BIRD Bakery Founder Elizabeth Chambers Wants to 'Empower Women to Find Their Passion and Voice' as She Successfully Runs Her Own Business

Elizabeth Chambers knows what it is like to juggle a lot at one time. After being a news correspondent for Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood and E! News Now, the star broke out in the acting world, appearing in TV shows such as 2 Broke Girls, Criminal Minds and Shark.

But what the star was really enamored with was baking, which is why she decided to take a leap of faith and open BIRD Bakery in San Antonio, Texas, in 2012, and later another one in Dallas in 2016. Naturally, Chambers needed to add more to her plate, which is why she decided to open two more: one in Denver and another in Grand Cayman, where she has a home.

"We aren't a big corporation, and we don't have any investors. Frankly, I open where I want to be. I was born in San Antonio, which is our original location, and then I grew up in Dallas, but I went to high school in Denver. I wanted my parents to spend more time with their grandkids, so we opened there — and now we found ourselves in Grand Cayman during the COVID-19 pandemic. Going through a super public divorce, there's no paparazzi here, so we ended up staying here. It felt natural to put down roots here," the entrepreneur, 41, exclusively tells OK! about the latest bakery, which opened in September. "Though it has been challenging, we're giving back to the community that gave so much to us."

Growing up, Chambers, who shares two kids, daughter Harper and son Ford, with ex Armie Hammer, was excited about cooking — and she learned from the best, as her grandmother and mother were both in the hospitality industry.

"I feel really passionately about empowering women to find heir passion, their voice, their freedom, their independence, and honestly, stop compromising their expectations and values for people around them. That is so passé, and we're so beyond that. Everyone needs to be able to position ourselves where we don't feel stuck, and that starts with children and not passing down a certain type of messaging. I'm passionate about empowerment — and that starts when they're born," she declares.

Running a business is not easy — something the TV personality learned along the way, but she gives herself a pat on the back for what she has accomplished in such a short amount of time. "I am really proud of myself. It's a lot, and I have an incredible team. People who are billionaires or who have a passion project all want to open restaurants and very few of them actually succeed," she says. "Most of them close within the first two years. In my opinion, the hospitality industry is more challenging than the entertainment industry — and I am the genius that chose both of them! But I am really proud of our team. It's a 24/7 hustle, and I only sleep four hours a night."

"Every single person who walks through that door has expectations, so it's not lost on me that I have a tremendous responsibility and privilege to make it the best for everyone," she adds. "There's no Amazon in Grand Cayman. We're on an island that doesn't grow a lot and everything has to be shipped in, so the cost of our products are high and there's work permits, etc."

But when her uncle, who is a well-known chef and restaurateur, told her to not let anyone know they were related, she was caught off guard. "I was like, 'That is the rudest thing to say,' but it fueled me. I was like, 'Fine, I will show you.' My mom was like, 'Why are you doing this? You have a perfectly successful career.' I thought they were underestimating me, but then I was thankful for their words because they were encouraging me. Then, a full circle moment happened — after we had a successful first year, I went to my uncle's restaurant and on the bottom of his menu it said, 'If you're ever in San Antonio, go visit my niece's bakery.' That was what I needed. Sometimes you don't need to doubt yourself — you need people to doubt you because that's the best motivation you can have," she shares.

Additionally, Chambers gets to now watch her two kids in the kitchen, as they love to bake and even help customers at the bakery. "It's like a birthday party for them! Everyone who comes in is excited to see them. They love it and feel empowered," she gushes. "I ask if they want to go to the trampoline park, and they just want to serve and learn, which makes my heart so full. It makes me really happy."

"Our world is all about food," she adds. "That's how it was for me growing up as well. We would just bake and cook constantly, and the kitchen was never closed. Life is food in our family. The kids are so invested in the business and they feel like it's a part of them. It's a really beautiful thing, and I can't imagine it not being in their lives. They constantly talk about who will inherit it. They're playing rock, paper, scissors over who will be the bigger boss."

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For more on BIRD Bakery, click here.