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How I Quit My Job, Opened a Bakery, and Barely Got Out Alive
My small business adventure led to a national award and ended with a hospital bed wake-up call
It ended on a stage in San Francisco as I shook hands with , the iconic champion of natural foods. Was it a dream or was I still delirious from spending the previous night in the hospital? It felt good to be recognized for what I had created, but I knew at this moment this was the end of the road.
I live in a small university town hours away from any major city. As the spouse of a professor, I was lucky to find a web developer job at the university even if there was little chance for growth or advancement. I felt stifled by a slow-moving institution and anxious that I was wasting any potential to find a sense of purpose in my work.
I am not from here and after many years I still feel like a stranger in a strange land. When we finally bought a house and I had kitchen of my own, I started baking bread as an act of rebellion trying to recreate memories of European adventures and San Francisco sourdough. I joined a welcoming community of bread bakers online and became obsessed with videos of Master Bakers turning mountains of dough into boules and baguettes. Eventually, I worked up the courage to get a booth at our small, but…
