Daily Inspiration: Meet Janet Gryzlo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janet Gryzlo.

Hi Janet, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve love baking since I was young. I recently retired from a long corporate career in procurement and project management and had been experimenting and learning how to make sourdough bread for about 6 months prior. People started asking for my sourdough, so I started to sell it. I explored my options and decided to establish a cottage bakery in my home. My plan was to make a few loaves and see if I could start selling to my neighborhood. I soon became popular with regular customers. I began baking and offering porch pickup and set up a small stand in my front yard courtyard. I quickly learned that porch pickups are not allowed, so I had to pivot. I started to offer delivery to my customers. I didn’t raise prices, I just thought this could differentiate myself from other sourdough cottage bakers. No one that I know of delivers fresh, homemade sourdough to your door for free. So that’s what I’ve done and it’s become very popular. I inherited a love for driving from my father, so he (in spirit) and I deliver sourdough every week.

Recently I took some time to visit small businesses in Gilbert looking for an opportunity to get my bread into stores. Room and Porch at San Tan Village now offers my bread every weekend. My business is growing slowly, but steadily. I offer bread subscriptions – weekly, bi-weekly and monthly bread deliveries – those customers are my “Loafers”.

It’s called Starter’s Bakery because everything I offer is made from my sourdough starter, Swheatie. She’s the driving force behind my sourdough, cookies and muffins. We have seasonal favorites, like white sourdough pumpkins that we offer in the fall. We’ll soon have the popular cranberry, walnut orange boule on the menu, when we get a bit closer to the holidays.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The first struggle was just understanding all the rules and regulations required for a cottage baker. It took months to get it all understood and in place properly. The second struggle was when my porch pickup process was stopped. I had to find another way to sell my bread and get it to my customers. However, a business owner needs to embrace these challenges because it forces you to consider other options and sometimes, they turn out much better than the original plan. Supply chain challenges exist too, even for a very small business like mine. I can’t always get my ingredients and supplies, so I’ve had to find keen ways to store ingredients and supplies in my home.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Starter’s Bakery specializes in bread and sweets made from sourdough starter. I offer cookies, muffins and bread. I have seasonal bread flavors available, just check the website at www.startersbakery.com. I bake weekly and deliver to customers on Thursday afternoons. Starter’s can also be found at community events and festivals, just check out the events page on the website. I also offer bread subscriptions. So if you need bread on the regular, you can subscribe to weekly, bi-weekly or monthly deliveries. Because who doesn’t love fresh, homemade bread….delivered to your door for free?!!

I’m most proud of the growth of my small business over the past year. I’ve gone from a few friends who wanted bread to weekly orders from a retain store in the local mall. I”m so very excited for the next chapter.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Talk to other business owners and listen to their experiences. Everyone has a story to tell that can help you do better in your own business. It’s great to have a mentor or fellow business owners in the same industry that you can lean on. They can help you, be your sounding board, share their experiences and learnings and be there with you when you win!

Pricing:

• I don’t know what you mean here.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.startersbakery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startersbakery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567024323764

Image Credits
all images were taken by me or my family so n/a