No Ordinary Baker
By Mavian Arocha-Rowe on Nov, 30 2011
When your neighborhood baker is truly not so ordinary. Instead; he is a mind-blowing entrepreneur.
Sitting at my neighborhood’s Einstein Bros. Bagels, I was getting ready to finish the final editing on this issue’s feature story, when the “Baker,” whom we shall call Jack, in order to protect his integrity, asked, “Mavi, what do you do here at 5:30 am every week?” With a tired smile on my face, I explained to him what I did and expressed STRATEGY’s mission and objective.
His eyes opened wide with curiosity, and freely he took the seat in front of me and began to ask me more questions regarding STRATEGY. I once heard from a previous college professor that you can tell the person’s intelligence by the questions they ask. Jack was far from average.
STRATEGY: Why do you ask all of these questions?
“You see my dear; I may be working as the current baker at this Einstein store, but there is a reason for everything,” he says with a smirk. “I wake up at 4 am every weekday, get here before the birds are even thinking about chirping and I begin to get the dough ready. With that, I am saying that I am learning all I can to one day have my own dream come to fruition. You see, no business can be successful if you don’t pay your dues or don’t know the technicalities of every important role that makes your business run. Without the baker, the bagels can’t be sold,” he says laughing.
“Tell me more,” I say eagerly because I see the potential of a story to tell. “I am working on my own business plan to overthrow all Einstein stores. Being the “baker” and working here for the many years that I have, I know what is needed to make a customer happy and keep them coming back for more,” says Jack. I question his faith and hope on his project in the transitional times we are living, yet Jack doesn’t fall or plunge on the thought of being challenged. “So what? You think businesses in America always flourish when the economy is good? On the contrary, businesses boom because they are an answer to the mass public.”
“I have met many strong and successful businesspeople here and they all like me. Not because of what I do, but who I am. They believe in what I want to do and they have offered me financial backing, too,” says Jack with speed and full confidence. He continues, “I have made it a priority to know every person’s name that walks in here. Even though I have a chef’s hat on my head and I wear a dirty apron, I know the questions to ask. You can’t tell me that the store manager knows your name; he doesn’t… I do,” he smiles. And in fact, he is correct.
Every Tuesday or Friday depending what day of the week our staff meets at this Einstein store, he is the first to greet me, by first name, and wishes me a good morning. And when he sees me packing my laptop, he says, “Mavi, have a great day…See you next week.”
Is Jack the hero we have all been searching for? He has a plan. He hasn’t made it, yet, but surely we can all share the love for Jack as we witness an average Joe make it to the next level. What piece of advice can you offer Jack?
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