Hey everyone we are going to be in the November issue of Readers Digest! Be sure to keep a look out for it in the grocery store or your mailbox; we will definitely post about it.
Check out the Readers Digest crew that was so kind to us:
Lori Phillips
Today, we are kicking off our blog series on Older Entrepreneurs.
Our first video features Regina Mason, 54, founder and owner of Virago Baking Company in Lansdale, Penn. that specializes in natural and organic, gluten free and vegan foods. A Culinary Institute of America graduate, Regina’s working career has been spent in the food services industry. After coping with several layoffs, Regina knew that she wanted to open her own business. With the help of the StartSmart program offered by WORC (Women’s Opportunities Resource Center) in Philadelphia, Penn., she launched her bakery and café three years ago. In her video interview, Regina talks about her passion for baking healthy foods and entrepreneurship.
Regina has also shared her Top Tips for prospective new business founders with us. She writes:
Starting your own business can be very exciting. It also can be very overwhelming.
You ask yourself:
• Where will I get the money to make it happen?
• Who will help with all the work?
• How can I afford to market the business?
I know I had all of these questions, and some days I still do. Here’s my advice:
• Utilize every resource available from government, personal, friends and family for the financial part. I used equity in my home, credit cards and savings. It’s scary, but you need to trust yourself. I also have been fortunate to have people who just wanted to help.
• Staffing without having the finances is also possible with the help of interns. Students have contacted me because they want to learn what we do at our bakery, and they need work hours for graduation. They volunteer to work for free for a set time in exchange for the opportunity to learn from us. When the job market is slow, it is very hard for these students to find paying jobs to complete their education. You give them internships to get experience, and they help you get the work done!
• Everyone knows that you need to market your business, and marketing is not just about advertising. Social media and the Internet allow a business to market without spending much money. A good Web site is a must, but after that it’s all about driving traffic to your site and your place of business. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and many more give you a way to communicate with potential customers in a fun, casual way. If you are not familiar with how these work, ask your kids, remember those interns, they will show you! Search the Internet for your type of businesses and see where other similar businesses are listed. There are many free directories where you can post your business information. Upload photos, but don’t forget your logo!
• Most important — go for it with passion and you will find success!
Regina Mason opened Virago Baking Company in Lansdale, Penn. three years ago. The bakery and cafe specializes in all-natural, organic, vegan and gluten free cakes, cupcakes, pastries and lunch foods.
For the full article click HERE.
To Check out the video click HERE.
Hey Check it out we’re in Philly Mag this month and Be Well Philly Blog
We were featured in this month’s edition of Be Well Philly! Read along or check out the original article here.
by: Jenna Bergen
Last week one of my co-workers came into my office and tossed a menu for Lansdale’s Virago Baking Company on my desk. “I just had the most amazing cupcake I’ve ever had in my life,” she declared dramatically. “And it was vegan or gluten-free, can you believe it? She makes both, but whatever. You absolutely have to try this place.”
Seeing that many of our readers are either vegan or struggling with celiac disease, my interest was piqued. So, Jillian, Be Well’s amazingly wonderful intern, went to work calling Regina Petruzziello Mason, the “she” my coworker was referring to, and the owner of this little Lansdale gem.
Regina stopped by a few days later with two boxes filled to the brim with everything from cupcakes to banana and zucchini breads. Not only were the cupcakes completely adorable and touched with whimsy, but you know what? They were good, too. Even in the absence of flour or eggs, milk, and butter, she whipped up flavors like vegan vanilla cake with Caribbean rum icing, vegan chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and gluten-free vanilla pound cake with honey-butter cream icing.
My favorite had to be the gluten-free mixed-berry frangipane—Regina also makes gluten-free lemon or chocolate-chip pound cakes and vegan agave-sweetened banana breads, which mail wonderfully, by the way, and gluten-free cheesecake. In addition to the cupcakes, the happy-to-comply taste testers around the office also gave thumbs up to the gluten-free cheesecake and vegan chocolate-chip and peanut butter-raspberry cookies, too.
“We listen to the customers, so we’re constantly expanding our menu,” Mason says, who plans to move her store to 322 West Main Street at the end of June to accommodate baking classes and her expanding clientele. “Some of our most popular items are our gluten-free bread that you can buy frozen, as well as our gluten-free pizza shells. But what people really like is that they have the ability to just come in and buy a vegan or gluten-free cupcake or a cake whenever they want.”
If you’re looking to treat yourself, celebrate a birthday, or surprise a vegan or celiac friend with a thoughtful treat, this is definitely a place to put on your radar. — research by Jillian Skrocki
We’re in the paper! Check out the article posted by The Reporter
By DAN SOKIL
A familiar business is coming to Lansdale’s Main Street.
On Thursday, Lansdale’s Economic Development Committee announced that Virago Baking Company & Cafe will be moving onto Main Street, with a new location at 322 W. Main expected to open in early July.
“I moved here over 10 years ago, and the whole time I’ve looked at Main Street waiting for it to be ready for renewal, and thinking, ‘If only I could open a place on Main Street,’” said bakery owner Regina Mason.
“A lot of our guests are from out of the area, so I know I’d love to be able to take the R-5 line and come from the city or Doylestown, and this gives us that flexibility as well as visibility and local exposure,” she said.
An all-natural cafe that specializes in gluten free, vegan and European-style baked goods, Virago is currently located at 620 S. Broad Street in Upper Gwynedd.
The bakery makes use of locally grown and organic products and will feature a lunch menu serving wraps, salads, soup, quiche, frittata, and gluten free pizza, according to a press release from Lansdale Borough.
Mason said she plans to renovate her new home to feature a new facade, outdoor cafe seating, and European-style flair.
She credited Mayor Andy Szekely and EDC chairman Ben Gross with helping sell her on Main Street.
“All of us are eager to welcome a bakery cafe to our downtown restaurant district. Regina’s customers drive great distances to get her product. Now she’ll benefit from the growing lunch time crowd as well,” said Gross, who called the move “another win-win for Lansdale.”
Szekely, whose chiropractor’s office is located just down Broad Street from Virago’s current location, said he’s also looking forward to the move.
“I go there at least two or three times a week, and she has little cafe tables set up inside but not many people sitting in there when I go over,” Szekely said.
“Now she’ll have her customers who come from far and wide no matter where she’s located, plus a slew of people coming in there from Main Street, and she just bought a nice, big, beautiful espresso machine I’m a big fan of,” he said.
The new Virago will also have classroom space to allow for cooking or baking lessons, Mason said, and she’s also working on an update to its Web site www.ViragoBakingCompany.com, which should be completed within a week or two.
“We should be open by the start of July, and I already have customers who really rely on us for gluten-free things saying, ‘I guess I should start making more room in my freezer,’” Mason said.
We specialize in all natural,
organic, vegan and gluten
free cakes, pastries and
lunch items. We serve
espresso in our cozy Café.
Amy Rims is a local Pennsylvania artist.
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