Meet Katrina Niesen, aka @the.sourdough.mama — the woman carving flowers, bows, and full-on emotional experiences into loaves of bread.
And one fateful day, she accidentally baked a loaf of bread that looked like a perfectly plump, festive holiday booty. (But more on that later.)
And, no, this is not someone just running a recipe account. She’s a full-time sourdough artist, educator, and former instructional designer who walked away from her career, bet on her starter, and said, “If it flops, it flops.”
It did not flop.
The Moment the Hobby Became a Business
Katrina had already decided to quit her job and go all in on The Sourdough Mama. She put in her notice, booked a cruise with her family, and did one last post in the boarding line: a montage of her best sourdough art titled “a year’s worth of sourdough inspiration.”
Then she went dark. No comments. No DMs. No “engagement strategy.” She was literally in the middle of the ocean.
When she sailed back into reception, everything had shifted.
That reel hit around five million views. Her following exploded by tens of thousands. Sales spiked. A high-ticket brand collaboration with Microsoft came through.
On a cruise ship, with spotty WiFi, Katrina realized that this was going to work.
The Red Bow that Went Viral (and Didn’t Break her DMs)
If you’ve seen the red bow loaf, you remember it. It’s bright, hyper-festive, extremely feminine, and — as the comments kindly pointed out — just suggestive enough to live in your head rent-free.
This bread is…cheeky. It has a bow. It has intent.
“I had so many comments of people being like, ‘booty bow bread, ’” Katrina said.
She embraced it. She laughed. She considered making a “booty butterfly.”
This woman is a content visionary.
But she also did something clutch: Instead of bracing for thousands of “What’s the red powder?” comments, she attached a keyword automation to the reel. Comment “red,” get the product link. Done.
“People were commenting red, red, red because they all wanted the link to the red powder,” she said.
No mass copying and pasting. No DM sprint. No trying to keep up while the dough for the next loaf is proofing off-screen.
Behind the scenes, Katrina also used Manychat’s gallery feature to visually line up everything she used on that loaf: the natural red powder, the tools, the strings. People saw the art, commented, and instantly got a clean, visual, shoppable lineup in their DMs — instead of a 15-line caption with buried links.
That reel went on to hit about 6 million views, giving her a boost in her Amazon Storefront sales.
So, while Instagram was out here thirsting over a loaf, Katrina was chilling — because every time someone commented “red,” Manychat automatically slid into their DMs with her gallery of tools, powders, and supplies.
It’s a formula they won’t teach you in school: Booty bread → comments → automations → Amazon storefront sales → peace.
The Feature She’s “Obsessed With” Now
The real game-changer wasn’t one viral moment. It was something much quieter and far more powerful: Follow to DM (FTDM).
“The biggest win that I’ve had is with Follow to DM.”
When someone follows @the.sourdough.mama, they don’t just become a number on a dashboard. They get a conversation.
Here’s what happens automatically when a new follower walks in the door:
- They get a welcome DM
FTDM sends an instant hello that feels personal. - She sends them to a pinned “get to know me” reel
It’s Katrina sharing her backstory, explaining how she got into sourdough and why she does what she does. - She offers a free go-to recipe
Value first. Always. - Then she asks if they want to join her email list
No guilt trip. Just a clear, easy yes/no. - Even if they say no? They still get the recipe
She has it set up so the recipe arrives later, even if they don’t opt into email. No one leaves empty-handed.
That one flow has quietly done more for her business than any single viral moment.
“I know it is working because I have gotten thousands more on my email list since implementing it,” Katrina said.
Before FTDM, her list had grown to around 2,500 in four years. With FTDM, she’s added at least another 2,000 in just a few months — and that number keeps rising.
“It already surpassed what I built in four years in a couple of months.”
Why Email Matters When Building on Shaky Ground
Katrina isn’t collecting emails for ego.
“First of all, it’s a safety net,” she said. “It’s a safety net for if anything goes away, I keep my engaged audience.”
These are the people who:
- Want to learn sourdough art
- Actually read her blog
- Show up for workshops
- Care about her recipes, not just the aesthetic
“It gives me communication to the people who are most interested in what I have to say, not just the kind of the fluff I call it, which is huge as a small business and as like a person,” Katrina said.
And after living through the nightmare of having her Facebook hacked for six months, she takes “safety net” extremely seriously.
Her Audience isn’t just Bakers — and FTDM Proved it
When new followers get that welcome DM and recipe offer, some of them respond with brutal, hilarious honesty: “I get quite a few people that are like, ‘No, I don’t bake. I just love your art.’”
That one line reframed how she thinks about her content.
Yes, she has hobby bakers. Yes, she has people deeply involved in the fermentation process. But she also has artists, crafters, and people who just want soothing, beautifully timed bread-cutting videos in their feed.
“I think I have a huge portion of my community that just enjoys the visual aspect of my videos because I time them to music and they’re soothing,” Katrina said.
Follow to DM is helping her actually understand who’s on the other side of the screen.
Sourdough, Postpartum Depression, and Why the Work Hits Different
Underneath the algorithms and automations, there’s a much softer, human story.
Katrina found sourdough at one of the hardest points in her life: postpartum depression.
She talks openly about it — in workshops, in content, with her community — because she wants it to be less taboo. She’d always seen sourdough framed as “healing” and “therapeutic,” but rarely in the context of postpartum.
For her, it wasn’t just a hobby. It was a way to feel like herself again.
In every workshop, she starts with that story. Some people are there to make nutritious bread. Some want to push into artistic scoring. Some just need something that feels grounding and theirs.
You can see it on their faces when she tells it: the recognition, the emotion, the “oh, it’s not just me.”
This is why the tech matters: not because DMs are “efficient,” but because the more busywork gets handled automatically, the more energy she has for genuine connection.
Tactical Moves You Can Steal from The Sourdough Mama
If you’re a creator sitting on a growing audience and a very tired thumb, here’s exactly what Katrina is doing with Manychat — and how you can shamelessly copy it.
1. Turn every new follower into a preheated lead
She doesn’t treat a new follower as a vanity metric. FTDM immediately:
- Welcomes them
- Sends them to a “get to know me” reel
- Offers a free recipe
- Invites them to join the email list
- Delivers value even if they say no
No awkward “link in bio” chase required.
2. Use comment keywords to monetize viral moments
That red bow loaf? Instead of wading through “What’s the powder?” 900 times, she set a keyword before posting.
People comment “red.” Automation sends the link. Everyone’s happy. Her Amazon Storefront is thrilled.
You can do the same with:
- Product hauls
- Tools you always get asked about
- Free resources
- Event signups
If people keep asking for the same thing in your comments, that’s not a problem, but it should become a workflow.
3. Make galleries do the heavy lifting
Instead of dumping 10 links in a story, Katrina uses Manychat’s gallery feature to show products as visuals.
“The gallery feature’s nice because it shows them a picture right there: here’s the red powder. Here’s the little sprinkling tool. Here’s the strings,” she said.
People see exactly what they’re getting. No confusion. No “wait, which thing did you use?” DMs.
4. Give each blog post its own entry point
Now that Katrina’s blogging, every new post gets:
- An auto DM
- A story keyword flow
“I create an auto DM and story response Keyword for each of my new blogs that come out,” she said. “It’s a really helpful way to quickly share the content.”
Instead of throwing a link into stories and hoping the algorithm likes her today, she gives followers a simple way to ask for it and guarantees delivery to their inbox.
What Manychat Changed in her Day-to-Day
Since layering Manychat into her workflow, Katrina has seen:
- Website traffic up
- Amazon Storefront sales up
- Email list growth explode
- Less pressure to babysit her DMs all day
“It’s been huge for growing my website traffic, Amazon sales, and connection via email list,” she said.
And just as important: she no longer feels like she has to choose between being “present” in her DMs and actually living her life.
“Manychat allows content creators and small businesses a way to instantly engage with their communities and give them what they want, right when they want it,” Katrina said. “That’s huge and takes a lot of anxiety out of my day knowing I don’t have to be glued to DMS all day.”
But is this… cheating?
Katrina knows some creators get weird about automation. Worried it’ll feel cold. Worried it’ll replace real connection. She’s very clear on where she draws the line.
“As long as you’re not using it to replace connection. You still need to respond to people who have bigger questions.”
For her, automation does one thing extremely well: It gives people what they ask for immediately, instead of leaving them lost in the inbox void.
“If you’re using it to give them a link to a product that they’re really looking for, that’s huge. That’s a win for both of you.”
Why she recommends it to other creators
Katrina’s not gatekeeping this.
“I have recommended it to creator friends for growing their email list, and for the great customer support, and because I have really loved everyone from the team I have come in contact with. The vibe is fun, helpful, and the platform works,” she said.
She’s used it to send links, grow a newsletter, sell products, and welcome a community that includes:
- Bakers
- Artists
- People who don’t bake at all but will watch bread art like it’s a nature documentary
And she’s very clear about one thing: if sourdough artists can use Manychat, any niche can.
Could This be You?
Katrina is not a tech bro in a hoodie. She’s an artist who times her scoring cuts to music and talks openly about postpartum depression in her workshops.
She tried the tools, kept what felt human, and ignored what didn’t.
Now:
- Her most viral moments don’t crush her inbox.
- Her email list grows while she sleeps, bakes, teaches, or occasionally goes on vacation.
- Every new follower gets a proper introduction, a gift, and a way to stay connected long-term.
If you’ve ever looked at your DMs and thought, “If I answer all of this, I won’t have any energy left to actually create,” Katrina is your sign.
Or in her words: “It’s going to save you time. It’s going to help your business. Why not use it?”
The only thing worse than going viral unexpectedly …is going viral unprepared.
If you’re ready to turn your DMs into a machine that moves as fast as a comment section thirsting over baked goods, start free with Manychat today.