Today we’d like to introduce you to Crissy Kuhl.
Hi Crissy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always wanted to own a business, but I haven’t always wanted to be a baker. After a few fits and starts with different business ideas, we landed on plans for a mobile coffee cart to take to venues in the area and for party rentals. I designed the cart down to the nth degree and was all ready to begin fabrication in January 2020, but then, COVID.
We paused the plans for fabrication and decided to pivot to the food side of the business – light baked items to go with the coffee. After realizing that I would not be able to do that out of my home kitchen and be compliant with cottage laws at the time, I started looking at other options for food and still have quality baked goods.
While considering my options I became an avid bread baker for my own family’s consumption. I hadn’t considered it something for business, but during the summer of 2020 we ran across a documentary of a biscuit company out of Charleston that had started as an online, order ahead, and pick up, biscuit business. I immediately thought this model would work well in Aiken with bagels. While the coffee cart was on hold for some unknown period of time, I launched into finding the perfect bagel recipe. By December 2020 I had accomplished that goal, and also established an LLC for the purposes of selling the bagels online with local delivery and pick up, and I developed a website.
My plan was to launch in January 2021, but right before Christmas a post on social media asked where one might get good bagels in Aiken. I knew there were no bagel shops, so when I read the recommendations I knew I could provide better than the grocery store options and some of the local chains. So, I launched early and posted my card in the comments. A week later I had orders for 100 bagels to be delivered all over Aiken, and to this day still have the original poster as a customer. We kept going for the next 6 months filling orders each week and delivering 2 or 3 days a week. We found a location that rented us a kiosk for bagel pick ups throughout the week, which reduced the time driving for deliveries. In the summer of 2021 we realized we needed to streamline further and we rented a booth on Saturdays at the Aiken Farmers Market where we stayed until the spring of 2023. Each Friday my husband and I would spend 18 hours kneading, forming, boiling, baking, and packaging bagels. The next day we would spend no more than 4 hours selling those bagels, which very quickly started selling out long before the close of the market. By the summer of 2022, we knew we needed to make a change. The Friday marathon baking days were taking a toll physically, and we weren’t able to provide enough bagels on Saturday for all the customers that wanted them. It wasn’t sustainable, so we decided to seek a brick and morter.
In the fall of 2022 we found the perfect location on Aiken’s Southside in a vacant spot that used to be a thriving family restaurant. We initially thought it to be too big, but we rented it anyway and quickly learned it was far from too big. We opened Oh Mie Stelle! Bakery on Saturday, May 6th, 2023 and for the first year were only open 1 day per week while my husband and I continued to work full time jobs. In the second year we opened 2 days per week – Fridays and Saturdays. And in our 3rd year we are now open full time, 4 days per week, Thursday through Sunday. We offer far more than bagels and are able to include breads, pastries, cookies, and even mini cakes.
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?
I imagine the road for any small business, particularly a start-up, is anything but smooth. We were not seasoned professionals in the food business, and I wasn’t even a seasoned baker! We had to learn our roles as managers and owners; We had to design our kitchen and the work-flow processes, something we weren’t accustomed to as we had no experience in the food service business; We had to hire and train all of our staff and learn what exactly we were training them to do! The products had to be identified, streamlined, then scheduled accordingly – some things take 3 days to make, others are same day items; We had to consider options for suppliers, learn licensing laws, learn about payroll and bookkeeping; We had to figure out who to hire and what red flags we needed to watch out for and what personalities and criteria would make for a good member of the team (note – it’s not what we would have originally thought!) Training employees was one of the biggest challenges. We knew what to do, but what we didn’t know was how hard that would be to teach other people who didn’t think like us, didn’t have the same experience we had (even if it was minimal), didn’t know some of the same basic things we knew, and didn’t have the same skin in the game that we did. At one point I thought it might be appropriate to write a book called, “Baker’s Do the Darndest Things!” And I still might!
Early on we established some non-negotiables for our business: building relationships with the community is the priority – names not numbers; the products have to be enjoyable EVEN if they aren’t perfectly presented; employees are the lifeblood of the business; and, if it doesn’t feel right, or it just seems to be too hard, reassess priorities and be willing to say no or change direction.
It’s all been a work in progress, which is why we started slowly, grew slowly, and continue a slow and steady upward trend that we can manage, despite customers asking for more hours and more products. There have been lots of challenges, but as long as we listen to our hearts and stay grounded in our non-negotiables, we are confident in continued success.
As you know, we’re big fans of Oh Mie Stelle! Bakery. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Bakery is firmly grounded in our love of bagels, but has grown into a full-service bakery with offerings of breads, pastries, cookies, coffee, and seasonal specialties. We aren’t a cakery, but we can even satisfy the cake fans with our 1-2 serving mini cakes. Everything is made in house and we don’t skimp on quantity or quality.
You should know that the bakery is run by people of all walks of life who have a passion for serving and sharing good food with people. The team is a diverse group of individuals all offering their unique talents to support our vision. They range in age from teen to senior. Some were born and raised in Aiken, others come from across the country, even as far away as the Middle East.
As the owner, I am not native to Aiken, but have spent the majority of my adult life here. I embrace the diverse cultures of this area and am proud to offer a Taste of When… to my customers. If you experienced something that you would love to try again, share it with us. We would be happy to try recreating it. Bagels are not native to the south, but many who love a good bagel have been able to let ours transport them back to that time when they found happiness in a good bagel far away. The same goes for many of our products.
We love our customers and know many by name. Our motto is when you first come into our bakery, you will leave a friend. If you come back you are now family – and who wants to say they forgot their family member’s name!!?? We will try to learn it, ask grace when we don’t get it right, and will try again and again until we do.
If you come into our bakery and don’t see what you want, ask us. We may not have it that day, and we may not even have a recipe for what you are looking for, but we’ll do our best to fill your request and need. We are delighted to see the happiness home-baked goods bring to people. It is the reward for our work so we look forward every day to serving our community!
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Aiken is the epitome of a melting-pot city. There are locals, but the area’s vast number of industries has transplanted people from all over the world to our small, but growing, community. That diversity of cultures, needs, and experiences drives local businesses to keep the pulse of what people are looking for and how they can fill the needs of our ever-growing and changing community. As a bakery, that wide range of needs forces us to think outside the box and use our space, resources, and skillsets to create new and exciting ways to accommodate the community. This keeps the business and the role we play as business owners dynamic and provides endless opportunities for growth.
The city itself will need to keep up with the growth. The transition from a small hometown community to a larger accommodating city will tax those who have been in Aiken for many years and who enjoyed the smallness of the community. Change is not easy and it will come with some hurdles for the local residents and the businesses. But if we embrace the growth and transition and seize opportunities that are presented to us, we will all find new opportunities to embrace the city’s fundamental charm that makes Aiken such a great place to live.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ohmiestelle.com
- Instagram: @ohmiestellebakery
- Facebook: @ohmiestellebakery
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/oh-mie-stelle-aiken?osq=Oh+Mie+Stelle&dd_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yelp.com%2F
Image Credits
Pictured above is the owner, Clarissa Kuhl, and the lead baker, Rebecca Campbell at the Cumbee Center Bake-Off in April 2025, where we won People’s Choice Award for our Chocolate Orange Pistachio Rolls.
