Mosby Pies Blog

One of the biggest reasons I fell in love with Mosby Pies is because I quickly learned that it brought people joy. I was sharing moments with people. I was delighted in their delight. I was happy my product was making them happy.

Among many remarks that made me smile was, "I don't like pie. I've never liked pie. But I love YOUR pie."

I discovered a passion in dessert. Dessert is meant to follow a fantastic meal as the grand finale. If the meal was disappointing, there's a lot of pressure on the dessert to redeem the evening. I consider it an honor that people would choose my product to grace their dining room table as that grand finale, coupling it with a scoop of ice cream or coffee.

I also loved that my craft brought people together, as people from different walks of life, different political backgrounds would be at my booth commenting on their favorite flavors. I loved that I had devout fans defending theirs: Blueberry is the best, no his apple is the best. I loved that.

Baking does many things for me: It occupies all the senses. The aroma is hypnotizing; I feel the ice water on my skin as I hydrate the dough between my fingers until it is just the right consistency; I listen for the sizzling in the oven; I look for the bubbling of the filling; and, of course, I would occasionally get to taste a pie I made for myself.

I enjoyed having a creative outlet to express myself, designing the logos and font and stickers and banners, and connecting to an audience.

Baking was healthy for my self-esteem. I felt good at something and engaged in something I built myself. I rose to the challenge of troubleshooting if a pie was less than excellent, and I valued customers bringing any such incident to my attention so I could make it better and really wow them the second time.

I often considered myself the lonely baker. It wouldn't be inaccurate to call me that. Baking certainly filled many hours that could have been spent with a romantic partner, if I had one. Baking helped me to escape those lonely feelings. I lowkey hoped I would meet someone special at the farmers market who would strike up a conversation, but it never happened. Romantic frustration was a major motivator behind relocating to a new state.

I have only baked a few pies since coming here. I haven't been able to transition from baking professionally to baking personally. It's kind of an intimate thing for me.

I spend a fair amount of time asking myself just how I will resume my pie business in Pennsylvania and I have been thinking more and more that it could "take a village." I don't know if Mosby Pies will find itself opening on York Rd or somewhere else, but it is a gargantuan prospect I still think about a lot. Is it all just a pie in the sky?💜

Hey y'all.

Today's post is about my dreams for the future. Dream with me, won't you?

So I went to check out the Winter Park Farmers' Market today here in Winter Park, FL. I didn't see any pie stands. For now it's only good information to have.

I am always thinking about how I will relaunch Mosby Pies. The Hatboro Farmer's Market was an excellent trial run that let me explore and develop my culinary talent and try my hand at entrepreneurship. I had never done anything like Mosby Pies before, and I learned I love it. For the relaunch, I am leaning away from the farmers' market platform: Transporting the pies, doing the setup and breakdown of the tent and tables, and then doing the sales all myself was a LOT. Even with a helper it's not the route I want to go. For the relaunch, I think it would be most practical to rent a kitchen and then do wholesale to a small business in the community.

Capacity was a challenge I ran into right away while baking in my tiny kitchen for the Hatboro farmer's market: Mosby Pies will need ample space to grow, and grow quickly. I would need a kitchen that would allow me the capacity to store the ingredients for and bake, cool, and package hundreds of pies per week. This may mean buying a home with a two- or three-car garage that I could convert to a kitchen. Local zoning ordinances could be an obstacle. My options will be explored.

I am on track to finish graduate school in 2025, so that's not next year, but the following year. I remember distinctly after I finished my undergrad, there came a very abrupt "what now?" feeling. So I plan to jump right into being a moonlight baker after my schooling is complete, and also work a normal 9 to 5 job to help fund my small business. I'm aiming for Thanksgiving 2025 for this relaunch.

I am working while I go to school and trying to put money aside for this dream that I insist is not just a pie in the sky. Maybe I should make a GoFundMe? I'd be shy to do that, but once I have more concrete plans pinned down I probably will.

Right now I think these are very ambitious goals, so there will be lots and lots of planning. With all that said, we're looking at some form of reopening, somewhere, in 2025. As always, I will keep you updated. Stay tuned friends! Oh, and wish me luck with fall semester!🥧💜

So I want to give an update for everyone, all of my supporters. I must explain Mosby Pies.

Mosby Pies was unexpected. Mosby Pies came out of nowhere! Mosby Pies just happened. I tripped and fell into having a pie business. Seemingly overnight, what started as a simple hobby turned into baking and selling hundreds of pies to exhaustion, but a happy exhaustion, a labor of love, certainly! I did not go out of business. On the contrary, things were going so well that I could no longer keep up with my orders in the small space that I had.

There was a dilemma, because I had other goals before Mosby Pies came to be. Mosby Pies was a surprise, and Mosby Pies is a journey. The dilemma is that I love Mosby Pies, as unexpected and unplanned as it was.

I got some guidance from a financial advisor I sat down with. He said Austin, you've discovered something really special in Mosby Pies. He said, you obviously have a good product, people love it, you've developed a following, and if you expand, it's only going to grow. But once you take that step, you're on a treadmill. You already feel the treadmill.

He told me, if you wanted to go to school, if you wanted to explore a new career, if you're going to travel and sightsee, if you want to do any of those things, then THE TIME TO DO THAT IS NOW.

I mean, it's a very valid point.

He pointed out that I wouldn't want to wait until I have a pie shop to run, overhead expenses, maybe a house and a couple kids, and hundreds of customers, to then decide I want to try living in Las Vegas for a year. NOW is the time to do things like that. Seize the moment now while I am young.

I decided this is good advice.

So I gave myself permission to take action on what was my previous trajectory.

I relocated to Florida. I will be attending the master's program at University of Central Florida, to study urban planning. I have always wanted to pursue this field and I am really excited. I want to have new experiences and explore new places.

I hope you understand!

When I'm done with school and the beach, I'll be able to jump into a new career, and I'll be able to resume with Mosby Pies.

I am going to keep this page up and running in the meantime. I’ll post new recipes and my latest pie exploits.

If I wanted my pie journey to end here, now would be the opportune time to say farewell. But that is truly not the case. The truth is that I look forward to announcing an EPIC grand reopening, in due time.
💜

The farmers' market season has come to a close and what a season it was! Thank you to everyone who came out to show their support and have a good time!
What's next? This baker will be taking some time to explore some things. So unfortunately I won't have pies for the fall and winter season. Sorry! 🤷‍♂️