Buffy’s Sarah Michelle Gellar Causes a ‘Stir’ in Baking Business

She made a name for herself in the late 1990s on the hit TV series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and now actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is taking on a new role — in the kitchen — with her lifestyle brand Foodstirs.

The startup aims to connect families through baking activities that utilize its premium mixes with kits, which start around $19.95.

“Our kits are very special because we take a project and we elevate it to that next level,” Gellar tells FOXBusiness.com. “Why just make a cupcake when you can make a cupcake cone with sprinkles and frosting and really make it creative.”

The idea came after the mother-of-two’s daughter had a playdate with the daughter of Foodstirs Co-Founder and CEO Galit Laibow.

“We were looking for activity and both of our girls have been showing an interest in baking and when we went to the store to go buy something, we were horrified at what was in some of the mixes and we didn’t want to feed our children that,” adds Gellar.

From that moment forward, Laibow and Gellar were on a mission to find and source non-GMO, preservative-free, and dye-free ingredients to use in their baking projects.

“We’re disrupting a market that needs disruption. I think the baking industry is kind of tired. And it needs some innovation. It needs some hip-ness and we’re re-inventing that and building a community,” says Laibow.

The mom duo, alongside another good friend and former Martha Stewart product expert Gia Russo, created the lifestyle brand in hopes of one day taking over the baking aisles in grocery stores.

“The sky’s the limit. I have all these ideas of tools that we want to make and products. I see it going into stores where we have an entire ‘Foodstirs’ crafting section with tons of DIY and different recipes. I could also see television shows down the line,” Gellar says.

The kid-friendly line, which only started selling online in October, has been expanding ever since with all hands on deck, adds Gellar.

“We’re doing everything by hand from creating the mixes to sourcing it, to packaging it, to promoting it. But with great risks comes great reward and I think that’s the only way we are going to be able to make the product that we want to make and eventually the brand that we want to create,” she says.

One of the toughest parts for the startup moms has been pitching their idea in front of  investors.

“Going into a room you never know if someone wants to see Buffy fail in an investment meeting and I think a lot of people took the meeting to see what these two blondes had to say, but I don’t think people took us seriously until we went in there with our pitch,” notes Gellar.

Ultimately, Gellar says the most rewarding part for them has been showing their children that anything is possible with hard work.

“We’re showing our children that your mommies had an idea and look what they made happen.”