Snow falls lightly outside the window as a young woman bustles around her kitchen preparing for a long night of baking. She sets a table up in the living room and begins to roll out multiple pie crusts while dodging a curious puppy at her feet. She has 24 pies to bake and deliver before Saturday.
Abby Honn, 21, of Muncie is the ServSafe Certified pastry chef behind Best Chance Bakery, which she runs entirely on her own through her website.
Honn said she also bakes in her “tiny tiny apartment with very limited counter space.” She pulls out a spare foldable table to roll everything out on, and she chuckles as she says, “it’s very, very difficult.”
Honn attended The Art Institute of Indianapolis and graduated with an associate degree in Baking and Pastry. She said she decided to go to culinary school “because everybody has to eat every single day,” so it was a career she could depend on.
She left with a love for baking, and Best Chance Bakery was formed soon after.
For Honn, inspiration comes from many places, but the name of her business stems from a three-toed dog from her childhood.
“I sat down and tried to think of a name and I knew I wanted to incorporate my dog ... in there somehow and his name was Chance,” Honn said.
After going through a variety of names — Last Chance, First Chance, Second Chance — Honn said she finally decided on Best Chance after a friend suggested it. She even made his paw print part of her logo, which only has three toes on the paw instead of four.
Best Chance Bakery isn’t Honn’s only job. Unlike most people her age, she’s working three other jobs on top of baking pies by request.
Honn said she also works as a full-time nanny during the week, a barista during the weekends in Noblesville and once a week she goes down to clean her parents house. She’s even writing a handbook for her father’s towing company.
“Her work ethic is very diligent and determined when she wants to accomplish a task; especially for people she enjoys being around and cares about,” said Honn's friend Max Cuevas.
“Oh, I definitely work harder than most people my age,” Honn said, “I work seven days a week, at least eight and a half hours a day, and am barely making enough money to get by.”
Even though she feels like she’s working herself to the bone, Honn said, she enjoys every single one of her jobs.
As a baker, Honn gets to see people appreciate the outcome. As a nanny she gets to see two babies discover the world for the first time. As a barista she has the chance to put a smile on people's faces with the drinks she makes. She said she even has a favorite part about cleaning. She enjoys making everything sparkle and it helps put her anxiety at ease.
As much as she loves her jobs, she does face challenges. Her baking has caused her to develop arthritis. Honn said she takes medication daily, and tries to limit herself to how much she can do. But, she said, baking still makes her the happiest.
“Eating everything once it’s done is absolutely delicious, and no one can complain about eating,” she said.
Honn said she wouldn’t change a thing, as she hurried to the oven to retrieve four out of the 24 pies she’ll be making.
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