Woman Opens Business After Pandemic Forces Her To Cancel Trip To Australia

For Michelle Bui, plan A was to be in Australia on a work-holiday, but the pandemic had other plans. 

“So that was a really big curveball that I had to work with,” Bui said. 

So on to plan B, which for Bui, meant bread. 

She was already making loaves and selling it here and there before the pandemic. 

With her travel plans toast, she decided to go big by starting a small business, called Bui’s Breads. 

“It was almost intimidating, at first. I think not knowing if people would actually like it, I was worried people were just being really nice, saying, ‘no this is good,’ and not trying it again,” she said. 

But that has not been an issue. Bui’s Breads is on a roll. 

She takes online orders and also sells it at the Paseo Farmer’s Market and The Market at Commonplace in Midtown. 

Bui’s bread and butter loaf is her Japanese milk bread. 

“I really tweaked a lot to make sure it was consistent, and it was really good. So that one I think is the most popular, not just because it’s good, but because no one else is making it,” she said. 

Bui works as a barista at Café Contemporary inside the new Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center building. 

She also adds an ingredient to one of the dishes. 

“I’ve overheard some of the servers say to customers, like, ‘oh yeah, someone who works here actually makes that bread.’ I heard some say, ‘I want to buy it,’ which I thought was really cool,” she said. 

Bui said she still plans to go to Melbourne eventually, where she hopes to be an apprentice to a bread maker.