E15: From Pastry Chef to Industry Leader: Scott Calvert’s Baking Journey

From Pastry Chef to Industry Leader: Scott Calvert’s Baking Journey

In this episode of The Perfect Rise, Scott Calvert—President of Tootie Pie Co. and immediate past president of the Retail Bakers of America—shares his 35+ year journey in the baking industry. From his start at the New England Culinary Institute to building The Cake Plate, and now leading in wholesale production, Scott’s story is one of adaptation, leadership, and legacy.

We talk about:
 • Transitioning from retail to wholesale baking
 • The biggest learning curves in packaging, distribution, and scaling
 • Why education and leadership matter for the future of baking
 • The role of IBIE in connecting and equipping bakers worldwide
 • Succession planning, legacy, and sharing knowledge across generations

Whether you’re a retail baker, wholesaler, or industry professional, this conversation is full of insights on navigating challenges, embracing opportunities, and preparing for the future of baking.

👉 Listen now and learn from Scott’s wisdom on building a lasting impact in the industry.

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Transcript

Kimberly Houston (00:00)
Today on The Perfect Rise, I'm talking with Scott Calvert, president of 2D Pie Co. and the immediate past president of the RBA board. Scott's journey in baking began at the New England Culinary Institute, where he discovered a passion that carried him from pastry work in hotels and restaurants to launching his own bakery, The Cake Plate.

which he ran successfully for over two decades. Now leading at 2dPyCo, Scott has shifted his focus from retail to wholesale, navigating the complexities of supply chains, scaling production, and supporting bakers across the country. In our conversation, he shares why education and leadership are essential to the future of baking, the role IBIE plays in connecting our industry, and what legacy means when you step behind the day-to-day opportunities.

I'm so excited to bring you this conversation. Let's jump in.

Kimberly Houston (00:56)
welcome back to The Perfect Rise. I am here today with Scott Calvert, Scott, welcome to the podcast.

Scott Calvert (01:03)
Thanks for having me. Good to be here.

Kimberly Houston (01:05)
I know this is exciting. I've been looking forward to this one. I cannot wait. So we're gonna jump right into our conversation. So you've spent years shaping this industry. Can you share a little bit about your journey and what drew you to leadership roles like the RBA board and IBIE planning?

Scott Calvert (01:22)
Sure. I've been in the bakery business for almost 35 years. I love it. Background pastry chef. So, worked in small places, worked in ⁓ all the carton dessert type of things and then had some experience with higher production. With Motorola, I was with them for about six years as a pastry chef doing everything from...

All our cart desserts and our fine dining to the cafeteria to in-house catering for all the events that go on. At the time had about almost 7,000 people working at the plant that I was at and it ran 24 seven. So some good, good experience. Did wedding cakes for 30 years. but I think the talking about getting into, um,

you know leadership that type of thing i did have an invitation and rba years ago which was flattering and great ⁓ but what i liked about the mission of rba was the education and ⁓

helping other people get to where they want to be, whether it's getting a brick and mortar, just getting into baking, starting as a student, that type of thing. I look back and when I started, I really didn't have anyone to ask those questions to, so had to do a lot of things on my own and figure those things out. So my mindset is really, if I can help somebody not have to reinvent the wheel every single day like I did, it's...

that's valuable, right? mean, sharing the knowledge that I have that I've picked up along the years, that's what I want to do is be able to share that with other people and help advance them in what they're trying to do.

Kimberly Houston (03:08)
Nice! I love that so much. So tell me how'd you get involved with IBIE? ⁓

Scott Calvert (03:15)
So the IVIE, you know, I've gone to a number of the shows over the years, just being in the baking industry, I've heard about it. I decided this go is a great place for. ⁓

looking at equipment, just networking with other bakers and ⁓ all the education stuff that was in there. And that was really before I knew anything about RBA, putting a lot of that education on and kind of how it all worked. But when I was being on the board of directors with RBA, we have a few seats on the board for IBIE, so I was asked to be on one of those seats.

It's been an amazing process. We just had a call ⁓ last week and I told the team that. I said it's been so fun being on the planning board. on the international team so I've been able to go to Mexico and meet with some people that we're trying to make connections with there. I was able to go to Canada and make...

connections with people there and so kind of seeing behind the curtain it's really exciting to see how it all comes together

Kimberly Houston (04:34)
Okay, Scott. So what did the transition from running a retail bakery to focusing on wholesale look like for you? And what sparked that shift?

Scott Calvert (04:43)
So for the...

For the most part, we've always been more of a wholesale bakery. we started, I started doing desserts for smaller restaurants around town. And so it was always to order, right? So it wasn't really a retail that we had a bakery case that was filled with pastry. I would literally go around and knock on restaurant doors. And I knew that, know, savory chefs are typically

not really fond of doing sweet stuff, right? So my pitch was let me be your offsite pastry chef. And this was in a time in Austin when people really couldn't afford to have a pastry chef. The large hotels mainly did, and even some of those were fading out just because of the economy.

Kimberly Houston (05:28)
Thank

Scott Calvert (05:35)
So I started doing it that way. ⁓ So that was all to order. then obviously when I got into wedding cakes, that was all to order as well. it really, the retail that we have now kind of has been an evolution for us. So kind of the opposite of starting that way and then going out. The wholesale is nice. We also distribute through a lot of broadliners. So the Cisco's and US foods and all those guys. ⁓

Kimberly Houston (05:50)
Thank

Scott Calvert (06:03)
all through Texas and then little bit of outside of Texas as well. ⁓ that's kind of, I've had conversations with people who do grocery, who do retail, who do distribution like I do. And I think it's, your comfort zone becomes what you come up in. So the wholesale was definitely my comfort zone. And even doing, trying to some grocery now, it's a different animal than...

than broad line stuff. And retail is completely different because of the different customer care aspect and the different things that go into the branding and all the other pieces of the puzzle. So ⁓ it's been a really broad experience, but it's been really good. Yeah.

Kimberly Houston (06:49)
nice.

Okay, so that's the perfect segue. So tell me, what were some of the biggest learning curves when stepping into this? Form production, distribution, mindset? What things did you have to go through? ⁓

Scott Calvert (06:54)
Yeah

There was a huge learning curve. was very helpful that I had some people that kind of took me under their wing and helped me along in that. I was so used to making desserts for restaurants, that type of thing, delivering directly, doing all that stuff that when you go into distribution you have...

You have different packaging, have different labeling, have different, you have to have shelf life, you have to have all these different things. I literally showed up at Cisco for my first meeting and I had everything in a white bakery box and they liked everything but they're like, so what's your packaging?

You're looking at it. don't know what to tell ⁓ you. some of that coaching and stuff was invaluable to get me where I needed to be. So ⁓ it was the right people at the right time helping me along and helping me learn all that stuff. And it's it's funny, even with packaging, that's such a huge part of our business. And it's always changing. have...

We try to make packaging that keeps our stuff in place now that doesn't get jostled around when it's in delivery with all these different things. So it's always kind of learning how to go at it different ways. ⁓ So it's kind of been an ongoing process over the years.

Kimberly Houston (08:17)
you

Mm-hmm.

⁓ I love that. That is so smart. I don't think I would have thought about like the evolution of what your packing looks like, like from start to finish, but it definitely does. It definitely does change.

Scott Calvert (08:30)
You

yeah, absolutely.

Kimberly Houston (08:42)
that.

so I would love to know what does a typical day look like now that you're no longer in the retail space like you personally now that you're outside of the business. how do you stay connected to the heart of the baking community when you're not in your operation day to day?

Scott Calvert (09:01)
Interesting. Good question. ⁓ Because it has changed a ton. know, everyone probably everyone who listens or sees this, you know, knows what operations look like inside the bakery. You know, it could be a, you know, 12, 14 hour day as you're running operations type of thing. I'd say that now it's it's a it's kind of nice because what I've worked on for the last few years is

kind of grooming my director of operations to take over a lot of that stuff that, that she really relied on me on, but she really has the capacity to do it and does it well. It's getting the confidence and the, and you know, making sure all the pieces of the puzzle are in place. and just making sure that she's fully empowered to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of. You know, I'm always here for questions or, know, for advice or to talk through issues, whether it's HR, whether it's

We're finding, we've had so many issues with supply chain things or eggs. There's just bigger issues that we need to have a larger discussion about. But day to day really that falls on her and she does a great job with it. For me specifically, it's nice because I get up and I start looking through, being in a few different areas now, I'm connecting with people all over the

Really the world at this point. It's great because it could be a day where I need to have We have calls with IBIE where we're talking about, you know, the show is right around the corner Are people having problems with visas? What are we looking at from different countries? Are we having you know, so there's things like that that that create a real broad view that 10,000 foot view of you know, instead of being so narrow focus just on what you do every day and the bakery and stuff It's nice to be able to feed that in

Kimberly Houston (10:42)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (11:00)
back into ⁓ different channels that people want to know what's going on. They don't understand what's happening and how that affects maybe the show or maybe ⁓ vendors or that type of thing. With the RBA, it's great because we're always reaching out to other people. We're talking to bakers. ⁓ I just went on a vacation and I'd love to go into bakeries and just introduce myself. Hey, if I'm

We don't know each other, but I wanted to see your bakery and this is who I am and if I can ever help you. know, so it's, love to network with people organically like that because sometimes people aren't familiar with RVA. Sometimes they have questions and they go, you know what, that would be great to have that resource to answer questions or, you know, you know, bounce things off other people and kind of get advice on things.

And ⁓ it's also a great way to talk to them about the values of going to IBIE and that type of thing.

And then on the bakery side, I'm always going to shows. We'll do ⁓ food shows for these broadliners several times a year where we're showing the products that we make. So I get to connect with other people in the industry. It could be other bakers. could be other vendors that there that I see all the time that it's great to see what are they working on? What new products do they have? What's their innovation? ⁓

Kimberly Houston (12:21)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (12:25)
And then I go to other shows that are kind of ancillary food shows that don't necessarily impact directly with the bakery. But I love talking to people there because there are so many people that don't think about the baking industry, but their products may cross over and be a good fit. And so I get to talk to them about that. So it's this nice broad range of people that I'm talking to ⁓ and just kind of

Kimberly Houston (12:43)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (12:54)
It helps me keep a little bit of pulse on the industry as a whole from different people's aspects and different points of view, right? ⁓ Which I think has been invaluable for me over the last handful of years that ⁓ I've learned so much. I love learning stuff. You know, I have conversations with people that, you know, they may not even be in the food industry. I love talking to people in business because business...

Kimberly Houston (13:18)
Mm.

Scott Calvert (13:19)
is business

at a certain level, right? You know, whether you're selling a cake or whether you're selling a hockey stick, it's business, right? And just to hear other people's point of view on how they do things or maybe the way they run things, there's always something to learn and always something to pick up and glean from those conversations. So I love that stuff. Yeah.

Kimberly Houston (13:43)
agreed we're like the same person i love it

i'm always looking for people to talk about business with i don't care what your business is

Scott Calvert (13:49)
Yes. Yes. I think when you say that

you're finished learning, that's when you're going to have problems. think as long as you are, there's always something to learn. There's nothing new under the sun, but there's other ways to do things and learn and advance not only your skills, but your business and everything else ⁓ that we surround ourselves with.

Kimberly Houston (13:58)
Yes.

Yes, totally agree. I love this. Okay, so we have been talking about IVIE. So for those who may have never been or they are unfamiliar with it, what should attendees know about what's new or exciting for 2025?

Scott Calvert (14:17)
Yeah.

⁓

I'll give you my elevator pitch on this one. I've been working on it honing it. We'll see how everybody reacts to it.

Kimberly Houston (14:36)
I love when you just do it.

Okay.

Scott Calvert (14:42)
So, so IBAE International Baking Industry Expo is the largest bakery specific show in the Western Hemisphere once every three years. having gone to it a number of times myself, ⁓ it all I've seen over the years is the show get better and better and better. ⁓ And now that I'm involved and kind of can see, you know, how the sausage is made, it's, it's, it's, it's brilliant. I mean, the stuff, you know,

Kimberly Houston (15:09)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (15:12)
I've had the, I've been fortunate enough to go around and see so many other shows over the last few years and getting to know, you know, the show planners, ⁓ being there as an attendee, talking to people, doing these different things. And the level of excellence in this show is so impressive. The people who are on the board, ⁓ the vast knowledge and expertise when I sit in a room with all the board members is phenomenal.

really, really smart, engaged, and committed people putting this show together. So the cool thing about it is that we really have kind of this triangle of who puts on the show. It's put on by ⁓ American Bakers Association. It's put on by the Baking Equipment Manufacturers of America. And then RBA kind of completes that triangle of who really puts a lot of this stuff in there.

And different people are tasked with different points of ⁓ classes or things that they put on. But really the ABA brings in a lot of the ⁓ people who are interested in the business of the baking. They do a lot of the legislative stuff. How do we keep our industry going? ⁓ It covers a lot of the wholesale, ⁓ larger scale bakers ⁓ that sometimes

you need that power to kind of keep the baking industry going and a voice, you know, especially on Capitol Hill, that type of thing. ⁓ Bima is amazing with all their equipment manufacturers. You know, it's so cool to me to be able to talk to the owners of these companies that create so much of the equipment ⁓ and pans and all these different things that we use in the baking industry.

that have so much knowledge and they see so many operations and can help you along with so much of the stuff that sometimes bakers get stuck on. Bakers, I always say, are a scrappy bunch. We're pretty keen on, we can see something and we can translate it into what we need. Light bulb comes on quickly for us, right? Because we were engaged and we're trying to make our stuff better.

Kimberly Houston (17:20)
you

Scott Calvert (17:40)
And then the retail bakers really we bring in a lot of that retail contingency ⁓ that you know the IBA is such a such an amazing show that it goes from if you need ⁓ decorating supplies for cakes and that type of thing all the way up to the largest equipment I've ever seen in my life in some of these show halls that is just it covers A to Z and there's nothing else I've ever been to that is that comprehensive and and and really

Kimberly Houston (18:01)
Thank

Scott Calvert (18:10)
the place to be once every three years. At first I thought they could probably do this show every couple years, but after I've seen

what it takes to these shows on. There's a reason that's once every three years and everyone I've talked to in the last year and a half is pumped about this show. This is going to be the best show that there's ever been and everybody's going to be there. mean, people are like, you know what, I'm not going to do this one and this one this year because it's IBIE year and they're going to be there for that because it really is that great of a show from, you know, one of the things that RBA that we're doing with the show this year is

Kimberly Houston (18:18)
Mm-hmm. ⁓

Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (18:48)
is when you buy your show badge, all the education is included. In the past where we've had people sign up and it's cost and stuff, that's all part of the show experience now.

You know even even down to the people who line out who's in each hall and how they put them together and how they match people up and you know the the The the Baker Center there are be a Baker Center that's hosted by a lasaf this year That's gonna be an amazing center and we're with a partner that we haven't done that with before I'm super excited about the stuff. They're gonna bring You know it hosts the everybody looks forward every year to the to the Pillsbury cake competition. That's always

Kimberly Houston (19:29)
Hmm?

Scott Calvert (19:29)
amazing.

I've talked to people who are in the business that they're now just, I have a natural excitement for this stuff because I think it's such an amazing place to be and I love the industry so much that I've been able to get some other people I know excited about, we should be in here and sponsor this. And so they're doing it for the first time or even being at the show for the first time.

Kimberly Houston (19:36)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (19:53)
But I'd always, so many people I've come across, even if they're not sure about maybe exhibiting this show, bottom line, they should go to the show and walk it and see it and experience it if they haven't ever been because to me it's mind blowing. I think it's so cool. to get, just to have that experience. kind of a really long elevator pit. So we gotta go to like the 54th floor on that one.

Kimberly Houston (20:00)
huh. ⁓

Yes.

Okay. It's okay.

I think, listen, we are here for the ride and...

Scott Calvert (20:26)
Yeah

Kimberly Houston (20:26)
I

am super excited. I know that the education piece being included, everything but the hands-on classes are free. And even in the hands-on classes, like I've seen the list and I'm like, I want to go take it, but I'll be busy and I can't. But I'm like, this is so cool. Like I get to teach diversifying your income as a baker, you know? So it's like, there's so many ways to level up.

Scott Calvert (20:34)
Right, right.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Yep.

Kimberly Houston (20:53)
as a person, a business owner, you know, like the things you'll walk away with from IVIE. I can't wait.

Okay, so as someone who's been in the room for major industry conversations, what are the biggest opportunities or challenges you see for bakers right now?

Scott Calvert (21:10)
⁓ I'd say opportunities. I've talked to some people about this over the last couple of years. ⁓ We made a big shift in kind of how this will kind of go ⁓ to an opportunity and a challenge, right? And this is not anything everybody doesn't already know. Our biggest challenge coming out of probably the pandemic was not being able to get people, right? And so it made us start looking at how can we keep

Kimberly Houston (21:26)
Thank

Scott Calvert (21:40)
everything running, how can we our efficiencies or make more efficiencies in what we do? And it really, it pointed us to equipment and starting to talk to people who could help us with a bigger vision, right? We had to make that step because we just, at very beginning, we just really couldn't get anybody. So ⁓ how do we make the things that we have? How do we make them faster? How do we do that stuff?

Kimberly Houston (21:57)
Hehehe.

Scott Calvert (22:10)
And the hiring, I think, become, it's not that it's not an issue, but it has gradually become a little bit better and better over the last few years. But I will not.

Kimberly Houston (22:20)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (22:23)
back down on I think one of our best moves that we've made was getting into buying some equipment, buying pieces of equipment that fit what we do. was fortunate to be on a little panel kind of about technology and stuff like that at the Canadian Baking Association in Toronto earlier in the year. And that was one of the things I said is that, you know, I think going back to that bakers are pretty scrappy and we can get a lot of things done with what we have.

We also, I think, have a natural ⁓ tendency to shy away from maybe equipment guys, sales people, stuff like that. what I would say to that is I understand that there's a concern. And once you start making some relationships with these people, a nice part about is they can help you line out what...

you can get to where your vision is, right? Because we think we know best and we've gotten out of this road over the years. And I think everybody does. You know what? I'm going to get here, I can do this. I'm going to go buy this piece of equipment. I'm going to go do this. going to... And next thing you know, you have this hodgepodge of things that don't really work together. They don't really create efficiencies. They don't really get you where you want to be. The nice thing about these equipment companies is I think they really stepped up ⁓ in that category of not having enough labor.

and they look at it go, look, we know that we may not sell something to you today, but the vast majority of them understand that if they can help you start taking steps and if they're good about helping you know what your need is at the moment and not overselling on something just to sell you a piece of equipment.

Kimberly Houston (23:49)
Mm-hmm. ⁓

Scott Calvert (24:08)
That's what I found is that they're like, you know what? We probably don't have that piece to equip. Why don't you talk to so-and-so over here at this company? That's probably a better fit for what you have. And that's what I found is that they're extremely helpful in connecting you with who you need, what you need at the time, and really...

Kimberly Houston (24:15)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (24:28)
you know, kind of building that runway so you can go down the road and as you have a better understanding that as you get to this volume, you might need this. As you get to this one, you get to this. These work together with this. We and other companies really do work together and they know each other and they go, you know what? Our stuff does this, but it works really well with us over here, which is so much great knowledge that you don't have to invent or come up with yourself. ⁓ I would say that's probably the biggest.

Kimberly Houston (24:44)
you

Scott Calvert (24:57)
opportunity that I see of connecting retail bakers with the equipment, with the industry, with all those things that really can help them. And IBIU is the perfect...

Kimberly Houston (25:02)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (25:08)
scenario to put all those pieces in place. And obviously, I love it when people show up to IBAE and they bring their whole team because everybody on the team may have a different focus or a different thing. So that's great. Somebody runs a decorating department. Go find those things and those tools and those decorations and all those things that you need. This person's saying, we're in production. We've got to make all those cakes that you're decorating and stuff. Great. Here's your equipment. Hey, I needed to take a class on, I needed some management.

Kimberly Houston (25:17)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yup.

Scott Calvert (25:38)
skills, know, so I can move up my company. That's there, you know. So, you know, my focus is on the equipment. I think that's a great opportunity for people, but in general, that show is the perfect place to kind of fit everybody, fit all sizes, fit all shapes, and fit all focuses, and really help an organization move itself forward when they utilize that information from the show.

Kimberly Houston (26:06)
That is so interesting that you said that when we did the ⁓ RBA Roadshow this week, going behind the scenes in the, like we went to a distribution center that had like, you know, six or seven locations, but they like have a central distribution center and we walked the entire thing and just looking at all the equipment. And he was like, he said that someone told him when he was like, I can't afford equipment.

Scott Calvert (26:11)
Hmm?

Kimberly Houston (26:33)
They told him that the amount of money he's spending on the equipment is probably less than he spends on labor in a year. And he was like, after someone told me that, you did not have to convince me to be able to upgrade my equipment at that point. And he was like, we just produce so much more with the equipment. And we went to a little tart bake shop here in Atlanta and they had just gotten new equipment in two weeks ago. She was super excited about, you know, her new proofer and about the, ⁓

Scott Calvert (26:45)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kimberly Houston (27:03)
They do a lot of breads there. So they had a new oven that rotated the rack so that they didn't have to rotate the racks. And she's like, you know, now they just kind of stand there and look at it like, am I supposed to do? She was like, have no idea like how much it would improve the way we do things inside of the store. And I was like, that's so interesting that like just something, I won't say it's small, cause it's not, those are very large, very expensive equipment.

Scott Calvert (27:25)
Yes.

Yes.

Kimberly Houston (27:33)
but

it completely changed how they do their operations just by adding those things. I hope that more bakery owners will come to IVIE and actually be able to see those things so that they can improve their efficiencies as well. Okay, this is a lovely conversation. So.

Scott Calvert (27:51)
you

Kimberly Houston (27:54)
What advice, well technically you might have already answered this, but if you have something else to add to it, what advice would you give to a bakery owner who's considering stepping away from day-to-day operations or exploring new revenue streams?

Scott Calvert (28:08)
So a couple things, stepping away from the operations. I think that people get, some people get scared about it. I mean, it's a huge transition, especially when you've been running a bakery. So many people that are in RBA are in these different groups. Some of them are generational bakers. They grew up, it's third generation time. We have a lot of those and it's amazing to talk to those people.

But to them, that's what we do. You move in. I started in there when I was 10 years old and I've been 40 years later still doing it. And so I think some of those people, hard for them to see what do you...

what maybe is my next step or what's the plan for me to retire someday or what's the succession plan and we actually have some of that. That'll be some of the education we do ⁓ in the classroom settings with RBA at IBIE. But ⁓ for me, I knew that I didn't want to do this forever. I've loved

you know, doing it, but I knew I didn't want to be in the kitchen forever, right? And so after 30 years, it's, I want to do something different, but I still want to be part of the, the baking industry. And so, so being on these boards and, going to these things and stuff and being able to share knowledge and help other people and stuff, that's my way of still being plugged into the industry and still promoting it and still doing it without having to be in the mix of it every day. So that's been a great transition for me.

Kimberly Houston (29:20)
And you.

Scott Calvert (29:49)
but I think that the comfort zone of trying to find your way out is grooming the right people to come up behind you. And that's hard. I have conversations with bakery owners all the time and sometimes that person is right under their nose and it's a matter of really kind of, we gotta hand some of this stuff over to them. ⁓

Kimberly Houston (30:12)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Calvert (30:12)
and they've actually got

the right people that want to do it and then some people just maybe don't have the right people that need to go on a search for those right people. And kind of like equipment sometimes you just sometimes it's worth paying up a little bit for that.

right piece of equipment, that right person that shares your vision, shares your passion and wants to see things move forward, ⁓ if that's what you want to do with your bakery. Some people are like, hey, I'm building this to sell it or whatever. That still takes a succession plan. That takes getting together with maybe a broker and just like you're doing ⁓ a financial plan for your future retirement. It's the same thing. You sit down with somebody and go, look, this is where I want to be.

Kimberly Houston (30:37)
you

Scott Calvert (30:56)
you. Hey, this is probably going to take this many years. Maybe you need to get your business to here. We can start marketing in this area. You know, it's the exact same thing. So it's a matter of.

You have to work it and you have to talk to people and you have to share that vision with other people to get where you want to be. You can't just all of a sudden go, hey, by the way, Kimberly, I love how you've worked for me for 20 years. I need you now to run this place. You got this, right? Go, I'm out. That doesn't work that way. Sharing that vision with the person that you really want to have it and having those conversations, because sometimes that conversation starts with, look, if I weren't here.

Do you have an interest in doing this or taking it over or taking it to the next level or whatever? And it could be a, or it could be a, that's what I've been waiting for. And then you know the road you're going on. So that's a huge part for me was knowing.

Kimberly Houston (31:45)
Yeah.

Scott Calvert (31:53)
that I didn't want to be in the day-to-day operations. And then setting that expectation, you know, with my business partner, with our director of operations, hey, look, in another year and a half, I'd like to get my, and that's a nice runway, you know, I didn't say, hey, next month, I'm finished, right? Because it does take time, and the reality is you don't just go, well, okay, I hit my timeline, I'm just gonna walk away.

What does it look like now? I'm coming up to, I'm four, five, six months away from what my timeline was. Okay, what's the discussion now? What capacity can I help in without putting myself back in where I was and kind of this reversing what I've been working on. So ⁓ that's communication, having a clear plan and then starting to execute it is really the way, just like any other goal, right?

Kimberly Houston (32:21)
you ⁓

Scott Calvert (32:45)
You know, make your goal and backfill your steps and start working the plan. mean, that's kind of way it works. ⁓

Kimberly Houston (32:54)
that is fantastic information especially if people are thinking about it and I know we have ⁓ a succession planning webinar that is recorded ⁓ inside of the RBA so anyone who is a member you can totally go watch all those webinars for free now ⁓ as of April of this year so if that is something you're thinking about definitely go look inside of the resources within your RBA membership because the succession planning webinar is in there. ⁓

I think we did one other episode on succession planning a little earlier in this year. Definitely listen to those. Scott, this has been wonderful. I have one last question for you. What does legacy look like to you now, both as a baker and as someone shaping the industry from behind the scenes?

Scott Calvert (33:28)
Yeah.

Sure.

so legacy, think is an interesting proposition because that covers a lot, right? ⁓ I would say that, you know, I can look and I, and I, I think it's fun for me when I.

Kimberly Houston (33:50)
Thank

Scott Calvert (34:00)
Because I'm around Austin a lot and I run into a of my old customers. with the wedding cakes it was fun because we made some of the biggest, coolest wedding cakes for a lot of years in Austin. So it's fun to run into people that go, you did my daughter's wedding cake or you did my wedding cake, stuff like that. I think that's fun, but I think ⁓ from a legacy standpoint, ⁓ I've been around a lot of people over the years, ⁓ bakers, generational bakers, stuff like that. And I've heard things like, well, if

teach Jimmy to do this stuff, he's going to leave me and go down the street and work for John. I think in my legacy, I want to see is...

Kimberly Houston (34:37)
Thank

Scott Calvert (34:43)
If you die with that knowledge, it doesn't matter to anybody. You have all this knowledge, you have all this experience and stuff. Unless you share it, it doesn't help anybody else. If I can spend some time and help anybody else move forward, whatever level they're at, from a student to a new baker to starting your own store to creating your second or third location, if there's anything that could be, any piece of knowledge that I could pass on, that is probably

what my legacy would be. know, as I'm trying to learn all kinds of things, I'm trying to help other people learn all kinds of things and new things and stuff that can help them with. That's probably the biggest would be the gold star in the legacy, I think. And that's why I like doing the board stuff, you know, it's fun. If I can contribute to something or if I can go somewhere and help, if I can go whatever, that's what I enjoy and I think that's a good...

Kimberly Houston (35:32)
I don't believe it. Yeah.

Scott Calvert (35:42)
way to give back to the industry, I think.

Kimberly Houston (35:45)
Agree. I

would not have said that any better, honestly. What else do you say that if you die with the knowledge, there is no legacy. So getting it out, I think is fabulous and wonderful. I'm assuming you will be around the RBA booth at IBIE at some point. Okay.

Scott Calvert (35:49)
Ha

Yeah, yeah, it doesn't.

Oh, absolutely. I'm going to be around the

Baker Center. I'm going to be around the IBI booth. I'm going to go be seeing our allied partners. I'm going to be seeing all of you everywhere.

Kimberly Houston (36:13)
Yes!

Very good. Okay, so you guys are gonna have to, maybe we'll play a new game called Where Scott? And we'll have to go find you on the floor. Yes! Scott, I really will make this a game, okay? Just so you know, I'll add you to the scavenger hunt.

Scott Calvert (36:20)
But if somebody can find me, they'll pin me and yeah, we'll find it.

Okay, I'll leave that up to you, Kimberly. That's your

wheelhouse.

Kimberly Houston (36:33)
Yes,

I'll be on top of it. So if you guys are coming to IVIE, please make sure you come by the RBA booth. Say hello to me, say hello to Scott. We'll both be there. We cannot wait to see you all. Scott, this was a fantastic interview. Thank you so much for joining us on The Perfect Rise.

Scott Calvert (36:48)
I appreciate

it, Kimberly. It was great. Really enjoyed it.