S2 Ep5: Entrepreneurial creativity with CEO of the Blessed Braid Cheryl Honig

Come join Lori Moilov and Cheryl Honig as they deep dive into entrepreneurship and creativity . Creativity is LIMITLESS!

Cheryl was born in Fullerton and raised in Anaheim in a conservative Jewish home. Celebrating the Jewish holidays was not only fun and joyous for Cheryl, but extremely meaningful. Her deep connection to Judaism stimulates her desire to celebrate the holidays with a strong emphasis on traditional Jewish foods.

Cheryl became deeply interested in how the body uses nutrients to fuel itself, so she enrolled in the Foods and Nutrition program at California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly Pomona).  Several years later she had the opportunity to live in England, so she took a 2 year leave of absence from the nutrition program to explore England and Europe. At the end of her leave of absence, she returned to Cal Poly Pomona to finish her studies and earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Foods and Nutrition. After graduation, Cheryl returned to England to accept a position as Medical Sales Executive at a baby food company. It was a joy to utilize her new-found nutrition knowledge, and natural ability to easily connect with people to educate nurses, midwives, and doctors about the baby formulas. After performing well in that position, Cheryl moved to Brussels, Belgium and participated in philanthropic work with the American Woman’s Club of Brussels.  After 10 years in Europe, Cheryl returned to America and obtained a Master’s in Public Administration from Brandman University, and proceeded to create, implement, and manage 3 public programs at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, CA. Some years later, Cheryl had
the unique opportunity to work at a successful, professional bakery in Orange County. She assisted in both customer service and the kitchen, learning best practices and understanding the baking industry.

Since becoming an adult and having her own kitchen, Cheryl enjoyed baking for friends and family during all types of occasions. She particularly enjoyed baking challah for Shabbat. While sitting in Rosh Hashanah services and listening to the Rabbi explain the importance of involvement in the Jewish Community, she started wondering how she could be helpful, and what skills she possessed that would be beneficial. At the conclusion of the service, she took a piece of challah, and said the Hamotzi blessing with the congregation. It only took 1 bite for her to realize that the challah tasted terrible. She knew that she could make a much better challah, and immediately realized that she could serve the Jewish community by baking fantastic challah. That was the spark that flamed the creation of The Blessed Braid!

Cheryl began by obtaining a permit from the Orange County Health Care Agency to bake challah in her home and sell it to the community. Over the course of 1 and half years, a large customer base developed and she was poised with the decision to keep her business home based, or open a retail bakery complete with a kosher certification. After much discussion with a consultant from the Small Business Development Center, Cheryl decided to move forward and open The Blessed Braid. The only kosher certified retail bakery in Orange County! Every item is dairy free and baked fresh on the premises from wholesome ingredients. The kosher certification is from the Rabbinical Council of California who have been extremely supportive and helpful throughout the whole process.

The bakery opened in December of 2021 with 10 items that Cheryl had enjoyed baking regularly for 30 years. Since the opening, the very talented bakers at The Blessed Braid have created many more baked goods and they continue to do so every week. The menu keeps expanding and evolving to serve the needs and satisfy the taste buds of Orange County residents.  Cheryl will continue to develop the bakery by pursuing wholesale accounts, increasing catering, and promoting the bakery to the local commun