Co-director of Try Pie, Sarah Helleso said Try Pie’s mission is to empower a diverse group of teen girls in life and leadership skills through meaningful work. They do this by employing 15-20 students who run the Try Pie bakery and participate in monthly workshops. Pairing these activities together allows students to “learn to manage their paychecks, prepare for future employment, understand their unique gifts, and recognize value in each other.” Read more here!
Try Pie’s Origins
The parents of children in the Walnut Neighborhood in Waterloo wanted things for their kids to do after school, and these kids wanted jobs. On top of this, Orchard Hill Church and Harvest Vineyard church had been doing neighborhood strength training programming. A community member felt that the Cedar Valley needed homemade pie as well. Joining these two things together led to the birth of Try Pie in the Orchard Hill kitchen. In 2018, after 5 years of operation, Try Pie moved to their current storefront location. Try Pie made a business where students could work and get training in practical life skills.
The Try Pie Brand
Try Pie is set up to be led by students, so they each serve on a smaller committee. These include finance, food truck, recipe development, and marketing. The first version of the branding was created by the marketing committee. When the shop moved to the storefront, they rebranded. Co-directors Megan and Sarah gave the marketing committee a few different color scheme options to choose from, and the girls picked the one they liked the best. To determine which colors to choose, they girls talked about the look, feel, and voice of the brand. Ultimately, the color scheme they picked feels youthful and fun, yet professional.
Marketing Struggles
When Try Pie is considering their marketing, they have to think about communicating both pieces: pie and program. Sarah said that it can be hard to tailor their marketing to a market because they can target to who’s interested in both pies and their programming, but they can also catch people interested in just one or the other. Their default tactic is to celebrate what the students are doing, as this draws in people who recognize the impact Try Pie has on students. Sarah said this has worked out for them really well overall, and they haven’t done a heavy amount of formal market research.
The Unique Model
Try Pie is unique in that they are a non-profit and a business operating as one, also known as a social enterprise. Having pies as a key part of their mission means that they have a built in stream of revenue so they can sustain their mission of giving students life skills. Another important piece of Try Pie is their responsiveness to the community. They both contribute something to the community (pies and jobs for teens) and need something from the community (girls to work for them). In order to best serve their community, they really focus on listening to what the people around them need.
Sarah’s Advice
Keeping a close ear to the people you’re serving and a solid humility about your work will help you grow as a non-profit, according to Sarah.
I think that’s going to help you create a program that’s most meaningful adn therefore most sustainable.
Sarah Helleso
Getting Involved
The easiest way for college students to support Try Pie is by buying pies from their bakery. Between October and December, they have 50% of their sales. They need volunteers to help them keep up with the volume of sales. At their monthly classroom workshops, they have meals for the students, so college students can bring the meal and share it with the students. Contact Try Pie to get more information here!
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Grｅeat p᧐st.
Thank you!!