About a decade ago, Memphis native Allie Trotter was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, working at both a local bakery and a brewery. A friend of hers wanted to enter a pie contest in — of all places — Pie Town, New Mexico, a tiny town that hosts a Pie Festival each September. 

The friend took home second place. But it was Trotter who won the grand prize.

“It was the first time I realized baking might be something more than a hobby,” said Trotter, now the owner of her own baked goods company, Whisks of Doom. “I never really thought this would be like a viable future for me.”

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