Rise Up! The Baker Podcast with Mark Dyck

Nicky Giusto is a fourth generation baker and miller and is carrying on the Giusto legacy with great aplomb. Nicky competed at the Coupe du Monde and was the coach of Team USA at the most recent competition, in addition to starting the Artisan Baking Center in Petaluma, CA. In this episode, Nicky shares his family history in bread and flour. We talk about the connection between baker and miller, t...

Jennifer Koertner is in the centre of the action in her micro-bakery, Jen's Breads. Her kitchen is in the local community centre; all the better to make her place part of the fabric of Mt. Morris, Illinois! In the episode, Mark and Jennifer discuss the challenges with being a small town market baker, how her central location offers several advantages and how she was able to find such a great partn...

Joanne Chang is a shining light on the North American baking firmament. Owner of the hugely successful Flour Bakery in Boston, Joanne is also the author of several beloved cookbooks. In this episode, Mark and Joanne discuss how she made the leap into baking and built up a mini-empire of bakeries around Boston. Expanding beyond a single shop requires a change of focus and Joanne now plays a signifi...

Laura Rogerson is bringing the Good Stuff to the people of St. Albert, Alberta.  Having baked for the local farmer's market for years, she is now opening her own downtown space to both bake and teach baking classes. In this episode Mark and Laura talk about building a customer base over time, what it takes to expand to new markets and how she's keeping her build out costs manageable in her new spa...

Richard Placzek is really into baking. Really, really into baking. But it was once he teamed up with Sammy Wardrop that his bakery really took off. In this episode, Mark talks with both Richard and Sammy about their individual baking journeys, how they met one day at a London farmers market and how they are slowly building The Whole Grain Hearth into a southern Ontario highlight. Helpful Links: Th...

Jodi Whalen and Phil Merrick opened August First Bakery and Cafe in Burlington Vermont back in 2010 and step by step have grown it into a sustainable business for them, their staff and their community. They even have the team and systems in place where they can step back from the day to day operations of the bakery. In this episode, Jodi and Phil share their journey in baking and in business, and...

It doesn't take more than a handful of products before a bakery owner asks "How can I stay on top of everything?"  Yet once the Pandora's Box of tracking spreadsheets is opened, it becomes harder and harder to leave the screen and get back to the bench. In this episode, Mark talks about the tracking alternatives available to bakers, from pen and paper to major enterprise level software.  And then...

After a busy holiday season, the start of January is the perfect time for some well deserved rest.  But once your rested, smart bakery owners take some time to plan out their business development activities for the year ahead. In this episode, Mark describes a 7 step method that he and Cindy used to plan out business development for their bakery, including a current business assessment, setting re...

Not only is Alexis Hughes-Williams building her pop-up bakery, Something Sweet, but she's building a non-profit to empower young women at the same time. In this episode, Mark learns about how Alexis learned to bake from her great-grandmother, built up a popular pop-up bakery and intends to expand it beyond Nashville, while keeping Girl unKnown a prominent part of her life.   Helpful Links: Somethi...

Eddy Mysliwiec worked as a chef while he got his degree and started working for the City of Victoria. But his love of food was too strong. Moving to Montreal, he started Breddy Boulangerie and is becoming a major part of his cities vibrant food scene. In this episode, Mark and Eddy talk about growing up in France, the pros and cons of a desk job and Eddy's plans for his microbakery. Helpful Links:...

Janice Mansfield switched careers from an office to personal chef, caterer and gluten free baker.  Now she is the Bakery Manager of Yonni's Doughnuts, the sweet and leavened counterpart to the excellent Discovery Coffee roasters and coffee shops. In this episode, Mark learns about how Yonni's has risen and evolved alongside Discovery Coffee, Janice's journey from the office to the bake room and ho...

Amy Scherber is founder of Amy's Bread, an New York City Institution. Starting in a tiny space in Hell's Kitchen in 1992, her bakery now spans five locations and even a kiosk in the New York Public Library. Through it all, Amy has been a generous teacher, sharing her knowledge of baking and running a successful business. In this episode, Mark and Amy talk about the early days of the bakery and how...

It turns out the Evelyn's Crackers is about way more than crackers.  It's a thriving micro-bakery in Toronto, Ontario which is focused on whole grain bread and pastries, home baker education and yes, crackers. In this episode, Mark talks with Dawn Woodward, owner of Evelyn's, about her journey north from New Orleans to settle in Toronto, the growth of the bakery and the challenges and opportunity...

Daniel Leader is founder of Bread Alone Bakery and author of three outstanding books on bread and bakeries (in addition to being one of Mark's baking heroes!) His latest book, Living Bread, continues to inform local bakers via innovations in European baking and milling. In this episode, Mark and Daniel talk about the struggles the current micro-bakers face as they build businesses for the long ter...

Laura Valli is taking a long and winding path to her education, whether she's in school or out. She recently left her home in Estonia to study at The Bread Lab at Washington State University and is exploring the deep connection between humans and grains. In this episode, Mark learns about life in Estonia, Laura's world class pursuit of the perfect cup of coffee and what it's like to combine the hu...

After leaving the Navy, Amanda Bowers moved to Gainesville, Florida to open a cafe like the ones she loved in Italy.  Instead of the cafe, however, she built several iterations of her bakery over 10 years. It's now a dedicated wholesale bakery serving cafes around town. In this episode, Mark and Amanda talk about her decision to keep her bakery small and family run and the choices that required. ...

Anne Mayhew loves working with her hands. Starting as a costumer and fibre artist, she eventually fell under gluten's spell and started baking bread.  A loaf, then two, then 24 at a time before she realized she really should start a bakery. In this episode, Mark and Anne talk about her long and winding road toward opening LMNOP, being the village baker in a town with some very famous residents, de...

If the last episode of Rise Up! was about fantasy ( Ep 73 - the Fantasy BakeryCast ) then this episode is about the reality of opening your own bakery. Cindy and Mark, partners in Orange Boot Bakery in Regina, Saskatchewan, reflect on their experience launching and running their own bakery.   They draw on the perspective gained by time away from the bakery and the wide variety of bakery owners who...

Rise Up! is back after a longer than anticipated hiatus.  In this episode, Mark gives an update on their move out West.  Later, his wife Cindy runs Mark through a series of questions (developed during the drive to Vancouver Island) to help him discover The Bakery of His Dreams.  The business model will surprise you! Helpful Links: Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomic...

  Elizabeth Belkind was helping Russian immigrants receive war reparations before switching to working with her hands and her taste buds.  Local foodies have enjoyed her pastries and cakes ever since. Since opening Cake Monkey in LA thirteen years ago, her business has grown and changed one tiny cake at a time. In this episode, Mark and Elizabeth talk about the switch to cooking, working with Nanc...

When Amber Lambke moved to Skowhegan, Maine, her new community needed help.  She dug in with the community, discovered the many assets they had and eventually formed the Maine Grain Alliance and started the Maine Grains mill. Now, Skowhegan is known around the baking world for their annual Kneading Conference and the revitalized grain economy in Maine.   In this episode, Amber shares the story of...

Mac McConnell is a much admired teacher and baking instructor who made the leap to opening his own bakery.  From their facility in Mountain View, California, Mac, his wife Jaime (the midwife) and their crew serve markets and coffee shops all over the Bay Area. In this wide ranging conversation, Mark and Mac talk about Mac's journey in baking,  his teachers and mentors, opening his bakery and how h...

  When Jennifer Haglund and Mark Bogard work the bread shift at Josey Baker Bread, they're making the good stuff for people in the Bay Area. But soon they'll be taking their skills and ideas to the Midwest, to open their own bakery in Michigan. In this episode, they share their journey so far and their dreams for a market bakery in Ypsilanti that supports local farmers and growers. And they also d...

If you get John Reid talking about good bread and local grain economies, be prepared for a hearty, robust conversation. John's vast experience as a baker, oven builder and grain advocate has taken him from his small town outside Melbourne Australia to as far away as Canada, the USA and the UK in his quest to learn and bring that knowledge home. In this episode, Mark learns about the magic of Scotc...

When Mark learned of Rosie Gray's adventure cycling from Scotland to Belgium and working at bakeries along the way, he just had to learn more. He caught up with Rosie one sunny summer afternoon, leaning against a tree, in a campground outside Genk, Belgium, after she finished a baking shift.  During this entertaining chat, he learns about the vibrant baking culture in the UK and the Low Countries...