MBA graduate succeeds at pinching pennies

In December 2018, Becca Wright ’16, ’21 (MBA) buzzed around her Washington, D.C., row-house kitchen baking bite-size golden cheese crackers. Made with a family recipe, they were Christmas gifts for her Deloitte Consulting clients, who knew her only through emails and conference rooms.

When she brought the goodies to the office, clients stopped by her desk, emails poured in and people asked where they could buy them.

Wright with her grandmother, Betty Jordan, whose recipe for cheese biscuits led to Wright creating the business Piedmont Pennies. (Submitted photo)

The biscuit bites, known in Wright’s family as “cheese pennies,” were a tradition passed down from her late grandmother, Betty “Grandbetty” Jordan. Growing up in Burlington, North Carolina, Wright spent holiday weekends baking alongside her father, David Jordan, carefully shaping or “pinching” each penny by hand. Often, she delivered tins of pennies to neighbors and family friends.

She never forgot the neighbor who told her, “I’ve been waiting all year for these. You can’t buy cheese straws like this!”

After the positive response to her Christmas gifts in D.C., Wright wondered if her pennies could become something bigger. Back in North Carolina for the holidays, she drafted a one-page business plan. “It was putting ideas pen to paper,” she said. “What would they look like? Where would we sell them? What would we call it?”

Wright didn’t plan to become an entrepreneur. Her undergraduate coursework in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s health policy and management program led her to government consulting. “Working hard and treating people with respect, no matter their role or background, was foundational,” she said.

In fall 2019, Wright entered UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s full-time MBA program to strengthen her financial foundation, not to start a business. By spring 2020, COVID-19 shut down campuses and offices nationwide. Wright landed a remote summer internship with Facebook. She began baking the cheese treats again, shipping them to family and friends as a way to stay connected during isolation. In her small kitchen, she pinched dough during Zoom classes and kept her refrigerator stocked with butter and cheese.

Then she took Startup UNC, a Kenan-Flagler course that gives academic credit for starting a business. Wright launched Piedmont Pennies in September 2020 and began renting a larger commercial kitchen to bake at night.

“I had time, focus and clarity,” she said. “COVID silenced a lot of noise and helped me understand what mattered — the family recipe and connecting with people.”

Wright’s company, Piedmont Pennies, produces bite-sized golden cheese crackers. (Submitted photo)

Wright and her fiancé, Coble Wright ’16, baked from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. MBA classmates joined in, pinching Pennies and packing orders. Her first large order — 300 units — came from UNC Kenan-Flagler’s admissions office.

As the business grew, Wright committed full time to Piedmont Pennies. She turned down a job offer from Facebook, got married, moved to Charlotte for greater production access and completed her MBA remotely. Courses like professor Atul Nerkar’s strategy and entrepreneurship class reshaped her definition of success. “It was a light bulb moment,” she said. “‘This isn’t a failure if I’m learning, if we’re growing and if I’m enjoying myself.’”

In 2024, Wright began outfitting her own production facility in Matthews, North Carolina. During a strong 2025 holiday season, the ovens ran nonstop October through December.

Piedmont Pennies now employs eight people who bake, pack and ship the products. Corporate gifts are a major revenue stream. Pennies were named the Coolest Thing Made in North Carolina in 2024, featured in Garden & Gun and promoted at the Masters Tournament.

“Life isn’t linear,” Wright said. “UNC taught me to try new things, mitigate risks, and gave me the confidence to stop wondering ‘what if?’”