If you have ever answered the question "so what do you do?" with "I just have a little sourdough business" — this episode is for you. This is one of my most personal and most passionate episodes, and I am so glad to be bringing it back for our two-year birthday month because I believe it deserves to be heard by every single baker who has ever minimized what she is building. This is not a tactical episode. It is a heart-level conversation. And it might be exactly what you needed to hear today.

In this episode I am making the case — clearly and with a lot of passion — for why it is time to drop the word "little" from your business vocabulary for good. What you are building is significant. The impact you are having on your family, your community, and the next generation is real and it is worthy of being spoken about with pride and confidence. I am giving you seven concrete, actionable steps to help you start owning the value of your business in the way you talk about it, think about it, and show up for it every single day. By the end of this episode, you will have a clear path forward — and hopefully a whole lot more confidence in what you are building.

• 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast
• 🍞 Join the Bread Winner Inner Circle: www.carolinebower.com/innercircle
• 🌐 Join the Bread Winner Network: www.carolinebower.com/bwnetwork
• 📋 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

I have been talking about Project Broadcast on this podcast for years — and in this episode, I finally got to sit down with the CEO himself, Jake Dempsey, for a conversation I have been looking forward to for months. If you have ever wondered why texting works so well for microbakery businesses, how to set it up, or how to use it in a smarter way, this episode is going to be a game changer for you.

Jake has been building Project Broadcast for nearly a decade, his platform has sent over a billion text messages on behalf of small business owners, and he genuinely cares about helping entrepreneurs grow. We walked through my exact texting workflow, he gave me feedback on what I am doing well and where I am leaving opportunity on the table, and we answered some of your questions from the Bread Winner Summit too. There is so much practical gold in this one.

Links:

• Join Project Broadcast Here: https://app.projectbroadcast.com/sign-up?referral=breadwinner
• 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast
• 🍞 Join the Bread Winner Inner Circle: www.carolinebower.com/innercircle
• 🌐 Join the Bread Winner Network: www.carolinebower.com/bwnetwork
• 📋 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

It's the two-year birthday month of the Bread Winner Podcast — and I am celebrating from the road! My family and I are on an epic three-week road trip this July, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to bring back some of the most loved episodes in the show's history.

We kicked off the month with Episode 132, where I turned the mic on my kids and let them share what it's really like to grow up watching me build this sourdough microbakery business. If you haven't listened yet, I really encourage you to — especially if you're a mom who wonders about the impact this business has on your family.

Today I'm bringing back Episode 85, one of the top downloaded episodes of all time and a listener favorite for a very long time. This is the episode where I walk you through the four most important things to do before you start selling your bread. Whether you're just dreaming about turning your sourdough passion into a real business, or you've already jumped in and feel a little in over your head, this one is foundational. A few things in my own context have shifted since I now have a commercial bakery, but the four steps themselves? Absolutely still the same.

In this episode you'll hear:

• The four foundational steps to take before you ever sell your first loaf
• Why getting these pieces in place early saves you so much stress down the road
• How to build a business that doesn't just look good on Instagram but actually works for your real life
• Encouragement for the baker who feels pressure to just "get started" before she's ready

One more exciting thing: Starting in August, I'm adding a brand new segment to the show called SpeakPipe! You can click the link in the show notes to send me a voicemail with your question, and I'll play it live on the podcast and answer it. I am so excited to connect with you on an even deeper level — so go ahead and send your questions now so my inbox is full and ready when I get back from the road!

Links:

• 🎙️ Send me a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/breadwinnerpodcast
• 🍞 Join the Bread Winner Inner Circle: www.carolinebower.com/innercircle
• 🌐 Join the Bread Winner Network: www.carolinebower.com/bwnetwork
• 📋 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