Growth & Reflection

The story of TWB, in its entirety, includes the courage and the bold persistence of others.

I finished the Peace Corps in Rwanda in November 2012 and returned home to the United States, as did Co-Founder and Co-Director, Julie Greene. I then went back to Rwanda independently, against several family members’ and friends’ “better judgement” appeals, to build the Rwanda Women’s Bakery with my brother, David, from June – November 2013. We launched that bakery in September and it operated semi-successfully for about 6 months. Then, in March 2014, I got a call at 4am from the women in Rwanda saying, essentially, it was over. The bakery had failed. And in turn, I felt I had failed the women.

In December 2013, I had met the dynamic mother-daughter duo, Julie and Natalie Hornsby. Both Julie and Natalie had just visited Rwanda, on an insight trip for a well-known micro-financing organization, Opportunity International. Inspired, they were ready to roll up their sleeves and personally build something that mattered. When we met, it felt both fortuitous and timely.  

Julie and Natalie Hornsby were ready – ready to invest in this bakery idea and help the idea grow. However, I wasn’t so convinced. I was ready to stay in the United States. HOWEVER, contradictorily, I fervently believed in the bakery idea and wanted to build it. I knew the model could work.

Julie and Natalie Hornsby recognized my conflicted desires and pushed me toward the bakery. Natalie pushed gently. She was a constant source of encouragement. Together, we dreamed how and why the model could work, building the initial framework. Julie pushed consistently yet patiently. She listened to my dreams and fears, always cheering for the dreams.

One night in April 2014, however, Julie had heard enough of my waffling. She looked me straight in the eye and said, “That’s it. We’re doing this. You WILL build this bakery business and we are going to help you.”

Ok, I thought, here we go.

Julie & Natalie Hornsby

Then the question became, “How do I do this? How do I improve this bakery model, or rather, how do I build a model that works?” So, I called the smartest, most capable human I know – Julie Greene. If anyone could help me analyze the existing model, understand what didn’t work and why, and adapt the model for success, it was Julie Greene.

I went to visit Julie Greene in Denver and pitched the idea of building TWB in May 2014. It worked. Julie was in. Like all in. Emboldened and motivated by Julie Greene’s commitment, I returned to St. Louis to inform Julie and Natalie Hornsby that, finally, I too was all in. Julie and Natalie Hornsby jumped at my moment of certainty. They were all in.

Julie & Natalie climbing (and finishing!) the trek on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, simultaneous to visiting TWB's first training in Tanzania.  

For the remainder of 2014, the four of us built the initial model for The Women’s Bakery. We launched in Tanzania in February of 2015 and shortly thereafter welcomed our two additional founding members, Meg and Heather, shortly followed by our rock-star Rwandan team Aime, Yvonne, and Denyse.

In business school, the term used to refer to this courageous group of people is “early adopters.” This means they see and believe in a product, or an idea, before anyone else does. Julie and Natalie Hornsby, thank you for recognizing an idea worth building. Julie Greene, thank you believing in, actualizing, and leading this idea. Meg North and Heather Newell, thank you for enhancing this idea and propelling into a real model.

Thank you all for helping to build The Women’s Bakery.

Women Can!

As in many other countries, Rwanda celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th.

This year’s theme was “Women in the Changing World of Work”.

The current workplace (globally) is changing each day, with significant implications for women. If they don’t have potential support they will be staying behind men, especially in job markets. Many women are in the informal economy and domestic work, and are concentrated in lower-paid, lower-skill occupations with little or no social protection.

The Women’s Bakery is playing a vital role in creating jobs opportunities for women and empowering them, especially for those who are from underprivileged families. At TWB, these trained women get permanent jobs and participate in family and country development.

Women can change the world once they have means. Women can do everything men can do. Women have changed their mindset and are keen to contribute to development and making changes in their communities.  

At TWB we have started inspiring other women by using a bike in our sales; a woman will be riding and selling along the way.

In Rwanda, riding bikes is traditionally only done by boys and men, due to stereotypes and myths about the effects bicycle riding has on a girl’s virginity or a woman’s sex drive.

We believe that teaching women to ride bikes and to use them for the development of their business will empower other women who are still shy to try to do something different. We believe in women’s capabilities. We believe in empowerment for all. 

#breadpower #womencan #womensempowerment

Bread in the Hills

As the first TWB Rwanda training group continues to learn and grow the business in Kigali, our team has been planning for our next training cohort in Rutsiro District, a cool four hour drive from Kigali. Set atop high terraced hills and overlooking all of Lake Kivu, the training site is stunning. Yet contrasted with this beauty, the district is cited as having the highest malnutrition rates in Rwanda.  Though the area, like all of Rwanda, is heavily farmed, most of the crops lack vital micro-nutrients, and meals tend to be made up primarily of foods such as potatoes and cassava.

This is exactly what inspired myself and Markey during our Peace Corps days to start making nutritious foods at home with what was available at market--  from cabbage and carrot salads to peanut flour fortified banana breads to our own peanut butter and fresh rosemary loafs. The ingredients exist locally, but the education surrounding a nutritive meal and balanced diet often does not.

Located on the western edge of Rwanda, this will be TWB’s most rural site to date, and will also be our largest collaborative training effort yet. TWB will focus particularly on delivering our nutrition curriculum along with bread baking and fortified recipe development using local crops, while area based organizations and the current Peace Corps Volunteer at site will continue to deliver life skills, business education, and financial literacy courses to the 18-woman co-op. By expanding throughout both urban and rural areas in Rwanda, we aim to tackle malnutrition and bolster economic opportunity in a very real way.