1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:02,680 Speaker 1: If you're ever invited to visit a bakery at four 2 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning, I highly recommend you do it. 3 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,120 Speaker 1: But here's a warning. You might get put to work. 4 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: I can handle that, Okay, I can handle that, all right, 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: And you just dip it in. You just don't want 6 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: it to get like too much of a globby math, 7 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,159 Speaker 1: so you just sort of like there and what are 8 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: these cult strawberry sprinkled donuts? Strawberry sprinkled donuts and amazing. Okay, 9 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: I'm now gonna dip a bunch of donuts into strawberry 10 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: glaze and then put sprinkles on top of them. That's 11 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: my duty for today. However much I enjoyed my brief 12 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: internship as a baker with Amy, that wasn't the main 13 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: event for me. I was there to talk to the 14 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: bakery's owner, Rachel Wyman, and she came bearing treats. You 15 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: want to be ruined for the rest of your life? Yeah, 16 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: it's ruined me for the rest of my life. Oh gosh, 17 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: a hot blaze donut. Wow. I have literally a hot 18 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: glazed downut that was just put in my palm on 19 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: a piece of wax paper that looks like Nirvana and 20 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go ruin my well for a minute because 21 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: Rachel invited me to do that, and I'm going to 22 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: have this down up. Welcome to Crash Course, a podcast 23 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: about business, political, and social disruption and what we can 24 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:15,119 Speaker 1: learn from it. I'm Tim O'Brien. Today's Crash Course small 25 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: Businesses versus the Pandemic. Three years after the COVID nineteen lockdowns, 26 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: I invite you to think back to those early days. 27 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen can be coactized as a pandemic. The CDC 28 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: all but promises that the coronavirus will spread here today, 29 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 1: I am officially declaring a national emergency. Only essential businesses 30 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,199 Speaker 1: will be functioning. All businesses will need to shut down. 31 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: Remember when practically overnight it seemed that every shop closed 32 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: its doors. You Remember how all of those small businesses 33 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: you might have taken for granted, the ones that gave 34 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: life and an identity to your community, suddenly felt essential 35 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: to you. I sure do. Montclaire Bread Company was one 36 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: of those shops for me. It's sourdough bread was a 37 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: staple on my family's dinner table, and its maple bacon 38 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: donuts are the best in the world. As I watched 39 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: lots of small businesses in my small town in New 40 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: Jersey struggle. I didn't want the bakery to disappear. I 41 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: didn't want any of those stores to close. So I 42 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: started writing about them in their fight, just a few 43 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,079 Speaker 1: businesses among tens of millions across the country that faced 44 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: an existential crisis because of COVID nineteen and I started 45 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: with Rachel Wyman, the owner of Montclair Bread. I learned 46 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: that she'd overcome so much a bad marriage, a terrible 47 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: bike accident, and money problems. Yet she found the strength 48 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: to leave her husband and raise her three children on 49 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,799 Speaker 1: her own. And even though she had very little, Rachel 50 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: chose just about the riskiest career you could imagine. The 51 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: small business owner she had Moxie. I kept in touch 52 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: with her and watched her take on the trials and 53 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: tribulations the pandemic threw at her. What I didn't understand 54 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: when I first got to know her back in twenty 55 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: twenty was that I would end up following her journey 56 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: for nearly three years through an unimaginable public health and 57 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: economic crisis. This is that story, you know. I've been 58 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: thinking about this so much recently, because you know, we're 59 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,399 Speaker 1: coming up on the anniversary of that, and all these 60 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: pictures are popping up from February twenty twenty, like me 61 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: and the kids, and it's like, God, we had no idea, 62 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: we had no clue what was going to happen in 63 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: just a couple weeks. When you're looking at those pictures, 64 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: are you looking at like the faces of people on 65 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: the deck of the Titanic? Yes, yeah, exactly, I am. 66 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: And I think, you know, I still think that I 67 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: suffer like PTSD from that from twenty twenty, and I 68 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: just can't let go of a lot of things that 69 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: happened during that year. As you know, an essential service worker. 70 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: It's been really hard for me to go back to 71 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: you status quo. Before we hop back in time to 72 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: the early days of the pandemic, we should probably hop 73 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: a little further back in Rachel's story so you can 74 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: understand how much was on the line for her. She's 75 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: earned everything she has. Rachel grew up with little money 76 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: in rural Maryland, worked her way through school, and fell 77 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: in love with bread and pastries. After a stay in France, 78 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: she went to the Culinary Institute of America. Baked with 79 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: some of the biggest names in the bread business, and 80 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: then decided to go off on her own. She started 81 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 1: by giving away bread to moms in her yoga class, 82 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: and then tried breaking in through local farmers markets. Then 83 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: one of those moms told her about a local bakery 84 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: for sale. I pitched it to the moms who had 85 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: been picking up bread at my apartment, and they gave 86 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: me the money that I needed to get going. So 87 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:05,280 Speaker 1: your seed capital, your mom, yeah, bread exactly. Yeah, I 88 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: was gonna say, when weren't talking about seed capital. Forty 89 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: thousand dollars total is what I had on day one. 90 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: This was back in twenty twelve. She juggled launching her 91 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: own shop while still working for another bread company full time. 92 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: So the only day of the week that I had 93 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: to focus on my bakery was Sunday, and that's when 94 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: I would like test recipes and try out new things 95 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 1: and make food for the staff. And we made donuts 96 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: one day and they were gone in a second, and 97 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: we did a light bulb go off. Well yeah kind of, 98 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: I'm like, Wow, that's great, Let's do it again next week. 99 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: And so every Sunday we made donuts and the lines 100 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: got longer and longer and longer, and then it became 101 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: a thing. Then it was a thing. Yeah, I mean 102 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: the donuts saved the business. Rachel was on the map. 103 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: It was time to cut the parachute strings. After two years, 104 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: she quit her other job and went all in at 105 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: Montclair Bread Company. She had found her place in the 106 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: world doing what she loved, and she was good at it, 107 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: like really good, and others began paying attention. The town 108 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: starts noticing, the press starts noticing, I'm getting all of 109 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: these accolades, get to go on a food network and 110 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 1: in the New York Times, And the better it gets 111 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: on the outside, the harder it gets at home. She 112 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: was consumed with self doubt. So even though everyone else 113 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: thinks that I'm this like rock star, I think I'm 114 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: like the worst mother in the world. And you know 115 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: that I can't run this business and that I've ruined 116 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: our family life at all of these things. And it 117 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,799 Speaker 1: was awful. It was awful. Rachel decided she wanted a divorce, 118 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: but had a hard time actually leaving her husband. Her 119 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,600 Speaker 1: landlord also kicked her out of her bakery, and then 120 00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: she got into a bike accident while training for an 121 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,160 Speaker 1: iron Man Triathlon, shattering her pelvis. It was always something 122 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: like that. Anytime we got a little bit ahead, there'd 123 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:08,920 Speaker 1: be something like that that would pop ups that would 124 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: you know, And yet you overcame all those yeah, yeah yeah. 125 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: Rachel found a new home and finally left her husband. 126 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: She was a single mother working crazy hours, but Montclair 127 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: Bread was able to move to a bigger, nicer building 128 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: around the corner, a renovated industrial space full of big 129 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: windows and spectacular brickwork, and of course, there was the 130 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: smell of baking bread. In addition to finding a new 131 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: home for her business, Rachel's body healed, though doctors told 132 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: her she would never be able to run again. She 133 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: clocked her best marathon time ever in the fall of 134 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, just a year after her accident. I was 135 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: on top of the world when COVID hit, and hit 136 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: it did. At the beginning, I believed it was only 137 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: going to be two weeks they call of us, did 138 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: remember fifteen days to slow the spread? Now I think, 139 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: how are we so naive? While other businesses were closing shop, 140 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: Rachel was determined to stay open, even if she was 141 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: the only one there. She'd been forced to lay off 142 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: twenty of her employees, and without that extra help, she 143 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: had to work around the clock. I worked eighteen hours. 144 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: I went home, I slept in the clothes that I 145 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: worked in. I got up and I did it again. 146 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: And it's the same time that people are on social 147 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: media talking about how they make their partner who works 148 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,599 Speaker 1: at a hospital. You leave their clothes in the garage 149 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: and come in and I'm like, I haven't changed my 150 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: clothes in days. Rachel lost big orders and had to 151 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: cut lucrative items from her menu, but she was also 152 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: scrappy and got creative. She sold groceries and meal kits 153 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: and dy baking packages out of the store, and the 154 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: community rallied around her. I baked and sold more bread 155 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: than I've ever baked and sold in my career because 156 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: people couldn't get it at the grocery stores, so they 157 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,199 Speaker 1: actually bought bread from me. So you sort of had 158 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,439 Speaker 1: a little boomlet early on. Definitely, Definitely she kept going, 159 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: but it was a lot. I really didn't think that 160 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: I could sustain it. Did you think it was going 161 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: to kill you? Did you think the pandemic was going 162 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: to kill you? Yeah? I did. I just I reached 163 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: my breaking point so many times, and I just would 164 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: sit there and not know how to do it again tomorrow. 165 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 1: She wound up doing what more than five million other 166 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: small businesses did. She looked to the federal government for help. 167 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: You know, everybody winds about government spending until they need 168 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: help when there's a hurricane or of flood. Who are 169 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,319 Speaker 1: you going to call when there's a massive economic contraction 170 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: like there wasn't two thousand and eight. Who are you 171 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: going to call when there's an unprecedented economic meltdown combined 172 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,680 Speaker 1: with a historic public health crisis? Who are you going 173 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: to call? Yeah? Washington. So what did the federal government do? 174 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: The federal government acted quickly, and it made a program 175 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 1: which put cash into the hands of small business owners. 176 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: That's Karen Mills, President Obama's first leader of the Small 177 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: Business Administration. She's describing how the Trump and Biden White 178 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: House has ultimately channeled nearly one trillion dollars to small businesses. 179 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: The main program was an essential, well intentioned, yet chaotic 180 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: scramble known as the Paycheck Protection Program. I never thought 181 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: I'd see the day where three hundred and fifty million 182 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: dollars was in the same paragraph as the word SPA. 183 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: But that's how much money was in the first trash 184 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: of PPP that lasted about two and a half weeks 185 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,439 Speaker 1: that time, and funding went by in a flash, especially 186 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:58,599 Speaker 1: for people like Rachel. Of course at the time, we 187 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 1: didn't know there was going to be a second round 188 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: of funding, so the funding was gone, and how did 189 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 1: that feel? Defeating oversight in management of the PPP effort 190 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: was slipshot. Treasury Secretary Steve Manuchin, who engineered the effort, 191 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: was reluctant to be transparent about the process even when 192 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: he was specifically asked about it during a Senate hearing 193 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 1: in May of twenty twenty, nearly two months after the 194 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 1: legislation providing for PPP was passed. Here's Senator John Tester 195 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: of Montana. When can we see full information about who's 196 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 1: getting the dollars? Well, let me just comment, when we 197 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: negotiated this bipartisan deal, we agreed to unprecedented transparency, So 198 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: we agreed to release things that are not required by 199 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: thirteen three. So I don't know why you haven't seen that. 200 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 1: We've everything's posted on our website or the FEDS website. 201 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: They went back and forth a few times. Are you 202 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: sure the information is there. Yeah, it's there. Are you sure? Yep? 203 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: The tester wasn't buying it. I look forward to seeing 204 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 1: that list. By the way of Secretary monition. I'm going 205 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: to go online and I'm going to search it because 206 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you that as much transparency as 207 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: you said or with this program as a center from Montana, 208 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: as a member of the Banking Committee, I'm not seeing 209 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: any of it. Quite frankly, it wasn't clear exactly who 210 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: was getting the funding or how it was being used. 211 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: Rachel couldn't get p PP money the first time it 212 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: was offered, and she watched her applications stall online. She 213 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: ended up applying for a loan four times before she 214 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 1: finally got some money one hundred and five thousand dollars. 215 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: It saved her business and then some for the first 216 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:51,679 Speaker 1: time in history. January twenty one, we officially were one 217 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: hundred percent debt free Monthheartbred Company. We paid off all 218 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: of our investors, We paid off any debts that we had. 219 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: You know, we got a good staff and everything. It 220 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 1: was just like, all right, we're never going back there. 221 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: We will never be back in this place again where 222 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,079 Speaker 1: we have so much that on the business like it 223 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: feels too good to get ahead. What do we have 224 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: to do to stay here? She started off January twenty 225 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: twenty one on a new foot, and there were reasons 226 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: to think the end of the pandemic was in sight. 227 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: I got my vaccination on January sixth, twenty twenty one. 228 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: I was one of the first because at the time 229 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: there was a window where anyone who was working in 230 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,319 Speaker 1: the service industry in front of people could get in. 231 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: Did the vaccines feel like sort of a godsend to 232 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: you when they came along. Yeah, It's definitely just felt 233 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: like relief because there were just so many unknowns. No 234 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 1: one knew when it would end, how it would end. 235 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,679 Speaker 1: We don't think it has ended, but it just felt 236 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,839 Speaker 1: like there was progress and the vaccines gave you a 237 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: sense of control over things, or more control than you 238 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: had ever. Yeah. Or you know, it's just like that 239 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: piece of mind from having that P P P loan, 240 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: you know, sitting in our account as a buffer. I 241 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: think the vaccine was that same piece of minds, Like, 242 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: I guess some level of protection. That piece of mind 243 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: was nice while it lasted. When we get back from 244 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: the break, I'll take you through year two of Rachel's 245 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: experience during the pandemic twenty twenty one and the big 246 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: ideas she had to grow her business. That's next. The 247 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: story of Rachel's twenty twenty one might actually start back 248 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, when Rachel was so burnt out that 249 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: she decided to close Montclair Bread for two days and 250 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: rent an airbnb in Newpault's, New York. She knew the 251 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: area well from when she went to the Culinary Institute 252 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: of America nearby. And I went up there and I 253 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: got to run on the trail and have a quiet space. 254 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: At the time, I couldn't run something that I used 255 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: to keep my sanity running. Although it's therapeutic, it's not therapy, 256 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: That's what I've been told. She rented that airbnb once 257 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: a month for six months. She went for runs, rested, recharged, 258 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: and she ended up writing a book in that airbnb, 259 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: We'll Run for Donuts, The Montclair Bread Company Cookbook. Rachel 260 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: eventually decided to rent a cheap studio apartment in New 261 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: Pults while also keeping her family's rental in Montclair. Although 262 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 1: she originally sought an escape in New Pults, she eventually 263 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: found inspiration too in the form of a new business opportunity. 264 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: It all started after she took up rock climbing. Climbing 265 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: helped her clear her head and make new friends. So 266 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: after Montclair Bread closed on Sunday, she'd had up to 267 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: New Pults and if there were donuts left over, I'd 268 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: pack them up and take them to my climbing friends. 269 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: So then they started asking for them, then they started 270 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: ordering them. And then I was in a parking lot 271 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: at a trailhead with donuts in my trunk, like you know, 272 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: on Sunday afternoon, handing them out to these climbing friends 273 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: and friends of friends, and I thought, there's got to 274 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 1: be a more reasonable way to do this. She followed 275 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: a familiar path. First she gave the donuts away. Then 276 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: she found a farmer's market. We set up at the 277 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: farmer's market. In the first week, there's like a couple 278 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: of people in line. By week three there's a line 279 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: all the way across the parking lot and down the 280 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: block waiting for the donuts. Then she opened a new 281 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 1: shop in New Pults in the fall of twenty twenty one, 282 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: and she felt really embraced by the community there. The 283 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: first weekend I was open It was a soft opening. 284 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 1: I never publicized it, and I had every member of 285 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: the town council come and introduced themselves and give me 286 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: their phone numbers in case I needed anything. This was 287 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: all going on around the time a new COVID nineteen 288 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: variant Delta was making its rounds. Even though infections surged, 289 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: Rachel was feeling good about the state of her business 290 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: until the holiday season came around and pushed Rachel to 291 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: her break because the embrace she felt from the new 292 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: Pulse community was sometimes hard to find in Montclair, and 293 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: an even more infectious COVID variant, Amicron was waiting in 294 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: the wings. All of this made the holidays more stressful. 295 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:31,679 Speaker 1: First Thanksgiving, a holiday dedicated to gratitude. You know, we 296 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: were really short staff on Thanksgiving Day, but we opened 297 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: to give out orders and for retailing, and of course 298 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 1: we start selling out because it's Thanksgiving Day and people 299 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: were just screaming at my staff. Somebody screamed at one 300 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: of the retail employees because it took three minutes to 301 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: wait for her coffee. Second, Christmas, a holiday dedicated to salvation. 302 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: Christmas Eve was when we got the first call out. 303 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: We got everything like shuffled around. A couple hours later, 304 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: somebody else called out that I'm like, well to be 305 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: closed for the week. We can't afford to. We have 306 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: to be open at least three days this week for 307 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 1: the orders that we've already taken. Third New Year's Eve, 308 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: a holiday dedicated to renewal. New Year's Eve, we get 309 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,680 Speaker 1: the first baker all out, so we had six people 310 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: out and two people pending tests, and we decided to 311 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: close on the first and seconds. So for two weekends 312 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: in a row, we were closed. Mont Clare Bread needed 313 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: twelve people to open its doors every day any less, 314 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,440 Speaker 1: and they were facing major inefficiencies. Orders wouldn't come out 315 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: on time. With twenty people on staff and only twelve 316 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 1: who were full time employees, that left little wiggle room 317 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 1: for omicron infections, so they decided to close shop for 318 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: a whole week. Rachel committed to paying anyone on her 319 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: staff who was scheduled to work, but no new money 320 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: was coming in the two weeks that we had to 321 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 1: close days. The weekends would have been our busiest weeks 322 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: of the year, and they were the worst that we've 323 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: had on record for December, so normally that would give 324 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: us a buffer to get through January and February where 325 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: sales are always low. We always cut hours and January 326 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: and February, but there's no buffer, like there's nothing to 327 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: get us through. Suddenly, Rachel was at the end of 328 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:30,880 Speaker 1: her rope because Amicron had spent weeks devastating her bakery's business. 329 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: The peace of mind and protection she felt like she 330 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: had at the beginning of twenty twenty one was gone. 331 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:38,920 Speaker 1: There was definitely a time in my life where I 332 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: would have opened at any cost, even if it was 333 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,680 Speaker 1: just me. But by December twenty twenty one, and I'm like, 334 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: close the door, just locked the door. Rachel sent an 335 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: email to Montclair Bread's customers right after the new year 336 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: with the subject line s os. She wrote that she 337 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: was waving her white flag when my wife received that email. 338 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,160 Speaker 1: Were a closed sign might appear in Rachel's window soon, 339 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: so I dropped by to check in on her. The 340 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: pandemic was starting to take its toll on Rachel, on 341 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: her staff, her customers, everyone. Two years ago, at the 342 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: beginning of this, you had this incredible community support because 343 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: we were open when no one else was. But now 344 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: there's just, you know, overall, a lack of empathy for 345 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:29,680 Speaker 1: what small businesses are going through and enduring the biggest 346 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 1: thing that they don't appreciate is that we're not making 347 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: up the rules. There's no playbook for us, and there's 348 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: no centralized agency either local, state pedrol that's giving us 349 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: any source of information about how we're supposed to handle it. 350 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: Like we're deciding the fate of everything, just like three 351 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 1: of us who don't have medical backgrounds, don't have science backgrounds. 352 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 1: We just bake Brett and we're like trying to make 353 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: all of these decisions. In her SOS email, Rachel asked 354 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,840 Speaker 1: her customers to contact their local elected Montclair's mayor and 355 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 1: town counselors, New Jersey's governor. She didn't feel like local 356 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: officials were providing her with clarity or guidance about steps 357 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 1: she needed to take to respond to the crisis, and 358 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,119 Speaker 1: when she tried reaching out to them for help, she 359 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,920 Speaker 1: didn't have much luck. I tried to interview Montclair's mayor 360 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: and the town's top administrative official about their responses to COVID, 361 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,359 Speaker 1: but they wouldn't take my call. Finally, a member of 362 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: Montclair's town council did return my call. Peter Jacobellis. He's 363 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,879 Speaker 1: the kind of guy you want in local government, dedicated, friendly, 364 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 1: energetic and smart. And it turns out he actually spoke 365 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,199 Speaker 1: to Rachel about the concerns she raised in her SOS email, 366 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: and he told me he brought one of her ideas 367 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: to state and local officials, putting together a one pager 368 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: with advice for small businesses on how to handle employee 369 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: questions about quarantines and vaccinations, basic stuff. Rachel was the 370 00:21:57,720 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 1: one who set the light bulb off for me. Now, 371 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: why didn't that happened earlier? Why didn't that happen in 372 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:03,360 Speaker 1: mid twenty twenty? Just too many balls in the air 373 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: or just a general lack of clarity. Yeah, I think 374 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:07,959 Speaker 1: a little bit of who's going to do it too? Right? 375 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: Whose responsibility is it? The CDC, the federal government, state 376 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: to make that call? To make that call right? In government, 377 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: we have a tendency to start with experts and start 378 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: with people at the top and let a cascade and 379 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: filter through. We should start with the small business owner, 380 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,919 Speaker 1: We should start with the homeowner, asking them what's going 381 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: to be easier for you, what's going to show up 382 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: better for you? And I had heard other things from 383 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: other entrepreneurs that there were just these little tweaks the 384 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,399 Speaker 1: township could have done that would have made their lives 385 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,199 Speaker 1: easier as business people. Is that a legit criticism and 386 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 1: has that been addressed? If it is, it's a completely 387 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,919 Speaker 1: legitimate criticism, I personally am trying to address it. I 388 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: do feel like David and Goliath when it comes to 389 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: some of the stuff. I think we've got really entrenched 390 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: ways of doing things and not a lot of open 391 00:22:55,880 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: mindedness and willingness to be dynamic and to try new 392 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: things and to be innovative. Entrepreneurs are forced to be 393 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: dynamic and innovative in order to survive, but they also 394 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: need help because tending to the needs of small business 395 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: isn't an abstraction. At the end of twenty twenty one 396 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: beginning of twenty twenty two, Rachel wasn't sure what she 397 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: was going to do next in any part of her life. 398 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: Her children were struggling in school, and she felt local 399 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: educators were letting her down. She felt the town it 400 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: turned its back on her, and she wasn't sure if 401 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 1: Montclair Bread Company was going to make it. I wasn't 402 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,199 Speaker 1: sure either. I had a feeling of the pandemic and 403 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,920 Speaker 1: the tough economy. We're going to force Rachel to make 404 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 1: some big changes. And I was right, but not in 405 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: the way I expected. I'll tell you how Rachel made 406 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: it through the third year of the pandemic and about 407 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: the fate of Montclair Bread Company after the break. In 408 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: a town like Montclair, with four thousand people and six 409 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 1: shopping districts, every one of its storefronts matters. Yeah, there's 410 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 1: a Lulu Lemon and an Urban Outfitters and a Whole Foods. 411 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: But there's also a Watch Chunk booksellers and an Egan 412 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: and Son's restaurant and a Montclair Bread. A town with 413 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: just a Target and a Walmart and deliveries from Amazon 414 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: loses something. It loses identity, Yeah, arts, culture, identity. I mean, well, 415 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: the place becomes a dime a dozen. You could be 416 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: anywhere USA. This is Jason Gleeson, head of the Montclair 417 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: Center Business Improvement District. The BID is a nonprofit that 418 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,280 Speaker 1: manages one of the shopping districts in town. It helps 419 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: new businesses get settled in an older ones up their 420 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: marketing games while trying to make it easier for both 421 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:52,800 Speaker 1: to flourish. And it plants, flowers. Basically, the bid is 422 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 1: there to make sure that downtown Montclair is awesome. So 423 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: Jason is helping the little shop around the corner survive. Why. 424 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: I mean, they're the life's blood, right, I mean, it's 425 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: the heartbeat of the town. What do they bring into 426 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: the community that's unique from your perspective that would be 427 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 1: lost if they weren't there. I mean, honestly, it's such 428 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: a simple answer, and it probably it's going to sound 429 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: like such a cop out, but like themselves, it's about 430 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: individuality and how that distinguishes small businesses from the giants 431 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: of corporate America. You know what Apple is, right, It 432 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,400 Speaker 1: has a shape and a color and a feeling. There 433 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: is the product, right, you know, it's Apple. You could 434 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: probably be blindfolded and someone could hand you a laptop 435 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: and you could feel it for a second, be like, 436 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: that's probably an Apple laptop. Right through all their branding 437 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:46,400 Speaker 1: and their marketing exercises and all that, and they spend 438 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: a great deal of money doing that. But it's not 439 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: a person. It's not a hug and a handshake. And 440 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: I woke up at four o'clock in the morning to 441 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,119 Speaker 1: bake this for you or in the case of some 442 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,639 Speaker 1: of our retailers, like I spent the last three months 443 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 1: visiting Artisan's Upstate to curate these products for your home, 444 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: because I understand you as my consumer. That's why so 445 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,960 Speaker 1: much was at stake for small businesses when the pandemic hit. 446 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 1: Their hopes, their dreams, their families, their college tuitions they're 447 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: saving for. All of that was on the line when 448 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 1: they were told to shut down for COVID. Now, as 449 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: I've told you all along, and as her journey proves, 450 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,880 Speaker 1: Rachel Wyman is a survivor. But even she has had 451 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,959 Speaker 1: to weigh whether it's worth fighting or throwing in the 452 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: towel because COVID nineteen has been an unrelenting opponent. I 453 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,680 Speaker 1: can't keep fighting by myself anymore. It just I don't 454 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: know if it's worth it anymore. I mean, like last 455 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:45,160 Speaker 1: week I updated by resume. Do you know how long 456 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 1: it's been since I updated by resume? Like that's that's 457 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: the kind of place. I mean. That was Rachel at 458 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: the beginning of twenty twenty two, and then she just 459 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 1: decided to start over. I've said it so many times, 460 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 1: I think every and he here has heard me say it. 461 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: At least once. If I had it to do all 462 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: over again, I would just do donuts. Donuts made sense 463 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,239 Speaker 1: to Rachel, And then I'm realizing, Wow, the ingredients take 464 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:13,239 Speaker 1: up so much less space, and I can get up 465 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: at five in the morning and still have donuts at 466 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: eight in the morning because it takes that much less 467 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:26,199 Speaker 1: time to do the donut work, and I can do 468 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: it with like me and one other person. In short, 469 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,880 Speaker 1: donuts cost less to make them bread, so even though 470 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: they sold for less, they were more profitable. And the 471 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: woman whose identity was wrapped up in bread and baking 472 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: shifted gears. My bread company was no more. Rachel became 473 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 1: the owner of two storefronts with a new name, Rattle 474 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 1: Rise Donuts. Are you surprised that the bread woman has 475 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 1: become the donut woman? No, I think this transition to 476 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 1: Rattle Rise Donuts really Like for a while, I fought it, 477 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: and I was kind of mad at it, oh that, like, 478 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: I'm this great bread baker and you know, people only 479 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: want the donuts. But then I decided to embrace it because, 480 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,359 Speaker 1: like I said, what do I do better than anyone else? 481 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: I make donuts better than anyone else, And I just 482 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 1: really wanted to embrace that, so now we're a donut shop. 483 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: Rachel had barely made the transition into donut maestro before 484 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: a whole new series of challenges emerged. Supply chain disruptions 485 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: and soaring inflation made her simple plan to run a 486 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: simple donut shop suddenly complex. The hardships of twenty twenty 487 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: two spilled over into the beginning of twenty twenty three. 488 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: When I sat down with her again to talk. I 489 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,720 Speaker 1: can't even get eggs, like I'm buying them at the 490 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: grocery store right now because I can't get eggs from 491 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,920 Speaker 1: my vendors. Why is that because they're out They're out 492 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: of stock, and eggs go in donuts. So the prices 493 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: of eggs, flour, and sugar have all soared, and obviously 494 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 1: that's going to have an effect on her bottom line. 495 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: I mean, at the end of the year, I would 496 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: be lucky to have like three percent, you know margin, 497 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,640 Speaker 1: like the great thing used to be. You know, you 498 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: can make a donut for fourteenth cents and then it's 499 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: all the stuff that goes on top that costs the money, 500 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: and that's why we charge what we charge Now. It's 501 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: like it costs me a dollar donut before you put 502 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 1: anything on it. So she's had to raise the price 503 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: of each donut from around two dollars to between three 504 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: fifty to five dollars. But guess what, when your donuts 505 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: are really good, people will keep buying them. That's allowed 506 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: Rachel to dig out from some of her lingering financial problems. 507 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 1: And by the way, she hasn't totally gotten rid of 508 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,719 Speaker 1: some of the stuff I love. When I told her 509 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: how I missed her sourdough bread, she let me in 510 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 1: on a secret. If you ask, they'll make bread to order. 511 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: It's kind of like a teenager that gets grounded, where 512 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: you take away all of their things and then slowly 513 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: you can start giving them back as they like earn 514 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 1: your respect and trust. So that's what happened. We took 515 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:13,600 Speaker 1: it all away, and then as our staff and systems 516 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: became more and more efficient, we've been able to add 517 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: some of the parts back. So are you telling me 518 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: actually that those sour dough loaves are still gettable? Yeah, 519 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: they're still gettable. In fact, there might be one out 520 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: there right now, not that I'm going to try to 521 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: lay claim to that bread. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you know, 522 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: I think having a whole bread program is, you know, 523 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: costly if you're not a wholesale business, if you're not 524 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: doing volume and bread, it's costly. But doing what we do, 525 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: it's nice because all of the bakers on my team 526 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,479 Speaker 1: enjoy baking bread, and so it's kind of fun for 527 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 1: us to do it once a week. And I would 528 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: imagine it's a sort of spiritual and creative connection for 529 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 1: you to the roots of why you started things here. 530 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:03,800 Speaker 1: Oh absolutely, yeah, absolutely, even so, Rachel the survivor and 531 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:07,920 Speaker 1: Rachel the marathon runner, Rachel the mom, and Rachel the 532 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: small business owner isn't the same person she was when 533 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 1: I first met her three years ago. COVID rocked her world, 534 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: It rocked everyone's world. But the Rachel who got to 535 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: this side of COVID isn't sure she'd do it all 536 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 1: over again. I would never tell a friend to go 537 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: into this business. And if you had to walk away 538 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 1: from it, how would that feel like a huge weight 539 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,320 Speaker 1: was lifted off of my shoulders? So it would no 540 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:38,720 Speaker 1: longer feel like a sense of loss. No, no, it wouldn't. 541 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 1: So you're staying in it now out of a sense 542 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: of duty and obligation rather than joy and fulfillment. Correct. Yes, 543 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: that is one hundred percent accurate. Does it surprise you 544 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: that that's where you are with it now? I thought 545 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:56,040 Speaker 1: that the rebranding would rejuvenate it enough to keep my 546 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: heart and soul fulfilled, but it didn't really work. I 547 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:05,440 Speaker 1: can't tell you how deflating that feels. Rachel was sort 548 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: of a COVID north star for me. The businesswoman I 549 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 1: thought of is unbeatable. While she's not down, COVID took 550 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: a lot away from her that she knows she's not 551 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,720 Speaker 1: getting back. To be sure, she has a lot of 552 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: joy in her personal life, her kids, a happier life 553 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,000 Speaker 1: in New Pauls, and a new marriage. But on the 554 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:29,040 Speaker 1: business side of the Ledger, she's also considering a career change, 555 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: one that will leave her lesson involved with her little 556 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 1: bakery in Montclair. This is a familiar story for a 557 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 1: lot of other small businesses. So many of them close 558 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,200 Speaker 1: their doors in a typical year, and COVID visited a 559 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: raft of atypical problems upon all of them. One of 560 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:54,080 Speaker 1: the foundational ideas of capitalism is creative destruction, the notion 561 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,680 Speaker 1: that businesses are born and fail all the time, and 562 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:02,080 Speaker 1: survival of the fittest is an efficient process, but that 563 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 1: also discounts another truth that great ideas, services and products 564 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: aren't always easily replaced, and some magic can get lost 565 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 1: along the way, like a really good loaf of bread. 566 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 1: Here it's crash course. We believe the collisions can be messy, impressive, challenging, surprising, 567 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 1: and always instructive. In today's crash Course, I learned that 568 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: sometimes you can't fix big problems facing small businesses by 569 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:38,600 Speaker 1: simply throwing money at them. PPP was an epic spending plan, 570 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: but ultimately it wasn't enough and it was never going 571 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: to work if that money wasn't paired with good global 572 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 1: public health policies. In many cases, COVID turned out to 573 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 1: be more powerful than money and entrepreneurial grid, even when 574 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,280 Speaker 1: an entrepreneur was as gritty as Rachel. What did you learn? 575 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,320 Speaker 1: We'd love to hear from you. You can tweet at 576 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:05,160 Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Opinion handle at Opinion or me at Tim 577 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:09,959 Speaker 1: O'Brien using the hashtag Bloomberg Crash Course. You can also 578 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show wherever you're listening right now and 579 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,600 Speaker 1: leave us a review that helps more people find the show. 580 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:20,800 Speaker 1: This episode was produced by the indispensable Annamazarakas and me. 581 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,359 Speaker 1: Our supervising producer is Magnus Hendrickson, and we had editing 582 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,799 Speaker 1: help from Katie Boyce, Jeff Grocott, Mike Niezza, Batika val 583 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: Brun and Christine Vanden by Lard Blake Maples does our 584 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: sound engineering and our original theme song was composed by 585 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 1: Luis Gara. I'm Tim O'Brien. We'll be back next week 586 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:43,040 Speaker 1: with another crash course.