Buffalo Boss Babe: Women Owners of BreadHive
Today’s Buffalo Boss Babes are Allison, Emily, Elizabeth, Maddee, Maggie, Val, Kelly, Chelsea and Mary Grace the owners of BreadHive! We chatted with them about Business and what it means to be a Boss Babe! Check out their answers below.
photo credit: Allison Ewing
What made you start or brought you where you are today? Tell us your Story. What makes you a Buffalo Boss Babe?
We are nine women who own BreadHive, the West Side's favorite place to get a bagel sandwich! We opened five years ago with the mission of creating meaningful jobs & great food, and forged our way in a community of business owners that is predominantly male (yes it does include women too and we love them.) We built a worker-owned business we're proud of, which means that most of us started off as employees! We strive to be an inclusive and empowering employer, because nothing is more important at work than being encouraged to be your best and truest self. That is why we started a small business at all! That and unlimited access to soft pretzels. Full disclosure: the tenth owner is a dude.
photo credit: Allison Ewing
What does being a Buffalo Boss Babe mean to you?
Buffalo is where we live, many of us within walking/biking distance of the bakery & cafe. Boss because as owners in a co-op, we share control of all decision making and have the agency to be responsible for our own happiness and creating an encouraging, efficient workplace for our employees. Babe... one time a chef called two of us "sexy bread babes" and we still want to deck him, so who knows.
photo credit: Allison Ewing
Who are your favorite people to follow?
We love @breadbakersguild for featuring consistently drool-worthy baked goods & comrades in the baking industry. @breadfaceblog is a treasure. And @golden_beets is where we get the patches, hats & pins all of our customers ask about when we're wearing them!
What are your favorite things to do in the area? Buffalo and greater WNY
Obviously the common thread among the nine of us is eating... so none of us would be disappointed by a visit anywhere tasty, from the West Side Bazaar to apple picking to browsing the farmers market if we're not working already on Saturday!
photo credit: Allison Ewing
Tell us about your favorite collaboration or dream collaborations ?
Oh man. Collaborating is our favorite thing to do, and the food community in WNY is so open to it! We've been in cahoots with Public Espresso since the very beginning: they roast a signature BreadHive Blend of coffee that is the only thing we serve here, and we use any leftover coffee in our pumpernickel bread. Barrel + Brine is another close relationship: we use their ferments on our sandwiches, have their kombucha on tap, make Pickle Rye with their dill pickle juice, and last year we had a corn festival on our patio together.
photo credit: Allison Ewing
If you could have coffee with anyone in the world who would it be?
Not to be a complete cliche, but probably Martha Stewart. If you don't follow her personal instagram, you are making a big mistake.
What are your hopes, dreams, goals. Big or small?
We want to see more women in ownership positions in the food world! And we want to see a culture that is more accepting of women at work, especially in food jobs, without having to conform to a hostile culture or deal with harassment and innuendo. We're looking forward to a day where women are on an equal footing and we can use our power together to create a culture where, if you have to operate in capitalism to survive, you can at least feel safe & productive & valued at work. And we want all of this for people outside the gender binary as well.
photo credit: Allison Ewing
FEEL GOOD FAVORITES:
Food: Pretzels
Color: Gold
Super Power: Multitasking
Animal : Dogs!!!
Season of the year: Summer -> Fall
Favorite thing about Buffalo: How supportive our community is!
How cool that all of these women (and man) worked together and built BreadHive! Follow along on their baking journey: @breadhive or in person on Connecticut St. in the heart of the West Side.
Until next time babes!
xoxo
Emmily
