Earlier this week I went out to find a place of employment. I haven’t looked for a job in 2.5 years and so I was a little bit nervous as I entered all a variety of stores to ask the question “Do you have any open positions?” Each place, and each time I asked this question I was met with some derivation of “Nope, we don’t have any open positions, but we are always accepting applications.” After hearing this a haldful of times I mosied on home. While on the drive home I had the idea that I would hop on craigslist and look for temp jobs on there, like dogsitting, housesitting, tutoring, and such. But before I made it to the temp jobs I clicked on “retail/food/hosp” link. I scrolled down through the most recent posts and found one that happened to be in my neighborhood — so I clicked on it. The job read something like this, “Part-time Baker needed.” For some reason the thought of being a baker interested me and so I picked up the phone and dialed the number to see if the position was still available. An man named Nate answered the phone and I told him I was interested in the job, he told me to stop in the next day for an interview. I then updated my resume and looked at some websites that discussed typical interview questions.
The next day I went in for my interview and was met by an extremely tired Nate who was currently frustrated with the Satellite radio that had just been installed. You see, Nate and his wife Dayspring had just bought the bakery 6 days prior and 4 days prior the headchef decided not to come into work. So Nate had his wife were not only getting used to owning their first small business, but they were also being the main bakers.
The interview began, right from the get-go I could tell it was going to be an ‘informal’ interview (the better type in my opinion). I had told Nate on the phone the day prior that I was a graduate student but had not told him where. So one of his first questions was, “So where do you go to school.” I told him Mars Hill Graduate School and he proceeded to say, “Oh, I’ve heard of that.” At this point I was a bit skeptical as most people in Seattle have never heard of us (something I’m ashamed of) and those that think they have heard of us have actually heard about the Mega-church of Mars Hill on the outskirts of Seattle. But in this case, he actually had heard of us — because he has a friend that is coming out in the spring to check the school out — and not only this, but his friend goes to Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville Michigan. He followed this up by saying that he graduated from Colorado Christian and his wife graduated from Wheaton College. At this point there were too many connections for me just to dismiss this as ‘ironic.’
About 30 minutes later the interview was over and Nate invited me to ‘try them out’ by coming in for a morning shift (4 a.m. - noon). I told him I would have to look at my calendar and I would call him. I did just that, and told him that I could work Saturday morning. He siad, “Alright, I’ll see you at 3:30 a.m.”
WHOA THAT’S EARLY — but I did it — and even more I enjoyed it – and took the job.
I am now, officially, employed as a part-time Baker at Great Harvest Bread Company. I work two days a week from 4a.m. - noon and I make anything from bread to scones to cheese sticks to cinnamon rolls to energy bars to muffins to brownies.
This should be fun, and as the job develops I will share some of the philosophical reasons why I took the job (as a teaser, third places and sustainable agriculture are some categories to think in).
peace
Joel
p.s. Back in December Brooke said that as soon as I get a job after the holiday’s I can get an ipod — so I did just that today. I bought a 30 gb black ipod and Brooke bought an ipod shuffle.
Well. You always did like to bake when you were little. Whenever I made anything for baking,you wanted to “help”. And now you are getting paid to do it. Have fun and go to bed earlier on those evenings before you work. (A mother has the perogative to say that……)
Thanks mom. There certainly is something rewarding about baking. I get to make something from scratch and then taste the final product. And now, I get to watch the final product be sold and listen to people say, “Oh, good bread.” and such.
Joel
ohhh…I’m jealous; that should be tasty and rewarding–great skills to have now matter what.
[…] Today was my last day working as a part-time baker at Great Harvest Sandpoint. It is the end of a part-time job that I took to help pay the bills while still in graduate school but held onto for 6 months after graduate school ended. It was fun to go back and read about taking the job. It is sad that I had to finally give up the job, as I did enjoy it. But with the upcoming move (in 16 days) to South Lake Union it was time to say goodbye. Nate and Dayspring Schlachter, the owners of the bakery and my boss were excellent to work for. The motto of Great Harvest is “Be loose and have fun. Make phenomenal Bread. Run fast to help customers. Create Strong Exciting Bakeries. And give generously to others.” and Nate and Dayspring certainly embody all these. More than once I have seen Dayspring run across the bakery to help a customer, or Nate give out free samples of coffee, bread, or muffins. Their generosity not only spills into customers but also into their employees. When we had to come in at midnight for holidays we would always have a fresh supply of vegetables and fruit, gatorade, and pizza to help make it through the night. So thank you Nate and Dayspring to being who you are to your employees and you the company you work for. And here’s to the next chapter of friendship. Washers on the roof deck, fires on the roof deck, New Belgium Beers at Nana’s, and soon-to-be road trips to Fort Collins as well as soon-to-be camping trips. […]