This is the 93rd article in Bears Doing Big Things, a weekly column celebrating the stories of notable M-A alumni.
“I just have always wanted to do something with baking. It was really my lifelong goal, I didn’t want to do anything else,” Natalie Hug ’15 said. Hug has spent years working in different bakeries and now owns Hearth & Hug Bakery in Boston.
At M-A, Hug was a part of the AVID program. “AVID was a really great program that helped me a lot,” she said. “It defined a lot of my experiences at M-A because everyone in that class became so close. We still keep in touch today and feel like a little family.”
“Being kind of in the middle of the socioeconomic class at M-A, I definitely got a view across the board of the whole population, so it was really interesting to see how everyone functioned together and where they came together,” Hug said. “My family was definitely not on the wealthy side of Menlo Park, which I was always very aware of, but I had a really joyful upbringing and high school experience.”
After graduating from M-A, Hug attended Newbury College in Brookline, Mass., where she earned a bachelor’s degree in culinary management and an associate degree in bakery and pastry arts. She studied cooking, baking, and pastry arts, while also learning the basics of business management, including finance and accounting.
“As a little kid, I wanted to be a chocolatier, and I was very into candy making, which eventually led me to pursue baking,” Hug said. “I also always wanted to be my own boss, so eventually owning a bakery seemed like a natural fit for me.”
“I loved college, but it was very different from M-A. I would sometimes have six-hour cooking classes four days a week that would require me to get up really early and be on my feet all day, so there was definitely an adjustment period for me,” she added.
Following college, Hug gained experience working in several bakeries. She worked as a cake decorator at Modern Pastry Shop, a pastry baker at Flour Bakery+Cafe, and an opening baker at Reunion Bread. “Every bakery I worked at I tried to look for job positions and skill sets that I didn’t already have to hone in on certain skills in preparation for creating my own bakery,” she said.
“I was working at a specialty food shop called Formaggio Kitchen when I met a customer who was a caterer and had free kitchen space available. She asked me if I was interested in using the space, so while working at the food shop, I started taking my own orders on the side,” Hug explained.
Hug hosted a pop-up within the Boston Public Market in downtown Boston, a space featuring a variety of local businesses. “After my pop-up, the owners approached me and asked if I would be interested in using their open space for my bakery. I immediately said yes, quit my job, and now I have my business there,” she said.
Hearth & Hug Bakery has been open since September 2023, selling freshly baked pastries, breads, cakes, and more. “I wanted the name to feel very warm, homey, and comforting, and my last name is Hug so that was obviously part of it,” Hug said.
Hug’s favorite part about owning a bakery is the creative freedom. “I get to kind of do and make whatever I want,” she said. “I have had so many moments where I have had an idea for something and I can just go ahead and throw it together and see if it works.”
“I love to interact with customers and see their happy faces when buying our products,” Hug added. “Everyone gets very excited about our sourdough loaves and classic cookies.”
However, owning a bakery comes with many challenges. “I feel like I am working and thinking about the bakery all the time. We are only open four days a week right now because it’s just me and another person working, so while it’s very rewarding, it’s also a lot of responsibility,” she said.
Hug’s advice to current M-A students: “Advocate for yourself always. It doesn’t matter the situation, if you feel like there’s something you need to push for so that you can keep learning and moving forward, then do it. At the end of the day, people are not just going to hand you things, so it’s really important to step up for yourself.”
To those interested in baking and owning a business: “Get as much experience as possible in different working environments and pay attention to not only what people are doing right, but what they are doing wrong. It will help you a lot in the long run.”
