Meet Kourtney Rojas: Owner & Baker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kourtney Rojas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kourtney, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It is funny, because to be honest everything about starting my own business has been so organic. The question alone makes me laugh because it dawns on me, “oh yes, I own and run a business.” WOW. In 2011 I started baking pies. I had been baking and learning and experimenting since 2007 when I graduated college with an English degree. I was working at Flour Bakery in Boston. I saw how happy baked goods made people. The joy a freshmade muffin brought to a person’s weekend. It wasn’t just the baked goods though. The company, Flour Bakery, baked everything from scratch. It was so important to put the work in behind the product that was going out into the public. That stuck with me. Back to 2011, I was looking in Orange County for a pie bakery that did just that, fresh baked pies 100% from scratch, and I found nothing. So I started baking for friends, and family. Here we are in 2021, close to 10 years later and that is all that I have done. Continued to bake fresh seasonal pies with my own two hands.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
With Love, From Scratch is a cottage food micro bakery. We bake pies, and only pies and sell them from our home in Anaheim, and at the Ladera Ranch Farmer’s Market. We use only fresh fruits and an all butter crust. All of our pies are hand rolled and shaped in small batches. We bake with the seasons, and also use local California grains. I am proud that we have been able to grow and scale up production without cutting corners. It is not easy to hand peel and cut cases upon cases of apples during Thanksgiving, or pit pounds of cherries during the fleeting cherry season. But it is who we are at our core. It takes a lot of time, and the cost of goods is higher to use fresh ingredients but I feel like there is no other way. People can taste that. I once sat down with an owner of a coffee shop that was interested in buying some of our pies at a wholsale price. This person suggested maybe we look into “buckets,” of pie filling to get our costs lower. Right there and then I knew we would not be the best in the wholesale realm. That was a lesson learned.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I feel like the answer to this question has changed drastically for many reasons haha. I am older, and an introvert. I might just invite my friend in and we could order some pizza and hang out in our sweats all day/ all week. Binge watching Schitts Creek, baking chocolate chip cookies and popping popcorn. But I am not sure that is the answer you’re looking for. I am more interested and at home in nature than I am with a bunch of other people. We would go down to San Clemente or Dana Point and walk by the beach. Orange County is great because you hear it all the time, but it is true we could be at the beach one day and a couple hours later up in the mountains. I love Idlywild, the pines. Waking up and drinking coffee outside with the crisp air. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to so many people. The women makers in my life, there are too many to name, but these women listen and share their own journeys with me. They cheer me on and guide me with their own stories. Joanne Chang, the owner of all the Flour Bakeries in Boston (there are many now) The bakery she built does it right. No shortcuts, just amazing pastry. Every customer I have. Some people drive all the way from Sylmar, CA (Steve) to pick pies up AND share their harvests of Apples, Lemons, and Rhubarb for my pies. Of course my family. My mom and mother-in-law offer support through helping me with my kids. My mom helped me learn to roll out pie dough and she still comes over every holiday when I am slammed with orders and helps me roll hundreds of shells. My sister in law Maggie, has been a constant cheerleader since day one. She is a successful business woman and has helped me immensly with the accounting and business side of things. You can find my Dad with me at the farmer’s market jumping in where needed. My brothers let me know their favorite pies and spread the word. Last but not least, my husband Rodrigo and kids Charlotte and Benji. Rodrigo keeps me balanced. He helps me set boundaries and really steers the business so I don’t go too far off track into my grand illusions. My kids keep me going, they love pie, and I love baking for them.

Website: www.withlovepie.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/withlove.fromscratch
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/with-love-from-scratch-anaheim?osq=pie

Image Credits
Iliana Valencia