Kate Banks first met Julia Child at a book signing. It didn’t go quite the way the lifelong baker expected.

“I said, ‘Hi Julia. Thank you for being here today. I’ve been trying to make a buche de noel but haven’t been having any luck. Do you have any tips?’ She quits writing, slowly looks up at me, and goes: ‘Well, I don’t know why you’re having such trouble. That’s one of the easiest cakes to make.’ I just froze,” says Banks.

The lesson, she realized, is to simply get in the kitchen and keep trying.

In 2015, that same “keep at it” attitude inspired her to create Vain Foods, which produces hand-poured vanilla extracts like the Original Bakers Blend, featuring Tahitian and Madagascar beans and top-shelf cane rum.

“It’s been really gratifying—as a woman, as a mom, as a parent—to start something from the ground up and have my kids watch that process.”

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Photo Credits: Allison Banks; Brianna Coleman