The Next Chapter of The Women's Bakery

In times of change we reflect on the past and plan for the future. Making sense of what we have been through is important in growing the business.  

I’ve spent the past three and a half years helping to build operations for The Women’s Bakery in Rwanda. It was more than just a job to me. Little pieces of me are intertwined in the fabric of the business such as obscure interview questions, my old books for sale in the Flagship café, and professional development courses on knitting. I feel lucky to have been a part of building a business that has had such a positive impact on the lives of women. And, I am even more excited that there are fabulous groups of women running all our bakeries and corporate operations.   

While I am sad to leave, I am confident and excited for what lies ahead for The Women’s Bakery. Change is the cornerstone of growth. And, I expect, impactful changes for the company moving forward. 

In the past three months we have been able to install Bakery Operations Managers and Program Managers at our Gicumbi, Kagina, and Kigali bakeries. We have successfully transitioned a Program Manager to Deputy Director of Operations. And, five out of seven Bakery Operations Managers, Program Managers, and operations staff have been working at The Women’s Bakery for more than a year. They are well equipped to lead The Women’s Bakery into its next chapter of growth. 

Some things our supporters in the U.S. and customers in Rwanda can look forward to in our next chapter include advanced inventory tracking systems, creative marketing tactics, enhanced skills development for Bakery Operations Managers, and improved ovens and mixers to cut production time.  

What will make all these things possible is The Women’s Bakery team. And, I couldn’t be more excited for the hardworking and passionate team we have in place and for the contributions they will make. Let the business rise #breadpower.

Building the Plane

At The Women’s Bakery, I work with an incredible team of individuals. Singular people represent entire departments of our business, from Human Resources to Finance to IT to Logistics and Operations, launching and supporting bakeries all over East Africa.

Many of you may have heard the expression “building the plane as you fly it.” I, quite frankly, could suggest that that expresssion sums up a large majority of my daily experiences at The Women’s Bakery in Kigali, Rwanda. As the Program Manager for our Kigali Flagship Bakery and Café, I, along with our renaissance team, have been building our plane as we go. From design and menu to operations systems, accounting systems, inventory systems, customer care manuals and standards, health intervention policies, protocol for working with other businesses, tour packages,  the list continues for days as to the elements of our Flagship plane that we continue to grow, expand and invest in.  

It’s really quite an exciting time to be a part of The Women’s Bakery. Our goals right now include focusing on proving our model and reaching profitability at all of the bakeries we own. It’s seemingly an ever chagning target with one very real win in mind—to provide truly sustainable, gainful employment for women. Bakeries are our medium, good business is our standard, and women’s empowerment is our end game. But that takes time, resources, management, skills transfer, systems, cashflows—the extent of which I might say has surprised us all.

But here’s the best silver lining there is—by building the plane as we fly it, we get to build the best darn businesses possible as well as develop and advance our own professional skills. We are truly the experts in the nitty gritty. We are the pilots who never lack the investment or zeal to see the manufacturing of this beast through. We bust through barriers on a daily basis as we seek to build around the details that unfold. We adapt, innovate, and lead together. As we climb in altitude,  we are confident that an entire team of women (and men) will fly in the sleekest, cutting edge plane on the market, bursting through the clouds with resilience and pride.

Entrepreneurship requires grit, courage and patience. As a business, we must continue to build, even when we can’t find the parts or the entire model shifts (plane, business, or otherwise).  

What is your #breadpower? What social impact are you passionate about that requires you to build your own plane? 

 Let the women of The Women’s Bakery inspire you—it can be done. It is being done. We may not have always been experts in plane (or bakery) building, but our team has worked hard in creating the plane you see today. It’s a journey none of us may have expected, but here we are flying in it.

Where will your plane take you?  

TWB Rwanda's 2nd Annual Team Retreat

written by TWB Operations Intern, Martha Mukakalisa

On the 24th of January, The Women’s Bakery team in Rwanda held our annual retreat in Gisenyi (Rubavu District).

All together, we were a team of 12, all as staff and interns working with The Women’s Bakery. We had the added benefit of also having the founder of TWB (Markey Culver) and co-founder (Julie Greene), too.

The main purpose of the retreat was to review how 2017 went what we want 2018 to look like. This was achieved through presentations on organizational culture, alignment, project reports, and updates on marketing plans, curriculum updates, and model adaptations.  

During the retreat conversations and sessions, we were sure to always come back to the overall mission and vision of our organization: TWB exists to create access to education to ensure sustainable gainful, employment for women, and for improved health for the women (as well as the communities in which we work).

We also had time to build relationships on the through playing some engaging games, providing feedback to one another, and of course, sharing food together. Aime, our Training Manager, led many of these team-building sessions, and with 12 people, it was a great way to enhance camaraderie on our team.

At the end of the retreat we revisited the mission and the vision of TWB as well as the goals of 2018.

The goals of 2018 are big: to bring the existing bakeries to breakeven and profitability, to test the proposed model for success at Gicumbi (the new bakery), and to ensure that the bakeries consistently produce and sell high quality and nutritious products.