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Tradecraft: Joe's Recipe for the Cheat Code of Life Part II
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What does it look like to leave behind a successful career in law and finance to pursue your true passion? In this episode, we sit down with Joe, the owner and sole operator of Tradecraft, Morton's newest bakery specializing in expertly crafted French laminated pastries. Yum!
Joe's journey is a bit unconventional. From East Peoria to Chicago, Philadelphia, Texas, and back again—he's been a law student, a university administrator, a Certified Financial Planner with an MBA, and now, a trained French pastry chef who found his home in Morton just three months ago.
But here's what makes Joe's story truly special. Open just two days a week (Saturdays and Sundays, 8am-12pm), Joe runs Tradecraft entirely by himself because this isn't a job—it's a craft. It's a passion. And in his own words, it's how he found "the cheat code to life."
We talk about what it takes to master the art of laminated pastries, why he chose Morton over the big city, the buildout process from farmers market to brick-and-mortar, and what it means to define success on your own terms. Joe's philosophy on quality over quantity, craftsmanship over commerce, and passion over profit will resonate with anyone who's ever dreamed of doing what they love.
Whether you're a croissant connoisseur, an aspiring entrepreneur, or someone searching for permission to pursue your passion—this conversation is for you.
Tradecraft is located in Morton, Illinois, and is open Saturdays and Sundays from 8am-12pm. ( https://www.tradecraftbakeshop.com/about )
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/hrSjgg6RS13sTc1F6
108 E. Queenwood, Morton, Illinois
Morton MUSE & News celebrates the small-town values, businesses, and people that make Morton special. Thank you for supporting local stories and small-town voices.
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Muse Morton (the studio and gallery)
Joe Donahue
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Speaker: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Morton Mu News. I'm your host Ben Vandenberg, and I have
a craving about today's conversation. I feel like I have a little bit of a, a secret, like I'm gonna tell people about what's going on with this episode today, and it's going to immediately change your like Saturday, Sunday plans. We're gonna sit down with somebody today who has taken a pretty unconventional path.
From law school to financial planning to a bakery in Morton on Greenwood. I don't know if you know this, but there, , a couple months ago, maybe about three or four months ago, a bakery opened up called Tradecraft. If you know Katie, my wife, she has a passion for pastries and foods and things like that, and this somehow came across her radar.
And pretty quickly she was there maybe on the first or the second weekend and brought home a little box of pastries. And while things have been different since then, I think just about every weekend we're coming home with another box of pastries. And today I get to introduce [00:01:00] you about the guy who has started up this pastry business from the ground up.
Our guest today, he is left behind a career in financial planning and law work and administrative work to pursue a deeper passion, and that is to create French pastries, laminated pastries. Joe opened his bakery about three, maybe four months ago and he's doing something real special over there.
He's a one man operation, open just two days a week, Saturdays and Sundays. And he has absolutely no interest in growing bigger. And that's kind of the cool part of the story, I think, because for him it's not about, making more money. I'm sure that probably helps, but it's more about the craft.
And there's something I think to be, really appreciated, admired about that choice. It's about quality, it's about honesty. It's about finding what he calls, quote unquote, the cheat code of life. And we get to talk to Joe about that today. That's pretty cool. He specializes in french delicacies that require expert training and years of experience to master. And trust me, when you taste one of these pastries, you can tell this isn't just a job for him. It's some kind of artistry.[00:02:00]
And that's exactly what Martin Music News is all about. We're about trying to celebrate the people who are in this community pouring their hearts into their work, and the small businesses that make Morton special, and the courage that it takes to follow your passions, even when it doesn't really make sense on paper.
So whether you've already been to Joe's Bakery on a Saturday morning, or you're hearing about it for the first time here today on this podcast, I think you're gonna love this story. It gives you a deeper dive into what Joe's doing and to all of you listening, thank you.
Thank you for supporting the local voices, for caring about the stories of our neighbors and for coming along on the journey with us. We just crossed over 2000 downloads and this is the first episode of the third season, and it's because of you, so I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Time to dive in
Welcome
Speaker 2: welcome to Morton Mu News, where we bring you events, highlight the voices and celebrate the unique charm of our community from local happenings and business spotlights to heartfelt interviews with people who make Morton special. This is your go-to source for staying connected with all things [00:03:00] Morton.
Tune in and let's discover what makes our town truly remarkable. One story at a time.
Hello. It is a sunny day in February the 23rd. We've come through a little bit of a warm spell and now we're kind of touching back down to real February temperatures and we're back into like, oh, I don't know what is it out there, Joe,
Speaker 3: or, I don't know. It's cold.
Speaker 2: It's cold. I have in the studio today an entrepreneur here in Morton who just opened up a shop about.
Three months ago, Joe Donahue. Hi Joe.
Speaker 3: Hello.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Muse. We are right across the street from each other, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 3: Yeah,
Speaker 2: and you were saying before I hit the record button that you were in your kitchen, what do you call it? Like Yeah, you call it your kitchen?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just say the basic,
Speaker 2: your shop.
Speaker 3: I was in the OR shop a lot. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Okay. So he was just over there today was able to connect with Joe after Katie ran into Joe and met him and got to talking about starting small business. I don't know if you know this, but Katie, my wife, she also has a [00:04:00] heart for small business stuff. She started a small business here in town as well at some point in time.
Oh, maybe 20 years ago. And it, it easily catches her attention, when she sees other people kind of going down that same kind of path and then that mixed together with her love for pastries and delicacies like that. So,
Speaker 3: yeah, she's a good customer.
Speaker 2: So it was probably about a couple of weeks ago that Katie came home with this little brown box that said trade craft on it.
And we got to munching on those yummies. It was delicious. And I'm here with Joe in the studio today to talk a little bit about his story. Joe where do you want to get us started? Can you get us just kind of brought up to speed here within the last three to four to five years, you've got a really interesting path.
Not sure where you wanna start that path for our audience today.
Speaker 3: Hmm. That's a tough one. Um,
Speaker 2: law school.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Um, or
Speaker 2: before that.
Speaker 3: Well, I went to college in Chicago. Okay. And I loved it. I didn't wanna leave.
Speaker 2: Okay. Uh, you, you were born around the area
Speaker 3: here though? I was born in East Peoria.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: And got just wanted [00:05:00] to, as everybody does when they're 18, get outta town. Leave town. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah,
Speaker 3: yeah. I was in Chicago at Loyola University of Chicago, and majored in sociology of all things. It was fantastic. But you can't do much with that degree. Okay. So I become a PhD or
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: Find something else. So, law school
Speaker 2: fair, fair to say that you're an academic of sorts though?
Speaker 3: Um, I guess, or you were initially I've been, I've, I've got a lot of schooling.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: And I didn't wanna get a PhD in sociology. I just didn't have a. Direction to go. Yeah. Like, what are you gonna do? It was a bit overwhelming, maybe just trying to decide, what path you take.
So I did what a lot of people do. Went to law school university of Pennsylvania, and that was very challenging. But not really. My, my heart wasn't in it. I didn't wanna, I didn't wanna pursue it for a long time. So I decided that I would kind of get back into the academic [00:06:00] world and started working in an administration pretty quickly in,
Speaker 2: in a school,
Speaker 3: in a school at universities.
Okay. Um, and I thought at the time the best option for me really would be. Go back, work at universities, and then figure out what,
Speaker 2: what opens up from there.
Speaker 3: Yeah. What opens up from there? Mostly with the thought that if I'm working there depending on where you're working, you can go back to school for free.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: And I thought, well, I'll figure out what I want to do, pursue more education and and figure things out. So that's what I did while working in administration. I which I did enjoy and did for quite a while helping a lot of students pursue their educational goals. It got a little boring to say the least.
Yeah. Uh, well
Speaker 2: the word might be uninspired
Speaker 3: maybe. Yeah. I guess
Speaker 2: the patterns really set in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it does. Yeah. Um, it's the same thing over and over year after year.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And while I truly enjoyed the, this [00:07:00] working with the students I just didn't, there was no passion there. And so I got my MBA while I was working going to school at nights and, where,
Speaker 2: where were you work? Are you working at the school?
Speaker 3: I'm working at the school. Taking
Speaker 2: classes
Speaker 3: at the school. Taking classes at the school. Wow. Yeah, so I'm working at the law school and then taking classes in the same building. Getting my MBA, it was a rather large building. They did a bunch of stuff in there and that was very convenient.
I didn't have to commute. I could just go to the elevator. And then once I got my MBA my focus in finance 'cause that's really the area of administration I was doing, I thought, hey I've got all these, really freshly graduated law students that need help with their finances. They didn't know anything about it, which is not, yeah,
Speaker 2: law school's expensive.
Speaker 3: Law school's very expensive.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: So I decided that, I would pursue finance and maybe help. People through becoming A CFP, can help them establish their 401k certified
Speaker 2: financial
Speaker 3: planner, CFP. Okay. [00:08:00] Yeah. And so I was working towards that goal and what I quickly found out is that the only people for the most part that can afford to do it to hire A CFP and to make money off of it as a CFP is, are people that already have a lot of money.
Speaker 2: Uh,
Speaker 3: I mean, younger people can probably do it, but if I wanted to run my own.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: Business. The volume would have to be incredible just to make it work.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: So you end up just working with people that are very financially stable. And that wasn't all that satisfying.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: You've got people that,
Speaker 2: it sounds to me like you wanted to be the bigger help
Speaker 3: I did.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Like turning the small screw for the person who is already mostly successful. Yeah. You know, in this upper tier of success, they really just need tiny turns of a screw to like project them into this stratosphere of generational wealth as a certified financial planner.
Speaker 3: That's right. I was working with high net worth individuals and they, you know, they're fine.
Speaker 2: [00:09:00] Yeah.
Speaker 3: They need little tweaks here and there. And you do everything from investment management to insurance planning to college planning for their kids or their grandkids, whatever.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Passing money along. It's the younger people just getting started that need more help.
Yeah. And that's not part of the clientele that I was working with I wasn't all that satisfied. And I was doing it. And again, okay, now what am I gonna do?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And it just so happens one of the guys it's the weirdest thing. I've always loved pastry and baking. Oh, this
Speaker 2: is the moment,
Speaker 3: you know, I love, it really is.
Um, and I have, I've been baking since I was young and I really enjoyed it. This guy, I believe his name is Derek. I haven't talked to him. I don't even know if he knows this. He'll never hear this, but we,
Speaker 2: oh, oh, he'll hear everybody hears this
Speaker 3: podcast. He's,
Speaker 2: no, he won't hear it.
Speaker 3: He's from Chicago and I don't know that, um, he's even there anymore.
You
don't
Speaker 2: know that He knows.
Speaker 3: Okay. I don't think he, I never told him. Um, there
Speaker 2: are, there are people that come into our lives in these critical ways.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah.
Speaker 2: They, their name plays a smaller role than their presence.
Speaker 3: Yeah. In my [00:10:00] free time in the office when I wasn't actually working I was spending a lot of time looking at pastries online and reading about them just a lot.
And he noticed that, and he said, why don't you just go to pastry school? It's obvious you don't really enjoy this work. And I had never even considered doing that.
Speaker 2: Isn't that crazy?
Speaker 3: Yeah. Never even thought
about
Speaker 2: it. Is it because it just doesn't seem, I mean. In comparison to these other larger degrees and these, these acronyms, the certified public, uh, what do you say?
Certified financial planner, those kinds of acronyms. It just doesn't seem to sit on the same shelf.
Speaker 3: No, you, you
Speaker 2: know,
Speaker 3: you know, you as a, you're growing up and you're trying to find a, well, at least I was trying to find a profession. Yeah. And really, you, you want to become successful and do all the quote unquote successful things people do.
Mm-hmm. Um, and it just never occurred to me to really follow a different path until he said something. And I, it [00:11:00] hit me really hard, actually, and I thought about it a lot over the next couple days. And so I started Okay.
Speaker 2: It just stuck in your head like a song.
Speaker 3: It, it, it was there. You're
Speaker 2: getting out of the car and you're like, oh yeah.
Damn
Speaker 3: pastries. And so I was like, okay, so where do you go? Um, and real quickly you find out there's a few places that people want to go. The CIA, which is in New York very famous culinary schooling. But you know, I don't remember what it cost at the time.
Speaker 2: And at this time were you still in Pennsylvania?
Speaker 3: Uh, no. At this time I am in Chicago. I'm working in the burs. Okay. Yeah. And I'm reverse commuting in Chicago, which is, uh, what does that
Speaker 2: mean,
Speaker 3: reverse commuting? Well, it means I live in the city and I'm driving to the suburbs for a job.
Speaker 2: Ah,
Speaker 3: okay. And it's an hour, hour and a half some days to get to work.
Oh boy. And back because of the traffic. Yeah. And it was awful. And, i started looking to see at this point, where could I go? That made sense. You know, I had roots in Chicago at that point. I'd [00:12:00] been there a while and, you know, I owned a condo and I can't, I'm not gonna sell it and I'm not gonna move to New York.
But it just so happens at the time, there was a, there was a French pastry school called the French Pastry School in Chicago opened up by two really world famous pastry chefs. They had been in France and been asked to come to one of the hotels and kind of get their. Program going there.
And they found when they got here that a lot of the bakers in Chicago didn't have the training they needed. So they opened the school to train people how to do that kind of work. Okay. And so that's what they had been doing. It started very, very small handful of people going and then it kind of grew.
Speaker 2: And were you there close to the beginning of their No,
Speaker 3: no. They've been open, I don't know how long. Okay. They've been open a while. 10, 15, 20 years. I don't really know. Okay. I think initially they were I mean it was, but by the time I got there, they were connected with the community college [00:13:00] system in Chicago.
Speaker 2: Got it.
Speaker 3: And they were separate but tied to it. There were, they had a pretty decent number of students for a pastry school. They did pastry cakes, breads, there were three different programs, I wanna say. You could focus on bread, you could focus on cake. The cake program was really decorating, very complicated.
Not my cup of tea didn't have that skillset. But I did, uh, the partie program, which really covers both pastry and cake decorating and bread. So you get a broad experience, but you can just focus on one or the other.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: I looked at it and thought, oh, this is conveniently located close to where I live.
And so I went and checked it out and it took about three minutes for me to say, yep, this is it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, talking to the guys that found it and then some of the people there, I could tell that the interest, my interest was in line with what they were [00:14:00] doing. Okay. So I very quickly made the decision to go and by, at that point, maybe a week had gone by since Derek had said, Hey, you should go to pastry school.
Oh, that was pretty fast. Oh. Oh, well. And then I went to work the following week and quit my job.
Speaker 2: Wow. So within two weeks of Derek's little earworm of advice.
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I, that
Speaker 2: moves fast.
Speaker 3: You know, it just seemed like the right decision for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I walked into the office, packed my, a box of what I had.
Yeah. And said, today's it, I'm done. Which would be unusual, but the timing for the, what I was doing at work, CFP was the end of the year. I'd already finished everything. We were kind of wrapped up.
Speaker 2: Gotcha.
Speaker 3: There wasn't anything to do. Right. It was gonna be a slow couple weeks and I was just like, I'm outta here.
Yeah. I don't think it was a big surprise to anyone.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: When I did that. And then I wasn't even, school didn't start for several months for sure. Maybe. Four. I wanna say [00:15:00] I got a job. Job.
Speaker 2: So from the time you quit?
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. I I quit. I literally left the office and went to interview with this guy Maxim, who was running French bakery in Chicago, who was looking for help, counter help, not making anything.
Mm-hmm. Just, Hey, we need somebody at this location where we sell stuff. Can you, you know, can you do that? And I was like, absolutely. I just wanted to see what it was about. And that was fantastic experience. Not that I was in a kitchen, but I got to see and talk to him and see what they were doing, which was beautiful.
Pastry work, just stunning stuff. And that was just a foot in the door to see what it was about before I started school. I did that for several months and then school started and of course I couldn't continue to do that. Schooling was, eight hours a day, five days a week for, oh.
I don't know, 6, 7, 8 months, whatever it was. Okay. It was full on in the kitchen, which is one of the reasons I chose it. A lot of culinary schools have a full [00:16:00] educational program where you do business classes and all this other stuff.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: I didn't want to do that. I didn't need to do any of that.
Speaker 2: You felt like all of your other schooling had
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2: Equipped you with that?
Speaker 3: Yeah,
Speaker 2: sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah. At this point I had a master's degree in business. I didn't need any
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Math classes, so I, started going started going to school and the best part of that was really just in the kitchen.
Speaker 2: Just a hyperfocus on that.
Speaker 3: That's it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: You know, we spent the first two days, maybe, maybe three, just talking about what was gonna happen.
And then it's right into the kitchen. And then every day you spend all day in a kitchen learning they would typically have maybe three or four different pastries you were gonna make. An instructor would come show you how to do it. This is how you do it. You'd watch 'em and then you'd go do it yourself.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And that type of learning really appealed to me.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: Um, because I think I'm more of a visual learner. You can tell me a bunch of stuff, but when I see somebody doing it, I'm like, [00:17:00] okay.
Speaker 2: I saw
Speaker 3: that I, I can, I can replicate that
Speaker 2: copy.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I took it very seriously, coming from an ac academic background, I would say.
I, I really focused on what they were doing, what they were saying, and took extensive notes. I don't know if anyone took as many notes as I did. I can go back. I have all the notebooks still. I treasure them. If there was a fire,
Speaker 2: that's one of the first things you're grabbing.
Speaker 3: That's what I'm grabbing.
Not because I use the notes, so
Speaker 2: No they're, they're like trophies or journals.
Speaker 3: They are. I can go back and read through them and it takes me right back to where I was when, when I wrote it down. And they are very detailed. So I could go back and recreate a lot of this stuff. And I just, I really, really appreciate having those notes and that whole experience.
It, it was wonderful. The instructors there were fantastic. Very French for the most part. There were not, they weren't all, you know, French. Instructors, but most of them were, and those that weren't chef and [00:18:00] Ming, she you know, is a world pastry champion. These are the, I mean, these are the,
Speaker 2: is it are the free
Speaker 3: the crop,
Speaker 2: the administrators of the school employing these French bakers
Speaker 3: from, they bring 'em in on a rotation.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: And
Speaker 2: so they're here for a couple of months,
Speaker 3: a couple months. Couple years, depending on how Oh, wow. Wow. Okay. You know, it just depends. I think usually about a, maybe a year or so Okay. Was pretty typical. Maybe longer. I know some had been there quite a bit longer. They would just come in and teach and then a lot of 'em had side gigs.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Whether it was helping open, you know, hotels in Vegas or whatever they were doing.
Speaker 2: Almost like private coaching or one-on-one.
Speaker 3: Yeah. It's hard to, especially like if you're opening a big business in Vegas, a big hotel, and you need, expertise on what do we need, what equipment, what, whatever you need.
These are the people you would turn to.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And so that was a big, that was these guys were just super talented and very demanding. And very critical, which I think was the best part of the program.
Speaker 2: You can be very demanding when you're very talented.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And, [00:19:00] and you should be.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think that, because they were so demanding and so critical, if you took it very seriously, which I did. It was fun. Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2: They, they respect that.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. But I was like if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it the best I can. And I wanted to be the best in the class.
And that was the goal. So,
Speaker 2: yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, I wasn't the only one. There were a few people in there that were taking it as seriously as I was, but also really enjoying it. It was so much fun. It was just a pure joy. I used to laugh in class. Some people would comment on it. Because they're like, why are you always in such a good mood?
You really are enjoying this? And I said,
Speaker 2: well,
Speaker 3: give the six months ago I was doing spreadsheets.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay. That's what you're left. You just have that moment of reflection of like, oh, this is the best.
Speaker 3: And it was constant. Yeah. And we're, we're making wonderful things and and I love to eat the stuff.
Yeah. So, um, and every day you, whatever you make, you're eating. Mm-hmm. I mean, you're taking it home or if it makes it that far. [00:20:00] Um, so, you know, we got to do, ice cream and, and chocolate and candy and bread and, and, and tarts.
Speaker 2: Oh man.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, it was, it was incredible learning experience.
Speaker 2: Sounds a little bit like, it sounds dreamy.
Speaker 3: For me it was,
Speaker 2: yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, and I, and I,
Speaker 2: you paint a good picture.
Speaker 3: I love the challenge of it. Um, 'cause it is, I mean, you're
Speaker 2: in Chicago.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm in Chicago. Yeah. Man, I'm doing this. I'm making these wonderful things. And and it's super challenging. It was really pushed my abilities learning the craft and then also just trying to figure out from that point, okay, well what do I, what am I gonna do with this?
You know. Yeah. Working, working in the hospitality industry doesn't pay a whole lot of money. Yeah. But I really love what I'm doing. So, I did the program, did fairly well was very happy with it. Sad that it was over. Made a bunch of really close friends. I still talk to a lot of them. And then I got a job working in a private residence in Chicago.
It was, just a [00:21:00] kitchen that I could go into. And the first chef I worked for HAG up. He was just really kind and generous and very trusting. I had no experience actually working in a kitchen. It was just my educational background.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, and he was just like, Hey man, go for it. Jump in, be fine.
If you have questions, let me know. And he knew a ton of stuff too. He wasn't a pastry chef per se, but he'd been around. He knew his stuff and he just let me make mistakes. If I made mistakes, don't worry about it. Very supportive.
Speaker 2: And
Speaker 3: this was for a family? This is for, no, it was for a private residence in the sense that it was a giant I don't know how many what you 20 story building.
Oh. With hundreds of people living there. Oh. They had three kitchens. They served lunch, di breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: And I was the pastry person for. Dinner mostly. I came in at lunchtime to prep for that and would just make stuff for everybody's desserts that was the job. And that
Speaker 2: sounds awesome.
Speaker 3: It was pretty awesome. The [00:22:00] atmosphere was great. And I was learning on the job and I really appreciate his willingness to just let me go for it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And he didn't have any kind of, he didn't have the need to control everything that I was doing. He's just like, okay, here's what we want on the menu.
Go make it. Mm-hmm. And if I was uncomfortable with something, he was like, okay, we won't do that. But mostly I was just like, I can do that. Let's go. Yeah. And see what would happen. So figure it out. Yeah. And figure it out. And I really enjoyed that whole process. It was wonderful. I was there for,
Speaker 2: that was gonna be my question.
Speaker 3: Yeah. How long were you there for? About a, just about a year. You'll find it may come up a few times. Uh, every place was about a year.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: Once you go through a year, a lot of times at a place you start to repeat yourself in terms of what you're doing, and
Speaker 2: you're ready to move
on
Speaker 3: to the next step.
And I wanna learn. I just wanted to learn more and more. Yeah. And he wasn't a pastry chef, although very talented in many ways. I wanted to go work with an actual pastry chef and see what they could teach me. Okay. And the [00:23:00] whole, the whole point of everything that I, every decision I made was just to learn more.
So I left there and I went and worked at SPIA in Chicago, which was a Michelin starred restaurant. They were looking for someone, the timing was right. I went in, got hired and started working there. And that was a totally different experience. Still a kitchen. Not a bakery. But, they were doing the, the work really was reminiscent of what was happening in pastry school.
Very detailed complicated fun, great. Again, just a great atmosphere. The CDC, the chef is cuisine, was a super nice guy. And the pastry chef was extremely demanding. Some would say difficult. I didn't find her to be so, but really knew her stuff and expected a lot, which I appreciated.
So I worked with her and for a while she ended up leaving. We were without a pastry chef and really without a lot of [00:24:00] people. It, the staff kind of dwindled at one point I was trusted I guess. And so I got a regular schedule, which was wonderful. But I was going in, I was the first one in, I got everything.
I was making a bunch of stuff, getting everything together. And then when service would come at five o'clock, I was heading out the door. I didn't stick around for service after maybe six months or so, which I really appreciated. Service isn't one of my favorite things to do. Plating, desserts whenever the ticker goes off because somebody made an order and you gotta get it ready.
I just, I didn't really like that part of the job. It was, uh,
Speaker 2: when you say that I was trusted, are you, is that like a, some sort of euphemism, like you kind
Speaker 3: of, it's fill the
Speaker 2: shoe or
Speaker 3: you fill that position, you notice like, Hey look, we need somebody, we know it's gonna come in, show up every day and get all this stuff done.
And I was the person. There to do it.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: Um,
Speaker 2: yeah.
Speaker 3: 'Cause there's a lot of prep that has to go in. By the time service rolls around, everything has to be made and pretty much ready to go. Yeah. It's pastry, you can't do it on the fly. Right. So you're, doing, if you have a dessert that says that has maybe [00:25:00] four or five different elements that are made separately, and then they're brought together into the plate of dessert my job was to get a bunch of that stuff together.
Mm-hmm. Now there were other people that were helping for sure. But that placed it a lot of gelato, which is a process that takes a little bit of time, a couple days really. And so I'm, while I'm cranking out, just. Gallons and gallons of gelato. I've got other stuff I've gotta do too.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: Keep the
Speaker 2: balance.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah. So that's where you learn how to do, two or three or four different things at one time. You have to just be on top of it. Timing's everything. You're watching the clock because you know, surface is coming and you're also watching the clock because you know you've got 10 minutes for this and 50 minutes for that, and that's gonna boil over and you gotta do this.
So, you really learn to manage your time very well and that kind of sounds terrible unless you're into it and then it's great. Then you're like, oh wow, look what I've managed to do. I can remember multiple times that I was amazed at just how much you can do at one time [00:26:00] if you're right, organized and prepared, which is a lot of what pastry school was teaching.
You really need to be very organized. And it
Speaker 2: seems to be a little bit like an oral director
Speaker 3: in a way. If
you
Speaker 2: have like your.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know, you got your woodwinds and you get your strings and they're all kind of, at some point in time, they all need to come together.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And work together.
Speaker 3: I hadn't thought about it that way, but that's pretty accurate I would think.
You really are balancing a lot of stuff and then trying to bring it together. It was it was a lot of fun. I really love that job. I worked with some great people. Everyone. Was really supportive of other people in the kitchen. And if you, I don't know, I don't watch a lot of cooking shows on tv.
I, I just am not into it. But the stuff you see on TV was never my experience.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: My experience was for, well,
Speaker 2: the TV is made for drama. Right. Or the dramas made for the tv. Yeah. One way or the other.
Speaker 3: Uh, my experience was always just tons of support. Okay. And and a lot of recognition and appreciation for the work that you were doing.
That was my experience. I loved it. So after [00:27:00] being there for a time, they were looking for a new pastry chef and I was asked, Hey, you can try out for it, which is a process anybody has to do. But I really wanted to be in a bakery because I knew I was never gonna open a restaurant. And I knew that working in a restaurant is, people, I think a lot of people misunderstand how little people think they, you make a lot more money than you do when you're working in a restaurant. Even if you're a pastry chef, you might do okay. I don't know necessarily, but it's not like great money and the schedules crazy demanding.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And I really wanted to do more on the bakery side of things.
Speaker 2: Did you have the feeling that if you stayed played restaurant
Speaker 3: desserts,
Speaker 2: if you stayed there and tried to apply for that pastry position, that you'd kind of start getting tracked into the restaurant and try Oh,
Speaker 3: yeah. For
Speaker 2: sure. And so you're like, no, that's
Speaker 3: exactly what would've happened.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: You can leave it any time, obviously. Yeah. But was like, oh, is this really what I want to do? And a lot of it just had to do with. Again, if I become the pastry chef, which who knows what I [00:28:00] ha I don't know. Yeah, I might have been, might not have been, but if I had been, well, I'm not learning from any other pastry chefs at this point.
Ah, yeah. Like my skillset is what it is and I'm gonna continue to learn short on the job. But I just felt like I had more to learn and it wasn't gonna happen if I was doing that. So I went and got a job at a bakery at Floreal in Chicago, which is a great. Great bakery. It was when I was there. I assume it still is.
I mean, there was no reason it wouldn't be, it's still open. I started working there and then I was like, yes, this is the right kind of atmosphere for me. Ah, it was, a bakery in the, it was a French bakery in the sense that you wanted to be bakery, cafe. They, did the whole thing.
You could get lunch, you could they had tarts, they had bread, they had laminated doughs, which I was extremely excited about. So was
Speaker 2: that new to you at that point, or you had already had a little bit of feeling, because this is, I had a
Speaker 3: little bit of training
Speaker 2: when I asked you to explain to me like what trade craft is, what you're doing with trade craft.
You've mentioned laminated,
Speaker 3: laminated
Speaker 2: pastry, laminated
Speaker 3: is a lot of what I do. Okay. I started [00:29:00] doing lamination there and really enjoyed the challenge. It's one of the hardest things to really do in pastry by far. And, and I'm working there, learning it terrible at it. Good enough to keep my job, but not really all that great at it.
Getting a lot of help from the other people that work there. Just like, okay, how quickly can you do this? And what's the process? And honestly, staying after work many times to watch other people laminate. To see what they're doing and what could I do better. And these are just, people that, that's what their job was.
Yeah. Some of them loved it, some of them didn't. They, it was a job.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: Um, but I, really wanted to be good at it. I don't know, I honestly don't know what appealed to me at the time about it. Other than I just wanted to be really good at it and it was an area that I needed work on. So, that's what I was doing.
And I did that for maybe a year and a half or so, and then. A lot of the people that I started working with they were so great. They, people move on [00:30:00] just like I do. And I just felt it was time and someone I had worked with. You felt
Speaker 2: the rotation?
Speaker 3: Yeah. It was just like, okay, what else?
What else can we do? I didn't, at that point, lamination was not a career path for me. It was just something that I was enjoying doing. A friend that I'd worked with at Gio was working at a pie shop, said, Hey, we need some help for the holiday. Why don't you come here? She was great. Loved to work with her again, went there stayed a lot longer than I anticipated.
Another really wonderful,
Speaker 2: the holidays turned into
Speaker 3: a year. Well, yeah, just about. And just that place in particular I went to, for one, I really, they made grape pie and I wanted to spinning. J by the way, if you've been in Chicago, you should try their pie.
Speaker 2: Spinning J
Speaker 3: Spinning J Yeah. Okay. And they've got grape pie, but I, I.
I wanted to see how they did it and I wanted that experience. 'cause at this time I'm thinking, what is it that I, where, what am, where am I gonna go with this? Yeah. What am I gonna pursue?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Pie's great. Maybe I'll open a pie shop one day. I don't know. So I went and did [00:31:00] that. Great atmosphere, loved it.
Stayed a long time and then decided when I was there, it's like, well hey, this place is looking for somebody to do gelato part-time. I know how to do that. Yeah, I'll go do that again. It's easy gig. And then there was a young woman who was making pizzas in the park, like a farmer's market situation.
Can you come in on Saturdays and help with that? So I'm down slinging pies and that was great. 'cause maybe I wanna open a pie shop. Yeah. Like, I don't know. Um, pizza
Speaker 2: pie.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Or pie. Pie. Just pizza pizzas. And she was making some great pizzas in the park. And I got to see what that was about and I love that.
Quite a bit. That was great. And then, after a while, like, okay, I've done, I've done this for about a year, what else is next? And I ended up going to a wholesale bakery at the time they were, they were relatively new and they needed some help. I was doing a little croissant making there along with some other stuff.
And I wanted to [00:32:00] know what is wholesale about? Is wholesale something I want to do? Is that something I could, you know, and quickly found out that that was not an interest of mine at all.
Speaker 2: You learned that pretty quick?
Speaker 3: Uh, yeah. I did. Mostly the issue came and, they're, no, as far as I know, they're, they're not open anymore.
The chef was fantastic. I really liked her. I liked working for her. But they had some other issues that have been all over the papers in Chicago, so I'm not disparaging anyone that worked there necessarily. But I just, the environment didn't work for me. I didn't necessarily like everything that they were doing, and so I was like, I gotta, I gotta figure something else out.
So, I left there pretty quickly, I think maybe six months, which is very short. And got a job at, uh, Los Larson in Chicago. They were relatively new. I'd been there, tried their stuff and, okay, they're laminating, they're looking for what they said they needed somebody to do some cakes and things like that.[00:33:00]
And I thought, well, I'll just go work there and see what that's about. It's a hot new bakery. Why not check it out? Yeah. Um, and worst
Speaker 2: case scenario, it's gonna be busy and keep you
Speaker 3: Right. Um,
Speaker 2: focused on that for a minute. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. When I got there though, they're like, really? What? We need somebody to, to do lamination.
We need somebody to make croissants.
Speaker 2: You're like, uh, yeah.
Speaker 3: Which is not on the description of the job. Right. And that would be it, that's your job. You're gonna laminate all day, every day that you're here. I wanted out of the other place pretty badly and thought, okay, I can do that. I'll go in.
And I also knew that, I could do better than what they're doing here. At least I thought so at the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I took the job and started laminating and then that's where it all fell into place for me. Uhhuh, in terms of lamination. 'cause that's all I was doing. Eight, nine hours a day, basically.
You're like, here, you have 40 hours to get this stuff done. And I would some days take a little longer than others, but yeah, I was cranking out pastries a lot of croissants and laminated [00:34:00] dose. That's really what, that's all I did for. Over a year and several, couple months in maybe. I don't really remember the timing.
It's not all that important, but they're like, Hey, we're gonna open a second location. You're gonna have to increase your
Speaker 2: volume.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And at that point, I was stretched. I was like, I don't, I even told the, I told the owner, I was like, I don't know how much more I can do. Like, this is a lot. This is
Speaker 2: Max.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. We are, um, I don't remember the exact numbers, but you we're talking about hundreds. Um, I, I, if I had to guess, I'd say seven to 800 a day. Peon. A day.
Speaker 2: A day.
Speaker 3: Yeah. A ballpark.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And so, and he's just like, well, if you can't do it, we'll find somebody who can.
Speaker 2: Oh,
Speaker 3: that's exactly what he said to me.
And I said, all right. We'll see how it goes. And that's when I had to just reevaluate every step of the process. Okay, so how do I get this done faster and [00:35:00] how do I get that, like it was, it was a lot to figure out. I was literally running around the kitchen and, trying to just get everything done that I needed to.
And people that I worked with knew the pressure that I was under to increase the production. And were very supportive. They really just let me fly through the kitchen. Just get outta your way. Yeah. Get out, get out of his way. And. I don't know, a couple months go by and I'm cranking it out. I still have my job, things are going well, and it got to the point where I didn't have to run anymore.
I could just get the numbers that I needed to hit and not have to worry about.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And it just came down to organization. Okay. And being completely engrossed in the work. And
Speaker 2: there, there came a critical moment though, where you had to like sit down and re-engineer some things that, right? Oh yeah.
Like at, at the initial,
Speaker 3: yeah. Yeah. So you have to find out. Okay. You know, and this is what's going on right now at my bakery. So you have to find out, okay, this is what I need to do. What's the order I need to do it, and how quickly and how efficiently can [00:36:00] I do it?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And there's always stuff that you can change.
And so the process itself doesn't change.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: You know, the sheeter only goes so fast, so you can't, when you're laminating dough, you can't speed up the machinery, but you can speed up all the other steps around getting right into the machinery and then getting out of it. 'cause that's just one tiny part of it.
And so, that was a big challenge. I figured that out and then it became just a job where I went in and could focus on the quality of the work that I was doing, which was always super important. I know at another job at Floreal, I, when I first started working there, they were very much like, Hey, you need to speed it up over here.
But I knew that the quality of what I was making would suffer if I did. And so I really just was slow, but I was figuring out how to do it as
Speaker 2: well.
Speaker 3: Do it well. Yeah. And then do it fast. And then do it fast.
Speaker 2: I gotcha.
Speaker 3: And that's exactly what I did. And so by the time I left there, they were like, can you train other people to do this
Speaker 2: before you go?
Speaker 3: Yeah. And [00:37:00] so, and I was like, I remember when you told me I was too slow to be working here, basically. Um, but it just, I think that's what it takes sometimes is you really just have to figure out, okay, how do I do this well? And then you can increase the speed. That's what I did when I got to Los Larson.
And then after that I was just like, okay, I'm loving this process and I love what I do. What am I gonna do from here at that point. COVID hit.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 3: And you know, I was having work that
Speaker 2: shakes things up a
Speaker 3: little bit. Oh yeah. Oh no, what am I gonna do now? I don't have a job. Like, they closed down everybody, you know, everybody did.
But real quickly they were able to get back open. But at that point, I I don't know if it's because they were closed for two weeks or whatever it was. I kind of was like, okay, what's next? And I had been looking for quite a while at this point. If I were gonna open a place where would it be Uhhuh and how would I do it?
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: So always in the back of my mind I need to do [00:38:00] this myself. I'm not making any money and I'm in literally minimum wage to do the work. And, uh,
and
Speaker 2: from the sound of it, like, you're hustling.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah, definitely. Well, you start looking at. The, I just start doing the math, like, okay, this is what I'm cranking out.
This is how much they're making and this is what I'm getting paid.
Speaker 2: Like, hmm, those other numbers are going somewhere.
Speaker 3: Right. Um, and of course it's expensive to Yeah. To have a bakery. You've got tons of staff. Yeah. There's all that stuff. But I was just like, man, like, so, and then one day I believe it was my friend Sylvie, she told me, you know, the, the.
Like the top five things in this bakery that we're selling. It's stuff you make, so you are really making them a ton of money. Mm-hmm. It's stuff you're doing and it's really good quality, you know, and I just felt maybe a little underappreciated is the nicest way to put it. Mm-hmm. Um, so I definitely at this point was like, okay, I'm gonna open my own place.
And I had to start, look, you know, I was looking around and [00:39:00] trying to find a location to open a bakery is not easy. You can't go into a normal restaurant kitchen and open a bakery. I don't know where you'd find the space. They're usually really small, not a lot of room. And also, you know, really. Just not set up for the style of bakery I wanted.
Yeah. So I looked all over. I was looking everywhere. I didn't have a destination, like, I'm going to move to Ton and I'm gonna, I wasn't, it was like, where can I find a place that I think works for me? And I looked all over the country. I was looking every. Where do I want to go? And it took a couple years to find my real estate agent, who's a friend of mine from grade school.
I'm sure she was just like, oh my God, not again. Like we looked at so many places.
Speaker 2: Oh, you really ran her around?
Speaker 3: Yeah. And then, you know, I looked in Wisconsin, I looked out like I might as well move to where I wanna move. You know, I'd spent some time in Colorado. Hey, what's available out there? What's available on the west coast?
You know, all over the place. Um,
Speaker 2: the whole map's open. [00:40:00]
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. Anywhere. 'cause I have, there's nothing limiting me other than the money to open the place. Right. And, so where are you gonna go? I don't remember how long exactly I was looking, but it was a couple years just looking here and there and then.
I looked in this area for a while and didn't see anything that really worked. And then randomly one day I saw the shop that's across the street from here. It had been empty for a while and it used to be Desserts Unlimited, I think. Mm-hmm. Um, it was empty. It'd been empty 10 plus years. And it was in really rough shape at that point, but it had everything that you would need.
Massive kitchen for a bakery, really big. And it had all the plumbing that was necessary, the gas lines, the grease trap, everything that you would need to open. But you know, it had to, it needed some rehab.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And it was for sale. And so I was like, all right, let's go in. Look at it. I walked in and knew immediately, this is it, this is the spot.[00:41:00]
Speaker 2: Huh.
Speaker 3: It helps that, my parents live in the area still.
Speaker 2: I was, yeah, that was gonna be my next question. I mean, because there are other extraneous factors, right? Sure. You're from the area and you mentioned other places that most people would dream about moving to Colorado, the West coast, and things like that.
Mm-hmm. And I think there's something kind of neat you know, that you find, you find what you're looking for
Speaker 3: right here,
Speaker 2: you know, just a, an invisible line away from where you grew up.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Uh, totally not planned. Just happened to work out that way. And
Speaker 2: did it, did it sound weird to you in your head when you, when you compared it with Colorado and um, and Santa Monica and you were like, well, and then there's Morton.
Speaker 3: Yeah. My concern, uh.
Speaker 2: Or did you know that the niche was
Speaker 3: No. Um, okay. My concern was really, are people gonna appreciate what I'm doing around here? I didn't know. I mean, there's, there's not a lot of what I'm doing around here, obviously. Yeah. And. It's a big risk, putting essentially everything I have into it.
I was like, well, I have a lot of training, there's a lot of stuff I can do in the back of my mind if [00:42:00] what I'm pursuing doesn't work out, I'll just change it up and do something else.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I've always wanted to do chocolate work. I'll just make chocolates. The area doesn't have a c chocolatier. I can do that.
That's what I'll do If this doesn't work out. I can do a lot of different things. So I figured, you know, there's always a backup plan, but I have a location. Location is the space is actually critical. Yeah. And I didn't know, I got a lot of people saying, I don't know if you wanna open on that side of Morton.
I dunno if that's a good idea.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a little bit. You know,
Speaker 3: I don't wanna say a desert on this side of town, but Yeah. But, you know, the space itself was great. And I figured in the back of my mind is, if you're making a great product, people will find you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I just believe that's true. Yeah. You can be a great restaurant in the middle of nowhere, people will find you.
Yeah.
Speaker 2: I've been to those,
Speaker 3: you know? Yeah, yeah. And, and they're all, they're, they exist. And so I was like, all right, I'm not gonna worry about that too much. I'm just gonna focus on doing the work that I do.
Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3: So I started rehabbing the the space myself. I, [00:43:00] I don't know, I don't know what it is about my personality or just me, but I wanted to do everything myself.
Like I, you only open your first bakery once, right?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Or whatever it is that you're choosing to do. And so I got, the knee pads out and ripped the floor out, put What
Speaker 2: kind of music are we listening to when you're.
Speaker 3: Oh. Um, you know, at the time, um, I just,
I've
Speaker 2: done a lot of renovations too, and everything, the time that that band comes back on, I, I immediately think of like that old dishwasher or something,
Speaker 3: you know, at the time I was just had the radio on Oh, okay.
Whenever they were playing, and oftentimes I was just like, oh my, you know, when you're listening to, the radio, it's the same. 40 songs over and over again, kind
Speaker 2: of.
Speaker 3: So I yeah, I was just more focused on, trying to figure out, I don't have a background in any type of this stuff, but I was learning on the job, which I think is super fun to do.
So I'm putting in flooring, I've never, never done that before. You know, painting the walls and, tearing stuff up and putting it back together. And that was pretty fun. And then I, I get to the point where I need to start bringing in equipment in
Speaker 2: [00:44:00] that had to be fun.
Speaker 3: Well, it's fun, but it's nerve wracking.
'cause I'm buying I'm not in a position to buy new equipment at the time. Yeah. And so it's just like, okay, I hope these ovens work well enough to work. I hope this sheeter is fine. Yeah. You don't know till it gets delivered. And even then you don't know. And so I'm getting stuff delivered and I'm trying to figure out
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Again, I'm by myself. How do I get these two ovens inside? Yeah. You know, they weigh a thousand pounds. I can't.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: You know, just carry them in
Speaker 2: wheels.
Speaker 3: Right. I have to take 'em apart. They won't fit through the door.
Speaker 2: Oh boy.
Speaker 3: Turn 'em on their side, wheel 'em in, put 'em back together. Yeah. Um, and everything's like that
Speaker 2: takes a whole day to move something like 25 feet.
Yeah.
From
Speaker 2: here to there.
Speaker 3: And, but I really enjoyed the process of doing it myself and just saying, I'm building this Yeah. From the, you know, from the ground up. I, I really like that experience. Uh, I'm glad it's over. I dunno that I would do it necessarily again.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah. The, the whole idea is not to stay there.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Stay inside of that space. You gotta, that's just a, a vehicle to get you moving.
Speaker 3: Right. [00:45:00] So, you know, that's what I did. And then, um, I got it open as quickly as I could. It did take a while, um, because of the nature of how I was approaching it, and this isn't right for everybody, but I was like, okay, I'll do the farmer's market.
Well, I had some, I had some delays getting some equipment installed and I was gonna miss the first part of the farmer's market, so that wasn't gonna work. So then now I'm waiting in another year to do the farmer's market.
Speaker 2: Ah.
Speaker 3: So nothing's happening.
Speaker 2: That's a pain point.
Speaker 3: Yeah. It's tough. But. It's fine.
You do what you gotta do, and you just sort like, all right, I'll just wait and then I'll figure it out after that. I was like, I'll hit next year. And I did, I was getting everything together and of course I'm using new equipment. I haven't used well used equipment I haven't used before. New to you, new to me.
And I'm, you know, I haven't laminated in this point in a couple years.
Speaker 2: Oh, were you scared? I would be scared, like, can I
Speaker 3: still
Speaker 2: do that?
Speaker 3: I wasn't scared, but there, it, it's not just like plug and play where you're like, oh, this is the recipe. Follow the instructions should be fine. Right. It just does not work that way.
Yeah.
Speaker 2: This kitchen's different than that [00:46:00] kitchen.
Speaker 3: It is. And this equipment's different than the other equipment I had. Yeah. And just everything is different and you know, I'm, and also. I wasn't real happy with the processes of other places I'd worked at this point. Like there are, your typical steps in doing this and I, I was like, I think it could be better.
So I'm really, I'm trying a new recipe I've never used before for the dough. Yeah. And I'm trying to do lamination in a way that I've never done before. It's almost
Speaker 2: like you're hyper-focused and evaluating
Speaker 3: the process. I'm just trying everything new and say, '
Speaker 2: cause it's your one time to figure it out.
Speaker 3: Right. And I don't have a lot of time because everything's coming together very last minute. And then, you know, at the farmer's market, it's opening in two weeks and then one week and I still am like, okay, what am I gonna take and what am
Speaker 2: I doing doing? And how am I, I can see the smile on your face right now.
That was an exciting time.
Speaker 3: It was wild. And then my, um. My walk. I think it was the walk-in cooler the first time it went out. It could have been the freezer. One of 'em broke. I couldn't do, I couldn't be at the opening of the farmer's market.
Speaker 2: Oh, break your heart.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And, and so I let hey, and they're like, Hey, no worries.
Don't worry about it. I'll be there. You'll be there [00:47:00] next week. So I went down and, and made the farmer's market the second week they were there and the first two weeks, maybe three weeks, I really didn't sell hardly anything. Nobody was buying anything.
Speaker 2: It's a, it's a face, you know, face-to-face, trust building kind of thing in a way.
Like, they gotta see you and then they'll buy something in week two or week three, I'm guessing.
Speaker 3: I guess I, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2: Or did that not happen?
Speaker 3: Well, it did happen. I, I don't know what. The problem was, if you wanna say there was a problem, but nobody was really buying anything. And I knew some people that I didn't know them, but they were kind of round, they're like, no, it'll be fine.
The old people will catch on. Yeah. Um, but they weren't catching on and, you know, I'm throwing a ton of stuff away and I'm burning, I'm burning through money at this point, like, you know. Yeah. A lot. So I was a little nervous about it and I said, well, maybe this isn't what the area wants or, or needs. I don't, you know, I don't know.
But a few of the, in
Speaker 2: the way of the farmer market or in the way of the whole thing.
Speaker 3: Well, just maybe what I'm making, nobody wants to buy. I mean, it's a croissant if you don't wanna buy a chocolate croissant
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And they look pretty [00:48:00] good, then I don't know what to do. I can't force people to eat it.
Yeah. Um, I'm just waiting for people to want to sample it. But a few of the vendors down there, um, were, came over and bought stuff at one point. And, um,
Speaker 2: is this when things started to turn around?
Speaker 3: Well, what happened? Uh, as far as I can tell, what happened was they started telling their customers, oh, you need to go over there so
Speaker 2: cool.
Speaker 3: And try that. Like, you really need to go try that. Ah,
Speaker 2: so cool.
Speaker 3: Um,
Speaker 2: that's, that's a, a kind of person respecting like the same craft and the same trade in the way Yeah. I mean, I know that they're not doing croissants right, but they're, they're
Speaker 3: still, Hey, they're trying get businesses going. Yeah. You know, they got small little businesses
Speaker 2: and they're like, you know what?
You, you can have our pulled pork, but you gotta go check out that dude's.
Speaker 3: Exactly.
Speaker 2: Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Cool. And, people were coming saying, oh, I was over getting, you know, some cheesecake and he said, I should come over here and, and try your stuff. And so people started doing that and then, I mean, word of mouth and then people started showing up.
Yeah. And I started selling out and they [00:49:00] started being a line, and then it was, you know, that was it. Yeah. And, and it, and
Speaker 2: then you're making this plan to open up the doors here. Right? Yeah. I
Speaker 3: mean that, you know, I'm like, well, I really want to open the doors and not just do the farmer's market.
Yeah. And so, you know, the summer went. Went well overall, slow start, strong finish. Um, and then I was planning to open and after, and like right at the end of the farmer's market, which I think is August, there were a couple delays. I wanted to do some, a friend was getting married. She asked me to do stuff for her wedding.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Which I did. And just actually it takes
Speaker 2: time away from the market to do that.
Speaker 3: Nope. The market's ended, but it takes time away from actually getting open. Open. Oh. Um, because, you know, unbeknownst to me, I. Can't just open the doors and be ready to go. I'm like, oh man, I gotta finish the front. I don't have, ah, like there's a ton of stuff that has to happen.
Yeah. I need, I literally, these
Speaker 2: peripheral things.
Speaker 3: Yeah. The actual business. Yeah. Stuff needed to happen. Opening, going to the farmer's market. Yeah. Doesn't really take a lot. You just show up.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: And you're [00:50:00] kind of there, but now I, you know, there's tons of paperwork, there's all kinds of stuff you gotta do.
Just, I gotta set up a website. Yeah. That was a disaster. I've gotta, you know, I mean, there's, and
Speaker 2: it's just you. Right. Oh, man.
Speaker 3: So the website wasn't, are
Speaker 2: you working eight days a week or?
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. At this point I'm, I'm constantly there. I'm working all the time. And
Speaker 2: you have a red truck?
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 3: And, uh, I think,
Speaker 2: I feel like I drive past, around the corner, there's a, there's a vehicle parked in between the old tractor place and your place.
Speaker 3: Uh,
Speaker 2: maybe it's not a red truck.
Speaker 3: No, I've got a, a blue car, but, uh, okay. There is a, uh, one of the. One of the people that work at the dance studio has a red truck. They could have been parked there a lot too.
Speaker 2: Oh, maybe that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: And I'm just like, this is a, it's a lot. I was at that point just trying to get open, was over there constantly and I'm not doing anything.
I'm not making anything. I'm just trying to get the doors open.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And so I worked a ton, finally got the website figured out last minute just to open the doors. [00:51:00] And then, you know, November 15th, which, you know, was a few months after I planned, but I got the doors open. And then it's just been,
Speaker 2: you have online orders, right?
Speaker 3: I Is
Speaker 2: there an online?
Speaker 3: I did online orders first.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: Exclusively.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: 'Cause I didn't know what the demand would be. Right. I do not wanna throw a bunch of stuff away.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, at this point I am, really just like, I need every dollar I have to make this work. Um, it was, it was really, really scary.
Running
Speaker 2: thin.
Speaker 3: Oh my, yes. Um, I, I mean, I'm not ashamed to say because I put everything into it, but I can remember telling my mom and we talk about it every once in a while it comes up. But I was like, I'm outta money. Like I don't have any money left. There's, she's like, what do you mean? I said, I put, I don't have any money.
Right?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: The money I set aside to do this is gone.
Speaker 2: Yeah. It's in the equipment. It's in the,
Speaker 3: yeah, it's in everything. And I'm not bringing any money in, so I'm just going to throw it together and open the doors and hopefully generate a little [00:52:00] revenue. I'm really close to tapped out and, you know, with repairs, I had so many repairs.
Um,
Speaker 2: on the equipment table
Speaker 3: or? Yeah, on everything. Used equipment. Everything needs a lot of repairs and so it was really down. I was like, oof. You know? So I opened the doors. It was not finished. The front looked. Terrible. Um, but, people started coming in, I was doing pre-orders only, uh, just to get a sense of what the demand would be.
And then they were, people were ordering and then they were showing up. And real quickly I was able to say, okay, I don't have to just do pre-orders, let's do walk-ins as well. Uh, and then I'm still trying to figure out my production, how much I can make.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And then it just started kind of going from there.
And then now just last week, I don't do pre-orders anymore. It's just too, too much. Um, it takes well over an hour to box pre-orders. Okay. So, you know, I'm there.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: I can't be in the kitchen making stuff Right. Baking stuff if I'm boxing stuff. So I had to just say, you know, enough's enough, I'm not gonna do [00:53:00] that.
But people are coming in and it's really been wonderful. It's been a little shocking, quite frankly, how quickly things happen. Awesome. Three months ago, I didn't know if I was going to make it to opening.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And now I don't know how I can keep up.
Speaker 2: Keep up.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's really tough.
Speaker 2: Oh, man. What a wild, that's a wild roller coaster.
Speaker 3: It's been, it's been, it's been so fun though. I mean, really, I'm, I work a lot, a lot, lot. But it's like. I, I'm, if I was doing it for somebody else, it would be awful.
Speaker 2: I bet.
Speaker 3: Because it's like, oh my God, this is a lot of work, but it's mine and I'm doing it. And so I just, it doesn't even phase me really. Um, so
Speaker 2: you, you're saying if there was a guy like you telling you what to do, you wouldn't like it very,
Speaker 3: very
Speaker 2: much.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 2: But because it's you,
Speaker 3: it is us, right? Yeah. It's my thing. Yeah. So I love it and I, and, and, you know, making the pastries and doing all that stuff is great. And it, it's,
Speaker 2: do you see it as an art? I mean, this [00:54:00] sounds like art to me,
Speaker 3: and that's a tough one. Like, okay. Okay. When people talk, when people ask me about it, I feel pretentious saying yes, because, you know, I'm making pastries.
Yeah. But it's definitely a, it's definitely a craft that leans towards artistry very heavily.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: It really, really does. It's not an easy thing to do and there's so many stages along the way that need to be just Right.
Speaker 2: Attended to.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, um, and at the end of the day, I want it to be beautiful and I want it to taste great.
And, um, that's what, and you want
Speaker 2: people to be happy with it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And that's what you're shooting for. And so, yeah. I look at it that way. I mean,
Speaker 2: I feel like my art's the same way except for the taste great part.
Speaker 3: Right. I
Speaker 2: want it to be beautiful. I don't want people to like it.
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, I, I really though I want people to like it.
Yeah. I want people to keep coming and getting it. Yeah. And I've gotten great feedback, but I'm doing it for myself. Yeah. And I'm, uh, my own [00:55:00] worst critic in a way. And I just want it to be, I wanna be happy with what I'm doing. Yeah. And so that's what I'm shooting for. And so far so good, but I'm not there yet.
I mean, there's a lot left to learn. It's been three months.
Speaker 2: Is there a, there
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know that there's a, there, I know that there's been three months and when I, first opened, I said it'll take six months just to kind of figure things out.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: In terms of in the kitchen. Right. Not all the other business side.
Right.
Speaker 2: Paperwork and machines,
Speaker 3: not anything else. Just doing good products is gonna take six months because I've gotta learn this equipment and I've gotta figure out a bunch of stuff in terms of how to,
Speaker 2: so for all the people who have come to your shop and have come multiple times, you, you're saying that.
You're still dialing it in.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And it's getting better.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's exciting.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Oh, man. We were fighting over the last one in the box, like at the house.
Speaker 3: I, I like,
Speaker 2: there's four of us, there's five pastries in the box, and we're all looking at each other like enemies. Like it's,
Speaker 3: yeah. [00:56:00] That's like,
Speaker 2: it's one of those TV shows with a survivor on the island.
Speaker 3: That's that's good to hear. I, I love to hear that. I, I also love when people come in this just popped in my head, but they come in and, and this happened just yesterday, so they're like, oh, we're, we're just gonna split that cinnamon roll. Okay. You tell yourself that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Just buy the one and go home, Uhhuh, because people can always come back to, we shouldn't have done that.
Let's, we gotta, we gotta get more, get
Speaker 2: that second cinnamon roll.
Speaker 3: Oh man. You're not gonna split anything.
Speaker 2: That's what I got was the cinnamon roll too. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, it's been, I still have dialing in to do and I'm looking forward to that. I mean, there's just so many things to work on. And of course, because I'm using, you know.
Fresh yeast and there's temperature changes and yeah, humidity changes and all this affects what I'm doing.
Speaker 2: You're still learning, not that, learning that pattern.
Speaker 3: Well, there's always gonna be the challenge. I'm not in a room that is completely closed off to the environment.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I don't have that
Speaker 2: humids stat controlled.
Speaker 3: Right. And that would be fantastic. Things [00:57:00] would be so much easier, but as the temperatures fluctuate up and down and it rains or whatever, that's all adjustments that you have to learn to make on the fly.
Speaker 2: Oh, wow.
Speaker 3: So much
Speaker 2: science.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean it's, it's, and it's just comes through experience doing it over and over again.
Over again. Yeah. And then the feel, and it, it, it really is, I don't know what you necessarily call that, but it's just, you know, you get a sense of what works and what doesn't work.
Speaker 2: Experience.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean that's really what it is. And I haven't done this in the winter here before.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I've worked in a kitchen that didn't have heat and in the base.
And it was the same kind of thing. Mm-hmm. And where you're just like, well, how am I gonna make this work? When it was really cold here, it was taking stuff forever to proof, you know, it's sitting in a proofer and you would think, oh, it's an a proofer, it's a closed box. Temperature control on it. It's not how it works, huh?
I mean, at least not in my experience. The building stays relatively cool all the time, which is great. In the summer, in the winter, not so [00:58:00] much. And so there's a lot of that going on, and that's just one aspect of it. So yes, I'm learning constantly and improving, constantly trying to figure out how to do stuff that will end up being just better and better.
Um, are
Speaker 2: you doing a, a the farmer's market this summer? I mean, it sounds like you have now switched over to Don't. I can through the door. I don't think you can.
Speaker 3: I I, I, I can't physically produce anymore than I am right now. I don't there's no way I can be two places at once. Yeah. I would love to do the farmer's market again.
It was a great experience, but I just don't, I can't do it myself and I can't really produce a whole lot more.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I don't know how I would do it unless the numbers drop off at the bakery on a Saturday. There's just no way to do it. Now I can. Get to where I can produce more. That's on me being more efficient.
Speaker 2: Like that one job you were telling me about.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The guy was, oh, we're opening up another shop. You gotta double your volume on this
Speaker 3: and you got, you need to.
Speaker 2: And he is like, well, you gotta do it. Or some other guy's gonna do it.
Speaker 3: And it's, it's exactly where I'm at [00:59:00] right now. Okay. And it's for myself. And how hard do I wanna push myself and where can I figure out?
And there's a ton of places that I could. Be more efficient. Um, yeah. They're
Speaker 2: not shortcuts. They're just like measures of efficiency.
Speaker 3: They're not shortcuts. There are no shortcuts, straight lines. Um, but you know, like, okay, so how can I best utilize my time today?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And maybe it's doing something today that I really don't need till Thursday.
Mm-hmm. But I have got 20 minutes time today. I've got 20 minutes today to do it. Yeah. 'cause it really comes down to that kind of thing where you're like, I've got an extra 20 minutes here. I can do something to get myself set up later on. Uhhuh, maybe it's just sifting some stuff that I'll need later or maybe whatever it is, you know, just being smarter about the processes in between.
Um, that's kind of where I've, where I've hit and we'll see what happens. I get a lot of comments from customers that I should just hire somebody.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's gonna be hard for you to do that right here. It's such a thin margin, or no.
Speaker 3: Well, it's, it's really,
Speaker 2: you know what you need? You need Michael Keaton and the movie Multiplicity.
[01:00:00] Right. Exactly. You gotta clone yourself.
Speaker 3: Exactly. That is exactly what I need.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Um,
Speaker 2: two of you,
Speaker 3: three
Speaker 2: of you.
Speaker 3: I can't it's hard. It's hard to teach. I've tried to show people how to do lamination in the past. It's very hard to teach. Not everybody can necessarily do it. It's not, it's not, people can do it, but they can't, not everybody can do it well.
Mm-hmm. Um, but that's like anything else. Not everybody's gonna be a great painter or a musician or mechanic, whatever it is that you're doing. And I love that part of it. I'm, I don't wanna let that go. So yeah, that's
Speaker 2: your part.
Speaker 3: I could find people to fill in other places, which I'm starting to look for because, you
know,
Speaker 2: oh, like working the counter stuff in the box
Speaker 3: maybe.
Yeah. I love talking to you like that too, to customers. Man. I didn't know that. I would, I was like, that's gonna be the worst part is dealing with the public. But actually it's, it's wonderful. It's been great. Oh, and they're
Speaker 2: loving what you're making now
Speaker 3: and you know, I get to talk about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And I've been talking nonstop for 20 minutes at least.
And so it's, it, I love to talk about it, but, and I love the customer interaction, so, so that part is great. But dishes. [01:01:00]
Speaker 2: Oh yeah. Cleanup,
Speaker 3: I mean, cleanup,
Speaker 2: maintenance,
Speaker 3: all that kind of stuff. I could find somebody to do that. Yeah. Um, and so that's kind of more of what I'm looking at. Okay. Um, and again, I don't, I'm not looking to grow this into a massive bakery.
Yeah. I mean, it's just a little thing that I'm doing and doing the work that I love to do and I have a tremendous passion for. And I don't wanna manage a kitchen. Yeah. I don't wanna manage other people.
Speaker 2: When, when we were emailing early on, you mentioned something, 'cause it's just two days a week, right?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Two days a week. Yeah. All the other days you're there, you're doing, you're doing the grind, but it's just two days open to the public.
Speaker 3: I'm, that's right. I'm there seven days a week. Uh, the number of hours would astonished people. Yeah. I, I I literally work 15 to 17 hours a day, seven days a week.
Speaker 2: That's crazy.
Speaker 3: That's not a joke.
Speaker 2: Yeah. That's
Speaker 3: for real. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I did, there was a comment, there were two comments. One was made something along the lines of like, if I was doing this for the money, I could make a whole lot more money doing a whole lot less. Yeah. So that's, that's a commentary on, on the amount of hours that you're pushing in.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But the other comment that I really. Caught my attention and I loved was something along the lines of like the cheat [01:02:00] code of life.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Like it's, mm. It's almost as if like all of this that you're pushing into the business, the, there, there's a part of you that can't give up the laminating.
There's a part of you that doesn't want to give up the face-to-face time with the customers. Mm-hmm. You're working 15 hours some days and you're working six, seven days a week. Mm-hmm. You just don't wanna give it up no matter what.
Speaker 3: It's just so,
Speaker 2: it's just so gratifying. Yes, so fulfilling.
Speaker 3: Totally.
Speaker 2: Oh man,
Speaker 3: it really is.
Speaker 2: That is the cheat code. Everybody's looking for it.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I don't know how, I don't know how people can find it. I don't have answers for that. No. But I find everybody's
Speaker 2: gotta find their own or not find it.
Speaker 3: And I was recently talking to a friend of mine and you know, she's younger and trying to find her way and what she wants to do, and at the end of the day, I just told her, you know what?
I think that, had I done this earlier, um, it would've been a good decision for me, but just trust your gut. Like. I just trusted my gut on what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And that's what I'm doing now. And when I say if [01:03:00] found the cheat code I did because I'm doing what I absolutely love to do. I don't, it, it's not like work in the sense that I gotta go clock in and go to work.
Right.
And
Speaker 2: you're putting in 15 hours, but you're not tired. No. And I'm not, I mean, you're tired, but you're not tired.
Speaker 3: I'm not thinking If not, if there are more time in the day, I would be there. More hours. Yeah. There just isn't. Um, I have to sleep at some point, but it's really just doing the work that I love and just, you know, I'm learning stuff every day and I'm just really enjoying it and I've just found this happiness and fulfillment that I've never had before.
Speaker 2: That's, that's,
Speaker 3: that's
Speaker 2: gotta carry true to the product.
Speaker 3: I, well, I think it, I think it does. I, I've always told people, uh, in all the jobs that I've had. When they were making something that maybe wasn't up to the standard that they were hoping for themselves or maybe someone else's, I'd say, well, the problem is you're not making that with love.
What you're doing is you're just putting in the hours, but you're not doing it with any passion. And they would always, they didn't necessarily appreciate the comment and they thought I was being a smart ass, but [01:04:00] No,
Speaker 2: but you're, yeah,
Speaker 3: I was honestly just saying, I really think that you should be more passionate about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think that I am, and I think it shows in the, in the, in the end product. And that's not, it's just because I love it so much and I think that more people, if they could pursue that type of thing for themselves. Yeah. Which isn't easy for everybody. There's all kinds of things that get in the way of that.
I just. You know, was lucky enough to, be able to do it. And I didn't know what would happen. I didn't know that it would be so fulfilling. I didn't know that. I would just, if you told me three years ago that I would be spending this much time and energy
Speaker 2: Yeah,
Speaker 3: you would look at somebody, I was crazy.
Nah, I'm not gonna do that. I'll find another something.
Speaker 2: Yeah. There, there's something that I, I want you to do, you don't have to do this, but I want to go into your shop and I wanna see like a container of flour and a container of sugar and just like a table full of all these ingredients. And the labels on them aren't flour and sugar, but it's like passion, love, commitment, you know, like just to kind of like continue to like work that metaphor in.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: [01:05:00] Right. Even more.
Speaker 3: It's funny, if you went in right now, you would see a table full of ingredients and you know, I was, trying to get things together before I, I ran over here so that I could get back over there and, and get stealing to it.
Speaker 2: I, I'm stealing two hours outta here. 15 hours today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's okay. Mondays are, Mondays are the day that I have a little flexibility. I mean, I'll be over there, late tonight, but, it's not like it's this constant stress of a job. Yeah. I mean, there's, there's the stresses, but I always remind myself at the end of, at the end of the day, or if I'm going through a moment which doesn't really happen too often, that I'm just like, but you know what?
This is fun. I mean, it really is fun. I've met so many great people. I, I, I do work that I love and I'm really enjoying the whole thing. I mean, it, there comes a point where maybe it gets monotonous and boring and I don't know, but you know, the, the creative aspect of doing it doesn't ever end.
It really doesn't. It's not like, oh, well I've done it all.
Speaker 2: What do you do in those times when it gets a little monotonous and boring? Just turn up the radio or,
Speaker 3: um, I haven't hit that. [01:06:00] Point yet.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: Because, um, make something
Speaker 2: new.
Speaker 3: There's always something new to make and there's always something like, you know, there's a list of things I have to get to.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And so I don't have the like
Speaker 2: time or the convenience
Speaker 3: to
Speaker 2: get bored.
Speaker 3: I don't, yeah. I just like, okay, well when I get done with this, I'm gonna move on to that. It just hasn't happened. And I think a big part that has helped, I'm sure a big part that's helped is the feedback from customers has just been so wonderful.
I mean, you know Yeah. Your wife is a great example of coming over and just being so supportive.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And
Speaker 3: I get that.
Speaker 2: She, I think she turned around like within an hour of eating whatever pastry she had ordered and she was, she loves. Helping to promote stuff like this. She does on, on, on Facebook, and I think it, oh, you, you saw a, a response maybe the next day or something?
Speaker 3: Uh, yeah, I, yeah, she apologized for that actually. Yeah. Sorry about
Speaker 2: that.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Oops. Because one day it was kind of, okay, this is what's going on. And then she posted on Facebook and then it was just bonkers, crazy. And I'm like, [01:07:00] what, what happened? What happened? What happened overnight? Wasn't
Speaker 2: until later that maybe you found, okay.
Speaker 3: And then I found out, and then she said, I'm sorry about that. Should
Speaker 2: have let you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, and, and that really changed everything in a lot of ways. I mean, it really increased the amount of people that knew that I existed. And then, so, you know, and then it's just been growing substantially from there.
And, you know, I, I think the one thing I. Would say, I, I like the least about this is the social media aspect of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. That's like a whole nother thing. You gotta be a certain kind of person.
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't know. It's one of those things I, I'm terrible about posting. I was posting right before I would open on Saturdays and Sundays, and then it was so crazy I didn't have time to post.
And then I'm like, well, what's the point in posting anything now? Yeah. Day's over.
Speaker 2: I can't make it more crazy.
Speaker 3: Right. And so I can't keep up with you
Speaker 2: Crazy.
Speaker 3: I'm, I'm struggling with the social media aspect of it. Um, yeah. But, uh, the, the response on social media has been, has been really wonderful. And people have been really kind and very [01:08:00] generous with the, their words and just, and word of mouth and everybody's telling people.
And I'm, I'm loving that aspect of it. And I'm trying not to get caught up in. Any of the other stuff. Yeah. Like how many views you've gotten. Yeah. How many likes and what, it just doesn't really matter. Yeah. If I'm doing the work that I love to do and
Speaker 2: busy metrics.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And people are, are, you know, showing up.
I know that there'll be a time where I do have to make some, some slight changes. Could I use some counter help Probably. 'cause having one person package everybody's orders is a little slow sometimes. There's quite a line. But it does give me the opportunity when new customers come in and they say, Hey, tell me about what you have.
I do not have any signs posted about what's available on the menu. You kind of either have to know what you're looking at or ask. And a lot of people ask, and if I have a room full of people waiting in line, I get And you like it that way? I gets a chance to talk about what I made.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And I feel like when I talk about what I made it, it's a little different than [01:09:00] reading a sign that says this is
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Uh, you know, 18
Speaker 2: options or
Speaker 3: your
Speaker 2: 54 options.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. And so I get to talk about it, and then people can hear, and then they know what it is that I have and what I'm gonna want what they're gonna want when they, when they get, get up there. So how long I can continue to do it that way? I don't know. But I, I
Speaker 2: have a feeling you're tuned in, like, you'll know.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I, I mean, it'll happen either You mentioned earlier, like if you get a little bit bored about something, you're like, oh, that's my moment. Yeah. I'm like, something's gotta change here.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I don't, I
Speaker 2: You've done that through all of your, your story?
Speaker 3: I think so. I think when it comes, it'll come, it, I don't know how I'm gonna find someone that's gonna be able to talk about it in the same way, but I know that, that you
Speaker 2: will,
Speaker 3: I know.
Well, there's people out there. It's just, you know, I know everything forward and backwards and so I would love to find somebody that had that same passion for the work. And then yeah, it would probably work out.
Speaker 2: Um, you need a, you need like an understudy.
Speaker 3: I do have a couple customers I think that would probably
Speaker 2: not want
Speaker 3: the job, but they would be really [01:10:00] good at it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, so, um, because they really do appreciate and love what I'm doing and, and I think that's great, but Oh, that's
Speaker 2: awesome.
Speaker 3: Um, there are, there are, there will come a time. I mean, it's been three months.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Like, I wasn't expecting, to have the amount of business that I have and, and it, it's.
Been a lot to deal with. So I'm still trying to figure that out. And it's going really well, but you know, that's another issue to solve. It's like, okay, so how do I,
Speaker 2: yeah.
Speaker 3: You know, how do I, how do I deal with a line outside? How
Speaker 2: do I leverage that or make, make good use of that? Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I don't have the answers to that.
I don't know. I just opened a bakery and I make croissants and then, you know, now I have to figure out.
Speaker 2: That, that's the, that's the printing on a bag that you, I just opened a paper I make. So
Speaker 3: yeah, that's, I mean, you know, uh, I love it. And it's, it's amazing. It's, it's been an amazing experience so far.
I think that'll continue and I hope, you know, people continue to show up. I hope they're not disappointed that I, you know, don't do pre orders. I will want holidays. 'cause you,
Speaker 2: I'm sure somebody's gonna be looking for you at the [01:11:00] farmer market,
Speaker 3: you know, and I have a lot of, I, I have, farmer's market customers that were there from very early on coming over.
That's gotta
Speaker 2: feel real good.
Speaker 3: It does. They're driving from outta town sometimes. Yeah. Um, yeah. To, to come over and get stuff and, and saying, you know, that they missed the farmer's market. And, um, but it's only recently, I'm just like, I don't, I don't think I can do it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And I just have to figure out, what the next steps are and, and how best to.
You know, continue the business and be working towards, uh, making more and improving. But, also, you know, I hate to see people stopping by and I'm almost outta stuff.
Speaker 2: Ah, yeah.
Speaker 3: It's, it's really hard. Gotta
Speaker 2: get to earlier, I mean, let's talk about that for a quick minute. Sure. So, if, if somebody's local and they wanna swing by Saturdays and Sundays, eight.
Eight to what? Eight to 12? Eight to
Speaker 3: noon.
Speaker 2: Eight to noon,
Speaker 3: yeah. I've thought about changing that to eight to, you know, when I sell out. Okay. But I, I'm trying to get to where I have stuff. Until about noon.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: But it's a [01:12:00] crapshoot on what you're gonna make that day. Yeah. How many people are gonna show up?
Occasionally it'll be, I'll have stuff at noon. I'm like, well, I can, you know, I got time, I'll stay open. But
Speaker 2: yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, that doesn't happen a whole lot Saturdays. Sundays a lot of times, yeah. Sad to say, or great to say, you know, 10 30, 11 o'clock I'm sold down.
Speaker 2: Well, somebody's sad about it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Um, good for
Speaker 2: you.
But, uh,
Speaker 3: yeah. You know, I, I, I am glad I sell out. That's great. Yeah. But it's, it's hard to turn, have, to turn people away. That's tough. And not have stuff
Speaker 2: because you don't wanna disappoint 'em.
Speaker 3: No, I don't. And, you know, if I have more stuff, it's more sales, right? Yeah, yeah. For sure. So it's great. But I can, you know, I can only make so much Yeah.
At the level that I want to do it. And I'm working on getting, getting better at that. Yeah. So hopefully, you know, I'll be able to increase those numbers. Um,
Speaker 2: some, some listeners may be interested in like the mouthwatering details, like what, I mean, you mentioned a couple of things, croissants and cinnamon rolls.
What else do you have that you are. Making a large enough amount of that you're ready to sell on a Saturday and a [01:13:00] Sunday?
Speaker 3: Well,
Speaker 2: what's this week?
Speaker 3: Croissants are the main thing. You know, chocolate croissants and plain croissants. Uh, I do a, right now I'm doing a blackberry danish that has, um, this is just really wonderful almond cream in it, uh, with a blackberry compote.
And then I, I top it with fresh blackberries that's been selling well, and that fruit will change throughout the year. Yeah. I mean, we're in central Illinois. The winter's tough. I've got, uh, um, morning buns, which really, I don't know if a lot of people are familiar with a queenman, but it's a very highly sugared pastry, uh, that caramelizes on the outside gets a little hard, and then it's real soft and pillowy on the inside.
And my morning buns are essentially the same thing. The process is a bit different because Queen of Mans take, uh, a lot of, they're messy to make. They take a lot of time as well. So, I've been able to kind of adjust my morning bun situation to closely replicate a Queen eman, but um, without the mess.
And [01:14:00] so, I've got those, those have been popular. You know, I do an, that's
the
Speaker 2: one we were fighting over at home.
Speaker 3: Uh, it could have been, uh, I've got, you know, almond croissants, which are always popular, um, and chocolate almond croissants, which a lot of places. I don't think do, I don't know where I've worked.
No one really did. But you're just taking acro a chocolate croissant and turning it in, adding, you know. Almond cream to it. What's nice about that and as I tell people when they're in, you know, you're just slicing a croissant in half and then brushing it, like, I use a rum, simple syrup, and then the almond cream has rum in it as well.
And so, and it's very, it's a very good recipe. Very, very nice. And then, um, you know, I'm topping it with more almond cream and tipping it in sliced almonds. The chocolate croissant. I add a little raspberry compo too as well. And that's been super popular. The Cinon rolls are, are a top seller.
Um, people love them. And that was just something that I, I kind of was like, well, we're in central Illinois. People love [01:15:00] cinnamon rolls. Yeah. That's just a fact.
Speaker 2: One of the like, last ideas you throw on the menu, maybe I was
Speaker 3: like, well, maybe this will sell something. Right. Yeah. Like, you know, and people have been very responsive.
They, they think they're pretty good. And so I'm happy, I'm happy with that. I try to add new things as I can. And they're, you know, what's more like I have a ham and cheese croissant that I think is fantastic. Oh. Um, so
Speaker 2: some savory things.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I'd love to do more and I keep telling people, I've been telling people since the day I opened, Hey, I'm gonna have more savory stuff.
'cause I don't always want something sweet. Uh, I do like a savory pastry and you can, there's pick a sandwich and you can make a croissant with it, right?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, but just finding the time and then to test and then put 'em together has been hard. I did one over the summer with like a basil pesto and, and cheese and, and, and cherry tomatoes.
That was really, really well received. I'm
Speaker 2: sure you can find some testers out there.
Speaker 3: Uh, I don't, yeah, I don't think, I don't think that would be a problem. You don't
Speaker 2: need any help with that. Okay.
Speaker 3: So
Speaker 2: I'm across the street,
Speaker 3: so just Right, you are, that's, that's true. Shoot me a text. I'll come [01:16:00] running. So there, there's always a, a desire on my part to add more product.
It's just trying to, it's finding the time to do so and test testing. Yeah. That has to be its own
Speaker 2: strategy.
Speaker 3: It really is. And then what I've been doing, I mean, I love laminated pastry obviously, but. I wanted to offer a little bit more, and so I'm doing a couple cakes that I started doing. I did them very early on at the farmer's market, but they don't hold up well when it's a hundred degrees outside.
So, one is, is made with almond flour it, and it's filled with a little vanilla bean pastry cream and, and blueberries that are cooked. You're killing me
Speaker 2: over here, man.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Cooking. I asked for it then. I'm regretting. It's very, it's really actually, it's really, really good. And of course I make stuff so I say, oh yeah, this stuff is great.
But I did that for the wedding, my friend's wedding, and, and I made a, several things, but everybody that I talked to was like, what's up with that cake? That's, that's fantastic. Uh, it's the only thing they talked about. They didn't talk about anything else that I made. Um, so I knew that that was going on the [01:17:00] menu.
And then a friend of mine that I met. You know, through, the opening the shop and through pastry she was saying that, you know, Hey, I really like pistachios and maybe you could do something with that. Yeah. And maybe you could do something with some cherry. And so I started replicating the cake with pistachio flour.
And then, you know, it's got some, some dark cherries that are cooked in a cardamom syrup that has turned to be, turned out to be really popular too. I had one yesterday, um, because you got a test every now and then. And I was like, man, this really is a very good cake. And then someone posted online, they were just like, that thing is amazing.
And then of course, just recently, two, two weeks ago or so, I added a, a pumpkin tea cake. We're in Morton, you have to have something with pumpkin.
Speaker 2: Oh, very smart.
Speaker 3: I resisted for this whole time because I'm like, what am I gonna do with pumpkin? Pumpkin is not my favorite, thing to use. It's, it's not something that I really have used a lot.
And I'm like, what am I gonna do with it? And I didn't [01:18:00] wanna do, a muffin? I don't have any muffins, I don't have cookies at this point, nothing like that. And I was like, well, maybe I could do a cake with it. Um, maybe I could put it in a croissant somehow. And I ended up, you know, making a, a cake, a small little individual sized, I think it's about four inches, uh, across cake.
With, I was like, well, you know, you're not gonna do cinnamon and nutmeg and the traditional stuff 'cause it's everybody does that. Um, so I've, I've chosen to go with some different spices in there and, you know, it's made with coconut oil for the fat and I've got shredded coconut inside of it and it's, you know, got turmeric and garra masala and it's topped with toasted pumpkin seeds.
And it, I think it's got just a wonderful texture and it's a great take on pumpkin. And. People are starting to buy it more and more and they're really getting into it. And I'm finding that I'm gonna have to increase production on that as well.
Speaker 2: Very
Speaker 3: cool. And so that's great. My cakes are all individual [01:19:00] sized and they're, they're doing very well and I'm, I'm starting to see, okay, this is another area where maybe.
I might need some help.
Speaker 2: Ah,
Speaker 3: because I only have one day to do all of them. Get 'em done. Get 'em made. Yeah. I want them as fresh as possible. So they get made on Fridays and all the, like, Friday's a crazy day. All the feeling like,
Speaker 2: yeah, everything's gotta summed up
Speaker 3: on Friday, right? Everything's that come together on Friday and the cakes all get made on Friday.
And depending on how well they go, sometimes Saturday I'm closing down and I'm right back in there making more cakes.
Speaker 2: For Sunday.
Speaker 3: For Sunday because, you know, I mean, I could just say, all right, I don't have cakes for Sunday.
Speaker 2: Right. But yeah, you're growing right now. Yeah,
Speaker 3: but I'm growing and I'm, you know, so let's get back in there and do it again.
So, you know, that's kind of. That's a challenge, but it's not a bad one. And that's also something I know I could find some talent in the area that could, could do that. It's not that it's super hard. It's cake.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But [01:20:00] you know, there are several stages to it, but it's, the hardest part is probably making pastry cream.
Speaker 2: Maybe there's a, maybe there's a listener. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Maybe that will
Speaker 2: come in on a Saturday and be like, Hey, I, I heard you say Yeah, yeah. Maybe you're looking for a little help.
Speaker 3: Um, that, but I am, I think because that's something, you know, you could come in like I do it all of 'em in a day, so there's no reason anybody else couldn't do that.
And it would be really helpful. Also you know, you get to learn a little bit about what I'm doing in the process and for somebody that's really interested in it I would think that might be kind of fun.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Um, well, I don't think they'd come and apply if they didn't, if they weren't interested.
But yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, uh,
Speaker 2: you're not looking for, it's
Speaker 3: interesting.
Speaker 2: A high school kid, this is my first job.
Speaker 3: No, no, no. Um, you're gonna have to know what you're doing in a, in a commercial kitchen, first and foremost. You're also gonna really have to be passionate about pastry. Um,
Speaker 2: attentive to, to attentive to details.
Speaker 3: Yes. Um, it's very demanding work, very exacting. And that's a good
Speaker 2: word.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I'm. Very much like [01:21:00] that. I'm really relaxed, but I have high expectations of myself. So mistakes are not something that you can do. Yeah. Like you just can't make a mistake. And it's really easy to, um, do I make mistakes?
Occasionally something goes wrong. But a lot of times, you know, depending on what it is, you're able to correct it. Say, okay, I messed this up. Here's how I can either fix it. Yeah, yeah. You've got time or just it's gotta, yeah. But, um, or it's
Speaker 2: gotta go
Speaker 3: or it's gotta go. But sometimes some mistakes can't be fixed and it can be very problematic.
And I just, if you're really passionate about pastry, you kind of understand that you know, you can't do that. And, you know, so that's, that's something that, possibly comes across as me being demanding. I don't know. I've never really been in the Yeah. The space to have to tell somebody.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Hey, you know, no, do
Speaker 2: it again.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Um,
Speaker 2: we'll see.
Speaker 3: But, uh, it's,
Speaker 2: well, I, I hope you get there.
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know
Speaker 2: because it means you're growing. I mean, it means you're able to put more [01:22:00] products out there in front of the case or, you know, in front of the customers. And
Speaker 3: that sounds appealing in theory, in practice.
I think one of the things I really have liked about it is that I just like being in that the kitchen is for me, just a, it's, it's like a,
Speaker 2: or are you in a sweet spot right now?
Speaker 3: Well, I'm in a, I'm in a space in the kitchen that is just so comfortable and it's just my own little private space. That's nice.
That I just, you know, it's very, one of the things about it that, that really works for me. Everything's going on and all this stuff, but when I'm actually in the kitchen and I'm, whether it's I'm laminating or shaping, especially shaping, it's very meditative.
Speaker 2: Oh,
Speaker 3: it's repe, it's repetition.
Speaker 2: Meditation
Speaker 3: is with attention.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And that's what meditation is really all about, is attention.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 3: You're paying
Speaker 2: attention,
Speaker 3: you're paying attention to what's going on. It's not about, it's
Speaker 2: ideally one thing at a time.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, and then hopefully you are just existing and you're not, you're just there and you're noticing and it's gone and, and [01:23:00] you're not really stuck on anything.
And I think that the process of shaping croissants is a lot like that, where you're doing it and you're paying attention, but you're not stuck in any area. You're just over and over and over. It's very helpful and I like that. And having someone else come into that area can be a little difficult.
Yeah. Um, yeah. It's gotta
Speaker 2: be the right, right
Speaker 3: person. It's gotta be the right personality. It's be right person, right vibe. They have to really fit. And so, you know, that's a struggle in and of itself. I really enjoy my time in the kitchen. And, you know, maybe one day, um, I find someone that will fit in that, but there are things, and I do have space for someone to come in occasionally and do some stuff, but I don't know.
You know, I get asked a lot about hiring people or expanding and it just isn't, isn't something that I had ever considered. Right. I, I honestly thought you
don't
Speaker 2: have answers for right now.
Speaker 3: No. I thought I was gonna open a little bakery. Make enough money to keep it open.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And, um, you know. Maybe, you know, have a couple [01:24:00] days off.
And it was just gonna be a little casual little thing that
Speaker 2: I, it doesn't sound like that's happening, just like that. No. Some of that's happening, but Yeah.
Speaker 3: But it, no, it turned into something a little bit different so far. And, and that's, it's great. It's just new. And so now I'm like, all right, now I have to figure this out.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I have worked with numerous people that I would love to have in my kitchen, so I know they're out there. I would love to be. Yeah. You know, and I know that they're high quality workers that produce great product, so I'm not opposed to it. I just finding, finding the right fit.
Speaker 2: You, you're waiting for serendipity to solve that answer.
Maybe,
Speaker 3: maybe
Speaker 2: solve that question for you.
Speaker 3: I don't know. That's, you know, it's one of those things that I'm looking for, but. I'm not actively out there searching. I'm just like, well, to
Speaker 2: look into search are two different things.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, I could suppose I could, you know, hit up some contacts from Chicago and say, Hey, you know, anybody who's willing to move down to Peoria that wants a job working at this place, it's just got started and take a risk.
Yeah. And you know, [01:25:00] maybe I'll end up doing that, but for now I'm just trying to do as much as I can do and and I really think I've got a few more months before I am ready to say, okay, uh, this is my plan going forward and this is how I want to do it. I'm still trying to figure that out. I don't have a plan for.
Doing anything beyond that. I'm still working, like I said, on on improving the product and feeling like, okay, I've got this part down and I'm ready for the next stage.
Speaker 2: Well, Joe, I, I would say that, um, having the opportunity here today to sit there and have you tell your story, it, it really puts a lot of it answers I think a lot of the questions that I had when the product first showed up in my kitchen.
You know, so it's like for, for something of that exceptional quality to come out of Morton that I, you know, we haven't heard of it yet. 'cause it, you know, you just open up your doors and I've been here in Morton long enough to where I feel like I know a lot of the entrepreneurs in the [01:26:00] area and I hadn't heard of who Joe was yet.
I'm like, wait, what's going on with this place? And so I had all these curiosities. And then the questions about the passion, like how can somebody make something this good, you know? And, and they're here in this small town. It really adds this really awesome, romantic kind of touch to it and almost kind of like a, a, a fairytale story element.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And hearing you tell your story and looking across the table from you here, the smile on your face when you go to talk about the ingredients and the process and the way it's a meditation, I think, uh, I'm very satisfied with that. Part of my, you've answered all my curiosities about like, wow, these are really delicious.
And they're delicious for those reasons, you know, not just, not just the ingredients in the process, but there's something about the way you're approaching it, I think that shows inside of that product.
Speaker 3: I, I hope so. Yeah. I mean, it's, 'cause it's, it's, it's absolutely true.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It's ridiculous. Um,
Speaker 2: it's ridiculous to say, but there, there's something there beyond.
I mean, a [01:27:00] machine could make that thing, but there is something about the way that you approach this. I've called it art, you know, a little bit ago. It's, it's maybe not that, but it's something close to that. It's a passion. It's, it's, it's a, a respect.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I it is. And it's, when you're making something by hand.
And over and over again. And you are really, it, there's something about that. The the, the joy is actually in the process of doing it. Yeah. You know, and not having somebody else do it or having a machine do it like, but to, to really be doing it and have your hands in it and be touching it and feeling it and working through the whole process.
There's, I don't know, there's just something about it that I don't get out of anything else and I, I I not saying Hey, I'm, but I think it comes out with,
Speaker 2: I think it does.
Speaker 3: I, I mean I just do,
Speaker 2: I want it to,
Speaker 3: I mean, I feel like it does. Yeah. You know, the passion just comes through the product. And you know, it doesn't mean it can't be better, but it definitely is showing up [01:28:00] and I want to, it
Speaker 2: doesn't also mean that you all, you, all you need to have is passion and it's gonna be delicious.
'cause you Right. Lot. I've got kids that make things with passion and those aren't really awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah. There's lot,
Speaker 2: sometimes they are,
Speaker 3: there's a lot of skill involved as well.
Speaker 2: Well, uh, one of my last questions is, sure. Uh, when are you gonna write the book? You're a good storyteller.
Speaker 3: Oh, I, I, you know what, there's, there's a book
Speaker 2: story in here.
I
Speaker 3: think. I would love to, I would love to, uh, write a book about this. The process of what it is to open a bakery. 'cause it seems so overwhelming for people to say, Hey, I want to do this. How do I do it?
Speaker 2: No, I'm looking, I'm looking for less of an instruction manual. I'm looking for just more of like a,
Speaker 3: well, I don't know, find your passion and just a passion
project
Speaker 3: any, any way that you can.
Yeah. It can be really hard. People do it all the time. It, it takes a ton of sacrifice though.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, I mean a lot, a lot more than most people are probably willing to put, I'm not special, it's just that it takes a lot. Yeah. A lot of passion and saying, I'm not gonna compromise on many things that you generally do have to compromise on.
I don't have [01:29:00] to, I literally have nothing else to do, but focus on this. And that is something that most people can't say.
Unless you're 20. You know? Yeah. And you're like, I have no responsibilities other than Yeah. You know, whatever.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And I really, this is, this is it. Like this is what I do. So, I put everything, everything I have into it, and I keep just cranking it out and trying to improve every day and just loving that process.
Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3: So, it's just full fledged. Everything about it is really just,
Speaker 2: you're all in Joe.
Speaker 3: All in,
Speaker 2: yeah.
Speaker 3: Just completely.
Speaker 2: Oh, good for you. Man. That's a, a lot of respect goes to the person who follows that passion.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Thanks. Yeah, I, I appreciate that and I think I, I really hope you know other people out there that are listening and if they have something, you know, see what happens.
Give it a shot, pursue your passion.
Speaker 2: I want them to come and visit you.
Speaker 3: I do too. Yeah. Please come by on over to the shop, try something. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2: Eight o'clock to noon, Saturdays
Speaker 3: and Sunday. Sunday, yeah. Yeah. And then of course, if a holiday [01:30:00] falls during the week or something, I'll, I'll do pre-orders for that and, and
Speaker 2: oh,
Speaker 3: be able to be open if I can, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: Are you making an announcement like through Facebook to say, Hey, I'm taking pre-orders this week 'cause Easter's coming or whatever
Speaker 3: yet?
Well, a couple weeks beforehand. Okay. Yeah. Okay. But that's definitely something that, that I will continue to do. And then we'll just see what happens and how it works out. But yeah. Um, I do get questions about doing special orders for, you know, events. Yeah. Maybe somebody's got a birthday or, or something like that.
And in the past I was more than happy to accommodate, but at this point right now, there's just no way. I can't. I can't do it. Um, but holidays are a bit different because that's when people that would normally be coming on the weekend are coming on the weekend.
Speaker 2: Right, right, right.
Speaker 3: So I can, I can make an, make the adjustment.
Speaker 2: Um, the, for the listeners, you'll find somewhere in the, um, the show notes in the description for this episode, I've got Joe's website for his trade craft. Is it tradecraft.com?
Speaker 3: Uh, it's tradecraft bake shop.com.
Speaker 2: Bake shop.com. Mm-hmm. And then I also have a link over to your Facebook page too. Mm-hmm. [01:31:00] So if they go there, they can, you know, sign up to follow it.
And I think from there they'd be able to receive those, they'll all the information, all those kinds of notifications and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. And for, uh, most of my, all my guests, I also give you one of my favorite pens. Oh, I imagine that you're probably taking a lot of notes if you're still, I absolutely, you know, got all those spirals out from your class.
Here you go.
Speaker 3: Oh, thank
you.
Speaker 2: And across the table, reach for you.
Any, uh, any last questions for me or any other last comments for maybe a quick thank you to all the customers who have come in? Oh,
Speaker 3: absolutely. I've been really overwhelmed by the response from customers. And it's, you know, I, I'd love the customers and I thank them deeply. It means a lot.
You know, I'm doing something I love to do, but the response for other people saying, we love what you're doing too, is very fulfilling. I mean, it's not why I do it, but it. Certainly is a wonderful addition to Yeah. You know, I'm doing it for myself. It's maybe while you're
Speaker 2: still doing it, I
Speaker 3: mean, and people are, yeah.
Right.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can make your own croissants and stuff in the [01:32:00] kitchen.
Speaker 3: That's true. And, you know, but yeah, it's been, it's been great and I really appreciate the support. I mean, it's been tremendous and I'm very thankful for that. And, you know, I hope to not disappoint when people show up. Um, I'm working very hard to, uh, do the best that I can.
And I see this as a zebra pen.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. These are, these are my favorite pens.
Speaker 2: Oh, are they really? They truly, I don't know anybody who even knows those pens. Yeah. Um, those are the best.
Speaker 3: I, it started, man, this started, it started way back a while ago, uh, when I was, when I was, you know, working at a desk every day.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Somebody, somehow I got my hands on one and, and was like, oh, these pens are nuts.
Speaker 2: I'm a journal keeper. And so when, when I had the opportunity to. It was, it was a fun little adventure to buy up like 10 or 12 different pens. Pilot G two is right up in there. I love Oh, that's a very nice
Speaker 3: pen too.
Speaker 2: I, I did the same thing with journals.
So I'm buying like these like leather bound Japanese journals. Oh, leather bound German journals with like, oh, what's the unit of measurement that they use for weighing the paper? It's, I think it's [01:33:00] called weight. Mm-hmm. Like the thickness of the page and kind of getting to pick out the journal that I want.
Getting really
Speaker 3: deep
Speaker 2: in the journal. Right. Yeah. I went down a cool, a cool rabbit hole.
Speaker 3: I think that's kind of fun though. I mean, because Oh, it's so fun. That's no different than really what I'm doing. I mean, you get just deep into something you, you like and everything matters. Right. So no, this is a, these are nice pens.
Um, I've used them for quite a while. So thank you for that.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. Thank you Joe. And for the listeners of Morton Music News, head on over to Joe's Shop. Uh, the address, 1 0 8, 1 0 8
Speaker 3: East Queen Wood Road in Wharton,
Speaker 2: which is right next to the dance studio,
Speaker 3: like Oh yeah. The greatest customers ever.
Speaker 2: Yeah. My, my daughter does dance class there and then the Flickinger tractor shop is gonna be,
Speaker 3: uh, what, ju and Jade.
Speaker 2: Jut and Jade, yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that, so
Speaker 2: they're,
Speaker 3: they're working, man, they're working on that hard over there right now.
Speaker 2: I've got an email out to them, hopefully get them on the, on the show too.
Speaker 3: Oh, that would be great.
I'd like to know more about what's going on. I follow, I follow them a little bit. Yeah. Um, and I, they're just really putting a lot of work into there. Yeah. I see
Speaker 2: trucks and
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to them opening up and, uh, [01:34:00] hopefully
getting
Speaker 2: more business down here in the south side of
Speaker 3: this town. Yeah. I mean, you know, I'm, I'm committed to the south side now, I guess, but it, you know, that'd be great.
Yeah, I'm, I'm really excited about them opening up next door and I hope, I wish them tremendous success. And the amount of people that are over there today, I mean, there's a bunch. They're really cranking that workout. It's, it's pretty nice. It's gonna be great.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Thank you so much, Joe.
Speaker 3: Oh, thank you.
Speaker 2: Hey, this is Ben. Thanks for listening to this episode of Morton Muon News. I'm excited to share more stories with you, but I need your help to keep the content growing and engaging. If you know someone in our community with an interesting story to tell or who's making a difference, we'd love to hear from you.
Maybe it's a local business owner, maybe a community volunteer, or even a neighbor with a unique hobby. Send us their names and a little bit about why you think they'd be great for the show. You can find us by searching Morton Musen News on Facebook or by emailing me at B van D twelve@gmail.com, B-V-A-N-D-E one two.
Additionally, if you're interested in sponsoring our show or supporting our [01:35:00] effort to highlight our wonderful community, we'd love to partner with you. Sponsorship not only helps us continue to produce quality content, but it also provides great exposure for your business and your organization. Thanks for being part of the community and the show.
Together, let's continue to celebrate the people and the stories that make Martin special. Until next time, keep making Morton matter.
