An Alaska Baker's Journey

Who are your heroes?  While many people would think of professional athletes, movie stars, and famous people, but that is never who I have looked up to.  My heroes are those who have made a real difference in my life.  The people that at some point and time seemed larger than life. When I was a child this was my Dad.   I always wanted to be with him.  Whether that was riding on the back of his motorcycle, working on the farm, or riding with him in the truck.  When I was afraid, he let me know that he was there.  I could hold onto him and squeeze my eyes shut as he rode the motorcycle over and narrow board across the irrigation canal.  At 4 years old I had to stand on the seat to see over the steering wheel when he put me into the truck and had me drive to the back of the farm. I followed his directions knowing that he would not let anything bad happen.  I had absolute faith in him.   What kind of hero do I want to be?  ...

How will I measure my life?  Often we measure our lives by our success, how much money we have, or how many friends we have. I want to measure my life by the people I have helped along the way.     This past weekend I was asked by a young boy scout to help him finish his Eagle Scout paperwork. We had worked through the project and he had only this last thing to be completely  done.  This was a pressing thing as he is aging out of the program and has a limited window to reach this goal.  I also had several hours of school work, and a long list of bakery order to fill.  I didn't know how I would help him.  But this is something that will have a life long impact on this young man, and he needed my help.  Sometimes helping others means sacrificing what we want.  I could find a way to help, while fulfilling  my other obligations.  I set aside my school work for an hour, and focused on the scout. I called him and his m...

  J. Paul Getty, petroleum industrialist who founded Getty Oil Company From my study this week, using J Paul Getty’s quote, Jim Richie from Launching Leaders compiled the following formula for success. 1.          1.      Get up early 2.            2.      Work hard 3.           3.      Get your education 4.           4.      Find oil (do what interests you, what you are good at) 5.           5.      Make your mark 6.           6.      Prepare to serve and give back With out knowing it, this is the formula that I have shaped my life around.   From an early age on the farm, I learned to get up early and get to work.   Farm life doesn’t wait, and a good harvest depends...

Have your read or seen the video of Randy Pausch Last Lecture?  All of a sudden I have seen this name everywhere this week.  I read his lecture, then stumbled across the YouTube Video, then picked up a book my husband is reading to find it is Randy Pausch's last lecture.  Suddenly this is a name I need to remember.  It you haven't seen it, you can find the video  here .  For some back story, Randy died from pancreatic cancer in July 2008, but I want to focus on his life.  He accomplished some amazing things.  He had, like many kids, some very specific childhood dreams.  He wanted to experience Zero Gravity, play in the NFL, author an article in the World Book encyclopedia, Be Captain Kirk, win stuffed animals, and be a Disney Imagineer.  When I read this my parent brain kicked in, the dream killer.  Those are some lofty goals, and most likely not to come true.  Wow, am I a pessimistic person!   This where where I need...

 Here I am, week 1 of business classes.  I feel like I am both at the very beginning of this journey, and also miles and miles down the road.  This journey actually began 8 years ago when we started a cottage bakery from our home as part of a homeschool project, and Bearfoot Bakery was born.   We began very modestly, just making sandwich bread and cookies for the farmer's market.  Within a couple of months we had sold enough to purchase our first commercial equipment, a 20 qt mixer.   Our goal was to never go into debt for the bakery, but to be able to pay everything with cash.  Now 8 years later we have been able to stick with that goal.  We have grown from a small table at the farmer's market, to become a well known resource in town for everything from specialty breads, cupcakes, pies, and now pretzels.  We now sell more in a day than we could in a month, so it feels like progress.   As I start a journey of business educ...