You care about what you make.
Your business should reflect that.
You didn’t get into this industry to become a marketer, customer service rep, or SEO expert.
You got into it because you care about:
How things are crafted
How they taste
How they’re served
How food brings people together
That part matters.
But it’s not enough on its own.
That’s where I come in
I’m Rory, founder of Donut Digest
I help independent bakeries, bagel shops, and coffee shops fix what’s getting in the way—so customers can find you, understand what you offer, and confidently choose you.
That’s where I come in
I’m Rory, founder of Donut Digest
I help independent bakeries, bagel shops, and coffee shops fix what’s getting in the way—so customers can find you, understand what you offer, and confidently choose you.
As featured in
Who this is for
This work is built for independent bakery and coffee shop owners who care about what they make and want their business to reflect it.
That usually looks like:
Home bakers deciding between pop-ups, wholesale, or a storefront
Bakery, donut, bagel, and coffee shop owners running 1–5 locations
Food businesses in both major cities and surrounding communities
If you’re somewhere in that range, you’re in the right place.
A different kind of perspective
I haven’t owned a bakery.
That’s intentional.
My background is in corporate marketing, where everything starts with:
Clear goals
Clear priorities
Strategy before execution
When I started working with independent bakery owners, the gap was obvious:
Too many tactics
A lot of guesswork
Limited understanding of what actually drives sales
My role is to simplify that.
To help you focus on what actually matters (and ignore the hacks that don’t).
A different kind of perspective
I haven’t owned a bakery.
That’s intentional.
My background is in corporate marketing, where everything starts with:
Clear goals
Clear priorities
Strategy before execution
When I started working with independent bakery owners, the gap was obvious:
Too many tactics
A lot of guesswork
Limited understanding of what actually drives sales
My role is to simplify that.
To help you focus on what actually matters (and ignore the hacks that don’t).
Why outside perspective matters
When you’re inside your business every day, certain things become invisible:
What’s confusing to a new customer
Where people hesitate
What’s creating friction without you realizing it
That’s normal. You’re close to it.
My role is to step back, see it the way your customers do, and help you fix what’s getting in the way.
Beyond the screen
I’ve seen what happens when great food businesses get in front of the right people IRL.
In 2019, I co-hosted the Dallas Donut Fest, bringing together over a dozen artisan shops and nearly 900 attendees.
People showed up, tried new things, and found new favorite spots.
As a host, that felt immensely rewårding.
But the real difference came after the event.
The shops that stood out made it easy to remember them, visit their storefront, and stay connected.
Wondering where the name
Donut Digest came from?
There’s a story behind it, and it says a lot about how I think about bakery marketing.
Click to collapse ↑
Donut Digest didn’t start as a coaching business.
It started in 2016, when I moved to Texas and began visiting the “best” donut shops across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. What began as a food blog quickly turned into a core observation.
The best shops weren’t always the easiest to find.
Search results were inconsistent, review platforms like Yelp were unreliable, and many of the most unique, artisan bakeries were buried.
As I got to know the owners, a pattern became clear:
The product was rarely the issue.
Visibility, clarity, and consistency were.
That perspective deepened over time, especially during the pandemic.
Suddenly, bakery owners had to figure out online ordering, websites, and email almost overnight. The overwhelm was real. It still is.
What started as curiosity about baked goods and food photography evolved into a clearer mission: helping local bakeries get seen, understood, and chosen.
That’s still the heart of Donut Digest today.
If this feels familiar, you’re not alone
Six years post-pandemic and now based in the Northeast, I still see the same pattern:
Talented bakery owners doing great work
…but stuck following advice that prioritizes vanity metrics over what actually drives revenue.
What would it feel like to stop reacting, stop guessing, and stop burning out trying to grow your bakery?
You don’t need to stay on the social media hamster wheel.
And you don’t have to figure this out alone.
You just need to know what’s actually worth fixing.
Start by telling me a little about your bakery, and I’ll point you in the right direction.
(2–3 minutes, I’ll follow up personally)
If this feels familiar, you’re not alone
Six years post-pandemic and now based in the Northeast, I still see the same pattern:
Talented bakery owners doing great work
…but stuck following advice that prioritizes vanity metrics over what actually drives revenue.
What would it feel like to stop reacting, stop guessing, and stop burning out trying to grow your bakery?
You don’t need to stay on the social media hamster wheel.
And you don’t have to figure this out alone.
You just need to know what’s actually worth fixing.
Start by telling me a little about your bakery, and I’ll point you in the right direction.
(2–3 minutes, I’ll follow up personally)