Imagine this: You and your local business get chosen to be a reality television show, and the show becomes a hit. You become a star. The orders come pouring in from everywhere. People recognize you on the street. You get endorsement and speaking deals. You have hit the big time! 

I contacted the Food Network’s Ace of Cakes star Chef Duff Goldman for his experiences and advice about how he made exactly that happen for his Charm City Cakes. However, instead of focusing on fame and how to get a television show, Duff quickly showed that first and foremost he is a business leader who is passionate about excellence, discipline, and how to build a winning team.  

If you are reading this case study for the secrets to getting your business on television and becoming famous, let’s get that over with. According to Duff, “If your cause is to get on TV, it will never happen. Fame is a by product of doing something else. Fame for fame’s sake never happens unless you are Paris Hilton, and she got famous because some guy took a night vision camera video of her doing whatever, and all of a sudden she got famous. Don’t make fame your cause.” 

He continues: “That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t avoid trying to get noticed. Just do whatever you do really well. Make that your cause.” 

If you really do want to get your business on a reality television show, Duff lays out a plan for you. He uses the example of a company that takes care of plants in commercial office buildings. 

Step One: You better know everything there is to know about your business. “You need to know the ins and outs of every little thing. You need the answers to every question immediately. If your business is plants, and someone asks you the name of a particular plant and whether it is allergenic or not, you had better be able to answer on the spot. That’s how fast TV moves.” 

Step Two: Run a tight ship. “In my case,” Duff says, “If I didn’t have a good bakery that’s profitable, I couldn’t catch anyone’s attention. We work hard and we play hard, and that’s what gets us noticed.”

Step Three: Get a contract in a building with a production company. Duff advises, “Set up your plan business in Los Angeles, find a production company that does reality TV shows, and solicit their business. If plants are your business, get hired to manage the plants for an LA production company."

Step Four: You need to be a character, but don't force it or put on an act. According to Duff, “Be your natural goofy self. Don’t go over the top because production companies can smell that instantly.” 

In Duff’s case, he started getting noticed when he was invited to participate in contests. “I provided a comedic outlet in an otherwise stressful situation. I wasn’t the best – in fact my competitors were vastly superior to me – but I was the funniest. I was genuinely having a good time. Winning, being on television, and getting the prize money were not key for me. I got to learn from incredible people by picking their brain. After a competition ended, I’d talk to others and learn. I’d ask, ‘How did you do that?’ and learn from them.” 

Now Charm City Cakes is what Duff calls a “micro-economy” that includes the bakery, television show, and endorsement deals. Duff has a simple philosophy when it comes to setting priorities with everything he has going on. Like a bakery where you take a number to get served, his rule is, “First come, first served.” 

In at least one instance, this philosophy cost Duff an appearance on one of the top late night talk shows. “They wanted me to make a crazy cake with fireworks, for a show airing in two days. But I had an order for a birthday cake for a customer down the street, and that came in first. I was bummed that I had to miss out on this show and meeting the host, but to call yourself a businessman business has to be first and foremost. The bakery, the employees, and the customers have to come before television and celebrity. If you keep that attitude, I think you can be in business for as long as you want to be.” 

Here’s the thing that impressed me most about Duff: We very quickly moved to what really matters to him….building a winning team. Duff loves sports; he played ice hockey, lacrosse, and football, and knows a thing or two about winning. He explains, “When a place of business feels like a winning team, the things you can do are astounding.” 

In the case of Charm City Cakes, the team is a group of extremely creative, talented, and smart individuals – “geniuses and artists” according to Duff. For instance, Artistic Director Anna Ellison is a nationally ranked Scrabble player, and Executive Sous Chef Geof Manthorne has a “laser wit that stupefies.” Duff can’t stop gushing about his employees: “A business is only as good as its employees. I’ve found the right people, and they are amazing. They truly astonish me with what they can come up with.” 

Perhaps more challenging (at least for many business owners), the employees at Charm City Cakes are all close friends. “We’re all in bands, we go to each other’s shows, we go on vacation together, and we like, love, and respect each other.” 

Duff realizes that with this type of talent and these kinds of close relationships “you can’t force your way into getting people to perform at their optimum level. You have to give praise, let people use their skills, give everyone the tools they need, and let every employee have a sense of ownership. That makes happy employees, and happy employees are great to be around.” 

At Charm City Cakes, Duff has a natural gift for creating happy employees who feel a sense of ownership in the company. First, unlike the stereotypical chef (think Gordon Ramsay on Hell’s Kitchen), he never raises his voice. “The last thing you want to do is yell at someone in public. No one will respect you if you yell. The rod is not the way to handle issues. If someone has a chronic issue and employees can’t work it out among themselves, I’ll handle it in private. We’ll go into the back room and discuss whatever’s going on.” 

Also unlike the typical chef, he does not run a dictatorship where his opinion is all that matters. Instead, “We are pretty democratic. We make decisions pretty much by committee. If we’re on the fence, I’m the final arbiter, but usually we agree on the way to go.” 

Duff shares everything from praise to his endorsement fees with his team. For instance, any time a thank you note comes in from a customer or a letter comes in from a fan, the bakery’s Manager Mary Alice prints it out and leaves it on the lead baker’s desk. He comments, “The employee sees the note on his or her desk the first thing when they come in. It puts a spring in their step the rest of the day….and we get thank you notes and fan letters every day.” 

Likewise, he puts a share of every dollar he makes from endorsements and speaking engagements into a rollover CD that is split equally among all employees (i.e., out now is his book Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes). “We created this thing together. It’s not just me. My employees know this is the truth and I tell them this is the truth.” Note that the CD money is in addition to the money that employees earn for agreeing to appear on the television show, which has allowed some of his employees – many in their early twenties – the resources to buy their own home.

Employees also get two months of paid vacation. Duff notes “We did this long before the show and long before we were financially stable. I want my employees to remain balanced. If someone is not feeling super-motivated on a certain day, I encourage them to go home or go to the beach. These are people with many other interests and I want them to stay fresh.” 

Gratitude is a big part of his management style, too. In addition to raving about his employees and his bakery customers, he is also thankful for the people who come up to him and members of his team in public. “Those are the people who watch our show, love what we do, and identify with us. We need to acknowledge that these are the people who keep us on.” 

While all of this success could go to another chef’s head, Duff is still careful to do his share of the hard work. “Especially in a smaller business like ours, employees see me every day. We work side by side. My job is still to run the bakery and decorate cakes, and I do that every day. If I were an absentee owner, they’d resent me really quickly.” 

I came into to our interview wanting to talk about how a business owner can get a reality television show, and instead I got to learn from a down-to-earth business leader who knows how to build a great team. As Duff concludes, “We have a good thing going. Everyone realizes it, and we are a strong team. I am the coach, and we have made it to the playoffs.” After talking to Duff for a little while, it's hard not to root for him and his team to win it all.