Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Carr.
Hi Jessica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Jessica Carr. I own Girls Gotta Eat Good – Knoxville’s first Asian Bakery. I don’t have a physical bakery, but I bake out of a commercial kitchen and primarily sell at the Nourish Farmers Market in Market Square on Saturdays. I also do wholesale, online orders, and catering orders. I am expanding to shipping my cookies across the U.S. I am Filipino-American. My dad is from Tennessee, and my mom is from the Philippines. I create baked goods that reflect my cultural heritage by creating Asian-Southern fusion desserts. During the pandemic, I was doing contract marketing work and got laid off from all my contracted jobs. I needed to stay busy, so I started baking for my friends.
I FaceTimed my mom, who taught me how to make many Filipino desserts I ate growing up. I posted the desserts on my food blog Instagram, “Girls Gotta Eat Good,” and people started messaging me asking to buy them. I started my business in September of 2020 and I went full-time with it as my primary source of income in March of 2021. I’ve been baking ever since then. In 2023, I helped co-host the first ever AAPI (Asian-Amercian Pacific Islander) Night Market at Hi-Wire Brewing. We had 1,300 attendees come to the event. It was a fantastic turnout. In 2024, I will file for the AAPI Business Association to become an official non-profit organization to help other Asian small business owners have the necessary resources to help their businesses. And I want to continue to grow my baking business as well.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Starting the first Asian Bakery in Knoxville was difficult because I was baking things many people were unfamiliar with. When I started at the Farmers Market, people would pass by my booth and make faces at the purple cookies I was selling. There was an element of “otherness” that I was experiencing. But I have also had many people ask me thoughtful questions, and I can educate them about my culture. Sometimes, people are scared to try what they do not know. I used social media platforms to tell people about my business, which greatly helped me. I love sharing Filipino desserts and food with the people of Knoxville.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Girls Gotta Eat Good is Knoxville’s first Asian Bakery. Filipino-American Jessica Carr owns it. Jessica started the business to connect with her roots and share Filipino sweet treats with the Knoxville community. She sells baked goods at pop-ups, the farmers market, events, and online ordering. I specialize in Filipino treats like Ube Crinkles, Ube Cheesecake Brownies, and Pandan Bibingka. Ube is a purple yam or sweet potato. It is a prevalent ingredient in Hawaiian and Filipino desserts. I am very proud of myself for growing my business without any business background. Knoxville has a fantastic community of small business owners who try to help each other.
What do you think about happiness?
Sharing food with people makes me happy. Food has a way of connecting people, even if they are from different cultural backgrounds. I love sharing my culture with people by creating baked goods that express my cultural identity. Southern food and Asian food have a lot of tastes and flavors in common. It’s cool to be able to create recipes that showcase those similarities and help educate and familiarize people in the South with Asian flavors.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://girlsgottaeatgood.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlsgottaeatgood/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/girlsgottaeatgood
