Rise Up! The Baker Podcast with Mark Dyck

Judith Norell faced an uphill battle breaking in to the bread baking scene in New York but her tenacity and resilience paid off in the end.  Silver Moon Bakery has been a mainstay in Manhattan's Upper West Side for eighteen years now and Judith and her crew show no signs of slowing down. In this episode, Mark and Judith talk about her first career as a musician, the challenge finding work as a mid...

Episode #37 of Rise Up! ended with Peter Claybaker, owner of Marquette Baking Company, dealing with downsizing his bakery and eliminating his retail service.  Since then there have been some major changes in Marquette and Peter is in a much better place. In this episode, Peter shares his news and tells the story of how brittle the business model of small bakeries can become.  But it's also a story...

David Norman fell in love with bread during a trip to northern Europe.  So much so that it baking became his passion and career for over 30 years.  After baking all over the USA he settled in Austin and opened Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden, which has just opened its second location.   In this episode David shares what triggered his bread obsession, the many mentors he's had over the years,...

In this episode Mark riffs on a recent conversation he had about pop up events and the impact they have on brick and mortar businesses.  Rather than simply complain about pop ups, how can bakeries combine the best of pop ups with the best parts of their existing business?   Some links: Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website Mark on Instagram Credits: Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck Theme song and mus...

Mark first met Peter Claybaker in San Francisco when Peter was buying the deck oven for his brand new bakery.  10 years later, Marquette Baking Company continues to serve this small college town on the shores of Lake Superior, although the business has changed significantly in the last year. In this episode, Peter explains how he got into baking and how he built Marquette Baking Company.  They als...

Suzanne Gessler was a social worker and city planner. In a way, she still is. As owner and baker at Penny Loaf in Winnipeg Manitoba, Suzanne is making sure her bakery plays a key role in her neighbourhood's vitality. In this episode, Mark and Suzanne talk about changing careers to open a bakery, how she built a little gem in the Corydon neighbourhood of Winnipeg and how she built the massive wood...

Jessica Carpinone has a passion for bread, for her team and for equity.  And as co-owner of the Ottawa bakery Bread By Us, she's able to work in all her passions every day. In this episode, Mark and Jessica talk about the impact of the recent tornado that hit the Ottawa area, how Bread By Us is there for the community regardless of income or other circumstances, and the challenges faced by the mod...

Nicole Davis never planned to take over the family farm. But the call of the country was too strong, so strong in fact that she also bought the stone mill next door. As the owner of Daybreak Mill, Nicole is hard at work building connections with bakers of all sizes and transforming a staple product into a cool consumer brand. In this episode, Mark and Nicole talk about how she made her way back to...

Bakery owners are on a mission.  We want to make the best baked goods we can and both feed and nourish our community.  We want a happy team, happy customers and happy farmers and millers too. But is there room in all this happiness for profit? In this episode, Mark shares his thoughts on the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz , which was recommended by Rebecca Channer, founder of the amazing Pr...

After years and years of dreaming and planning to open her own bakery, Corina Gaffney is the proud owner of Great Lakes Baking Company in Hudson Ohio.  The bakery has been around for over 20 years and now Corina and her team are focused taking the bakery to whole new level of taste and happiness. In this episode, Mark and Corina sit down on her patio to talk about her decision to purchase an exist...

Giacomo Salata took the traditional Italian path to being a pastry chef, including deciding on his path in life at age 13.  But his career so far has been anything but traditional, taking him from his hometown of Padua to England, Saskatchewan and Ottawa, Ontario. In this episode, Mark learns more about how one becomes a pastry chef in Italy, what it's like to work at a major fusion restaurant in...

Depending on how you count, Polestar Hearth has been around for 18 months or 10 years.  That's because 18 months ago, Jesse Merrill moved his bakery from his backyard to a gorgeous retail space in Guelph Ontario.  This little gem is now a hub for bread lovers from all over town. In this episode, recorded on site at Polestar Hearth, Mark and Jesse discuss his move from a home business to a retail b...

Mark and Cindy are back from a massive road trip through Ontario and into the Midwest USA, checking out the amazing trees and lakes and visiting as many bakeries as humanly possible. In this two-part episode, Mark shares his thoughts on the trip, with an emphasis on the wide variety of community bakeries they saw throughout Ontario.  Then, Mark and Arlo Brandl from Tecumseh, Michigan have an in-pe...

Michael Sellers left a successful business career to open his solo bread bakery in Peekskill New York.  And it truly is a solo operation, from baking to packaging and delivery to all over Westchester County. In this episode, Mark and Michael talk about the ins and outs of running a subscription bread operation, the challenges of working in a shared space and how the need to connect with customers...

Don Guerra is not simply an awesome bread baker.  He's also a leader in the Community Supported Bakery movement and is at the forefront of the local grain movement in Tucson, Arizona.   In this episode, Mark and Don have a lively discussion about Don's life in baking, including a significant detour right in the middle, and how his local community supported his reboot, first in his garage and then...

Melina Kelson is a baker, teacher and wood fired oven officianado.  She is also long serving board member of the Bread Baker's Guild of America.   In this episode, Mark and Melina discuss her path to becoming a renowned baking instructor, what the Guild board does on a non-WheatStalk year, her bootleg baking project and her new role as Operations Manager at Princi Kitchens in Chicago.     Some lin...

Martin Philip spent time as a musician and a financier before turning his attention to baking and many, many people are glad that he did.  Martin is the Head Baker at King Arthur Flour in Vermont and author of the amazing memoir and bread book Breaking Bread: A Baker's Journey Home in 75 Recipes.   In this episode, Mark and Martin talk about Martin's journey in baking, how he convinced Jeffrey Ham...

Randy George is a very generous baker and teacher and not just in and around the bakery he founded in Middlesex, Vermont, Red Hen Baking Company.  He's also mentored a great many bakers and bakery owners as an active member of the Bread Baker's Guild e-group. In this episode, Mark and Randy talk about his start in baking, how Red Hen was founded, what it's like running a wholesale bakery and how R...

(This version gets Solveig's and Mark's voices back in sync.  So sorry for the mix up!)   Solveig Tofte is a fun loving, exceptionally friendly baker with an international reputation.  Not only does she own and operate the amazing Sun Street Breads in Minneapolis, Minnesota but she also travels the world teaching baking and connecting with other bakers. In this episode, Mark and Solveig talk about...

Solveig Tofte is a fun loving, exceptionally friendly baker with an international reputation.  Not only does she own and operate the amazing Sun Street Breads in Minneapolis, Minnesota but she also travels the world teaching baking and connecting with other bakers. In this episode, Mark and Solveig talk about her experience with Team USA at the Coupe de Monde, starting Sun Street Breads and formin...

Annie Moss is co-owner of Seastar Bakery in Portland, Oregon and she isn't afraid of working with others to make the place of her dreams.  She partnered up with three friends to build not just a bakery, but a cafe and pizza joint, all sharing the same space and same oven.  The result is a unique neighbourhood place beloved by her regulars. In this episode, Mark and Annie talk about Annie's start i...

Amy Halloran is a writer, teacher and activist who is digging deep into how local food economies can revitalize communities.  And she's working hard to improve the situation in her home town of Troy, New York. Amy is the author of The New Bread Basket, which described the re-emergence of the local grain movement throughout the US - a movement which has continued to grow and build momentum. In this...

So what style of baking do you do?  What does that even mean?  In this episode, Mark tries to unpack the answer to the question "What style of bread do you bake", the joys of baking during a heat wave and shares feedback on the Volker Baumann episode - from Volker.  Plus, it's listener email time!   Some links: Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website Mark on Instagram Credits: Produced and hosted by Ma...

Volker Baumann has helped hundreds and hundreds of bakers during his long career as a baker, bakery owner and renowned baking instructor.   In this episode, Mark and Volker renew their friendship as Mark learns the bigger story of Volker's life in baking, from apprenticing in Germany to owning a bakery in Calgary, Alberta to his 25 year career as a Baking and Pastry instructor at SAIT.  Retirement...

Jim Williams and his wife Lynn own Seven Stars Bakery in Providence, Rhode Island and over the past 17 years have grown to three locations and an extremely cool side project too. In this episode, Mark and Jim talk about how he started as a baker in California, moved to Rhode Island to help Lynn start Seven Stars and the fun and challenges of expanding over the years.  They also talk about Jim's re...