The Bread Winner Podcast

Caroline Bower
  • 5.0 (44)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Semiweekly

Welcome to The Bread Winner Podcast, the show for microbakery owners who want to create a successful microbakery without spending every waking minute in the kitchen. I'm Caroline Bower, and I bake over 100 loaves a week from my home while still getting 8 hours of sleep and having time to be fully present in the important moments with my family. If you're looking to build a thriving sourdough business from your home, you're in the right place. Every Thursday, I'll be sharing new episodes packed with practical advice on everything from marketing and sales to process optimization and real-life strategies to maintain a healthy, intentional lifestyle. We'll dive into how to get started, attract (and keep) your first raving customers, plan your ideal week, scale your operations, and price your products. Plus, we'll occasionally have some fantastic guests who are experts in the sourdough world. This podcast is all about giving you the tools and confidence to cultivate business that fits into your life, not the other way around. So, hit that subscribe button, do your next round of coil folds then grab a cup of coffee and get comfy for the next 20 minutes. Let's start building your dream microbakery together!

  1. Oct 8

    144. Meal Prep for Microbakery Owners, with Cassy Joy Garcia

    The simplest way to do meal prep when you run a microbakery is one short prep day where you cook three things at once: a pork shoulder in the slow cooker, a bag of sweet potatoes in the oven, and a big pan of roasted vegetables. Those three things turn into at least three meals, so dinner is mostly made before your bake days even start. That is the plan my guest Cassy Joy Garcia gave me when I asked her what a worn-out baker should do with the couple of hours she has left after a market weekend. Cassy is the New York Times bestselling author of Cook Once, Eat All Week and her newest book, The Protein Meal Prep Plan, and I have cooked from her books almost every single week for a couple of years. We talked about what to eat when you work straight through lunch, why she pairs protein with fiber, and the freezer dumpling soup she takes from 13 grams of protein to about 45. We also got into running a business with three kids at home, why you are the best person to tell the story of your own bakery, and how to stop treating your wins like a fluke! Key takeaways One prep day, three things. Cassy's example is a pork shoulder in the slow cooker, a whole bag of baked sweet potatoes, and roasted bell peppers and broccoli. Mix and match them all week, like a loaded potato with barbecue sauce one night.Give yourself a lunch zone. You already keep snacks your kids can grab without asking. Keep a spot in the fridge and pantry with food ready for you, too.Make three jar salads at a time in 24 ounce wide-mouth mason jars. Dressing goes in the bottom, crunchy vegetables next, and lettuce at the very top.Plan for the week you do not prep. Cassy keeps frozen soup dumplings, a jar of broth and canned chickpeas on hand. Half a can of rinsed chickpeas plus the broth takes the dumplings from 13 grams of protein to about 45, with about 15 grams of fiber.If you add protein, add fiber with it. Cassy says piling on protein alone leads to digestive trouble.Set an alarm to eat. When Cassy was working hard on her health, she set one on her phone for 12:45 every day.Do not write off a great month or a great launch as chance. Cassy calls that the fastest way to unlearn from your good results. Text the win to someone you love the moment it happens.You are the best person to tell the story of your business and your product. After more than 15 years, Cassy says she is still learning that one.Small things that save her time: a car basket that holds everything going to and from school, doubling a meal she is already cooking for a meal train so one goes in her own freezer, and giving her husband a login to the grocery cart. Come build a bakery that fits your life alongside us in The Bread Winner Inner Circle: https://www.carolinebower.com/innercircle Links to things you might like! Cassy's blog, Fed and Fit: https://fedandfit.comCassy's new book, The Protein Meal Prep Plan: https://link.amazon/B019JjMIBFollow Cassy on Instagram (@fedandfit): https://www.instagram.com/fedandfit/Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/144-how-to-feed-your-family-on-the-busiest-bake-weeks/id1753979437?i=1000793839422Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwRtIBvNc10The Bread Winner Inner Circle: https://www.carolinebower.com/innercircleDownload the FREE guide and checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery: https://www.carolinebower.com/checklistGrab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: https://www.carolinebower.com/calculatorJoin my email list: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/newsletterFind all of my sourdough microbakery favorites, including packaging, pans, and bins: https://www.carolinebower.com/linksSend me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcastFollow me on Instagram (@carolinebower_sourdough) for more microbakery tips: https://www.instagram.com/carolinebower_sourdough

  2. Oct 1

    143. How to Get Seen Locally Before Your Holiday Pre-Orders Open

    Thanksgiving is so late this year that between Small Business Saturday and Christmas, you have exactly 27 days to sell. There is no time inside that window to go find new customers, which means the bakers who fill those 27 days with orders are the ones whose neighbors already know they exist before the end of October. This week I am walking you through a 10-minute check-in on your third-quarter numbers, then a three-week plan to build local visibility before your holiday pre-orders open. You will leave with three numbers to track and a simple, repeatable way to get seen by the people already looking for a local baker this season. 🎯 The Seen and Sold Sprint starts October 10th. Enrollment closes October 9th: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/sprintwaitlist 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast 🍞 The Bread Winner Inner Circle opens twice a year. Get on the waitlist: https://www.carolinebower.com/innercircle 📋 Download the FREE checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery: https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist 🧮 Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: https://www.carolinebower.com/calculator ✉️ Join my email list: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/newsletter 🛒 Shop my sourdough microbakery favorites: https://www.carolinebower.com/links 📱 Follow me on Instagram: @carolinebower_sourdough

  3. Sep 24

    142. The 4-Question Framework for Choosing Any Market or Event

    In my very first holiday season, I said yes to opening day at a pumpkin patch because I was sure it would be packed. I sat there for nine hours in the September heat with my kids and sold four loaves of bread. That day taught me more about choosing events than any market I have ever done, and today I am handing you the exact framework I built from it. I am sorting every selling opportunity into three categories, recurring markets, one-off events, and pop-ups, and walking through the four questions that decide whether any of them is worth your Saturday. I also answer a listener voicemail about recovering from a bad bake day. 🎯 The Seen and Sold Sprint opens for enrollment in early October. Get on the waitlist: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/sprintwaitlist 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast 🍞 The Bread Winner Inner Circle opens twice a year. Get on the waitlist: https://www.carolinebower.com/innercircle 📋 Download the FREE checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery: https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist 🧮 Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: https://www.carolinebower.com/calculator ✉️ Join my email list: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/newsletter 🛒 Shop my sourdough microbakery favorites: https://www.carolinebower.com/links 📱 Follow me on Instagram: @carolinebower_sourdough

  4. Sep 17

    141. 3 Ways to Make Money Beyond Baking Bread

    Online revenue follows an audience. It does not go out and build you one. That is the part the internet conveniently leaves out. This week I am answering a voicemail question from Lindsay of Lindsay Bakes Bread about building additional income streams in a microbakery. I break it into three categories based on how much each one depends on you actually baking and being physically present, walk through real numbers on workshops versus online products, and give you a simple framework for figuring out which stream actually fits your goals, your capacity, and what your family needs right now. 🎯 The Seen and Sold Sprint is back in October. Enrollment is open now: https://sprint.carolinebower.com 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast 🍞 The Bread Winner Inner Circle opens twice a year. Get on the waitlist: https://www.carolinebower.com/innercircle 📋 Download the FREE checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery: https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist 🧮 Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: https://www.carolinebower.com/calculator ✉️ Join my email list: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/newsletter 🛒 Shop my sourdough microbakery favorites: https://www.carolinebower.com/links 📱 Follow me on Instagram: @carolinebower_sourdough

  5. Sep 10

    140. Am I the Bottleneck in My Own Bakery?

    I am still the one doing every single 4 a.m. morning. I am still the primary production baker in my own bakery. And somewhere in the last six months I realized I am not meant to be that person forever. This week is a real, unscripted six-month review, March through August, using the same four questions I ask every single month: what's working, what's not, what I learned, and how I'm moving forward. I get into the messy middle of building a team, why I closed the bakery for three weeks in July and how a workshop paid for it, the real numbers behind walking away from my longtime farmers market, and the identity question I've been sitting with lately about whether I'm a baker or a business owner who bakes. 🎯 The Seen and Sold Sprint is back in October. Enrollment is open now: https://sprint.carolinebower.com 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast 🍞 The Bread Winner Inner Circle opens twice a year. Get on the waitlist: https://www.carolinebower.com/innercircle 📋 Download the FREE checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery: https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist 🧮 Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: https://www.carolinebower.com/calculator ✉️ Join my email list: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/newsletter 🛒 Shop my sourdough microbakery favorites: https://www.carolinebower.com/links 📱 Follow me on Instagram: @carolinebower_sourdough

  6. Aug 27

    139. Is Sourdough Still Growing? Here's What the Data Says

    If you asked me whether ingredient costs have gone up across the board the last few years, I would have said yes without a second thought, and I would have had zero actual evidence for it. So I went and pulled the real numbers, and butter genuinely surprised me. This week is a different kind of episode. Instead of a how-to, I am walking you through three things I found when I actually researched what is happening in the bread world right now: whether sourdough demand is really holding up, how your customer's eating habits have shifted without much fanfare, and what ingredient prices have actually done over the past year versus what we all assume they have done. Plus, a baker's question about blending whole grain flour into a familiar dough, and my new favorite inexpensive kitchen tool. 🔪 The immersion blender I'm loving right now: https://rivr.link/0bw-Qb_ISG 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast 🍞 The Bread Winner Inner Circle opens twice a year. Get on the waitlist: https://www.carolinebower.com/innercircle 📋 Download the FREE checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery: https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist 🧮 Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: https://www.carolinebower.com/calculator ✉️ Join my email list: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/newsletter 🛒 Shop my sourdough microbakery favorites: https://www.carolinebower.com/links 📱 Follow me on Instagram: @carolinebower_sourdough

  7. Aug 20

    138. 9 Things I'm Doing in August to Prep for the Holidays

    There is a two-gallon jar in my bakery right now full of vanilla beans and cheap vodka, with a piece of masking tape on the lid that just says December. It is not going to be ready to sell until the holidays, and that is exactly the point. This week I am walking you through the nine real things I am doing in my own bakery this August to set up a smoother November and December. That includes auditing my menu and my prices in the same sitting, scheduling a recipe testing day before the holidays get loud, starting a slow-build gift product that needed to begin this week instead of in December, and getting my workshop tickets live before people start Christmas shopping. The last two are not holiday prep at all. They are how I am setting up January, including a first announcement I have been sitting on for weeks. 📖 Read the full show notes: https://www.carolinebower.com/9-ways-to-get-your-microbakery-ready-for-the-holiday-season-episode-138 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast 🍞 The Bread Winner Inner Circle opens twice a year. Get on the waitlist: https://www.carolinebower.com/innercircle 📋 Download the FREE checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery: https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist 🧮 Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: https://www.carolinebower.com/calculator ✉️ Join my email list: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/newsletter 🛒 Shop my sourdough microbakery favorites: https://www.carolinebower.com/links 📱 Follow me on Instagram: @carolinebower_sourdough

  8. Aug 13

    137. What Every Home Baker Needs to Know About Cottage Food Laws Right Now

    Did you know that up until the fall of 2021, selling a loaf of bread you baked in your own kitchen was completely illegal in New Jersey? Not just restricted — illegal. They were the last of all 50 states to change that, and it only happened because a group of home bakers decided to go and ask. That story is the backdrop for this entire episode, and I think it is going to encourage you more than you are expecting. This is a topic I have touched on before but never gone this deep on — and after spending a couple of weeks doing real research, I have a lot to share. There is genuinely good news happening in the cottage food law landscape right now, there is some misleading information out there that could get bakers in trouble, and there are real, practical steps you can take if your state's laws are holding your business back. Whether you are just getting started, approaching your income cap, or feeling frustrated by restrictions in your state, this episode is going to give you clarity, encouragement, and a clear path forward. 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast🍞 Join the Bread Winner Inner Circle: www.carolinebower.com/innercircle📋 Download the FREE checklist — Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery: https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist🛒 Shop my sourdough microbakery favorites: www.carolinebower.com/links📱 Follow me on Instagram: @carolinebower_sourdough

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Trailer

5
out of 5
44 Ratings

About

Welcome to The Bread Winner Podcast, the show for microbakery owners who want to create a successful microbakery without spending every waking minute in the kitchen. I'm Caroline Bower, and I bake over 100 loaves a week from my home while still getting 8 hours of sleep and having time to be fully present in the important moments with my family. If you're looking to build a thriving sourdough business from your home, you're in the right place. Every Thursday, I'll be sharing new episodes packed with practical advice on everything from marketing and sales to process optimization and real-life strategies to maintain a healthy, intentional lifestyle. We'll dive into how to get started, attract (and keep) your first raving customers, plan your ideal week, scale your operations, and price your products. Plus, we'll occasionally have some fantastic guests who are experts in the sourdough world. This podcast is all about giving you the tools and confidence to cultivate business that fits into your life, not the other way around. So, hit that subscribe button, do your next round of coil folds then grab a cup of coffee and get comfy for the next 20 minutes. Let's start building your dream microbakery together!

Information

  • Creator
    Caroline Bower
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    145
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Caroline Bower
  • Show Website
    The Bread Winner Podcast

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