Musician Liz Oughton Transforms Baking Hobby into Thriving Business

When Liz Oughton began baking sweet treats for her band over ten years ago, she did not foresee the popularity these snacks would gain. The freelance musician was encouraged to develop her hobby into a commercial enterprise during lockdown and now produces more than 700 cookies each week from her converted garage in Willenhall. She dedicates nearly full-time hours to Bostin Bakery, a business whose name derives from a Black Country term signifying “great, brilliant or smashing.” “It feels surreal to have the business. Without lockdown it definitely wouldn’t have happened as I wouldn’t have time to try it,” she stated. She added, “In an ideal world it would be really nice for everyone to have time to try something new.” At 37 years old, Ms. Oughton manages her bakery enterprise while also teaching instruments such as the clarinet and saxophone, and performing musically in theatres. She characterized baking as an activity that fosters connection among people and cultivates a sense of community. For Ms. Oughton, the process of baking cookies also serves as a meditative practice, with the exception of the subsequent washing up. “It’s therapeutic and relaxing, you’re concentrating on the baking so you’ve not got time to think about other things,” she commented. Regarding her focus on cookies, she explained, “I made them for my other half and he was like ‘this is the best thing you’ve ever baked’ and then just refused to eat anything else that I baked.” She routinely dispatches boxes of her cookies to various businesses throughout the West Midlands and aims to expand her bakery operations in the future. “If you would have told me in 2020 that I’d still be doing this and that I would have moved house to accommodate it, I would have been like ‘if you say so,'” she recounted. For further updates, follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external sites. Information regarding our approach to external linking is available.