Location update, 11 September 2026: Vanilla Bar now trades at Hope Centre, 440-448 Kingston Road, Slacks Creek, alongside Punjabi Bytes and Zesty Cup. Our interview and photographs below are from its earlier Woodridge location.
Vanilla Bar began with a practical decision. After 14 years in real estate, Dixie could see that her children needed more of her time. She wanted to keep building a career, but she needed to build it differently.
Dixie is a mother of six. While she was working in real estate, she felt the pressure that long working hours were putting on family life. Walking away from an industry she knew was not a small move, but staying in the same routine no longer felt right.
“I really wanted to spend more time with my kids, and I could see that they were struggling while I was working,” she said. “I knew that I had to do something.” That something became Vanilla Bar.
In Dixie's words
“I really wanted to spend more time with my kids. I knew that I had to do something.”
Dessert was already the family language
Dixie and her family are originally from New Zealand. Their journey later took them to Perth and then Brisbane, but one habit travelled with them: they have always been serious about dessert.
When asked why she chose desserts, Dixie did not reach for a business-school answer. Her family simply loves them. Given the choice, she said, she would happily eat dessert before dinner. Vanilla Bar took that familiar family enthusiasm and turned it into a focused local business.
Five brownie batches on a busy day
The Brownie Sundae is Vanilla Bar's top seller and comes in several flavours. Dixie says the business can move through around three batches of it in a night.
The Brownie Crunch Bowl adds another two batches. On a busy day, that can mean Dixie baking about five batches in total. It is a demanding routine, but it is also clear evidence that customers are returning for the products she built the menu around.
The family behind the founder
Dixie leads Vanilla Bar day to day, with support from her family behind the scenes. Her husband continues his truck-driving work, while the business gives Dixie a way to lead something of her own and be more present at home.
Vanilla Bar was not created to step away from ambition. It was created so that ambition and family did not always have to pull in opposite directions. The work is still hands-on, but the direction is Dixie's: build carefully, keep the product fresh and make room for the next stage of growth.
The difficult part is the beginning
Dixie is direct about the hardest stage of business. The beginning can look simple from the outside, but it is the point where uncertainty, workload and slow progress cause many people to stop.
Her advice is equally direct: hang in there and keep going. It is not a dramatic formula, but it reflects the practical persistence required to move from an idea to five brownie batches on a busy day.
Brisbane is the base, not the finish line
Asked to compare Perth and Brisbane food, Dixie laughed and carefully declined to choose. Asked whether Brisbane needs more variety, however, she had a clear answer: yes, especially when it comes to desserts.
Her plans for Vanilla Bar extend beyond one counter. Dixie sees the possibility of more locations, opportunities that can eventually help her children, and a business that could spread across Australia. For now, the work remains immediate and hands-on: bake, prepare, serve, learn and come back the next day.