Latest / Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam / A Coffee with Teresa Jackson from Gather Bakery

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A Coffee with Teresa Jackson from Gather Bakery · Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam

• 0:11
  Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the ABA Coffee In The Park.
• 0:16
  My name is Cam Milliken, and I am here with my co-host extraordinaire, Jennifer Herrick, the Executive Director of the Acheson Business Association.
• 0:24
  Good morning, Jennifer.
• 0:25
  Good morning, Cam.
• 0:26
  How are you today?
• 0:27
  I'm doing great.
• 0:28
  The sun is shining.
• 0:29
  It's a beautiful day, and what a great day to be doing a podcast.
• 0:32
  It is.
• 0:32
  And we want to tell everybody that we're coming to you live from beautiful Downtown Acheson.
• 0:38
  Downtown Acheson.
• 0:39
  That's right.
• 0:40
  At the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 0:41
  So if you hear some noise in the background, people talking or coffee whirring or machines blurring or those kinds of things, it's because we're doing this right here in the Wall Coffee Roaster.
• 0:51
  And hey, today, Jennifer, tell us about some important people who help us make this happen.
• 0:56
  Well, we would like to thank our Gold Corporate Sponsors, which include the MyShak Group of Companies, Genics and Parkland County.
• 1:03
  These individual businesses do so much for the Acheson Business Association, and we really want to thank them for their continued support.
• 1:09
  That's right, because without them, we would not be able to do what we are doing.
• 1:14
  Hey, we always talk about coming from the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 1:19
  And so today, we thought we would do something a little different that we want to do on a regular basis.
• 1:24
  Jennifer, tell us.
• 1:26
  Well, today for our listeners, Cam and I each have selected a different beverage from the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 1:34
  So we just want to quickly talk about that beverage.
• 1:37
  That's right.
• 1:37
  So why don't you start with the beverage of your choice, Jennifer?
• 1:40
  So this morning, I got the Cornerstone Blend Cam.
• 1:44
  Cornerstone Blend.
• 1:46
  Roasted right here at the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 1:48
  Right here.
• 1:48
  Yes.
• 1:49
  In the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 1:50
  In the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 1:51
  By Michael Wall.
• 1:52
  By Michael Wall.
• 1:52
  Unbelievable.
• 1:54
  Now, this is a delicious blend that has...
• 1:58
  I'm not kidding.
• 1:58
  You're going to look at me like I'm a little odd on this Cam.
• 2:01
  But I can taste chocolate.
• 2:02
  Chocolate.
• 2:03
  Nuts.
• 2:04
  Nuts.
• 2:05
  And it's just got a really smooth flavor.
• 2:07
  Wow.
• 2:07
  For anybody looking for a great middle of the road coffee, this is it.
• 2:11
  This is it.
• 2:12
  And not middle of the road bad, but like not too dark, not too light.
• 2:16
  Okay.
• 2:17
  It's perfect.
• 2:17
  So right in the middle.
• 2:18
  Yeah.
• 2:18
  And yeah.
• 2:19
  So good morning coffee, good afternoon coffee, good evening coffee.
• 2:22
  I think any time of the day coffee.
• 2:23
  Any time of the day coffee.
• 2:24
  And what's the name of that again?
• 2:25
  Cornerstone Blend.
• 2:26
  Cornerstone Blend.
• 2:27
  Okay.
• 2:28
  That's pretty awesome.
• 2:29
  Well, Jennifer, I have chosen an Americano, and I'm going to be totally honest with you.
• 2:33
  I have no idea what that means.
• 2:35
  Other than they said this would be a good blend to have.
• 2:37
  So, if you like Americanos.
• 2:39
  I do like Americanos.
• 2:40
  Yeah, this is a really nice Americano.
• 2:42
  Now, I added a little bit of milk.
• 2:44
  And I don't know if you're supposed to do that with an Americano.
• 2:46
  And I just find it really smooth and nice and great.
• 2:49
  And it's a wonderful coffee.
• 2:51
  But that being said, I think any coffee that you get at the Wall Coffee Roaster is going to be a great coffee.
• 2:56
  But the two that we've talked about today are really awesome and worth trying out.
• 3:00
  Agreed.
• 3:01
  Yeah.
• 3:01
  So, hey, come on by, grab a coffee.
• 3:03
  Come on by, grab a bag of coffee to take home.
• 3:07
  And I know you're going to enjoy everything about it.
• 3:09
  It's going to be just great.
• 3:10
  So, I'm excited about our guest today.
• 3:13
  So, Jennifer, why don't you introduce our guest?
• 3:16
  So, for everybody listening, I am also excited about our guest today because our guest is an associate member of the Acheson Business Association, was a nominee at our recent awards gala for associate member of the year.
• 3:31
  That's right.
• 3:31
  It is my complete pleasure to introduce Teresa Jackson, owner and operator of the Gather Bakery in Spruce Grove.
• 3:39
  So, welcome Teresa.
• 3:40
  Welcome Teresa.
• 3:42
  Hello.
• 3:42
  Thank you for having me.
• 3:43
  Good to have you.
• 3:44
  It's great to have you here.
• 3:46
  It's an absolute honor.
• 3:47
  And I just want to say Teresa brought with her some samples from the bakery.
• 3:54
  And we haven't got into them yet, but they look amazing.
• 3:56
  So, maybe once we get through this, we'll...
• 3:59
  Well, I've learned that, you know, when you own a bakery, wherever you go, people always ask you, did you bring something?
• 4:05
  So, I'm getting better at it.
• 4:07
  Fantastic.
• 4:08
  Well, we're excited.
• 4:09
  Yes, we're excited that you did.
• 4:11
  And we love it when our guests bring little treats for us.
• 4:16
  It's pretty awesome.
• 4:16
  So, hey, let's talk.
• 4:19
  Let's talk.
• 4:20
  Teresa, tell us a little bit about yourself.
• 4:23
  Where did you grow up?
• 4:25
  Okay.
• 4:26
  Well, yeah, it's quite a different story.
• 4:30
  I was actually born in Germany.
• 4:32
  I am the youngest of four girls.
• 4:34
  And my parents immigrated to Canada when I was three and moved to Northern BC because the view was absolutely gorgeous there.
• 4:43
  Yes, no doubt.
• 4:44
  And so, yeah, I grew up in BC.
• 4:47
  My parents were pretty much all my life, typically self-employed.
• 4:52
  And they were farmers.
• 4:55
  And so, yeah, the other kind of interesting fact about my childhood that not very many people know about me actually is that for all my, other than kindergarten, I was homeschooled my whole entire life.
• 5:10
  All right.
• 5:11
  Do you have brothers and sisters?
• 5:12
  I have the youngest of four girls.
• 5:14
  Okay.
• 5:15
  Youngest of four girls.
• 5:15
  So I have three older sisters.
• 5:17
  All right.
• 5:18
  Yeah, so there's a big age gap between us.
• 5:21
  There's eight years between me and my next oldest sister.
• 5:23
  So I am definitely the baby of the family.
• 5:28
  But, yeah.
• 5:29
  So you did all your schooling homeschool?
• 5:31
  I did, yeah.
• 5:32
  And the last, well, grade nine up, high school, I was all online learning.
• 5:37
  Oh, and how did you like all that?
• 5:41
  It was okay.
• 5:43
  I don't know if I'm an extrovert, but I definitely love people, and so that was the hardest part.
• 5:47
  Growing up on a farm, online learning, siblings that were a bunch older than me, it was lonely, and I missed people, and so I was very eager to get out and see people and get involved and things like that.
• 6:02
  So when you were done school, then what?
• 6:06
  Did you stay in BC?
• 6:07
  Did you decide to?
• 6:08
  Sorry, and I should clarify, we did move to Alberta halfway through.
• 6:12
  I was like eight or nine when I moved to Alberta.
• 6:15
  Actually just out in Stony Plain and had a farm there.
• 6:18
  And so, you know, graduated here in Alberta.
• 6:22
  And I was, I never went to university.
• 6:26
  I just started working right away.
• 6:28
  And I guess probably because I did my high school online, I was kind of techie, even though I would not consider myself techie at all at this point anymore, because it also changes so much.
• 6:38
  Right, yeah.
• 6:39
  But so I stepped right into the workforce and worked as graphic design and marketing.
• 6:45
  Yeah.
• 6:45
  And got into a relationship very young and got married when I was 20, actually.
• 6:51
  Started having a family right away.
• 6:53
  And just continued in marketing and sales.
• 6:58
  And even with like having young children, I always thought I would be a stay-at-home mom, but very quickly realized that that was not for me.
• 7:07
  And I needed to continue to work and have that little extra, that communication with adults, interaction and things like that.
• 7:14
  So, how many kids do you have?
• 7:16
  Seven.
• 7:17
  Seven kids.
• 7:17
  Yes.
• 7:18
  Okay.
• 7:18
  I do have seven children.
• 7:19
  So, when my oldest ones were little, I just felt that I always needed to kind of keep doing something.
• 7:26
  So, I continued to work in advertising and sales for a newspaper, actually.
• 7:33
  And then I attended a Pampered Chef party.
• 7:37
  I think it was, a Pampered Chef.
• 7:39
  Pampered Chef.
• 7:40
  Yes.
• 7:40
  Okay.
• 7:41
  Ladies listening will know what Pampered Chef is.
• 7:44
  I have no idea.
• 7:45
  It's like bakeware, cookware.
• 7:48
  Okay.
• 7:49
  Good clarification, because us men out there are going, think Tupperware, but like...
• 7:53
  Correct.
• 7:54
  Very good comparison.
• 7:56
  Pampered Chef.
• 7:57
  But quality kitchen tools rather than just simply Tupperware in a sense, right?
• 8:01
  Right, okay.
• 8:02
  And so, that was a whole new world for me.
• 8:05
  Again, I was young and had not known...
• 8:08
  The kitchen was very bare at our house.
• 8:10
  Didn't have very good quality tools.
• 8:12
  But that was kind of my intro, you could say, to food and bringing people together and hosting.
• 8:20
  And I went to this Pampered Chef party and just absolutely fell in love with the whole entire catalogue.
• 8:26
  And, you know, it was mom with three little girls at home and worked a full-time job, you know.
• 8:35
  I kind of work at home, right?
• 8:36
  Around their schedule and stuff like that.
• 8:38
  So life was definitely plenty busy, but at the same time, I felt like I wanted something for me.
• 8:42
  So I'm like, okay, well, I want the whole entire catalogue.
• 8:45
  And so I did sign up to become a consultant and it all started as a hobby.
• 8:51
  It very much started as a hobby, but not for long.
• 8:54
  Okay.
• 8:55
  So just for clarification, is like Pampered Chef sort of like Tupperware?
• 8:59
  Yes.
• 9:00
  Yeah.
• 9:00
  So you go into people's homes and you get invited to someone's home.
• 9:05
  All right.
• 9:05
  And she's the host or the individual is the host.
• 9:08
  Right.
• 9:08
  Right.
• 9:08
  And they invite their friends and we cook together.
• 9:11
  Okay.
• 9:11
  Right.
• 9:11
  And so it's a lot of fun.
• 9:12
  We cook, we use the tools and obviously there's food involved.
• 9:15
  You get to enjoy and Pampered Chef has excellent recipes.
• 9:18
  And so it's very social.
• 9:20
  Right.
• 9:21
  Boy, did I learn something today.
• 9:23
  I mean I knew nothing about this Pampered Chef world.
• 9:24
  Well, Cam, I don't see you being invited to a Pampered Chef party, but it's okay.
• 9:28
  It's okay.
• 9:29
  I learned this is amazing.
• 9:30
  So you became a Pampered Chef?
• 9:32
  Consultant.
• 9:33
  Yes.
• 9:33
  Kind of as a hobby.
• 9:34
  But literally within, I think it was like a month or two.
• 9:37
  It changed very quickly and I loved what I was doing.
• 9:41
  And so that year already, I quit my job in advertising and sales and focused strictly on Pampered Chef.
• 9:48
  And for many, many years was top 50 in the country and earned multiple trips a year.
• 9:54
  So that's kind of a way to summarize that, yes, this was a full-time job for me.
• 9:58
  This wasn't anymore a hobby.
• 10:00
  This is what I did.
• 10:01
  And I grew a team of over 50 and enjoyed working with others.
• 10:07
  And that was it.
• 10:08
  I mentioned this because it was really instrumental in both my introduction to food and bringing people together and hosting.
• 10:16
  And I feel it's very to the core.
• 10:19
  It really kind of helped me because I was also young at the time and kind of getting to know who I was and what I was passionate about.
• 10:26
  So can I ask, this is a really dumb question, but I know that...
• 10:30
  There are no dumb questions, Cam.
• 10:31
  No, I think this one is really dumb, but I'm just I'm very curious.
• 10:35
  Like Mary Kay, the Mary Kay people?
• 10:37
  Yes.
• 10:38
  They get like a pink Cadillac if they like sell a billion lipsticks or whatever.
• 10:43
  Does Pampered Chef have like a purple Ford Escort or something that you got?
• 10:48
  No, no, I never did earn that.
• 10:50
  I did have some jewelry from them.
• 10:53
  I was way past halfway on the way to a million dollars in sales, where you get a diamond watch.
• 10:59
  So that was a target of mine for many years.
• 11:03
  Okay.
• 11:03
  I didn't quite make it there, but it was kind of sad to kind of lose that target.
• 11:08
  Nonetheless, you were on the road to a diamond watch.
• 11:10
  That's pretty incredible.
• 11:12
  Cool.
• 11:12
  Okay.
• 11:13
  And so from there, how many years did you do that?
• 11:17
  Um, eight, I think, eight or nine years, something like that.
• 11:21
  I started in 2010, and it was then actually in 2017, where I kind of started taking a step back.
• 11:30
  That's kind of when other adventures in my life started.
• 11:34
  So in my relationship at the time, we, my now ex, my husband at the time, worked away a lot.
• 11:42
  And with a house full of little children, that was definitely a challenge as well.
• 11:46
  And, you know, I know that enough about myself now.
• 11:50
  I probably wouldn't have been able to tell you that at the time.
• 11:52
  Right.
• 11:52
  I am entrepreneurial, and I am passionate about that.
• 11:55
  And I'm drawn to those things, right?
• 11:57
  It just naturally happens.
• 11:59
  And so the idea and the talk started happening of we should have a family business, right?
• 12:04
  Because again, our kids, our older girls were getting older.
• 12:07
  We were a couple of years away from them wanting to have part-time jobs and those kind of things.
• 12:12
  And so the idea of a family business started, you know, of getting to be talked about, but we had no idea what we wanted to do.
• 12:17
  Right.
• 12:17
  Yeah.
• 12:18
  And so then this story kind of starts when we were on a family vacation in 2017 in the Okanagan.
• 12:26
  And so we were sitting on the beach, actually, while our oldest three were playing on an inflatable water park.
• 12:35
  Right.
• 12:35
  OK.
• 12:35
  And it was packed.
• 12:37
  It was full.
• 12:38
  There was all these people.
• 12:39
  And we knew what we paid.
• 12:41
  So we could easily start doing some numbers.
• 12:43
  And so literally, as silly as it sounds, was doing numbers in the sand and kind of adding things up and kind of seeing.
• 12:51
  This is a true entrepreneur right here.
• 12:54
  Figuring it out in the sand.
• 12:55
  That's awesome.
• 12:56
  I love it.
• 12:56
  So that's where it all started.
• 12:58
  And, you know, so researching.
• 13:00
  OK.
• 13:01
  So lived in Alberta.
• 13:03
  Inflatable water park world.
• 13:04
  Correct.
• 13:05
  Lived in Alberta.
• 13:06
  Was on vacation in BC.
• 13:07
  Obviously, we came home and started researching.
• 13:10
  So, you know, you need water.
• 13:13
  You need good weather.
• 13:14
  You need people like, you know, you start figuring out what you need.
• 13:17
  And the first one there, the lakes and the water and the weather, all of them really were not highly ideal in Alberta.
• 13:26
  Yes, it's possible, but we also knew that this was a huge investment.
• 13:30
  And high risk, and we want it to get off the ground really well.
• 13:34
  And so we kind of switched our search to Ontario.
• 13:37
  Known for lakes.
• 13:39
  Known for lakes, land of the lakes, warmer weather than what we have here, and lots of people.
• 13:45
  Right, right.
• 13:46
  And so that's kind of how that came about.
• 13:49
  And so that following year in 2018, we opened an inflatable water park just outside of Hamilton.
• 13:55
  An inflatable water park.
• 13:58
  Okay, so I think it'd be important at this point to just explain a little bit what it is.
• 14:02
  What that is.
• 14:02
  Because I know when we first talked with you, I had the idea of a water park where it was like water slides and all that kind of stuff.
• 14:10
  This is an inflatable water park.
• 14:12
  Yeah, so the best way to kind of describe it is think like bouncy houses, bouncy castles that you get for your kids.
• 14:18
  And they've become very elaborate nowadays.
• 14:20
  They are way more than just the four walls that the kids get in and jump, right?
• 14:24
  And so it's those kind of inflatable structures.
• 14:26
  It's very modular, so the pieces can get put together in different kind of obstacle courses.
• 14:32
  And it's out on open water, and so it's anchored in place.
• 14:36
  So you blow them up, put them in the water, and people go at her.
• 14:40
  We staff them with some lifeguards, and we do some safety first.
• 14:45
  Safety first.
• 14:47
  Using kids probably is not good for business.
• 14:50
  Not good for business.
• 14:51
  But it's a very safe environment.
• 14:55
  It's really well done.
• 14:56
  We exclusively use the Wibit brand, which is the industry leader, and actually the original ones, to design inflatable water parks, because safety is extremely important to us.
• 15:06
  So that's kind of how it all came about.
• 15:09
  And so the company is called Fun Splash, F-U-N Splash.ca, if you want to check out the website.
• 15:15
  Gives you some good visuals.
• 15:19
  They're incredible.
• 15:21
  They're awesome.
• 15:21
  And I've seen them in different places and been on them once or twice, and they're absolutely incredible.
• 15:26
  And the fact that you guys just decided to do this amazes me.
• 15:30
  Like of all the things in the world you can do, Inflatable Water Park.
• 15:33
  Yeah, well, that's kind of different, right?
• 15:36
  I mean, good for you.
• 15:37
  Yeah.
• 15:38
  No, it was awesome.
• 15:39
  And so it's been operational now since then, and it's been a lot of fun.
• 15:45
  And my favorite part in the summer when we're open, because obviously it's a seasonal business.
• 15:50
  Yeah, I was going to say, the winter would be tough.
• 15:52
  Correct, so we're...
• 15:53
  On the ice, I wouldn't...
• 15:55
  I'm not sure that would be a good idea.
• 15:56
  A little slippery, and I don't know how they would stay inflated.
• 16:00
  You fall off of that, it's going to hurt a little bit.
• 16:05
  It's just like sitting at the beach and just listening to the laughter.
• 16:08
  Because again, like a lot of people will say, oh, it's just for kids.
• 16:11
  No, it's not.
• 16:12
  It's totally for adults as well.
• 16:13
  We've had grandparents out on the Inflatable Water Park.
• 16:17
  And so it's really good fun for everybody.
• 16:20
  Young adults, it's really physically challenging.
• 16:23
  And again, kind of that's where my passion comes in of like bringing people together, right?
• 16:29
  And away from technology and out into nature and just making those experiences, families, friends together, you know, families come in all different shapes and sizes.
• 16:40
  Like, you know, whoever you consider your family.
• 16:42
  Sure.
• 16:43
  Come out together, let's make some memories, you know, and de-stress, because you'll be laughing so much, it is a de-stressor, right?
• 16:51
  So that's kind of where the passion behind it comes from.
• 16:56
  Cool.
• 16:58
  So you open this water park, you're trucking along, what changes in your life?
• 17:03
  COVID.
• 17:05
  So COVID did happen in 2020, as we're all familiar.
• 17:09
  And we're really going through some challenges on a personal level as well.
• 17:15
  And so in 2020, because of COVID, we actually were not open.
• 17:20
  The water park was closed.
• 17:24
  And I kind of had to do some soul searching myself that year and really kind of figure out, like everyone, everybody was impacted by COVID in some way.
• 17:32
  Absolutely.
• 17:33
  And I came to realize something that I was doing, but I wasn't aware of.
• 17:37
  And it was really just that I loved bringing people together.
• 17:40
  And our house was always the place where everybody could go, and that's what I wanted for my kids as well.
• 17:45
  I wanted them to grow up in a place where their friends came to our house rather than they go somewhere else.
• 17:51
  Right.
• 17:51
  I'm like, bring them here.
• 17:52
  Always open door.
• 17:55
  And that went away.
• 17:57
  And I had to kind of figure that out first.
• 17:59
  And I missed it.
• 18:00
  And, you know, was a work at home mom at the time and just was looking for something else.
• 18:05
  I'm like, there's gotta be because, you know, COVID took that all away for a while there.
• 18:10
  And so then Christmas time of 2020, early in December, actually, I should back up a little bit here.
• 18:18
  One of the traditions that my friends and I did with our families is we would get together on Christmas time and we would bake gingerbread houses.
• 18:25
  Okay.
• 18:25
  And decorate them as one of those gathering family, making memories type things, right?
• 18:31
  And that couldn't happen that year.
• 18:34
  So I kind of thought of what alternative can we do?
• 18:38
  And I still bake the gingerbread houses at my place.
• 18:40
  And I made the icing, because I was always the designate one in the group to bake and cook.
• 18:45
  And put together these kits for my girlfriends and their families to do at their place then, right?
• 18:51
  And the day that I was doing this, my friend and now also business partner Ashley was out shopping, which was a big deal back then, right?
• 19:00
  Going shopping was a big deal.
• 19:02
  Shopping during COVID was a major ordeal, major ordeal.
• 19:06
  And so one of the things that she called me and she's like, you know, there's like no gingerbread houses in any of the stores, right?
• 19:14
  I'm like, there's nothing.
• 19:15
  And I'm like, oh, really?
• 19:16
  And she goes, and it's funny coming from her because she has zero social media.
• 19:20
  So she's like, you should put it on that thing, like that Facebook thing or that marketplace.
• 19:25
  You should put it out there.
• 19:26
  That marketplace thing.
• 19:27
  I like that marketplace thing.
• 19:29
  That's good.
• 19:31
  It's a good name for it, actually.
• 19:32
  That marketplace thing.
• 19:34
  And I had had a lot of fun that day.
• 19:35
  It was kind of like, oh, this is cool.
• 19:38
  This is a lot of fun.
• 19:38
  I'm like, oh, why not?
• 19:39
  So put it out on my own personal page that day, took a picture and posted it.
• 19:44
  And right on my own personal page, got orders right away and I went, oh, okay.
• 19:49
  Wow.
• 19:49
  Sure enough, popped it on marketplace and literally didn't stop from there.
• 19:55
  That's incredible.
• 19:56
  People were so excited to have good quality, tasty, soft but not too soft that it breaks.
• 20:04
  Completely breaks, you know, gingerbread houses that they can do with their families.
• 20:08
  And so literally, that was my last day off before Christmas.
• 20:13
  And I baked right up until Christmas as many as I could in my own kitchen.
• 20:19
  And my, you know, my kids helped, my family helped.
• 20:22
  And yeah, it was a kind of a crazy Christmas.
• 20:25
  So obviously, well, I'll let you tell the rest of the story, but that led to something and you...
• 20:30
  Yeah.
• 20:31
  So talk about that.
• 20:32
  Where did that lead to?
• 20:33
  Yeah.
• 20:34
  So, you know, Christmas was over and I was like, oh, this was kind of fun.
• 20:37
  What do we do next?
• 20:38
  So then I was like, OK, Valentine's Day.
• 20:41
  So then I kind of came up with the idea of a sweet charcuterie collection.
• 20:46
  And again, to my customer base that I had kind of started building, put that out there and then continued.
• 20:53
  And I named it Gather Around The Kitchen Table, because also in my home, this was all done around our massive dining room table.
• 21:01
  I was thinking this morning, I actually wanted to think back of how long it was.
• 21:04
  I want to say it was like 18, 19 feet long when all was fully extended.
• 21:08
  So like it was a massive dining room table.
• 21:10
  So we can have those big get togethers and have everybody together.
• 21:13
  You can have everybody together.
• 21:14
  Yeah, that's fantastic.
• 21:15
  Well, and that's where everybody gathers, right?
• 21:17
  They don't sit in the living room or anywhere.
• 21:18
  It's always around the kitchen table.
• 21:19
  You know, that's what I love about this story.
• 21:21
  Yeah.
• 21:22
  I love your passion of bringing people together.
• 21:24
  I love that.
• 21:25
  I just think this is, because I also think, if I could just maybe wax eloquently for 10 seconds here, I think it's a missing thing in our society today.
• 21:35
  Families and friends gathering together around tables.
• 21:39
  You know, we're all moving so fast, million different ways and a million different places.
• 21:44
  So I think this is fantastic.
• 21:45
  I think your passion to do that is awesome.
• 21:49
  Yeah.
• 21:49
  No, and that's definitely where this comes from, right?
• 21:52
  And so the name at the time, Gather Around The Kitchen Table, which just seemed very fitting, right?
• 21:58
  And so continued that all through 2021 and really built up quite something, pretty much just kind of jumping from holiday to holiday.
• 22:07
  And by the end of the, towards the end of the year, again, Ashley was working with me full time.
• 22:14
  And we headed into Christmas with all the gingerbread houses and sugar cookie decorating kits and charcuterie boxes and all the stuff that we actually worked 19 days straight, leading up to Christmas without a break all day long.
• 22:29
  And, you know, pick up was at three o'clock.
• 22:31
  And after that, and we started doing some deliveries as well.
• 22:33
  And it was a lot.
• 22:35
  Right.
• 22:36
  And so that Christmas came and went and we kind of realized that we had outgrown where we were.
• 22:41
  We needed to make some changes.
• 22:43
  And I had kind of been going through a lot on a personal level as well.
• 22:46
  And I realized that I needed to kind of figure out some stuff in my own life as well.
• 22:52
  And so as hard as it was to make that decision, because again, from a business perspective, I understand momentum, right?
• 22:58
  And so stopping that was, okay, this is scary because it was going well.
• 23:03
  You didn't want to stop it, right?
• 23:05
  But I'm like, I needed to take some time and figure out my own life.
• 23:07
  Right.
• 23:09
  And so kind of put a pin in it and did figure out a few things.
• 23:13
  And I got a divorce through it all and I'm happier on the other side.
• 23:17
  And so then it was early from February 2023 now that Ashley and I were talking again.
• 23:27
  And we had said, you know, we'd always said we would maybe start this up again.
• 23:30
  Like, and we were both kind of looking at to what was next for us.
• 23:33
  And I said, OK, well, what's it going to look like?
• 23:36
  What if we do open a bakery, a brick and mortar?
• 23:39
  And, you know, what's that going to be like?
• 23:42
  And we didn't know.
• 23:44
  You know, I'd opened the inflatable water park business, but it wasn't a brick and mortar.
• 23:47
  It's different.
• 23:48
  And seasonal.
• 23:49
  Correct.
• 23:50
  So I'm like, OK, well, we're going to take this step by step and we're just going to see where it takes us.
• 23:55
  And when we hit a roadblock, we're done.
• 23:59
  And we never did hit that big roadblock.
• 24:02
  And we were able to open Gather Bakery here in Spruce Grove at the end of August last year.
• 24:09
  So I've been open now for a little over a year.
• 24:12
  Right.
• 24:12
  And we still do the gingerbread houses, the haunted houses now.
• 24:16
  It could be Halloween and, you know, all those ones throughout the season, charcuterie, but we've been able to add a whole lot more from, you know, your breads to cakes, to all of that.
• 24:26
  So no, you guys are amazing.
• 24:28
  Gather is a fantastic place.
• 24:30
  I am so happy.
• 24:31
  Speaking of somebody that is a resident of Spruce Grove, I am so happy that it is in Spruce Grove.
• 24:37
  It is a true gem, and it is something that was missing from our community.
• 24:42
  Oh, thank you, Jennifer.
• 24:43
  So I love it.
• 24:45
  It's...
• 24:45
  Yeah.
• 24:46
  Everything, everything in it is fantastic.
• 24:48
  And if you don't live in Spruce Grove, because I don't, it's worth the drive.
• 24:51
  Trust me, it is worth the drive.
• 24:54
  You guys do a fantastic job.
• 24:56
  I love hanging out at your bakery when we come.
• 24:58
  I love eating everything at your bakery when we come.
• 25:02
  And you really do a fantastic job.
• 25:03
  So you've been in business now for...
• 25:05
  A little over a year.
• 25:08
  And how's it going?
• 25:10
  You know, ups and downs.
• 25:11
  It's got its challenges.
• 25:12
  It's business, we all know, right?
• 25:14
  And so you just have to stick it out.
• 25:17
  We have a good team and we work together and we do our best.
• 25:22
  So I just want to bring this into it because I think some people listening to us can relate to this.
• 25:28
  So you're doing this all.
• 25:29
  You have seven children.
• 25:30
  Now you're a single mom.
• 25:32
  Yes.
• 25:33
  That's incredible to me.
• 25:34
  It is incredible.
• 25:35
  So and I told you a little my story.
• 25:37
  I was raised by a single mom, but I was the only child.
• 25:41
  I can't imagine seven.
• 25:43
  That's incredible.
• 25:43
  How do you balance all of this?
• 25:46
  How do you balance your work, home, life?
• 25:50
  How do you do that?
• 25:51
  I mean...
• 25:52
  Well, daily you try your best, right?
• 25:55
  I don't know if I always balance it so well, but what it is, you have to try your best every day.
• 26:00
  That's all you can do.
• 26:01
  What's your biggest struggle in it all?
• 26:03
  What do you...
• 26:04
  In that, in relation to that...
• 26:05
  It's just not having enough time.
• 26:06
  I need to be in more places at once, and that's not possible, right?
• 26:11
  And so, you know, like the mom guilt is 100% real.
• 26:14
  It is 100% there, you know.
• 26:17
  We all need to just own it and be aware of it, because I think we all really struggle with it.
• 26:24
  So you just do your best, right?
• 26:25
  Do your kids think it's pretty cool that their mom owns a bakery?
• 26:29
  Oh, they love it.
• 26:29
  Yeah, I was going to say.
• 26:30
  They absolutely love it, yes.
• 26:31
  Like, you must be the hit of the neighborhood, the hit of all their friends.
• 26:35
  Like, you know, that must be amazing.
• 26:37
  I hear it regularly.
• 26:38
  Just this morning again, my daughter asked me to bring home a s'more cookie, and I said, why do you need a s'more cookie?
• 26:43
  Well, it's my friend's favorite, and I'd like to bring her a cookie.
• 26:45
  I love that.
• 26:47
  That is a regular in my house.
• 26:49
  But you know what, Teresa, I think what you're doing is such an amazing, you're an amazing role model for your children.
• 26:55
  Yes.
• 26:56
  Well, that's what I try to do, right?
• 26:58
  And I try to show them everything from like the business perspective, because I do, I'm passionate about it.
• 27:03
  So I do, you know, you know, if they become entrepreneurs, great.
• 27:07
  If they don't, it's their choice.
• 27:08
  I'm not going to push them in it.
• 27:09
  But I for myself see the value in it and the great impact it can have on your life.
• 27:13
  Right.
• 27:14
  And I also think that you're an amazing role model.
• 27:16
  And I say this sincerely, and Jennifer knows where I stand on this.
• 27:20
  I think you're an amazing role model for women.
• 27:22
  I really do.
• 27:23
  I think you are an incredible example for women.
• 27:26
  And the fact that you never gave up.
• 27:28
  You just kept going.
• 27:31
  Yeah, I think that's fascinating.
• 27:33
  I do too.
• 27:35
  It's, you know, you constantly have to stick with it, right?
• 27:38
  And it's hard.
• 27:39
  And I know that a lot of women go through really hard times, and guys as well.
• 27:44
  So I'm not just wanting to single them out, but just continuing on what you're saying, right?
• 27:47
  And I have been blessed that I am where I am.
• 27:51
  I've had a great kind of small but mighty community around me that has supported me.
• 27:57
  Which is key.
• 27:58
  That's huge.
• 28:00
  And that's also a big one that I teach my children, that you need to have that community, those connections, and that reach out to people when you're stuck, reach out to people and someone may have walked that path before you.
• 28:16
  And that's where I'm also passionate if...
• 28:20
  I know a lot of women are struggling.
• 28:21
  Let's just go back to that for a second.
• 28:23
  And I know that it's very lonely.
• 28:27
  And if you need to talk to someone, please search someone out.
• 28:31
  Talk to them.
• 28:32
  You're not alone.
• 28:34
  In whatever you're going through.
• 28:36
  And again, I've shared just tiny bits of my journey.
• 28:39
  If anybody wants to ever come talk, you know where to find me at the Gather Bakery.
• 28:42
  Go hang out at the bakery.
• 28:44
  So that is great advice.
• 28:46
  And I think there's so many life lessons that people listening can get from your story, Teresa.
• 28:53
  But we do have a final question that we ask all of our guests.
• 28:56
  And so we're going to ask it to you now.
• 28:58
  Okay.
• 28:59
  What is the best piece of advice that you've been given either personally or professionally that you carry with you to this day?
• 29:06
  Okay.
• 29:07
  It was given to me personally as a mom, actually raising my children, but I fully believe it applies to business as well.
• 29:16
  And that all phases in life come to an end.
• 29:19
  So just kind of ride them, right?
• 29:21
  So what she told me at the time was my daughter was very young and I don't remember exactly what it was, but we were going through a phase that was really challenging.
• 29:31
  Either she was cluster feeding or wasn't sleeping through the night or something.
• 29:35
  And she says, you know what?
• 29:36
  It's going to end.
• 29:38
  There's going to be the up, the positive, where they're doing really well.
• 29:41
  And so, you know, while you're in this valley, there will be an end.
• 29:47
  But also when you're then up on that hill, know that there's an end to that as well, right?
• 29:52
  And so, that's kind of, and I think that can be really applied to business as well, as I mentioned before, you know, like it's had its challenges for us in both businesses.
• 30:02
  And, you know, when you're in the valley, just hang tight, you know, stick with your team and your community and work together and know that it will end, right?
• 30:11
  Know that you're not going to be stuck there forever.
• 30:12
  And then that, you know, when you're up on that hill, really soak it in, because it too will end, right?
• 30:19
  And really, you know, hang on to that feeling.
• 30:21
  When the wave is good, yeah, for sure.
• 30:23
  That's fantastic advice.
• 30:25
  That is.
• 30:25
  That is absolutely fantastic advice.
• 30:27
  And I know that people listening to us today are going to say, yeah, I needed to hear that.
• 30:32
  And so Gather Bakery, do you have a website for the bakery?
• 30:36
  What is it?
• 30:36
  It's?
• 30:37
  gatherbakery.ca That Gather Bakery.
• 30:39
  And you are also on social media.
• 30:40
  We are.
• 30:41
  And also check us out on Google.
• 30:43
  We've got some really good Google ratings there.
• 30:45
  Right.
• 30:46
  And give us the address just for people so they know.
• 30:49
  Yeah.
• 30:49
  So we're in Spruce Grove between Back on Track and Buster's Pizza, Unit 3, 101, First Ave.
• 30:55
  First Ave.
• 30:56
  And it's worth the trip.
• 30:57
  It sure is.
• 30:58
  No matter where you're listening from, if you are in the surrounding region, get to Spruce Grove.
• 31:03
  Gather Bakery.
• 31:04
  And what you can do is if you're coming, say, from Edmonton heading west, you can stop at the Wall Coffee Roasters, then you can head out to Gather, or do the reverse, go to Gather, stop at Wall, yeah.
• 31:16
  Actually, we serve coffee from the Wall at Gather Bakery, because we do love to support local.
• 31:22
  There you go.
• 31:23
  You heard it right here.
• 31:24
  You've heard it first.
• 31:24
  You can save you a stop.
• 31:25
  Just coming out, we can serve you Wall coffee.
• 31:29
  Perfect.
• 31:30
  And sit there and try one of everything in the display case, because it's amazing.
• 31:35
  And pick something up for a friend.
• 31:36
  Yeah.
• 31:36
  You know what?
• 31:37
  This has been amazing.
• 31:38
  What a great story.
• 31:39
  I love your story.
• 31:40
  Thank you.
• 31:41
  I love your personality.
• 31:42
  It has been amazing getting to know you a little bit over the last year or so.
• 31:47
  And you are an inspiration.
• 31:48
  And I love that.
• 31:49
  That's fantastic.
• 31:50
  And we're really proud to have you as associate members of the Acheson Business Association.
• 31:55
  So thank you.
• 31:56
  Yeah.
• 31:56
  You guys are just great.
• 31:57
  And so folks, if you're needing some baking, and the other thing you do, because I know our company has used you in the past, if you have customers and you're looking for stuff to do for your customers at Christmas, thank you gifts or whatever it is, talk to the people at Gather Bakery because they put together some pretty skookum stuff that your customers will love.
• 32:15
  Jennifer, this has been great.
• 32:17
  Sure has.
• 32:17
  It has.
• 32:18
  And I'm excited.
• 32:19
  And hey, anything else you need to tell us?
• 32:23
  You know what?
• 32:23
  There's lots going on.
• 32:24
  So check out the Instagram page for ABA Coffee In The Park podcast.
• 32:30
  Yep.
• 32:31
  That's right.
• 32:31
  And so, hey, thanks everybody.
• 32:33
  And make sure you download this, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your business associates, tell your enemies, tell everybody.
• 32:40
  And wherever you get your podcasts, or you can do it at www.achesonbusiness.com.
• 32:46
  Thanks everybody.
• 32:47
  It's been great.
• 32:48
  Thanks everyone.
• 32:49
  See you next week.
• 32:49
  See you next week.