Reinventing a Passion for Baking Into a Worldwide Business at Age 53
Nov 12, 2024 11:12AM ● By Randee Brown
During a challenging period in both her personal and professional life, Lin Johnson took her love of baking to a professional level by creating Mimi’s Mountain Mixes at the age of 53.
While raising her children, Johnson worked at Blockbuster and sold ads for Yellow Pages during a recession while having just gone through a divorce. After her children were grown, Johnson realized she was at the point of being able to choose what she wanted to do. She had always loved baking and had fond memories of creating goodies with her grandmother. Living in Florida at the time, she began baking Key lime pies, orange-coconut muffins, and lemon bars and selling them to tourists at local farmers markets.
Relocating to Ohio to be closer to her adult children, her baking shifted to reflect the local market demand. She began baking with apples, blueberries, and cherries, then added beer bread to her repertoire. As it became increasingly challenging to stand on her feet and bake all day, she intentionally transitioned to selling her beer-baking mixes instead, and the farmers market demand took off.
Johnson followed her adult children when they relocated to Western North Carolina, and she eventually remarried. Living near “Beer City,” her husband encouraged her to continue baking her beer breads and selling the mixes, and like the perfect recipe, the combination transformed into something special.
In downtown Hendersonville, Johnson and her husband opened a small production shop used as a commissary kitchen, office, and shipping department. Focusing on only the important aspects of business keeps things running smoothly and eliminates unnecessary complications, according to Johnson.
“We do everything here,” Johnson said. “We have a very simple production area, and we keep with the KISS method — Keep It Simple, Sweetie. We aren’t investing in the things that don’t make us money; just what we really need.”
Early in her business, Johnson would visit trade shows to spread the word about Mimi’s Mountain Mixes. Booth fees, travel expenses, and free giveaways for attendees began adding up. To increase revenue, she began posting her products on wholesale websites. The combination of info blasts when products are posted to wholesale sites and email lists curated from trade show lists allow Johnson to touch her customers regularly; on average, she sends a monthly newsletter to keep updates and information new and interesting. Her granddaughter helps with social media outreach as well.
Local outlets have been just as significant for Mimi’s Mountain Mixes’ retail sales. Speaking with a local Ingles manager allowed her to first get her product into three Hendersonville locations, and eventually into 60 Ingles locations across the region. After becoming a member of the NC Department of Agriculture and attending their own trade show, the mixes have reached buyers from Publix, Harris Teeter, military commissaries, and more.
With hundreds of people buying products locally, nationally, and even internationally, Johnson and her team are making hundreds or thousands of bags of mixes at a time, depending on orders. With a streamlined production facility and just a few contract employees along with her husband, they are able to easily meet product demand.
“We don’t make thousands of bags at a time unless we have a big order,” Johnson said. “It’s more of a continuous process. It’s always extremely fresh and naturally has a long shelf life.”
As the business continues to grow, Johnson is looking at diversifying her product offerings while keeping her KISS method in place. A new line offers single-serve mixes, as Johnson noticed more people living alone.
“People wanted something smaller, not a great big something to make,” Johnson said. “I’ve found what I think is going to be the right packaging, and we’ll offer single servings people can put in the microwave and make really easily.”
Johnson attributes the success of her business to two things — a good product with clean ingredients, and her energy and tenacity. Her mixes contain no preservatives or additives, and she has fun when speaking with potential customers or retailers.
“I have fun, so they have fun,” Johnson said. “This day and age, there are still hurdles for women, but with our products and my experiences in networking, I haven’t experienced many of those.”
Keeping expenses to a minimum, Johnson is able to maintain alignment with her mission of being a win-win company for each person she touches. Happy customers return to support their local retailers carrying her products, and a portion of sales supports local women and children’s shelters.
“We love supporting local retailers and our local shelters by offering a high-quality product to our customers,” Johnson said. “It must be a win for everybody or we won’t do it.”