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Aleyna Morales: Baking and Believing in Herself · Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine

• [Music: Native Lights Theme] ALEYNA MORALES: You know, there's a lot of self-doubt that kind of creeped up in, in me in a way that really, I think, stunted where I could have been. You know, if I just would have believed in myself more, I would have had people that believed in me more. I think that I could have gotten here faster, I guess. So, childhood, me is really proud of myself, though, because I kind of proved everybody wrong, that feels good. LEAH LEMM: Boozhooo, hello. Welcome to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. I'm your host, Leah Lemm. Miigwech for joining me today. Native Lights is more than a podcast and radio show. At its core, it's a place for Native folks to tell their stories. Each and every week we have great conversations with wonderful guests from a bunch of different backgrounds, doctors, artists, musicians, educators, bakers, you name it. We have a great mix of passions. We talk to folks about their gifts and how they share those gifts with their community, and it all centers around the big point of purpose in our lives. And I can't wait to continue amplifying Native voices today. I'm flying solo, and I'm really excited to chat with my guest. So, I think we'll have a full show, even though Cole had to take the day off. Today, we're speaking with ALEYNA MORALES: . Aleyna grew up in the Twin Cities and Somerset, Wisconsin. Aleyna's heritage includes Ojibwe from the Fond du Lac Band community and Mexican. She is the creator and baker behind Baked to Bliss by Laney. You can catch her selling baked goods at the Carlton County Farmers Market. So, without further ado, I'm gonna go straight to Aleyna. Boozhoo, Aleyna, how are you doing? ALEYNA MORALES: Hi. LEAH LEMM: Hi. And then I see your business is Baked to Bliss by Laney. ALEYNA MORALES: Yeah, that's me. LEAH LEMM: So I don't call you Laney, I call you Aleyna. ALEYNA MORALES: Yeah, Laney is my alias. No, I'm just kidding. My pseudonym. LEAH LEMM: All right, well, I'm Leah. It's nice to have you here. Can you introduce yourself and let us know where you're joining from? ALEYNA MORALES: My name is Aleyna Morales. I am the owner of Baked to Bliss by Laney, and I am coming to you from Fond du Lac Reservation. LEAH LEMM: Awesome. And can you tell me a little bit about your background, so you're joining us from Fond du Lac. Can you say a bit more about your connection to Fond du Lac? ALEYNA MORALES: I think I've been here for about five or six years. I actually grew up in the Cities, and then we ended up moving to a small town in Wisconsin called Somerset, and that's like where I spent, you know, my middle school and high school career. I eventually made my way back home. I do remember, like, when I was a kid, we'd always, you know, come here for powwows, and you know, just to visit family, but I didn't really have a connection here until I had actually moved up here. It was kind of exciting coming back home, and I didn't know anybody when I moved here, besides my mom, and she was the one that kind of encouraged me to take the jump and really get my footing here. I'm very happy to be here. I love Fond du Lac. I love my community. LEAH LEMM: Great, and your mom's in Fond du Lac? ALEYNA MORALES: Yeah, yeah, she is. And then also Leech Lake too. LEAH LEMM: Well, how are you and your family doing? ALEYNA MORALES: We're doing very well. The market season is about to kick off, so it's been really, really busy. I am a mother of five children, so you know I'm busy on, you know, not just like business wise but also family wise. LEAH LEMM: Wonderful. Well, I like to kick off our conversations by asking my guests, you, what you're concentrating on or thinking about these days? ALEYNA MORALES: I think a lot of what's kind of going on in my brain is just like trying to navigate such a complicated world that we're living in right now. I'm pretty sure that's on, you know, everybody's minds with the current politics that's kind of happening. It's, it's a lot to take in, not just as a Native person, but also as a woman and a mother, and I think I'm always constantly conflicted as to where, you know, like everything's gonna be okay, it'll all work out, and then the heavy hitting stuff that comes with headlines, and you know, certain things like the way that it's kind of affecting our community. I think politics is kind of a huge thing right now for, you know, everybody, but it's not just politics. I feel it's definitely just like the way that it's affecting our way of life in general. So, I'd say that's kind of one of the main things that's on my, on my brain right now, and you know it takes up a lot of space up there. LEAH LEMM: How do you take care of yourself then? How do you take care of yourself when, like you said, it's heavy? ALEYNA MORALES: A big thing that I really lean into is kind of just leaning on my community, and then also doing things traditional, tapping maple syrup, and taking part in our traditional ways, and just finding a way to kind of integrate my children into that as well. I feel like that was one thing that I was missing as a kid, was I'd never really had that Native influence. I guess I come from a very big family, have a huge Native family, but I also have a huge Mexican family as well. They were really Catholic. When I moved up here to Fond du Lac, you know, that was one of the things that really kind of, I think, set me off my path was just being a part of the community, being able to be a part of those traditional ways, and foraging, ripping all those things. I think that's a really good way for all of us to take care of ourselves, especially in times like this. It's really important to really ground yourself with those things. LEAH LEMM: You're listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Today we're speaking with Aleyna Morales. Aleyna is from the Fond du Lac Band community and is the creator and baker behind Baked to Bliss by Laney. How did you navigate getting back into those cultural practices? ALEYNA MORALES: Honestly, it started with the Gitigaan. It's this community garden out here on Fond du Lac, beautiful, just insane. The things that they do community-wise, the staff there is incredible. Kate, Cam, Dylan, all of them, like they're just so great. And Erica was actually one of the people that was really kind of the catalyst of she really kind of helped me get into that. I met her out there when I had gotten a garden plot, she was the one that kind of oversaw those things, and I was like, oh, well, I can have a community garden, and that's amazing. That was kind of where, you know, I started integrating myself back into those ways, and she taught me a lot, you know, just in general, the Gitigaan, the classes that they, they host the things that they do for the community, like the boxes, like we get food boxes with traditional foods, just the introduction to Native foods, and the practices, and stuff, that was a really, really important step in my journey. I just, I owe them so much. They're just an incredible organization. LEAH LEMM: Wonderful. Well, can you tell me a bit about your business? ALEYNA MORALES: Ah, yes, I own Baked to Bliss by Laney. I'd say we've been going, I think, three years strong now, but in the past year, as I'd say, is when it's kind of started to grow a lot. It's really kind of taken off, and I didn't really expect it. I'm kind of still trying to find my footing when it comes to all this, and we started off, you know, just kind of small. Got my cottage foods license. I planned on staying pretty small for a while, and then I went to a business. It was like a little get-together group that Sarah Howes, Giizh, she had hosted at her warehouse in Cloquet, and that was actually where I met Jackson. LEAH LEMM: And Jackson, just for those who don't know, Jackson founded with his family, of course, MiigWitches Brew, which is on the Fond du Lac reservation. ALEYNA MORALES: Yes, I love that place, I love the coffee, but yeah, that was kind of where I started my journey with wholesaling. And it was just kind of funny, we were all sitting at the table, trying, you know, just kind of getting to know one another, and Sarah was like, "Oh my gosh, Jackson, have you met Aleyna? She does baked goods." And that was when Jackson was just like in the beginning stages of really, well, he had had the plan, but he was still kind of just like starting to open. Like I said I planned on staying kind of small. I didn't really plan on making it like my career, but after I had so much success with Jackson, the scones, I had started baking scones and muffins for him, and they were really well loved. LEAH LEMM: They go well with coffee, can't deny it. ALEYNA MORALES: He was really excited. He was like, "Wow, like, you know, Aleyna, you should really take this where you can, a lot of people really love your stuff. You're very good at your craft. See where else you can take it." So then I joined the Carlton County Farmers Market. Shout out to Gail. She accepted me in, and I thought it was really cool because there wasn't a lot of Native representation at the Cloquet Farmers Market. I had sent in my application, really not thinking that I was going to get accepted right away, just because I was a very, very new business, like I maybe had three things on my menu. And she brought me in, and everybody there is just so welcoming and so awesome, they come for, from tons of different ways of life, and you know, it was just, it was really cool finding community in like-minded individuals, the entrepreneurial spirit, the producers, farmers. It's just really cool to be around that community. LEAH LEMM: Can you say a bit more about that farmer's market? Where is it held? ALEYNA MORALES: Right here in Cloquet, in front of Premier Theater, L & M, they have so many vendors now. I think I started doing it when, you know, they were still fairly small. LEAH LEMM: I love a good farmer's market, browsing, chatting people up. It's great to be able to meet the people who are growing your food and making your food. It's really special. ALEYNA MORALES: It is, and I feel like that's kind of something that we really need to embrace now, with the prices of groceries and whatnot going up, and you know, just like not knowing where our food is coming from or what's in it. I think that's what really drew me to the farmers market, seeing all these different individuals just creating something so simple, but so important. LEAH LEMM: Well, rewinding a bit. Then, Aleyna, how did you get into baking? ALEYNA MORALES: I had just had my baby four years ago. I had just had my baby, and then we kind of hit a rough spot there with postpartum depression, I really sunk very far, definitely in some really dark times, you know. My partner kind of sat me down, and I think for three months straight I was just there wasn't a time that I wasn't crying or just in major distress. I'd never felt anything that intense before postpartum depression, like in the throes of it, is just so intense. It was a very, very confusing moment in my life, and it was really hard for me to navigate, and I think I lost myself for quite some time there. Everybody was kind of asking me, you know, like, what, what can we do, you know, how can we help you? And I really just had no answers. I was just, I was just like, I have no idea. I really don't have any clue, like how I can get out of this. It kind of got to a point where, you know, it was really, really desperate. Me and my partner, we were just driving, and he was like, you know, "Are you gonna be okay?" And I just like burst out crying, and I was like, "I really don't think so." Feeling that type of emotion, you know? I have so much to live for it. I think it was the shame and the guilt that kind of drove me to like even a lower point, and that's when me and my partner just kind of he pulled over and he was like, you know, "We have to figure out something, like we have to get you help, like you need, you need something in your life that's enjoyable but also gives you meaning," because that was one thing that I kind of told him was like "I just feel like I'm losing my purpose," you know, like yes I'm a mother, and I love being a mother, but I also, you know, need something for me as well. LEAH LEMM: I appreciate you sharing. I do appreciate you sharing, Aleyna. I think it's important to talk about, you know, as a mother myself, who also, I won't say the same, but like similar Celexa helped me personally, you know, talking it out, things like that, and you know it's such a time in your life, like a delicate time. I don't know if it's like society, social media, or what, that makes it seem like it's supposed to be one thing, and when it doesn't turn out to be this non-stop, like awe, you know, that can help spiral those feelings, that shame and guilt. So, I do think it's important to talk about. So, thank you for sharing that. I think it's, it's deep, and it sounds like you have a supportive partner. ALEYNA MORALES: Yes, he was actually kind of the one that really pushed me into kind of start to do things like with my hands, and he was like, you know, you, you love cooking, you love baking, why not make it something that helps you feel better. And so I started to kind of take classes at the Gitigaan, I started to kind of reach out to more people that were in that space, and then that was kind of where I started to just find inspiration. I can't remember who it was exactly, but they had started kind of telling me about their little sourdough era. LEAH LEMM: Well, sourdough is super like during the pandemic, right? ALEYNA MORALES: It was, yeah. That's kind of cool. And they're like, well, maybe you know, maybe it would be something that you'd be interested in, you know? It teaches you patience, you have to take care of something that's not the easiest thing, but when you, when you master it, it feels amazing. But yeah, I'd say that was kind of my introduction to baking, and my own sourdough starter from scratch, so I was nursing that. For I'd say at least three months. And then I made my first loaf, and I mastered it, and I was like, "Dang, like on my first try." I was so excited about it, creating something that I nursed from, you know, just like this tiny little, this tiny little pool issue, and then it kind of grew, and then I had, like, these perfect sourdough loaves. LEAH LEMM: Ooh. ALEYNA MORALES: I did kind of make the mistake, I think, of starting my business before I was ready. I had had a couple people, like, I posted it on Facebook, because I was like, "Look, it, like, I made these loaves my first try." I had a couple people reach out to me, like, "Are you selling?" "Well, no, but maybe that's something that I could be doing." LEAH LEMM: How do you start sourdough from scratch? ALEYNA MORALES: It starts literally with just water and flour, and two types of flour. So, you have to do the einkorn flour or rye. I started with rye, that's kind of what helps, like with the fermentation and like the growth of it, and then you know you're just your really high protein bread flour, it helps it get its structure, you know, you just kind of feed it every day, one to one to one ratio. I would say in like three months, I feel is when it's really ready for you to kind of start. Takes a lot, it's a lot of patience. I'm really, really proud of the fact that I was able to kind of do my own starter. It's definitely something that I could have just asked a friend, or you know, bought offline, but because you can get like the dehydrated starter and grow it from there. But I was like, if I'm really going to do this, like, I want to make sure that I start it from the ground up. LEAH LEMM: Right, like an Aleyna original. ALEYNA MORALES: Yes, so I was like, you know what, this is the way to go. And then I kind of grew from there. There was a lot of people that really wanted my bread, and I think I was like my fifth or sixth loaves that I had that I had ended up selling to people, and they were like, you should start a business, and I was like, if I'm ready for that, but maybe it kind of like spread through word of mouth, and then I also just kind of love photography in general, so I think that kind of made it like look really tasty and enticing, so people were like, let me get that bread, yeah. LEAH LEMM: Well, okay, not to belabor the sourdough, but can you tell a difference between different sourdough breads? What makes different sourdoughs different or unique? ALEYNA MORALES: I would say the process. I remember going on TikTok and trying to find videos of information I was just trying to, like, really just cram all the information that I possibly could into my, you know, into my brain, so that I could, you know, that I could keep it alive, and then also that I could keep a consistent product. There's a lot of information out there, there's a lot of different processes, there's a lot of different ingredients that go into sourdough, definitely process was a huge one for me, that was kind of hard for me to navigate. Some people, you know, they'll get a great rise if they start from a cold pan. Well, I tried that and it turned out like a hockey puck, but for some people it works. I actually have a friend in Duluth that does fully fresh milled sourdough, and it's beautiful. Oh my gosh. LEAH LEMM: What does fresh milled mean? ALEYNA MORALES: She gets the wheat berries and she'll mill them, and that's kind of where I'm trying to go. Like, I really want to get berries and mill my own flour, I just have to have the room to do so. But yeah, definitely the process, the ingredients. I know a lot of different sourdough bakers in my area, and we all have like a very good product, but it's never the same. LEAH LEMM: Well, and you do other baked goods as well. Do you have like a favorite that you make? ALEYNA MORALES: So I make conchas. I think that's one of my favorites. LEAH LEMM: What are conchas? ALEYNA MORALES: It's pan dulce. It's a traditional Mexican bread dessert enjoyed with like coffee or Abuelitas or chocolate, hot chocolate. And I just remember growing up, my grandpa used to make them every Sunday, and I remember just being a little kid, always like super excited, sitting in front of the oven, the smell of the bread, and it's one of my favorite memories. And so I was like, I have to bring it back. I was never able to get my hands on his exact recipe, which I wish I could. I kind of made my own little version of it, and I live in kind of an area where it's not incredibly diverse, so whenever I went to the farmers market with it, you know, a lot of people were like, "What is that? Wow, like, what is that? I've never heard of those," and I'm like, "Here, have a free sample," and I've had returning customers for them, like it's definitely one of my best sellers, and it's just, it's kind of like a connection to, like, my other roots as well. Well, I love my Native roots, but I also love my Mexican roots as well. So that was very, very near and dear to me. LEAH LEMM: You're listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Today, we're speaking with Aleyna Morales. Aleyna is from the Fond du Lac Band community, and is the creator and baker behind Baked to Bliss by Laney. So, is child Aleyna surprised that you are now a baker? ALEYNA MORALES: I think up until the age of 25 I could not bake, no idea how to cook. Everything that I made was just an absolute utter fail. I never gave up, though. I really am shocked that the path that I chose I actually mastered it, and I think that's what dragged me from the depths of my self-doubt, was just like, wow, look at, you know, something that you never really thought that you would ever be able to do now. I have a whole business out of it. Oh yeah, it's, it's really shocking, but really, really a pleasant surprise. LEAH LEMM: Well, I think baking is hard. I do, but I do like cooking. I feel like that's a little bit easier for me. We're all right, we do okay. So, before then, before baking, what would you have expected to have done, or what was your passion at the time? ALEYNA MORALES: I always had a passion in the arts, so when I was a kid, I was very, very heavily into, like, sketching. I remember going outside with my sketchbook, because I was the middle child, so you're not saying like you get ignored or neglected, but kind of forge your own way. LEAH LEMM: Yeah, see, I, that's why I wish Cole were here today. ALEYNA MORALES: Yeah. LEAH LEMM: My co-host, he's, he's a middle child, so I'm the eldest. ALEYNA MORALES: It's fun being a middle child, but it's also kind of like, yeah, you kind of find your own way and forge your own way. And I remember being a kid, and I would go outside with my sketchbook, and I would like, lay underneath the trees, and like draw all the branches, and I think there are a few trees out there too, with a few of my carvings. I remember, you know, going and taking art classes, all of my gifts, you know, they were all like handmade, sketched, or painted. I've always really gravitated towards creating things. I thought for sure I was going to be an artist. LEAH LEMM: Sounds like you are, though. ALEYNA MORALES: Yeah, in a different way. And I think that's kind of what I love about what I do now. I can kind of find a way to intertwine those two worlds. So it was really cool, but you know, my household, my dad was always kind of like, oh, well, you can't make any money from art, you're not gonna, you know, like, you can't make any money from being an artist. So then I was like, okay, well, dance, I could be a choreographer, and you know, going to powwows, it was a really cool, you know, fun experience for me as well, because I loved dancing, so I don't know, like, I never really had a plan. I just knew that I wanted to do something artistic with my life. It took a really long time for me to get here. I'm 30, I think 33 now, and you know, there's a lot of self-doubt that kind of creeped up in, in me in a way that really, I think, stunted where I could have been, you know, if I just would have believed in myself more, I would have had people that believed in me more. I think that I could have gotten here faster, I guess. So, childhood me is really proud of myself, though, because I kind of proved everybody wrong, that feels good. LEAH LEMM: Well, as we kind of wind down our conversation here, I want to ask, what gives you the fuel to keep going to stay motivated in your work day to day? ALEYNA MORALES: Definitely, my kids. My kids have seen me sadly, they just have seen me at some of my lowest points, and I really just like it. Just hurts me to like even think about that now. But they've seen me at some of my weakest and lowest moments, and I feel like, you know, kids shouldn't have to see that, and I think that once I found my purpose, and I found my happiness, and I found my success, you know, they really, really kind of, I hear it every day from them, like, "I'm so proud of you, Mom, wow, look at what you made." You know, they're my hype men, they're really a huge motivator in my life. Not only are they super proud of me, but they're also just like, "You're so happy, Mom, you were so sad for a really long time, but now look at how happy you are." And that really just keeps me going. I feel like, in a way, I kind of owe it to them. I also owe it to, like, my energy child, as well, I'd say that's one of my number one motivators right there. And then we live in an area, it's crazy, because when we used to go to markets and stuff, I would have my cards out and people would pick them up and they'd be like, Manoomin Road, what, like you're on Manoomin? Because you know I live in a not so great area. It was just really crazy, like getting that, getting that reaction at first. For me, it was kind of hurtful as time went on, and we started to legitimize more my vision, you know, being able to come together, me being able to kind of really grow and master my craft and my business. It was almost like a badge of honor. Yeah, this is where I came from. This is where I am now, and I think that is a really big motivator for me as well, because there is a lot of, there's a lot of misconceptions of, you know, the people that are here. There's great people on the reservation that, you know, Jackson being one of them, young entrepreneurs that you know are kind of coming in behind our businesses as well, you know, with coffee or baked goods or car detailing, like it's really important to me that you know I keep, keep going with this, and I keep growing it, because I want to show those kids, I want to show the younger generation that it doesn't matter where you're from. I'm in one of the worst areas that would be, you know, considered one of the worst areas on the reservation, and I grew something from here, and you know it's, it's a success, and it's going somewhere, and I really feel like our people need, need that, like they need to see it really doesn't matter where you come from, or you know what you grow up with, you can be successful no matter where you are, if you just put, you know, your heart into it. And that really is, I think, a major motivator for me as well, it's hard not to get emotional about it, because I really didn't think that this is where my life was going to go. And I didn't really think that I could build something here, and I really did, and it's, it's important to me that I see this through, for, you know, them. What can I do going forward, like, what could it actually be, and I think that's really important too, for me to be able to see it through and be able to grow it, because you know, I, you know, obviously I'm doing something right. Right? [Music: Native Lights Theme] LEAH LEMM: That was Aleyna Morales. Aleyna's from the Fond du Lac Band community and is the creator and baker behind Baked to Bliss by Laney. Gosh, it's so important to just take time to think about how you can give back to community, especially when things seem really dark. You know, a lot of people have struggles, and it just seems like finding that purpose just helps pull one out of that darkness, at least to some degree. So, Chi Miigwech, Aleyna. Thank you so much, and thank you for listening. I'm Leah Lemm. Giga-waabamin. You're listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous Voices Shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.