This is part of a regular series about side gigs—nurses with interesting side jobs or hobbies. This month, we spotlight a nurse who sells baked goods through her business Love and Joye.
Alyssa Joye Vesey, RN
During the holidays, many of us include baking as part of what we do. It’s a tradition.
For Alyssa Joye Vesey, RN, who works for Walden University’s College of Nursing as the RN Field Education Coordinator in the Office of Field Experience, baking has become her side gig in her business Love and Joye.
How did you come up with the idea for Love and Joye? Why did you want to do this? How long have you been doing it? Do you only cook and bake particular items?
I have had a strong passion for cooking ever since I was a child, but I did not have any prior baking experience until I moved to the United States in 2017. Where I came from in the Philippines, people do not have ovens at home because every street corner has a bakery.
When I was adjusting to my life in the U.S., I found myself craving the Filipino baked goods I used to purchase. I couldn’t find them in grocery stores, so that encouraged me to try baking. I fell in love with it, and just started trying to bake Filipino desserts and pastries. I also explored and made other desserts from around the world that interested me.
My friends and coworkers encouraged me to start selling the goods I made because they felt bad asking me to bake for them for free. In 2019, I decided to start selling and sharing what I bake in my community in Minneapolis through Love and Joye.
Explain what Love and Joye offers, is, does, and if you ship around the country.
Love and Joye
Love and Joye is a small business in Minneapolis that offers mostly Filipino delicacies. But it is not limited to that because I also make a variety of cakes and cupcakes for birthdays and parties.
I love to share my Filipino heritage through food, which is one of the most powerful ways of connecting people. I have sent my baked goods to family members in some parts of the country like Washington, Florida, New York, and California. However, due to my schedule, I am not yet able to ship orders around the country, but I dream to be able to do so someday.
Do you find that this is easy to do even while working as a nurse?
I find it manageable to have a food business on the side because of a strategy I set in place. I ask my customers to provide a timeframe of when they need their orders so I can plan. It helps that my work schedule is consistent, and I have weekend rest days. I mostly accept orders when they are placed a week or two in advance.
What are your biggest challenges with this side gig? What are your greatest rewards?
The biggest challenge is the limitation on the number and types of orders I can accept due to my current schedule. I always want to do more for my business and for my community, but due to time constraints, I can’t always. Even though my job has a relatively consistent schedule, there are some weeks that are much more highly demanding and busier than others.
My greatest reward in running the Love and Joye food business is the satisfaction of knowing that people like what I make for them, and the conversations it creates. It is an opportunity to share with people where I come from and an opportunity for me to learn the same about them. I do not pay for advertising, so I let my customers do it for me.
What do you like most about Love and Joye?
I love seeing the reaction on people’s faces when they try Filipino food for the first time. The reaction ranges from a big smile to a look of confusion, like their face is asking, “What’s in this? I’ve never had anything like it before!”
There is only one Filipino restaurant in Minneapolis, so my business creates more opportunity for people to try something new. Through Love and Joye, I can bring them to the Philippines without leaving Minnesota.
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