonderful desserts which make people happy. Contrast this with our discussion about Finland and Russia sharing a border. Nichole provides historical context about Finland’s history with Russia. 

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Transcript

 | 00:06 | Welcome to season two of Career Resilience, where we talk with people about their career path and their career journey, and maybe we can all learn from each other. My name is Jann Danyluk and I'm a human resources consultant in London, Ontario, Canada. I work with Ford Keast LLP, providing human resources, advice and counsel to my business clients. They also support people through individual one on one coaching in helping with career development.

 | 00:33 | I hope you will enjoy our series where we talk with ordinary, extraordinary people. We get to hear about interesting journeys. We get to talk with people about failures, successes, advice and counsel to us as we develop our own careers. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk with these people, and I hope you'll enjoy listening to it. And now for some logistics, please subscribe on YouTube. Or if you're a listener, please follow me wherever you get your podcasts.

 | 01:01 | And if you have a chance, I hope you'll visit my website. Career gosh, resilience dot com. Welcome. My guest today is Nicole Starkman. Nicole, welcome to career resilience. Thank you. It's such a pleasure to have you here. And today we're going to talk about some complex stuff.

 | 01:32 | We're going to talk about you, your career, and I think that that's quite fascinating what you do for a living. So we'll get into that and your resilience related to your career. And we're also going to talk about the fact that you live in Finland, which does border on Russia. And so you might have some perspectives that are interesting to share, just given that I'm located far away in Canada and it'll be interesting to chat about that. So yeah. Well, thank you for that.

 | 02:03 | Yes. So let's start with what you do for a living. Tell us what you do. OK, well, I like you said I'm now living in Finland. I'm originally from Minnesota. I moved here in twenty fifteen. Yes, 2015. Oh my gosh. With my Finnish partner, who I met in university in the U.S., he is from Finland. And when I got here, I. My background is in marketing. My university degree is in marketing.

 | 02:32 | And I did that for a little while, but kind of a hard time finding a job in my field because the Finnish language is really hard. It's something that I'm still working on. Long story short, I had been posting some cakes and everything that I made on Facebook just as a hobby, and people started asking if they could buy them. And I was really blown away that anyone would want to pay me to have a cake from me. But I said, sure, and then it just kind of snowballed from there.

 | 03:03 | And now I run my own baking business here in Finland like american-style cakes and treats. And so, yeah, so what is an American style cake and treat it in Finland? So in Finland, the typical kinds of cakes are more. Kind of similar to what we would have as a cheesecake in the U.S. or like a cream cake? Not so much like the layer cakes, like what the are used to in the U.S. So.

 | 03:35 | So they are becoming more popular. But when I started my business three years ago, it was still and still is actually quite a niche thing. So I really was able to kind of get in to that area when it was really getting popular. I think with Instagram and social media, it's been really popular to see all these really beautiful cakes like that online, and now people are wanting those kind of cakes. So what is your most popular cake?

 | 04:03 | I love this topic because it's so, it's so sweet. Yes. What is the cake? So right now, my most popular cake is actually red velvet. That is a big seller, and I think because it's something that's not really common here, you can't find it very many places. So it's really a special treat to have that. So I get a lot of orders for that.

 | 04:30 | And I do cupcake pop ups for holidays at one of the local grocery stores here. And people always request that there are red velvet cupcakes for the pop ups and those sell out like immediately. So, yeah, definitely. The Red Velvet is the favorite at the moment, at least. Okay, so you know what? It sounds like you have the perfect job because you get to bake and you get to decorate what you bake and so on.

 | 05:00 | What's the downside? What are some of the challenges of being in your business? Well, right now it's just me. And so I'm doing everything from marketing to social media to doing, ordering and making sure I have inventory to make everything doing the packaging, running the website, everything.

 | 05:25 | So it's I think that is the hardest part, and that's kind of being an entrepreneur in general is wearing many hats. So I think I don't know if I'd say it's a downside because I do enjoy different aspects of all of it. And like I said, I have my degrees in marketing, so I went to school for business, which really helps to have that background because I know a lot of people start businesses because they're really interested in whatever product or service they're selling, but they don't really know how to run a business.

 | 06:01 | So I'm glad you at least have that background, but it is really hard to do everything. Yeah. So during your busy season? Hmm. Well, actually, let me ask you that what is your busy season? It's kind of hard to say because I started in November of 2018, kind of doing this more on a full time, full time basis and then sort of really slowly started scaling it up very intentionally, slowly started scaling it up to make sure that I could kind of handle doing everything and sort of learning as I go and not wanting to make huge mistakes that were going to be really difficult to correct if I started out too fast.

 | 06:45 | And then, of course, COVID hit and people weren't having as many parties and get together and stuff. So of course, that's a huge part of my business is selling cakes for events and things like that. So it's been kind of hard to pinpoint what is my busy season, just as I have been running this business? The majority dream, a very strange time.

 | 07:11 | Did you have much of a slowdown through COVID then that you thought, I'm going to have to go out of business or were you able to keep steady? It was. It was very slow for a while at the beginning of COVID because of course, there were all these kind of shutdowns of everything. People didn't really know what is safe to do what you can do. So all events were canceled, everything like that. So I wasn't doing cakes for events, but me one day I don't know.
 
| 07:39 | I got really courageous or something, and I messaged one of the local stores to see if they would be interested in selling some of my cookies and cupcakes. And I thought, for sure, they will say no, because I'm the small business. No one has heard of me. And they immediately messaged back and said, yes. And so I started selling there just a couple of weeks after that. And that really helped sustain me during the slow times with customer orders because I was doing and still am doing sales through that store.

 | 08:12 | So that's fantastic. Yeah. So that was a really good additional revenue stream because I was getting hardly any take orders at that time because people. Weren't having events, so they just weren't seeing a lot to celebrate, maybe. Right, right. Well, and it's like, you know, you're not going to order a cake if there's only two of you or, you know, you're not having a party or something. Some people do, and that's great. I think there's nothing wrong with having extra cake. Absolutely.

 | 08:43 | But Nicole, on a long day when you have a long day of work, what time do you get up and go to bed? That's an interesting question. I am. I am really a night owl and I do my best work in the evening, so I tend to sleep in when I am able and I am a lot happier when I don't have a set time that I have to wake up.

 | 09:13 | So that can kind of vary. And then. Usually I start working, maybe sometime in the early afternoon and depending on how much work I have on, I guess on a busy day, I can be working until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. But and for me, that's actually I prefer that I would rather work until 2:00 a.m. then have to get up at 5:00 or 6:00 am to work. Gosh, I can so relate to that.

 | 09:44 | Yeah, I always say my biggest challenge in a day is going from horizontal to vertical. If you could describe in what way do you need to be resilient to do your business beyond the fact that you're a solopreneur and that you have to work in the business and on the business? But beyond that, how have you needed to be resilient? Well.

 | 10:09 | You have to kind of just learn to maybe not take things personally, which is very hard for me because I'm a very sensitive person and I have a very thin skin. So luckily I have not really had knock on wood. I don't want to jinx it, but I have not really had any big customer complaints during the whole time I've been in business, which is amazing because I don't know if I could handle it, to be honest.

 | 10:37 | And I and it's something that I need to tell myself that it's not a reflection on me, but I think when you're for me, when I'm doing cakes and I think for anyone who is a creative or makes some kind of product that they're selling, it is a part of you. And so if someone doesn't like it, it's it is easy to take it really personally. So I think that I have to just, yeah, luckily, I have not really had a problem.

 | 11:10 | When I first started out, I had a little bit of issue with some customers that thought maybe my prices were too high and things like that. And I, I did take that really personally, and I was really bad at staying firm and kind of knowing what my worth was. So how have you overcome that? How have you developed a thicker skin? Have you sort of read things that made you think, OK, this is how to cope with that, that sensitivity that I have my thin skin?

 | 11:40 | Yeah, I have. And I think that I have. It sounds bad, but I've stopped caring a little bit or at least stopped caring so much because I know that my product is worth it. And I know that the people who appreciate what I'm doing are going to be willing to pay for it. Or they, you know, I have a lot of really loyal customers who keep coming back to me.

 | 12:07 | And so I think once I got the confidence that I have these returning customers that just prove to me that I am doing something right and the product that I'm putting out is good and people do want it. And so I think it just came with experience of when I first started out, I wasn't sure if people would even want to buy anything from me. But now, now that I know that they do, it has helped me be a lot more confident in saying That's quite amazing.

 | 12:40 | I think that's pretty amazing. Just the way you grow in any job that you have, whether it's a solo premier or working in a corporation or an organization, you do, you grow in it and you develop your skillset in doing the job and you also develop the coping mechanisms that you need. And in your case, I completely understand when you say I cared a little less because it just makes you relax a little bit more, not the quality.

 | 13:09 | It's just no taxation feeling that you give yourself. Yeah, I think I had a lot of this imposter syndrome going into it too, because my background is not in baking. I didn't go to pastry school. Yeah, this was something that I'm self-taught, I'm a self-taught baker, and I'm still currently running as a home bakery, so I don't have like a fancy shop or anything like that. So I think it was partly my own insecurities of feeling like, well, I'm not a real baker.

 | 13:42 | I don't have a real business, I don't have a real store. And then after a while of doing this, I'm like, Well, that doesn't make me a real baker or not. I am a real baker. I think I make them and people like them. So, yeah, yeah, yeah. Imposter syndrome is it's a tough one, right? Because look brave on the outside and we're right paddling like mad on the inside. I what I ask, have you ever had a cake fall?

 | 14:12 | I just remember that from when I was a kid, cakes would fall. Luckily, not since I started my business. I mentioned before that I kind of started as a hobby baker and just posting pictures on Facebook. And so I have been baking for basically as long as I can remember. And I, everyone in freshman year of college in the dorm called me mom because I would make cakes for everyone on their birthday in the dorm and things like that.
 
| 14:39 | There was a while where I could not get a cake to stand, and so I switched to cupcakes for a few years because every layer cake I tried to make just looked like it had been through an earthquake. But luckily, I did a lot of self-studying and learning to figure out what I needed to do to, you know, make a more structurally sound cake. So but luckily haven't had haven't really had any.

 | 15:08 | Problems with that, so that's all part of the learning, right? Yes. OK, I wanted to ask you. I had three questions for you. The first was what's been the best career advice you received? So can you respond to that? Yeah, I was thinking about this, and I think that the best thing that I have been told is.

 | 15:34 | I was really unfocused all through college and even afterwards in terms of trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I changed majors so many times in college. I think I had like five or six different majors. It took me seven years to graduate with a four year degree just because I didn't really know what I wanted to do. And I kind of got to the point where I remember saying to my mom that I'm just going to get whatever job pays my bills and allows me to do the things that I want to do.

 | 16:07 | And you know, as long as I have the weekends off and I can afford to do fun things, its fine. And she said, You know, you have to have something that gives you some kind of purpose or meaning in life. And at the time being like twenty three or twenty four, I thought, like, whatever, mom, because my mom is a nurse practitioner, she's amazing at it. And she has kind of always known what her calling was.

 | 16:36 | And so I think I always thought like, Well, it's easy for you to say because you you've always known what you want to do. Yeah, but the more that I worked these jobs that I didn't really have passion for, the more I realized that it's not enough to just earn a paycheck. You have to do something that does mean something to you. And I know that obviously baking cakes, it's not like not curing cancer or changing the world or anything, but it makes people happy and that makes me really happy.

 | 17:07 | And so I think that in its own small way, it does bring something to people and it gives me a lot of fulfillment. It's something that I feel like I'm good at and that I really enjoy doing. And so even the days that I do work really long days or things don't go right, I still feel so much happier doing this than I ever have in any other job that I've done. So that's nice. And it's nice that the advice was from your mom.

 | 17:35 | So that's so second. My second question is, is there a book that's been influential in your life? I was actually thinking about this because I do love to read, but I actually I try to keep it. I don't read a lot of like business books or career related books or anything like that. So I can't say that I have anything that has really influenced me career wise.

 | 18:06 | But I do like to read for pleasure and I, one of my many majors in college, was history. So I love this. I love to read about history and historical fiction books. You do know, though, Nicole, that reading fiction is hugely educational. It is. It really is. Yeah. So, OK, should I let you off the hook on that or do you have a favorite part? I don't know, actually, because.

 | 18:35 | Yeah. Maybe we have to. Skipped that, the other question I wanted to ask you is what advice would you give your younger self? There's a lot, but I think like, well, I hate to say this because when she hears this, she's going to get too much satisfaction about this.

 | 18:55 | But listen to your mom, listen to your mom because she's been places, she's done things and she knows what she's talking about, even if my 18 to 25 year old self doesn't think so because. Yeah. And just to tell myself that it'll come together because I thought for so long that I wasn't going to ever figure out what I wanted to do.

 | 19:25 | And this was really just career path was not something that I ever expected, and it was just very random how it all ended up happening because I have always really loved to bake, but I never thought of it as an actual career for myself, even though a lot of people have always told me like, Oh, you should open a bakery? And I always just thought like, Oh yeah, ha, maybe someday. But I never saw that as an actual career path for myself. And now here I am.

 | 19:55 | So. Exactly. So, Nicole, I wanted to switch over to talking about you. Well, first of all, you moved to Finland. Yes. And obviously, you were very motivated to do that because of your partner. But surely it was quite a challenge for you to make that move. It wasn't. It wasn't. I think that I was really excited about it, and I'm from northern Minnesota, which has quite a lot of Finnish heritage in the background and myself included, my great grandparents were from Finland.

 | 20:33 | And so I was at least familiar with the culture and everything before I moved here. And so I thought like, Oh, this is so cool and kind of going back to the motherland. I will say that the first year was a lot harder than I expected, just because I'm a very independent person and I had to rely on my partner and his family so much the first year that I was here because I didn't know the language, I didn't know how to get anywhere.
 
| 20:57 | I didn't know even at the grocery store what aisle things are in or when substitute I can use if I'm making some recipe and that calls for an ingredient that they don't have here. So there were definitely some, some times during that first year, but I I'm really happy that I came and I honestly, I love living here so much.

 | 21:22 | So I did want to, as we discussed at the beginning, talked about how it feels for you to be on the border with Russia. But like I said, I love history. I majored in history and I don't know how familiar you are or other listeners are with kind of, I guess, European history or Finnish history in general. But unfortunately, this whole situation with Ukraine is a situation that Finland is very familiar with.

 | 21:51 | There is right at the beginning of World War Two, there's what was known as the Winter War, where Russia kind of did this same thing, where they were trying to provoke Finland to attack you first. And when that didn't really work out, then they decided to invade and tried to take over land area here. And even though the Russian army at the time was much bigger, actually, Finland was able to defeat them, which is really amazing.

 | 22:20 | And the history of it, I won't go. I will go to you in depth into that now, but it's super interesting. So if you're if you're into history at all or you just want to read more about it, I highly suggest looking into the Winter War because it is so much of what is happening right now, and this has kind of been Russia's M.O. for a long time. I do feel safe living in Finland, even though we are neighbors, because I think that they are.

 | 22:51 | Familiar with this sort of aggression, and actually, Finland has a very strong one of the biggest militaries in the whole of Europe because we have this sort of unpredictable neighbor. So because all of the men here have to go through military service, when you turn 18, they have to do it. The length of time varies. But all the men here are enrolled.

 | 23:22 | I guess essentially in the military and have gone through some training and everything like that. So it is an it is a pretty large and well-funded military here. Hopefully, it doesn't come to the point where it has to be used, but I do feel safe here in general. So when the Winter War ended, was there loss of land in food? There was, yeah, there was some, I can't remember off the top of my head the total amount.

 | 23:53 | But yeah, there are parts of eastern Finland or what were Eastern Finland that are now technically parts of Russia and actually my partner's family and I have some other friends who had family that were living in that area, too. At the time when it was taken over, luckily, it was a relatively small area. But yeah, there was. Yeah, it's hard for us to see where this is all going to go and when.

 | 24:23 | When you're in a country that borders the actual aggressive country, you sort of wonder, do your politicians constantly reassure you or? Yeah, I think that there is. And right now, especially the president here in Finland, he is very experienced and very well-liked.
 | 24:43 | I think he's been in office for 10 years now, and he somehow I feel very reassured by him because I think that he's really smart and really capable of dealing with the international conflicts and things like that. So I think that in general, people feel quite reassured, but actually one difference here too, as opposed to, you know, growing up in the U.S.

 | 25:14 | And I would assume also Canada is that, you know, in U.S., people haven't experienced like a war at home, at least people that are alive today. I've not experienced having a war at home and kind of the horrific things that come along with that. But there has been that war here in such recent history that there are still people alive that remember World War Two and the Winter War and parts of that. And.

 | 25:44 | And a lot of buildings. I think what is building over a certain size, they all have to have a bomb shelter in the basement. Office buildings have to have bomb shelters again because we have this kind of unpredictable neighbor. You can walk in the downtown. I mentioned I live in Turmel, which is on the southwest coast, and that was quite badly bombed during World War Two.

 | 26:11 | And you can see old buildings that still have marks in them from the bombs, which is its really chilling. I'm actually like, I have a little bit of goosebumps now thinking about it that, you know, this is something that is still very fresh in US history here and that is still having a ripple effect even all these years later. And it's something that I think, you know, Americans, it's so. And Canadians, it's so distant or so foreign.

 | 26:42 | It's kind of like a very abstract. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right that we're very aware of the ocean in between. Mm-Hmm. Right. Although, you know, Canada does border on Russia through the North. Right. But that's that that's there's just no comparison in any way, right? It's just, yeah, it's over there. Mm-Hmm.

 | 27:08 | And in your country, it's not the same over there, and you can actually see things that will starkly remind you of the reality of these things, that people being, well, cruel to each other and thinking that it's OK to take over or try to take over another country. Right. And there it's kind of a lot of the same.

 | 27:35 | Like I said, this has been sort of Russia has had this kind of same M.O. throughout history, too, because now what they're claiming is they have been or what they were claiming, at least at the beginning, is they were going into Russia for de-Nazification and saving Ukraine and things like that. And actually, it was kind of similar during the Winter War here to where Russia was flying over and they were saying that they were coming in with food aid and dropping food packages.

 | 28:05 | They were actually dropping bombs. So that's kind of another similar thing and actually a little fun fact. Fun know is that the Molotov cocktail was popularized during that time. Finnish people were using those. After these quote, food aid parcels a.k.a. bombs were being dropped. They were making these Molotov cocktails and throwing back, well, here's a cocktail to go with your food aid.

 | 28:36 | So that has kind of that was popularized during that time. Yeah. Well, and yeah, unfortunately, we're seeing that all. Again, which I think people always say that, you know, if you don't know history, you're doomed to repeat it and we see it repeating itself right now. And I think people that are familiar with what happened in Finland during that time are kind of like, yeah, this was expected to happen at some point.

 | 29:05 | And nobody is really its horrible. We want it to end, but nobody is very surprised by it, to be honest. So yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you for meeting with me today and thanks for chatting with me about such a myriad of topics from cakes to career to resilience and to what's in the in the current events. So I really appreciate that, Nicole. OK, yeah, you're welcome. Thanks for having me. Thank you.

 | 29:35 | So to our viewers and listeners, thanks for joining Nicole and me today. Kind of unusual to have the current events that are going on fairly nearby where Nicole is to chat about that and have the opportunity to chat. I really appreciated that. I hope that you will follow me. Where do you get your podcasts? Watch us on YouTube. And thanks for joining us today and until we meet again.