The Forrager Podcast for Cottage Food Businesses

The Forrager Podcast for Cottage Food Businesses

Learn how to start a food business from your home kitchen by hearing stories from cottage food entrepreneurs about how they grew their businesses from the ground up. Does everyone ask for your recipes, or say "You should sell that"? Have you dreamed of starting a brick-and-mortar bakery, or simply want a fun hobby that brings in some extra dough? On this podcast, David interviews a wide range of entrepreneurs across America who legally sell their homemade food via their state's cottage food law. Each episode reveals strategies for marketing and selling your food products successfully from home, online, at farmers markets/events, and in stores. Learn what steps you should (or shouldn't) take, and get your cottage food business off to the right start!

Episodes

Cupcakes Paid the Bills: Amber’s Cottage Food Survival Story

July 7, 2026 • 65 mins
Amber Stokstad of St. Cloud, MN shares how a dark time in her life turned into a rainbow: a cottage food business that has had a profound impact on her family, her community, & her personally as well

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/171

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She Collects Ocean Water and Turns It Into $25 Jars of Salt

June 23, 2026 • 56 mins
Anna Eves of Cape Ann, MA shares how she turned a unique passion into a successful cottage food business by focusing on quality, branding, & community, despite facing unusual challenges along the way

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/170

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She Got Sued for a Wedding Cake… and Won (Porsha Kimble’s 6-Figure Baking Journey)

June 9, 2026 • 79 mins
Porsha Kimble of Dallas, TX shares her 20-year journey including starting as a home baker, competing on the Food Network, teaching around the world, and building a 6-figure packaged food business

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/169

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Nurse Turned Jelly Maker — 50+ Flavors, 10 Stores, All From Her Home Kitchen

May 26, 2026 • 63 mins
Halei Musil of Crescent, OK shares how her unique award-winning products led her to a surprising cottage food business journey that has enabled her to become an integral part of her local community

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/168

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From Empty Nester to Cookie Business Explosion: How Tammy Brennan Transformed Her Life

May 12, 2026 • 100 mins
Tammy Brennan of Vancouver, WA shares how she started a cottage food business as an empty nester and grew it into a huge success, with hour-long lines at markets and over 150k followers on Instagram

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/167

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One Year of Slow Sales — Then Everything Changed

April 28, 2026 • 58 mins
Yanhui Chen of Virginia Beach, VA shares how she transitioned from a cottage food business to a food truck and built a thriving business by constantly trying new things until she found what worked

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/166

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From Laid Off to $55K: The Cottage Food Business Success of Kathleen & Drew

April 14, 2026 • 77 mins
Kathleen & Drew Meyer of Boerne, TX share how they reached over $55k in sales within their first year in business by staying adaptable, implementing efficient business systems, and leveraging AI

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/165

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From Math Teacher to Cake Pop Mogul: Amy Mucha’s Multi-Million Dollar Journey

March 31, 2026 • 92 mins
Amy Mucha of Kent, OH shares how she massively scaled her home bakery and now sells over 100,000 cake pops per year, and then created a cake pop supplies business that is revolutionizing the industry

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/164

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Katrina Bland with Sweet Benefits

March 17, 2026 • 59 mins
Katrina Bland of Catonsville, MD shares how she boosted her small cottage food business by investing in professional coaching, focusing on ecommerce, and landing large corporate orders

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/163

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Beth Ford with Joe’s Bakery – Baton Rouge

March 3, 2026 • 56 mins
Beth Ford of Baton Rouge, LA shares how she found new purpose, passion, and peace in life by opening a cottage food bakery and growing it until she could quit her job and focus on the bakery full-time

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/162

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Lauren “Lolly” Anderson with Lolly’s Home Kitchen

February 17, 2026 • 57 mins
Lolly Anderson of Sioux Falls, SD shares how cookies literally changed her life and led her to build a successful cottage food bakery and a digital product business that has done over $1M in sales

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/161

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Brandy Nelson with Wild Currant Alaska

February 3, 2026 • 59 mins
Brandy Nelson of Soldotna, AK shares how she built a strong customer base by selling very unique and healthy products, and the challenges she needs to consider to continue scaling her business further

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/160

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Nicole Bendig-Lamb with Snarky Sweet Cake Chick

January 20, 2026 • 59 mins
Nicole Bendig-Lamb of Arvada, CO shares how she overcame self-doubt and became not just a successful cottage food entrepreneur, but also a recognized influencer, author, speaker, and business coach

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/159

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Melanie Scofield with Farm & Flour

January 6, 2026 • 59 mins
Melanie Scofield of Jacksonville, OR shares how her battle with cancer led her to create one of the country's best farm stands by focusing on building community, serving others, and being consistent

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/158

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Jacy Vinson with Joy-Full Bites

December 23, 2025 • 58 mins
Jacy Vinson of Eagle River, AK sells both physical and digital products with her bakery business and shares how this hybrid approach has allowed her to provide for her family in a sustainable way

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/157

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Tanya & Mike Clowers with South Street Cookies

December 9, 2025 • 60 mins
Tanya & Mike Clowers of Williamsburg, IA share how their cottage food bakery literally changed their life, saved them from financial trouble, and led them to quickly grow a huge social media following

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/156

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Alecia Ryan with Lee Cee Pie

November 25, 2025 • 52 mins
Alecia Ryan of Ardmore, PA shares how she built her cottage food business into a success by focusing on branding and customer relationships, despite facing many unpredictable changes along the way

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/155

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Katie Sacoman with Sweet Pea Bakery

November 11, 2025 • 59 mins
Katie Sacoman of Albuquerque, NM shares how she transitioned from custom orders to markets to wholesale by remaining adaptable and embracing the messiness that comes with growing your own business

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/154

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Alina Eisenhauer with Cottage Baking Success Academy

October 28, 2025 • 59 mins
Alina Eisenhauer of Worcester, MA shares the lessons learned from growing her small bakery into a major restaurant, including avoiding burnout, becoming profitable, and leveraging productive systems

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/153

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Lisa He with My Custom Bakes

October 14, 2025 • 59 mins
Lisa He of Orlando, FL shares how she built on her success as a cottage food baker by creating a popular online course business and a thriving software business for cottage food entrepreneurs

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/152

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