Baked-In with Josh Allen

On this week’s episode presented by Busey Bank,  Josh sits down (remotely) with some wonderful folks – Johanna Hartzheim and Ismail Salhi – the team behind Wildgrain. Wildgrain is the first bake-from-frozen artisan bread, pastry and pasta subscription box. Founded in early 2020, Wildgrain has grown exponentially in the last 3 years, has 15,000+ 5-star reviews and was recently voted the #1 subscrip...

On this week’s episode of the Baked-In podcast presented by Busey Bank, Josh had the opportunity to sit down with Steve and Will Smith, the father-son development team at New + Found – the folks behind the City Foundry and lots of other projects in the St. Louis metro area. While the firm works around the country, the Smiths clearly have a strong personal desire to change how St. Louis works, live...

On this week’s episode of the Baked-In Podcast presented by Busey Bank, Josh had a chance to catch up with Tara and Michael Gallina of Take Root Hospitality – who in less than 7 years have opened 4 distinct restaurant concepts in St. Louis and given the community dining and hospitality experiences on par with the best the town has to offer. They talk about the challenges of scaling their roles and...

Can a hotel be more than a hotel? Can it profoundly impact a neighborhood and a community? On this week’s episode of the Baked-In Podcast presented by Busey Bank, Josh sits down with the creative forces behind St. Louis’ newest boutique hotel – 21C Museum Hotel a multi-venue contemporary art museum, coupled with a hotel and chef-driven restaurant. GM JP Roberts, Director of Community Impact Christ...

On this week’s episode of the Baked-In podcast presented by Busey Bank, Josh had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with world renown inspirational speaker, podcaster and best-selling author John O’Leary. John just wrapped on the film adaptation of his 2016 book - On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life. The movie will tell the story of O’Leary, who was burned on 100% of his...

On this week’s episode of the Baked-In podcast presented by Busey Bank, Josh celebrates episode 30 with his Companion co-founder and sister, Jodi Allen. In the midst of all of the holiday craziness, they took a few minutes to look back on the 30-year history of the bakery and the lessons learned from family, the value of failure and, most importantly, the role their mom has played in their success...

On this week’s episode of the Baked-In Podcast presented by Busey Bank, Josh has the pleasure of catching up his former professor from Stanford University in the Bay Area. Patrica Ryan Madson taught acting and improvisation at Stanford for many years and she had an incredible influence on his life as an entrepreneur. Let’s face it, life and business are something that we all make up as we go along...

On this week’s episode of the Baked-In podcast presented by Busey Bank, Josh chats with Michael Dorf of City Winery. Founded in New York City in 2009, the urban winery, restaurant and intimate music venue has more than a dozen locations across the US with plans to keep expanding. They recently opened their newest spots in Pittsburgh, PA and in St. Louis’ Foundry project. Michael and Josh discuss g...

On this week’s episode of the Baked-In Podcast presented by Busey Bank , Josh has the immense pleasure of talking to Andy Cohen – TV personality, best-selling author, award-winning producer and his cousin. Josh is always incredibly appreciative of time he gets to spend with Andy and they discuss their shared experience of growing up in their family’s food business, the lightening in a bottle creat...

On this week’s episode, Josh has the chance to catch up with Ben Hillman, president of the chef-inspired burger joint Hi-Pointe Drive-In and co-founder of Chicken Out all through his family’s private equity company, Lewis & Clark Capital. For someone in his early thirties, Ben has his hands in a lot of cookie jars and has found success with a very people-first philosophy. It’s exciting for Jos...

On today’s episode, Josh goes deep into the mind of Rick Wolf, creator and proprietor of Found Vintage, Found by the Pound and Mednik-Riverbend – one of the most vertically integrated company concepts around. They discuss the booming industry of donated and recycled clothing, $900 vintage t-shirts and monkey fur. Rick outlines the fascinating path traveled by an article of clothing placed in a loc...

On this week’s episode, Josh has the chance to catch up with Joe Edwards, the “Duke of Delmar”, who is the visionary and developer behind the Delmar Loop – one of the 10 greatest streets in America (per the American Planning Association 2007). Joe opened his first business – the iconic restaurant, Blueberry Hill – in 1972 with the hope of revitalizing a once popular high fashion district in St. Lo...

On this week’s episode, Josh had the honor of sitting with the Dierberg family – the 3rd and 4th generations of leadership at the grocery chain with St. Louis roots dating back to 1854. Bob Dierberg, Greg Dierberg and Laura Dierberg Padousis shared insights into multi-generational family businesses, how the definition of success has evolved over the years and charting a path into the future with t...

On this week’s episode, Josh sits down with David Wolfe, co-founder of the Urban Chestnut Brewing Company in St. Louis. David, along with his co-founder Florian Kuplent, worked together in the New Products and Innovations division at Anheuser Busch InBev before embarking on their own craft brewing adventure in 2011. A lot has changed in the industry in the last dozen years, and Josh and David disc...

On this week’s episode, Josh had the opportunity to catch up with Melany Robinson (LinkedIn: @melany-robinson) of Sprouthouse (LinkedIn: @sprouthouseagency) – a communications agency with offices in 11 markets across the US focused on helping clients in the restaurant and hospitality industry tell their story well beyond traditional PR. They talk a lot about food’s changing landscape and the power...

On this week’s episode, Josh has the great opportunity to sit with @brian_lagerstrom, chef and YouTube sensation. Brian, who spent time working with both @nichefoodgroup and @loafersstl before leaving professional kitchens behind and embarking on a career behind the camera. What started as a pandemic side hustle has blossomed into a full-time gig – with Brian hitting the elusive 1 million subscrib...

On this week’s episode, Josh sits with Rick Erwin, creative director at the City Museum in downtown St. Louis. Housed in the former warehouse of the International Shoe Company, the museum is the brainchild of internationally acclaimed and classically trained sculptors Bob and Gail Cassilly. The 625,000 square foot museum is full of all the weird and wonderful things cities leave behind. Rick leads...

On this week’s episode, Josh has the chance to sit with Michael Rubenstein of Wally’s. Established in 2020, Wally's is a luxury travel center proud to serve as the Home of the Great American Road Trip. Specializing in great service, delicious food, clean restrooms, and retail souvenirs for everyone. They discuss the challenges of ramping up from 0 to 250 teammates in less than 3 years, building co...

In this week’s episode, Josh has the honor of sitting with Ali Hogan and Leslie Gill, the founder and president respectively of Rung for Women – a career accelerator focused on helping women acquire the skills and training needed to uplevel their lives professionally and personally. They’ve already helped over 300 women in the St. Louis region gain traction in their careers and they’re just gettin...

On this week’s episode, Josh talks with Loryn Nalic from Balkan Treat Box about growing her wildly popular food concept from a food truck dream to one of the most versatile and exciting food brands in St. Louis. They talk about navigating the early chaos of the opening of CityPark, approaching business with the humility and willingness to ask for help, and mentoring the next generation of emerging...

In this week’s episode, Josh sits down with Jon Franko of Gorilla 76, an industrial marketing firm here in St. Louis that he co-founded in 2006. Jon, in addition to helping his manufacturing clients (read: blue collar brands) grow revenue and retain employees, is a passionate believer in the power of company culture. They discuss the new normal of remote work, the value of defining and living core...

On this week’s episode, Josh sits down with Tamara Keefe, founder, CEO and flavor temptress at Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery. In her late thirties, after a very successful career in consumer packaged goods on a global scale, Tamara opened a small ice cream shop in Lafayette Square in St. Louis, MO. Nearly 10 years and multiple locations later, she’s ready to grow across the country. They...

This week, Josh catches up with Dr. Mitch Millstein, Professor of Supply Chain Management at UMSL and co-founder of Supply Velocity, a lean manufacturing and supply chain consulting firm.  They discuss how supply chain management is having its “moment”, the secret sauce of becoming a you-can-count-on-me supplier and Mitch’s past work with Josh’s bakery on customer optimization. It all may sound li...

This week, Josh sits down with Tricia Zimmer Ferguson, co-owner of the Kaldi’s Coffee family of businesses which includes brands in St. Louis, Nashville, Atlanta, Olympia, WA and the state of Hawaii. They discuss the secret sauce of building regional brands in multiple markets with a common thread of great coffee/tea and even better hospitality.  

Last year, AB-InBev, thanks in large part to the work of this week’s guest, Greg Belt of Evergrain Ingredients, was named the most innovative company in America. Greg and his team at Evergrain have created the only upcycled certified plant protein in the world. And it’s all happening here in St. Louis. Josh and Greg discuss the secret sauce of converting what has historically been a byproduct of t...