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

This episode is one of my favorites I've ever recorded — and I think you're going to love it too. I handed the mic to my two kids, Jamey and Lila, and we had the most honest, sweet, and surprisingly insightful conversation about what it's actually like to grow up with a mom who owns a sourdough microbakery. From the early market mornings to the ribbon cutting at the brick and mortar, they share their real experience — the good, the hard, and everything in between — and I think their perspective will encourage you more than you're expecting.

We talk about what it looks like to bring your kids into the bakery space, how to create a little corner that feels special for them, why letting them have a job (even a tiny one) matters more than you'd think, and what it means to build something that your children actually feel proud of. If you've ever wondered whether all of this hard work — the early mornings, the long bake days, the juggling act — is worth it for your family, I hope this conversation gives you your answer. Spoiler: straight from the mouths of my own kids, it is.

Resources:

• Join the Seen and Sold Sprint: https://carolinebower.thrivecart.com/sprint/
• Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: Simplify the math, clarify your margins, and confidently price your products. https://carolinebower.com/calculator
• Follow me on Instagram for more microbakery tips: @carolinebower_sourdough
• Find links to all of my sourdough microbakery favorites including packaging, pans, and more! www.carolinebower.com/links
• Download the FREE Guide and Checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery at https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist to begin building YOUR thriving microbakery!

The Bread Winner Summit was incredible — and then I crashed. In this episode, I'm getting really honest about what happens after we give everything to something big: the pre-orders that don't pause, the follow-up emails that get delayed, and that nagging feeling of having overpromised and underdelivered. I'm walking you through why this happens (hint: it's not a planning failure, it's a best-case-scenario problem), and why building in a buffer — for prep days, for big launches, for life in general — might be the single most useful shift you can make this year.

This is also a permission-slip episode. Because here's the thing: two things can be true at once. You can be proud of what you built and also be completely wiped out by it. You can need rest and also need to come back before the silence turns into hiding. I'm sharing exactly what got me moving again after two weeks of catching my breath, including the one-small-thing approach that's helped me rebuild momentum without forcing it. If you've ever pushed hard for something big and then felt like you disappeared afterward, this one's for you.

Resources:

• Join the Seen and Sold Sprint: https://carolinebower.thrivecart.com/sprint/
• Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: Simplify the math, clarify your margins, and confidently price your products. https://carolinebower.com/calculator
• Follow me on Instagram for more microbakery tips: @carolinebower_sourdough
• Find links to all of my sourdough microbakery favorites including packaging, pans, and more! www.carolinebower.com/links
• Download the FREE Guide and Checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery at https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist to begin building YOUR thriving microbakery!

If you've ever wished you could sit in on a real, unfiltered business conversation with me, this episode is exactly that. I'm pulling back the curtain and sharing the live Q&A session from this year's Bread Winner Summit — our annual sourdough business conference — and it is a rapid-fire, honest conversation covering so many of the questions I know are on your mind. From time blocking and work-life balance to building a loyal customer base and navigating cottage food laws, we dig into the real stuff that doesn't always make it into a polished podcast episode.

In this conversation, I tackle questions about ordering platforms, growing your pre-order list, overcoming self-doubt, finding your first hire, knowing when you've hit your ceiling, and so much more. Whether you're just getting started or you've been baking for years and feel like you're ready for the next level, there's something in here for you. I love these kinds of conversations because they're messy and real and full of the kind of practical nuggets that actually move the needle — and I can't wait for you to listen in.

Get the Bread Winner Summit All Access Pass! https://carolinebower.thrivecart.com/2026aap/

In this short episode, I’m sharing why I believe the Bread Winner Summit is so much more than just another online business event for bakers. As I’ve been recording sessions and sitting in conversations with some of the most thoughtful voices in the sourdough world, I’ve found myself deeply inspired—not just by the practical strategies being shared, but by the reminder that we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves. Building a sourdough micro bakery can feel isolating sometimes, but this summit is designed to help you feel connected, encouraged, and equipped to build a business that is sustainable, impactful, and deeply aligned with your values. If you’ve been wondering whether to join us, this episode is my encouragement not to sit this one out.

Join us at the Bread Winner Summit! http://carolinebower.com/breadwinnersummit

In this episode, I’m talking all about navigating the transition into summer as a sourdough micro bakery owner and why this season can feel both exciting and incredibly overwhelming at the same time. Between changing family rhythms, travel, hotter temperatures, lower energy, and shifting customer habits, summer often asks us to reevaluate the way we run our businesses. I share some of the different approaches I’ve taken in past summers—from maintaining a steady bakery rhythm to intentionally scaling way back—and how those decisions supported both my business and my family in different seasons.

We also talk about how to make intentional decisions for your bakery this summer instead of reacting out of stress or burnout halfway through the season. I walk you through practical questions to help you evaluate your goals, your capacity, and the opportunities available to you so you can build a summer rhythm that actually fits your life. Whether you want to rest more, grow strategically, focus on education, or simply create more breathing room, this episode will help you approach summer with clarity and confidence instead of guilt and overwhelm.

Resources:

• Join us at the Bread Winner Summit! http://carolinebower.com/breadwinnersummit
• Get the Bread Winner Business Alignment Journal: https://carolinebower.com/journal
• Grab the Profit & Pricing Calculator: Simplify the math, clarify your margins, and confidently price your products. https://carolinebower.com/calculator
• Follow me on Instagram for more microbakery tips: @carolinebower_sourdough
• Find links to all of my sourdough microbakery favorites including packaging, pans, and more! www.carolinebower.com/links
• Download the FREE Guide and Checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery at https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist to begin building YOUR thriving microbakery!