Today we’d like to introduce you to DaVee Keesee.
Hi DaVee, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Originally from PA, DaVee started her culinary career at Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, NC. After completing her internship at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, she knew the low country is where she wanted to be. Shortly after graduation, she moved back to Charleston and has been working all over the city learning and refining her skills. Before venturing out on her own sweet adventure, she most recently was the opening pastry chef of Millers All Day downtown and weathered the first year of the pandemic as the pastry chef at Wild Olive on Johns Island. DaVee has also competed on Food Networks, Beat Bobby Flay in a Chocolate Covered Clash! Opening up a bakery has been a huge dream of hers, and she is thrilled it has finally come to life.
“Little Peanut” is a nickname of our owner DaVee. Her father has called her Peanut ever since she was a little girl, and the nickname still stands today! Now DaVee and her Husband, JP, have their own little Peanut, except she is actually more of a “Hazelnut” (because her name is Hazel… insert laughter here)!
WE HAVE A STORE FRONT!!! If you have been following along the Little Peanut journey, you know this has been in the works for a LONG TIME! Little Peanut Pastries first opened as a pop-up, wholesale, custom cakes and pre-order only bakery, in November of 2020. Working out of a shared commissary kitchen space in North Charleston presented many challenges as the business began to grow, so the search for a brick and mortar location began. In September of 2023, DaVee got the keys to our current store front, and we opened the doors of Little Peanut Bake Shop officially on December 1st 2023! We are so happy to have a place we can call home in West Ashley. We love having a store front and getting to interact with our new and regular customers, and we hope to see you there soon!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No road is smooth in the world of entrepreneurship. There are road blocks, twists, bumps and huge pot holes along the journey. Shifting from being an employee to an owner is a challenge, you are no longer just a baker/chef/manager. I had to become the accountant, the sales person, the social media manager, among many other roles in addition to being in the kitchen when I first started. And then there are the growing pains! When we were working out of the shared commissary space, we were limited by the amount of space we had for storage and prep. We also had to coordinate with other businesses in the kitchen when it came to using the equipment that was shared. It took us over a year to find a brick and mortar space that would work for us as well. But even through all the struggles it is a great journey. I have had the opportunity to partner with so many other wonderful local businesses and have the most amazing staff a lady could ask for.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
One of the things I really wanted to cultivate when growing my business, was a good environment for my employees. Employees are what make a business, and I want to make sure that the bakery is a place that people want to work. I want my employees to enjoy coming into the bakery when they are clocking in as much as possible. I recently had the sweetest little baby girl, she is now 7 months old. And because of the wonderful team we have put together I have been able to spend so much time at home watching my daughter grow. It means the world to me that I have been able to shift to do more work from home while my rock star manager and team of talented bakers run the store front and our wholesale operations so smoothly.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
You learn how to pivot. I did not start Little Peanut Bake Shop until November of 2020, so I did not have as many challenges to face with the pandemic. I was a one person operation at the time, I did not have a store front, I did not have any staff and we were kind of through the worst of it by the time I started.
Contact Info:
- Website: Littlepeanutbakeshop.com
- Instagram: @littlepeanutbakeshop
- Facebook: @littlepeanutpastries
