A Chat with... Anna Shipley: Owner of Rustic Honey | Brought to You by The Venture Vault

Imagine you turned your passion for food, hosting, creating and producing and turned it into a thriving wholesale business & chic café!? Well thats exactly what this month's guest Anna Shipley has done. Host: Shona Cowley - Brand Designer and Owner of ⁠The Rainbow Vault⁠ and Founder of ⁠The Venture Vault⁠ This episode felt more like story-time than an interview with Anna Shipley, (who I’ve been fan-girling on from afar for far too long) founder of Rustic Honey, a Dublin-born bakery business that’s grown from wholesale beginnings into a beloved café brand. We chat (and giggle) about how she started 7 years ago, what actually fuelled her growth, and how Rustic Honey expanded into two thriving departments with a team of 25, supplying 60+ locations across Dublin, Wicklow, and Kildare. Expect honest lessons on getting your first customers, pricing, building systems, hiring, and bringing a stunning café vision to life, plus practical advice for anyone starting a food business from scratch. Join The Venture Vault If you’d like gentle support while you build your dreams, The Venture Vault is where you’ll find structure, clarity, and real support (without the hustle culture). Find out more here: ⁠www.theventurevault.ie⁠ In this episode we cover: Anna’s origin story and what pushed her to start Rustic Honey First products, first pricing, and first paying customers What to DIY vs when to hire a pro How customers found her (and what’s been the most reliable growth driver) Systems + operations: payments, a GOOD accountant, orders, and how she kept things running smoothly Hiring a team and scaling into two departments Opening the Rustic Honey Café: finding a premises and creating the vibe The hardest moments, biggest wins, and what she’s most proud of Advice for starting: believing you can do it Tiny next steps to make “starting” feel possible Follow / connect: ⁠https://rustichoneyfood.ie⁠ Instagram: ⁠  / rustichoneyfood⁠