When Michele Antunes’ life took some unexpected turns and things seemed stacked against her, the Fall River mother of two did what most wouldn’t — she kept stacking.
The 35-year-old recently embarked on sweet new endeavor with The Flippin Pancake, a mobile mini pancake business launched as a creative side-hustle to make extra money during tough times.
Lucky for the local community, they’ve been reaping the benefits of her delicious venture while also rallying to support her at every turn of a flapjack.
In three short months, her little idea introduced on Facebook — initially meant to be events-based — has risen via word of mouth, garnering almost 3,000 followers and a steady stream of pop-ups and individual customer requests.
The Flippin Pancake offers stacks of mini dessert pancakes in an array of flavors that vary week to week, including Bolacha Maria.
And now she’s preparing for her first public event at Southcoast Open Air Market’s opening day June 13 in Somerset.
“It became bigger than I expected,” said Antunes, who is essentially a one-woman show with Flippin Pacacke. “It’s pretty crazy.”
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So why did Antunes, a longtime barber, decide to mix things up with a foray into food service?
Though her culinary creativity shines in her treats, The Flippin Pancake was born more out of a necessity than a passion.
According to Antunes, mother of 14-year-old Jace and 2½-year-old Kyaire, “life changed dramatically for me” with the birth of her youngest child, who was diagnosed with a rare disease called Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, which causes little benign tumors (called tubers) to grow in vital organs like his brain, causing complications such as seizures.
The Flippin Pancake owner Michele Antunes of Fall River works the griddle at a private event.
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They were at Boston Children’s Hospital for the majority of the first year of his life, Antunes said, and at 9 months old Kyaire had brain surgery to remove one of the brain tubers thought to have been the main cause of his seizures, which led to a two-month hospital stay.
In addition, her toddler is severely delayed with speech and mobility, and has been diagnosed with autism.
“It’s been hard,” Antunes said. “He’s such an amazing and sweet boy. Life’s just a little more difficult than expected.”
A full-time barber for nine years in Fall River, Antunes was forced to cut back to part-time and “put my life on hold” because her son required a lot of attention for his medical needs.
On top of that, Antunes returned to college last year to pursue a degree in physical therapy, which ultimately prompted her search for ways to supplement her income and cover expenses for her son’s care.
With an already overflowing plate, including caring for parents with medical challenges, the pancake gig was not something Antunes ever envisioned doing but she’s thrown herself into it full throttle.
“I’ve always had the hustle mentality. … I wasn’t ever spoon-fed by my parents. I just watched them always work, so I always try to figure out how to make ends meet,” Antunes said.
The Flippin Pancake offers stacks of mini dessert pancakes in an array of flavors that vary week to week, including Dubai Pistachio.
The Flippin Pancake origin story
The idea for Flippin Pancake was sparked by a TikTok video from someone on the West Coast who runs a similar venture. “I hadn’t seen that around here,” Antunes said, so she decided to bring that idea to her little corner of the East Coast.
She slowly built her business plan for months at home, drawing mockups of what her products would look like and testing recipes, as well as getting fully licensed and permitted.
The Flippin Pancake launched on Facebook in early March, and within the next month Antunes popped up at her first event, a fundraiser for the proposed autism-friendly Mae’s Playground in Fall River. She’s done a couple more private events since but operates mostly via pop-ups announced on The Flippin Pancake Facebook page.
The Flippin Pancake offers stacks of mini dessert pancakes in an array of flavors that vary week to week, including Strawberry Shortcake.
What’s on the menu at Flippin Pancake
Described as a luxury mini pancake mobile cart “where every flip is a celebration,” Antunes said her goal is to offer “a new experience for your events.”
All pancakes are made fresh to order with different toppings and drizzles and special flavors featured each week.
So far, featured flavors have included Strawberry Shortcake, Dubai Pistachio, Peanut Butter Cup, Churros, Cinnamon Roll, S’mores, and Cookies and Cream, but she likes to mix things up with mystery drop flavors like Bolacha Maria mini stacks (a Portuguese-inspired treat topped with crushed Bolacha Maria cookies and a signature drizzle).
“You get a fully loaded delicious treat,” Antunes noted, that’s more dessert than breakfast pancake.
Online pop-ups and her flavor of the week are teased ahead of time on Facebook, where a link is posted to place orders for pickup at an arranged location. According to Antunes, she only does a limited amount per pop-up —working out of a commissary kitchen in Dartmouth — and will usually sell out within an hour.
In addition, she will be offering drink buckets in an array of fruity flavors and waffle stick pops available plain, with powdered sugar, or with tasty toppings like Nutella drizzle, fresh cut strawberries, cake batter whipped cream and hazelnuts.
Fall River-based The Flippin Pancake will offer a variety of drink buckets.
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Currently, she brings a food cart and table setup with a griddle to events via U-Haul, but is hoping to save enough money for a transit van to more easily take her pancake business on the road to birthday parties, showers, school events, community events and farmers markets.
“Eventually I would love to open up a food truck or even a storefront,” she added.
Flippin Pancake headed to SOAM
You can find her at upcoming Fall River events, where she has secured a permit for the year, as well as Somerset. She is also looking to expand into Swansea and set up pop-ups at a site along Route 6.
Her first community event is around the corner. Flippin Pancake will be joining the roster of food vendors at Southcoast Open Air Market (SOAM), 100 Newhill Ave., Somerset, on June 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. She’ll also be at SOAM’s Foodchella festival in the fall.
New to The Flippin Pancake menu are waffle pop sticks.
“I’m excited because that’s a huge event,” Antunes said.
And while Antunes plate may be full, so is her heart with the response she has received so far from the community.
“People have been kind and understanding,” said Antunes as she navigates the learning curve of starting a business and juggles her hectic personal schedule. “Everyone has been so supportive.”
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River mom adds mini pancake biz to her full plate. How it started
