Introducing:

Rachel

Baker & Kitchen Manager. Voted “Most likely to finish the New York Times Crossword”

“I have to pinch myself when I think about how I Do This For a Living™”

On How She Got Here

Food has always been a big part of Rachel’s life. Baking is a consistent source of comfort for her: a distraction and refuge. Something to occupy her hands and mind.

Before BBU, Rachel worked alongside kitchens in hotels for several years. In 2015, she abandoned hospitality for a brief stint in Ottawa’s local trade: politics. As it happens in politics, Rachel soon found herself unemployed in an unfamiliar city. Her best friend encouraged her to enroll in pastry school and within a week, she was doing it. After graduating, she found a job in a local bakery, and reluctantly began putting down roots. Upon moving to Hintonburg, her luck continued when, one day, the bakery down the street posted a baking position on their sandwich board. Her aspiration to be a known regular at the neighbourhood café transformed into a desire to be a baker at the neighbourhood bakery and, thankfully, she applied. 6 years have passed, and she’s still (not so) reluctantly putting down roots.

On Rising to the Occasion

Rachel is a deeply talented baker, and like many, she sometimes hasn’t fully internalized that knowledge. In her own words:

I’m not sure that feeling will ever go away, but even if I can’t convince my brain I’m a professional, my body might believe it. At work, when my brain isn’t working quite right, my hands still know how to craft something out of nothing, how to take flour, water, yeast, and salt, and make magic. The fulfillment I felt when I first started at BBU is the same I feel now. I get to come in every day and bake bread, and feel good and nourished by the knowledge that I made something that will give people happiness and nourishment. The only difference now is that I get to teach others how to do it too, and that the sense of responsibility and ownership and pride over how we get our food out into the world is a little more formalized.

On Life Outside BBU

Rachel cares deeply about social and political activism. She believes that local politics are arguably the most vital.

She is a would-be avid runner, a pandemic-induced amateur embroiderer, and otherwise total homebody. While the past few years have made her long for get-togethers with friends and public events, most days she is content to stay home with her partner & dog, a home cooked meal, a fancy cocktail, and her plants.

On Leadership

When I was a kid, sick days meant one thing: I got to stay home on a weekday and watch Star Trek: TNG with my mom. Captain Jean-Luc Picard will always be my Number One and has remained the blueprint for a leader in my book. He’s bold, self-assured, passionate about learning, and unwilling to accept less than satisfactory solutions. While he can be stubborn to a fault on occasion, he’s never unpersuadable.

There’s something both unattainable and relatable about Picard’s decision making abilities–he always seems to have all the answers, but more importantly, when he doesn’t, he has the tools to find them. Creating a space that fosters that type of curiosity and commitment to problem solving in something to strive for.

He’s also a bit of a grump who, for all his work-a-holic tendencies, just wants to retire to a sunny little vineyard and read. Aspirational.

On Hope

Rachel’s hope for BBU’s future is both humble and profound: she wants to make sure we can keep doing this. She believes that making food for someone is the most powerful expression of love. She recognizes how special it is to get to be a part of that. Rachel thinks and cares a lot about how to make the work we do sustainable into the long term.