Realfoodology - 16: How This Keto Bakery is Thriving During The Pandemic

Episode Date: December 18, 2020

I talk with Mina of Misfits Bakehouse about moving to the US at 16 from Egypt, gaining weight, then ultimately gaining his health back through the keto diet and how he started his paleo/keto/grain free bakery. The story of how he turned his bakery into a thriving business amidst a global pandemic is truly inspiring. This episode is a little different from our normal episodes, but his persistence and the way people showed up for him was a story I felt that we needed to hear more than ever right now! https://www.misfits.kitchen/Code REALFOODOLOGY saves you $ at checkout!

on today's episode of the Real Foodology Podcast. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. It's like, I knew a lot of people needed this. And I wasn't even looking at particularly people like me. I didn't expect people that are going for just weight loss. There's people with chronic illnesses that need to eat this way. My own parents are diabetics. There is, you know, of course, you know, people with celiac and I have customers with all different conditions

that have to eat that way. And they were completely underserved. Hi, guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Real Foodology podcast. I'm your host, Courtney Swan. Today's episode is a little bit different than what we normally do here because it's not so much health-focused as it is just a truly heartwarming, inspirational story. And I thought more than ever right now, we need to hear this, you know, these kinds of stories because it's so inspirational to hear how people truly step up for others in time of need. I interview Mina from Misfits Bakehouse,

which is a paleo, keto, grain-free bakery in Northern California. And we actually met just through Instagram a couple months ago, because he had reached out asking if he could send me his grain-free bread. And then we just started talking on Instagram. And then of course, when I brought Anya Fernald on the podcast, who is the founder of Belcampo, and she uses his grain-free keto buns for her keto burgers, she told me a little bit about his story.

And I was so inspired by it that I actually reached out to him. I asked if he would come on the podcast and tell it. So there's a little bit of health themes weaved in. He talks about how he moved here from Egypt and how the food terrain is so different compared to, you know, here in the United States compared to Egypt where he grew up. He talks about how he gained weight and really lost his health for a while and how he got it back doing the keto diet. And that's not even the inspirational part of the story. So I'm really excited for you guys to hear it. I was actually so blown away that I, I mean, I cried basically with him at the end. Had I not been miked up and on air, I probably would have honestly like really cried pretty

hard about it just because it's, yeah, it's such an inspirational story. And like I said, in the beginning of my intro, I just was so touched by, um, by how many people really showed up for, for him when he was in need. I don't want to give anything else away. I just really want you guys to hear this story. And more importantly, Misfits Bakehouse ships nationwide. They have some of the best bread that I've ever had and their tortillas are insane. Um, I will definitely be ordering more very soon cause I'm obsessed with everything. He makes a focaccia bread, the baklava, um, which I'm trying to remember how to say it in the

traditional way. My Israeli friend was trying to teach me how to say it, and I feel like I'm going to mess it up. So baklava it is, but it's keto, grain-free, and it's some of the best baklava I've ever had in my life. He did not ask me to say this, but they do ship nationwide. And, oh, but he did give me a code for you guys. So make sure that you go to MisfitsBakehouse.com and use code REALFOODOLOGY to save some money on truly incredible grain-free keto baked goods. And with that, let's get to the episode. Imagine having a metabolic coach in your pocket that you could access at any point, any time in the day, whenever you want. That's what Lumen is. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. It's a device that measures your metabolism through your breath. And on the app, it lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs and gives you tailored

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the next step in improving your health, go to lumen.me and use RealFoodology to get $100 off your Lumen. That is L-U-M-E-N dot M-E and use Real Foodology at checkout for $100 off. Thank you so much to Lumen for sponsoring this episode. This is really exciting. Organifi now has kid stuff. They just released two kid products. One is called Easy Greens and it's a refreshing green apple juice where kids will never know that it's packed with veggies.

And the other one is called Protect. It's a delicious wild berry punch like the Kool-Aid that we used to have as a kid, but without any sugar. This is really exciting. And if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Organifi and most specifically because every single product that they make is glyphosate residue free. So you know that you're going to be able to give these powders to your kids and know that they will be able to consume them safely without any glyphosate in it. So let's break down each one. The Easy Greens is a nourishing and delicious blend of superfoods and veggies that provides essential nutrients, probiotics, and digestive enzymes to bring balance to kids' growing bodies without fillers, additives, or junk. It helps to

fill in nutritional gaps, aids in growth and development, supports digestive health, has a rich micronutrient profile, and includes digestive enzymes. This would be a great way to sneak in greens for your little one without them actually knowing that it's healthy for them. And the second one, which is the wild berry punch similar to Kool-Aid, is called Protect, and it is to support your child's daily immune health with food-derived nutrients that work to strengthen their body's first line of defense. I know just through girlfriends of mine that have children that when your kids are going to school going to daycare they're coming home sick a lot more often just because they're getting exposed to different kids and different viruses when they're out in the world playing with kids so this would be a great

way to help to support your little one's immune health it's organic and it's also made with real whole food ingredients it has a delicious berry taste and it's low sugar and it's gentle enough for kids to take every single day. And I really love the ingredients in this one. It's orange and acerol cherry, which is a powerful source of vitamin C and antioxidants, astragalus, elderberry, and propolis. These are all really great for overall immune health. If you want to try the products that I talked about today or any of the Organifi products, go to Organifi.com slash realfoodology and use code realfoodology for 20% off. Again, that's Organifi. It's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I dot com slash realfoodology. Cool. Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming on, Mina.

Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, I'm very excited to hear your story because I haven't even heard your full story yet. So for everyone listening, why don't you start out just telling everyone a little bit about yourself and about Misfits Bakehouse and kind of how, yeah, how you got here? Sure. So technically the journey started in 2012. I was very heavy. I was probably close to 500 pounds. But to be honest with you, I don't know an exact number because, you know, home scales, consumer scales have a limit of like 450 to 460. So after, you know, when I weighed myself once with 460, I could never find out how much I weighed. And it's not like it was something that I wanted to know. I grew up your typical nerd. I love electronics and computers.

And my first Commodore 64 knockoff back in Egypt. That was like the big thing. And I would spend all my summers playing with it. And I wasn't very active. And this, like, I didn't even learn how to ride a bike until I was 27, 28. Me and my family moved to the U.S. in January of 2000. I was 16, and that's when I started college, studying electrical engineering. Wow. So from there, so you went to college, and then, so I'm very curious, having lived your childhood in Egypt and then moving here to America, what was your experience when you came over here with the food? And because, you know, we always hear in America, I mean, we know that America is one of the most unhealthiest countries in the world when it comes to food.

Did you notice a difference when you first got here? Was it over time or were you guys kind of aware? I mean, so in Asia, because again, you know, like I went to high school, it was a private school. So a lot of my friends and colleagues in high school, they had traveled a lot, right? So I always heard about how crazy the food is in the U S and you know, how, how, like, even though we did have McDonald's and KFC and all that in Egypt,

they would always say like, Oh my God, you know, what we see in the U S is ridiculous, right? Like the size of that big Mac or whatever it was called back then. The, you know, one of those like quad burgers or whatever it was called back then, you know, one of those quad burgers or whatever at different places. But it didn't hit until we actually moved here to actually see it and experience it. But in the same time, it's like, it was amazing how many options you have available here versus Egypt, right?

And, you know, healthier food is, I guess, expensive, but it's more accessible in a way here. And if you look around enough, you can still get healthier versions. In Egypt, we wouldn't even hear about back then. And just to put in perspective this was like we left Egypt in December of 99 this was very recent right like to hear about organic food is like what what is organic even right when we hear people like yeah it's organic and you know we have whole foods here and all different like high-end grocery

stores and stuff and Egypt you don't know about this stuff you don't hear about it it's not you know like common knowledge right um but so it was on one hand yes all the quote-unquote junk food and fast food is plentiful here right but also the healthier version of everything is also plentiful um like even you know middle eastern stores where you can um you know buy food that would you know my mom would cook at home it was amazing because just because of how the population of people from the middle East is spread out, you're not going to have an Egyptian food store or a Lebanese or whatever. It's like only one grocery store that combines all the different countries' necessities.

So it was really cool to see all that stuff. Yeah, I mean, I think if it comes down to it, is we have more options here than we did in Egypt. And I can see where that would be overwhelming and would feed into the, oh, why should I cook this when I can have that, right? That's like something from McDonald's or Burger King or whatever. So yeah, the food system here is more complicated to navigate. Okay. Well, that's really interesting to hear that perspective. And I had a similar experience. So last summer, one of my best girlfriends is Bosnian and she grew up in Bosnia and her family, um, they escaped the war when she was five and she's been living in Dallas and she was five with her family. And we went to Bosnia last summer to go visit her family. The rest of her family still lives there outside of her parents. And I had a similar experience where, yeah, it was, it was wild

just going to the grocery store. It, it made me realize how many more options we really do have in the, here in the U S cause you know, for example, I would go, um, looking for peanut butter and I'm accustomed to here in the U S you look for peanut butter. It's basically half an aisle of all these different brands. And, you know, you can get salted, crunchy, unsweetened, like you name it, we have it. And going to the grocery store there, it was like salted or unsalted. You know, there was like two options, two brands, and that was it. So funny, funny story. Um, growing growing up i always loved peanuts right just a snack uh but i had never heard of peanut butter until we came to the u.s and and the first time i had a rhesus peanut butter cup was like oh my god you know and it's so silly to think about it now but it's

something that you know anybody he'll be like yeah it's peanut butter we have it everywhere like no no it was it was not really in in Egypt you know yeah and it's not like we were living in a like rural area of Egypt I was born and raised in Cairo. Um, so yeah, it's a whole different world, right? Like you get so many different options and everything. So yeah, it's a big difference. Do you think, yeah, it's really wild. Do you think in your experience, having all of these options, um, is what kind of led you down that path of, cause you know, you were talking about in the beginning of gaining all that weight, was that part of the thing for you or. I think it definitely played a big part. Um, but also I think part of it is, um,

and, and this is like kind of, um, me understanding it after the fact, uh, you know, like in 2012, when I started down my weight loss journey, I took a different approach than what was available back then. I was trying to understand why am I gaining weight, right? Why am I so big? And I tried a few different diets and whatever, and nothing was working. And now we know that some people have

slower metabolisms than other and that made a lot of sense to me because growing up for example my cousin who's a couple years older than me we're practically brothers right and we would eat all the meals together and everything and he could probably out eat me. And he was like a quarter of my size, right? He was super skinny. And it's like, it almost felt like I would breathe around the food and boom, I'm gaining weight when he can like inhale twice as much and all good. Right. Uh, so I think that's, it didn't help that we had more access to bad food. Yeah. But I think, you know, there was the underlying part of like having a slower metabolism and, and, you know, that definitely doesn't help. Obviously there's, you know,

remedies for that, like working out and you fire up the metabolism more, but again, it's like information that I didn't know growing up and I didn't have like access to that knowledge and which is now very widely available. Even, even in 2012, it was not really something that a lot of people know about, right? It's like, Oh, slower metabolism or different body types or whatever. Like nobody really,

it wasn't knowledge that's widely shared, right? It was just still on the weird corners of the internet, people talking about it. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this subject is so, it's complicated. It's multifaceted, you know, because obviously I would argue, especially here in the United States, a lot of it to blame is our unhealthy food culture, but it's not only that, you know, there is genetics at play. Like you said, your metabolism, um, eating habits, also the way that you were raised and a certain eating habits that you, uh, acquired from your parents. There really are. There's a lot of different, a lot of different things going on there. Um, so how did you get on the path that

you're on now? So we haven't even talked about Misfits Bakehouse yet. Not yet. Yeah. So just give it a bit of a, like a backtrack a little bit. So after I graduated college, I got picked up by GE Healthcare, General Electric, and I was an MRI engineer. And, you know, one of my first weeks, you know, my mentor at the time was like,

oh, so where do you see yourself in 10 years? I said, I want to be in research and development. And he laughed and he was like, you can't unless you have your, at least your master's degree or your PhD in electrical engineering or, you know, like computer science or something. And I really, like I did really good in

school especially in like the math and calculus and physics and all that but I just did not want to go back to school right I don't blame you but it was just I'm not very much of a rule follower if the name doesn't suggest that already and I was like I just didn't pay attention I was like yeah we'll see um so I in in from the years of like 2003 till 2009 um I learned everything that I could like every book that I got every just like every time that nobody was working on an MRI system I would like take it apart and put every just like every time that nobody was working on an MRI system I would like to take it apart and put it back together type DLT to learn more so I built a name for myself I'm like if somebody has a problem with the system that

can't fix it call Nina right um and then in 2000 early 2009 I was working in North Carolina and I got this phone call saying, Hey, Stanford university needs a MRI engineer. And they're not accepting anybody. And we need somebody to, to work with them. Are you interested? And I was like, are you kidding me? Stanford university. That's like, that's like what I like, right the crazy problems yeah so they GE flew me out to Stanford and I interviewed for it was supposed to be for a two-week period but after the first week I got accepted um and cool thank you yeah and that was like my 10-year anniversary with GE

uh and and that was me getting into research and development, right? And I called that mentor, I'm like, hey, you know, guess what? I'm research and development, I'm not master's degree yet. But working on campus, it was a challenge, you know, being this heavy and having to walk around between all the different labs. And, you know, by the time I get to another, it would take me forever for one, and two, I'll be drenched in sweat. And it was awful, right? And I'm like, how can I, what can I do to make it better?

My brain is always running around on how to make things either easier or better right um and if you've ever been um in the bay area and and like one of the stanford campus everybody likes everybody has a bike uh and especially on campus all the students all the professors and like i mentioned earlier i had never learned how to ride a bike um you know Egypt is not very conducive to riding a bike really and I was like okay you know so I did my my you know typical nerd thing I went home and I I started googling how to ride a bike I'm not even kidding uh and I figured out which bike would be appropriate for me at that, you know,

weight and like, it would be easy to ride and all that. And, um, I found a local bike shop. I figured out which bike I want, what model and all that. And I went to them and I was like, uh, I know you guys have this bike in this size. Um, here's the money. Give me the bike. And they're like, Oh no, no, no, but you have to try it out. And I was like, no, no, I don't have to try it out at all. And they were arguing with me.

And I was like, no, no, no, I know this is the size that's going to work for me. I did all the measurements, just give it to me. And they're like, cool, yeah, sure. I literally put it in the back of my car and drove to where I used to live and taught myself how to ride a bike in an empty parking lot and busted my butt a few times. And, you know, I have some scars to prove it. And then I started biking around Stanford between the different labs and I really enjoyed it right like it was terrifying because if you've ever been to New York City and you see how cabs will cut you off and like crazy time that's how Stanford people ride their bikes yeah that's like they'll like cut you off and like I was in a rush and god forbid you're on on the main quad between classes oh my god it's it's terrifying um so but I started really enjoying how to ride a bike and I was like okay you know

maybe I should climb the trail and so I asked around I'm like where is the trail that's not too much of an incline uh or preferably flat so I could start learning how you know riding longer distance everybody's like oh this road around here is super flat and it's fun and on Sundays they close it for bikes you should go check it out okay people in the Bay Area have a very very big misunderstanding on what an incline is when you're on a bike. They were not wrong as in the road was beautiful. It's called Kenyatta Road.

It's by the Crystal Springs Reservoir. It's gorgeous. It's breathtaking. But mind you, again, I was like almost 500 pounds, not really that great. Yeah. And so I get to the Kenyatta Road intersection, park my car, pull the bike out. And I'm super excited, right?

I'm like, I'm going to do this. And I get on Kenyatta Road, not even a third of a mile in, and there's a bit of an incline. And that's when I almost lost it I was like oh shit I'm trying to go up and nothing was happening and I almost fell off the bike I twisted my ankle and I had to walk the bike back

and that was awful it was just the most like a lot of people I'm very hard on myself and I'm like oh my god this is supposed to be an easy road. I can't do it. What the heck?

And I got in the car and I was like, I'm going to do something about this. Do I want to ride a bike? And I was like, yeah, then I'm going to do something about it. So it was a Sunday. I went to REI and I didn't have pair of sneakers back then so I went to REI and I'm like I'm gonna go buy if you're familiar with them the brand five fingers it was like toe shoes they're very very goofy looking and I'm gonna use those to go to the gym and the reason behind it was I'm going to use those to go to the gym. And the reason behind it was I'm very self-conscious. So for me to get over it, I imagine that everybody's staring anyways.

And it's like being so out there kind of helps me get over being self-conscious, if it makes sense. So I got the shoes. Monday after work, I went to the gym and I joined. I got my membership started. And I did the classic what everybody does, right? Like the typical diet. You go very low fat because that's the right thing to do. You know, very low calories.

And I wasn't even lifting weights. I was just like being on the stationary bike. And God forbid, if I got on the elliptical, my heart rate would shoot up to like 150 or something. I can't even remember. And I was super high, like within a minute. And I lost maybe like 10 pounds in a month which was like oh cool you know that's great at least I have some progression but then um that I hit my first plateau and no matter what I did nothing was happening

the scale was not budging and I was like what should I do and like I'm like okay um you know like maybe I should go lower with calories which is a really terrible idea um and I almost wanted to give up right uh and then and again this is for me personally I was like if it comes down to it, where like, I have to get a surgery or like one of those extreme, you know, like any, like the stapling your gut or whatever, I did not want it. I was like, if I can't do it myself, then I should not do it. Right. If it's not meant to be, if I can't lose the weight naturally, then it's not meant to be. I'm not knocking these options. It's just not for me. I don't like surgeries. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so again, you know, my, my good friend,

Google, um, I was like, I got turned on to, um, um, bodybuilding.com. Um, you know, back then there was something very cool called forums where people were posting different things. Right. I don't even know if forums still exist, but. They do on Reddit. Okay. This is way before Reddit too. So I got on it and I was like researching everything. And I started seeing people mentioning keto keto i was like what the heck is keto right again remember this was 2012 not a lot of people knew what keto is and then somebody mentioned oh keto is like atkins and back in 2012 atkins didn't really have the best name right like oh it's an awful diet all that stuff that people are familiar with um and then i started

researching more like i gotta know more about it uh i think it took me like a month or so like i was like just reading everything possible about keto uh all the macros uh what you're supposed to eat and all the percentages and this actually plays a big part of why I do the things in the bakery now, but like, yeah, whatever, 85% fat, you know, 10% protein, 5% carbs. And then there's like the different variations of keto, which not a lot of people talk about nowadays, which is like there's like a straight keto or you like just low, uh, carb for extended

periods of time. And there's a cyclical, which, you know, you go on keto for one to two weeks. And then for 24 to 48 hours, you replenish your glycogen, which a lot of people in the bodybuilding community like, because then, you know, it helps, uh, muscle, uh, building. Yep. And glycogen is your sugar stores in your body for those listening that don't know yeah exactly um and you know people would mention like oh if you go over your protein that will turn to glycogen and that will kick out of ketosis and you know there's all the back then all the testing that was available was you know the urine sticks for keto like where you test that right and and those came with their own caveats and then finally I came across Gary Tao he's a science journalist and he had all this,

like he did a really insane deep dive into why keto and low carb are better for you, wrote books about it and was doing talks. I consumed all his content back then. And that led me to Dr. Peter Attea, I think that's how you pronounce his name, who's also was a big proponent for keto and low carb. So I learned everything about what keto is supposed to be from, you know, all these resources. And let me tell you, I went psycho. I just, like, I had a spreadsheet where one sheet of it would be all the foods I would eat that I deemed keto. So like, yeah, sausages, bacons, eggs, butter, blah, blah, blah.

I would weigh every single thing. And the spreadsheet would calculate for breakfast here is your macros and same thing for lunch and dinner and the snacks and at the end of the day it will calculate how many total macros and the percentages to make sure I'm in the percentages and I was ready to go and I started keto and back then the understanding was like, yeah, you get about a week that you take the adaptation phase, you know, that's when you get your keto flu, and you're feeling foggy and the keto breath, and you're like, you know, not in the mood, and you're tired and all that.

And you're supposed to lose anywhere between two to five pounds, and that's water weight. But it's still very encouraging. So it was like, this is really cool. Like it was a good marker to look for saying, oh yeah, now I'm in ketosis. But that never came after the first week for me. Like I was feeling tired and groggy. I was like, I'll stick with it for another week and see what happens.

And it was just like, that keto flu was getting worse. And then I finally found that video, I think it was by Peter Attea. And he said, there's a few percentage of people that the adaptation phase takes up to six weeks. Do you want to hear the biggest discovery of our time for promoting healthy aging? Of course you do, because all of us are concerned about aging. There is a class of ingredients called senolytics that were discovered less than 10 years ago, and they are being called the biggest discovery of our time for promoting healthy aging and enhancing your physical prime. Now, when I'm talking about aging here, I'm not just talking

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it was the most amazing thing like it was like one day i wake up and like the switch happened and and so much energy it was amazing it was like somebody just and the switch happened and so much energy. It was amazing. It was like somebody just flipped the switch. And if you remember, I mentioned the keto sticks. I hate those things with a passion. They're the most misleading thing ever because while I was going through that adaptation phase, I was testing, like I had a lot of ketones um in my system but i was not in ketosis or like i didn't feel the energy and the weight loss right um and and then and then i kept on digging more and it's like oh yeah well when you're going through the adaptation phase your body is not really using the ketones it's like you're just peeing them out and that's why we'll test the darkest level which means

there are ketones but your body is not really using them and then when you do get over the adaptation phase you'll test it and even though you might be in ketosis it's going to test as if you don't have any in your um in your urine because then your body's actually using it. So it's not really excreting out as much. So that was just like, wow, that's just useless. So you didn't start seeing the effects until like five weeks in? Is that what you're saying? Yeah.

Yeah. And then even then I only yeah I only lost like two pounds and that was also kind of discouraging right because everybody on the forums were like oh we lost five and some people were like going as high as like seven or eight um again water weight but I was like it would be really cool if I you know that was that many um but it never encouraged you to keep going right but years later I understood why and you know we'll get to that but yeah it's like um I stuck with it and because I was like you know this is kind of like my last ditch effort um all any anything I've ever tried before to didn't work and what do i have to lose you

know just try keto keto keto diet and see where it goes so i'm gonna like be 100 focused on it and if it doesn't work then fine if it works fantastic um so i kept i kept up with it and i was going to the gym. I started lifting weights. I was even trying to lift weights through the adaptation phase, which was a slog, right? It was just tough. It was like being out of energy, but I just stuck it out. And then like a month in, the weight was starting to come off.

And then, you know know it was great like i was averaging about um uh about two pounds a week yeah after after the five weeks of the adaptation phase took a while but then you know the weight started coming off i was averaging about two pounds per week on a good week of maybe two and a half pounds, which is kind of sounds like too much because usually you're like, oh, you want to aim for about one pound a week. But I was working with a lot of weight, right?

So usually if somebody is as big as I am, when you're losing the weight, it actually comes off pretty fast at first and then it slows down um and then about the one year mark um you know it slowed down a bit but I maintained my workouts but it was awesome because I was able to bike that was my whole goal people think I started losing the weight because, or wanted to lose the weight because, you know, my life was being impeded.

And if it was, I didn't know, right? My life was about doing my work and computers and, you know, technology. And I was never one to go out and hike and bike and all that. It changed over time because I just wanted to ride the bike. And then, yeah, I mean, I just, my goal was to get to 200 pounds. It was such an arbitrary goal, but I was like, you know, it sounds like a good number. So that was my aim.

And then during working out, I started doing deadlifts. And for fun, I was like, it would be really, really cool if I can, around the same time where I would hit 200 pounds, I can lift 400 pounds. Along the way, I broke my foot because, you know, it's like one of those things where you, you know, all of a sudden I can be more active and I was like getting into trouble. But I recovered out of that. And yeah, in the same week that I hit 199, I was able to deadlift 405, which was a lot of fun.

That's incredible. Thank you. So years later, I left GE and worked for a startup that turned out to be awful. And when I pointed certain mistakes out, I got fired. And I, you know, I was faced with this dilemma, right? Where it's like, I don't really want to go back to corporate, but I really need a job. And I started interviewing around and nothing, it was just either too highly qualified or, know oh we don't have anything right now um the funny part is you know you know how early on in 2020 everybody was doing the quarantine baking well I had a lot of time on my hands back then so that was my baking uh and I don't know why I got obsessed with making bread out of almond flour uh and and I started I don't know why I got obsessed with making bread out of almond flour. And I started, you know, just playing around. You know, the stuff that I had back then didn't look nearly as good as what we have now.

I even tried to go work with a local gluten-free bakery. And the guy was just not good to work with. And it was a bad sign when one of his employees, I came to drop off samples once. One of his employees was like, why do you want to work here? You seem like a decent guy. I'm like, what? That's not a good sign. No, she's like, hey, you don't want to work here. I was like, okay, cool. Yeah. And again, you know, I didn't really have a plan to start a business. It was getting to a point where like, okay, you know, I'm running on fumes financially and I have to do something. So the initial idea was, I was going to make bread and sell it on Etsy.

But where I was living at the time in Redwood city, uh, you, uh, the cottage food act was not enforced yet. So I couldn't do that from my home kitchen. And I was like, okay, you know, if I have to get a commercial kitchen, then might as well try to go into the farmer's market. Um, so I literally sold almost everything I had like I had my road bike I sold I had my fancy SLR camera and I sold that and lenses and I put all the money towards getting the first round of ingredients and all the permits the commercial kitchen and let me tell you I was so nervous because like I literally like I was mentioning, I'm all about go all in or don't go at all. And I was like, here we go. And I went to the first two farmers markets.

Literally, if I did not do any sales, I wouldn't have been able to pay the rent for my own apartment, let alone for the commercial kitchen. We moved forward and, you know, knock on wood, we started selling out. And what year was this? This was May 2015. May 23rd, 2015. Back then, the bakery was called Ducks and Dragons in a few of these life. And, you know, and then started taking some traction, right? And that was my biggest mistake, where I started listening to the experts. So my vision was everybody who was gluten free, paleo grain-free keto you are treated as a second-rate citizen

right uh you cannot go somewhere and enjoy a fresh piece of bread ever where there is no place i mean there was gluten-free bakeries but when i started looking into them, I was shocked. A lot of them don't really offer fresh stuff. Even if they're local, like you find their stuff in the grocery store, in the freezer section, you'll never find them fresh. And my vision was like, this is a very underserved consumer base. And it's going to suck to start, for a while, to start something so against the grain because it's cheaper to make it frozen and you mass produce and just, you know, send it out. But that was not me. I love fresh bread. Like one of my happiest memories growing up was like when me and my parents would go to, you know, what we called in Egypt and Arabic, it's called the oven.

And just, you know, that was the bakery. Yeah. And you get you know, that was the bakery. Yeah. And you would get fresh bread. Yes. And I'm like, why is this not available? Right. And so, yeah, I had this like audacious dream of having fresh bread. So early customers would remember that I would be baking all night

and just running to the farmer's market with the stuff piping hot in my car because that was, you know, that's what I wanted to do. And everybody loved everything because it was so fresh. It was a new experience for them. But, you know, back then there was a lot that I didn't know about the business and sourcing ingredients. I knew I had, I wanted the best ingredients always. Like back then I found, you know, our current almond farmer who, you know, grows the almonds out of Modesto. And we get, we still get almonds from him. It's always fresh, but, you you know it comes with a premium um and then all the

other ingredients i would just nobody would because i did not my volume was not very big and no distributor would talk to me they're like no like you have to pay like you know 500 pounds of something to even have an account with us um And, you know, I ended up like buying stuff at a much higher cost. And that put a big financial drain on the business, right? And then about six months in, I took in a partner, another big mistake. And I was able to move into our own facility at the time,

our own kitchen, which was great, you know, no cross-contamination, we're gluten-free. And even though there was some cash flow, it was very tight. And that's when I decided to do the hard decision of like do I really want to continue this and give it 100% or hold back um so I gave up my apartment uh so from November 2015 until January of 2020, I was homeless. Yeah, I mean, I just, and part of it is, it was like all the customers that I built from May to November. It was amazing that feedback that I was getting from them, right?

It was how I'll get people telling me, oh my God, we can't believe we're having fresh bread or oh my God, you're making our kids so happy. They haven't been able to eat a muffin in so long or a cookie or a slice of bread. And I'm like, I can't give this up right now. Right. And, and anybody that I spoke with in, in the food business was like, you're nuts. You're not going to be able to scale this. And I'm like, it's never been done. Well, how do you say it can't be done? Like, well, no, we know.

And I was like, okay. And I was like, there was no help. It's not that there was no help. It's just nobody wanted to invest into that market, right? Like, nobody wanted to take care of the customer. And that's Nobody wanted to take risk right and i'm like that's just so

arrogant right it's like yeah in in the culinary world in general if you go to a restaurant and tell them oh i make gluten-free bread they will laugh and walk away i mean things are changing now but it was disheartening like you know back then for example i was told that oh you should do um get into grocery stores and back then you know i spoke with like other bakers and stuff and they would get into grocery stores i was like cool so i'll go talk to the buyers and i'll tell them like hey you know i'll make this bread and it's fresh and i'm the only one in the bay area that makes fresh gluten-free bread i didn't even mention paleo and and keto at the time because nobody really

cared about these back then yeah and they would literally laugh and walk away i don't know can you even try it no no no it's okay we tried plenty of gluten-free stuff and it's all disgusting and i'm like i know and this is why my stuff is different like okay yeah i literally there's a couple of grocery stores here i found out what time the buyers would show up in the morning and i would uh camp outside of the store at 5 a.m waiting for them and i would like run after them with bread I'm like just try it and after like maybe the five fifth or sixth time they're like we'll try so that you can just leave and then you know a couple of the stores when they actually tried they're like oh

this is actually good oh okay come on in um but yeah it's it's hard and, and not even to mention restaurants. That was another huge challenge. But over the years, still working with grocery stores, grocery stores are not equipped to handle fresh gluten-free bread. I had my bread put next to regular sourdough bread, and it would get cross-contaminated, and then it doesn't sell. And I'm like, you can't have it cross-contaminated and then it doesn't sell. And I'm like, you can't have it cross-contaminated. Like, oh, we don't know what to do. Right. So after a couple of years, I pulled out of all grocery stores and I doubled down on e-commerce. So there's a company out here called Good Eggs and they're an online grocery store.

So when I deliver to them, it's all pre-packed and sealed. So there's no cross-contamination. So I doubled down with them and then I opened up our own online portal so people can order and pick up or order and we ship. And again, back then, anybody in the food business was like that's not gonna work you know nobody orders bread online and you know at some point i thought that they might be right because it wasn't really taking off um but i really really just believe it was like more convenience we can order bread when you're home um and and um the other thing was, you know, we ordered to come pick up at the farmer's market

because, you know, we used to have limes. And, you know, over time, it was still slow, but it was picking up just a little bit. And then, you know, 2020 hit. And the only thing that helping us grow is the fact that I had the the online store the e-commerce but the more important part of that and that's another thing that nobody listened to me in in the food business was I was a big believer of building the community on on social media so when I started I did not have money to waste on ads and I sort of got like if

somebody scrolls through our Instagram it almost looked like I was talking to myself for at least a year like I was posting and just like just talking about whatever and I would follow different brands and influencers and see what hashtags people would use so that I would use them on my posts to get our stuff in front of as many people as possible for free organically. And then just kind of started clicking and that's when now people know all about Misfits Big House

and have a pretty strong following on social media. And the other thing is because I built that community on social media, people would buy our breads and then they'll repost and post about it. And literally, I have zero ad spend after all these years. I've never spent money on ads, period. It's all organic. It's all word of mouth um and this is funny because like i still get customers saying oh whoever runs your social media is is really wonderful i feel like it's me and nobody believes it that's the funny part it's very few people that actually believe this that that it's me, because there's no way, but you're running this and you're doing that. I'm like, yes, tell me. I'm answering every DM. I'm answering every comment because you're the one that had the vision for it. You really believed in this company. And I just want to commend you for believing so hard in this company that you didn't listen to everyone that was telling you that it wasn't going to work.

You gave up your own apartment because you believed in this so much. And that is such a testament to your success now. And so I just want to commend you for that. That's really incredible and super inspiring. It's really, yeah. Oh, I mean, I was just going to say, it's just, it's so hard to forge a path when you constantly have all these voices around you saying, good luck, it's not going to work, you know, and you really believed in it and you made it happen. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing. It's like, I knew a lot of people needed this and I wasn't, I wasn't even looking at particularly people like me, right? Like I didn't expect people that are going for weight, just weight loss, right? You

know, there's people with, um, chronic illnesses that need to eat this way. Um, my own parents are diabetics, uh, that there is, you know, of course, um, you know, people with celiac and I have customers with all different conditions that have to eat that way and they were completely underserved. Right. And, and, you know, what, what made my stomach turn is every time i would talk to somebody that's doing something similar they tell me why should we do it this way like your way your way is slow to grow where are these people gonna go oh and i'm like but that's just wrong it's like you're literally holding the customer hostage

like they have no other option to go so yeah I mean like the most disheartening part was when I speak with people in the gluten-free world like people that are running their own businesses you know saying like oh yeah it's you know what I ask them like how come you're not doing it fresh um and and these were entrepreneurs with a lot more resources it's not I wasn't assuming this was you know they were open about it and they're like why would we do that uh that would make things um a lot slower for us uh to grow and and the just the part that I don't understand is like some of these people were celiacs. I'm like, wouldn't you prefer having fresh bread

on a regular? And like, yeah, well, I get my own bread fresh. I don't really, it's fine. I'll send it frozen. And like, so until today, when somebody orders our bread for shipping across the country, you don't get it frozen. Like some places would freeze the bread and let it thaw out over the shipping period.

And when I started, I was like, not doing that. I started, I ordered from a couple of bakeries that were, you know, like sourdough bakeries that were shipping. And I found out, oh, they just wrap it in saran wrap, for example, and that will hold the freshness. So I went back, redid my recipes, and tested chipping it fresh. And made sure that by the time it gets to the other side of the country in two to three days it's still good um and that's how we ship like those today is like we bake it fresh that morning cool it pack it and ship it i don't know if any other you know gluten-free paleo bakeries do that or not um now but you know for the longest time it's like you

order it it's frozen and it gets there frozen sometimes on like you know dry ice or whatever to me I was like no that's unacceptable yeah I was so impressed you shipped me some bread um when was this maybe a month ago and it it felt it was still warm when I got it so I don't know if it was like I don't know I don't know, I don't know. I don't know how that happened. I had originally, when you sent that to me, I thought you were in LA. And so I was like, Oh my God, you know, they just had a courier drop it off. Right. Right. But it was so, Oh my gosh. Also, like, I just want to like gush over your bread for a second. Your bread and your tortillas are some of the best that I've ever had ever. I've been gluten free for nine years now.

And because I have to, I have a wheat allergy. I actually recently kind of tested it out. And I had a bunch of fresh sourdough that a friend was making for me. And I got pretty sick for like two weeks. And I get kind of like eczema on my scalp. And I get these little bumps on the back of my arms and so it yeah I mean I'm definitely definitely have a weed allergy but I was so happy to find your products because they're so good and the fact that you are so concerned

about the ingredients the quality you want it to be fresh it's incredible and no one else is doing it. Everyone else is cutting corners. But it's, unfortunately, it's like a side effect of a lot of entrepreneurship ventures, right? Where like, you know, a lot of people put the bottom line first before the customer. And I always saw myself in the customer end first. Yeah. And like, I wanted a certain quality in my product from eating it,

especially with everything that I learned about nutrition. Right. And I was like, this is how, this is my standard for me. And if I'm like, every time we make something with the ingredients, it's like,

would I, you know, would my conscience be clear about feeding it to my own parents? Right. And my sister, you know, would my conscience be clear about feeding it to my own parents, right? And my sister, you know, everybody in my family and me eating it every day. And if not, then no, I'm not doing it. You know, I don't, I don't do that. Like even our, every ingredient has a reason. Like, you know, almond and coconut, just high fat fiber. It's good for you it's low carb

and then we'll have flaxseed you get omega-3s you have usually when you're on a low carb diet usually you're lacking in fiber yeah so every ingredient that I chose chose for a reason right like you know benefits of almond coconut flour and then you, flaxseed, old omega-3s. And then from firsthand experience, when you're on keto, all the times you're, you know, lacking in fiber and can only eat so much broccoli and Brussels sprouts. So that was the reason I chose it for part of the bread. You know, like even later on, I found out, for example, xanthan gum that we use a little bit of, it's very small amounts, but I found out that some places, they use wheat, well, they'll feed the bacteria wheat and it produces xanthan gum and even though it's

100% gluten-free you can test it and it's 100% gluten-free some people with like more severe cases of celiac will still react to it so I actually did my homework and there's a couple of companies that would either do it from glucose or or from corn and that would you know not cause any reactions so that's what we use and that obviously comes with a premium but again it was important for me that i have it to you know to make it more accessible for people um you know, so yeah, every, every ingredient has a purpose. You know, and, and I know a lot of people, like, oh, you get, I've had this happen during starting the bakeries, like you can't make proper bagels from almond flour because, you know, bagels need to be boiled, for example. And our bagels are boiled every single morning

before they get baked. And now we have phyllo dough, and we make our own baklava. And I post a lot of pictures of it on our social, but when you look at a phyllo sheet, you see all the specs, and I love that. One, yeah, you can see through it because it's so thin but you can also see all the specs of the flaxseed the psyllium husk you know

it's like oh my god you see what you're eating right like you actually see all the nutrients and and i'm very proud of the phyllo though because it's never been done before like that's truly there's no gluten-free phyllo out there there's no let alone grain-free and keto um and and i am very proud of it and i'm working on a i might as well if you're here i'm actually working on croissant uh and it's very close yeah it's it's very close. I'm hoping that by January, we'll have proper croissants. I'm probably pronouncing it wrong, but yeah, we'll have that hopefully by January. Oh, I'm so excited. And you ship nationwide, right?

For everyone listening? Yep, yep. Oh, man. We ship coast to coast. That is so cool. I will definitely announce that on my Instagram when your croissant comes out as well so people can order that. Coast to hear. And I want everyone to hear that because, you know, it reminded me of how amazing humans are and how we take care of each other during hard times. Yeah. So in 2019, as I mentioned in the old bakery, I had a partner and things were really falling apart.

And that started happening in January of 2019. You know, there was lawyers involved, there was accountants involved, which put a lot of financial drain on the bakery. Meanwhile, you know, nobody outside of the bakery really knew this. And then it all kind of started coming to a head where I tried to work out some deal where I would keep the bakery, but didn't make a deal. And I was forced to shut down the bakery. I really didn't want to. And but at the point, I didn't really see a way out i knew i was gonna like try to come back i just didn't know how mind you still homeless at the moment um and for sharing that with us i know that was hard for you to share yeah and and you know like even even because things were

you know like trying to pay lawyers and accountants and all that it got to a point where the bank sent a tow truck to take my car um that was amazing in front of everybody it was great um yeah um so i i just posted in our social media saying okay okay, you know, this is what's happening. It's been a pleasure and I don't know what to do, but for now we're closing and it was overwhelming. I just, it's, everybody was like, hell no, you're not closing. We're not letting you, what can we do to help? And I didn't even know what to say right and uh a long-time customer at the time she called me and she's like what do you need to start and i told her capital i i really i'm completely tapped out um she was the only and the first person to

know outside of the bakery that was you you know, homeless at the time. And she was like, do you know what I do for a living? And I was like, nope, no idea. You're my customer. That's all I know. She's like, I'm out of town. Let's chat when I come back. So, you know, when she came back, she's her name is Marsha.

She is an angel investor, but she is a true angel. Like literally she just, I'm this guy that makes bread. Um, and, and she was like, yeah, we'll, we'll, we'll figure something out. Um, so she invested a considerable amount and her, uh, and then a couple, uh, and four other customers banded together with her and created an investor group um and they set it up where you know it's a convertible note so you know in a couple years if i pay him back there's no equity shared and they just they're like just do your thing we don't we just want you to continue baking. And I also, while that was happening, I launched a GoFundMe campaign

because getting all that paperwork takes time. And the GoFundMe campaign blew up to the point that GoFundMe, as a company, donated it into our campaign, 500 bucks, because the comments on your campaign are kind of ridiculous one of our employees noticed it and nominated you and everybody agreed that apparently your community really wants you back so here's 500 bucks i just you know like from so i think I launched the GoFundMe campaign early June because like the Ducks and Dragons shut down uh May end of May and you know like the entirety of June was

my emotions were running so high right it's like you know people all the messages I was getting, you know, the seeing the Go For Me campaign blowing up, it was just so amazing. And like, when I tell you, I would get messages from people's in-laws saying, we've never tried your bread, but you make so and so happy. So we're putting money into the campaign. And it's just like, what? You know, and that's the thing. It's like, I always joke around that every time I'm having a hard time with this bakery. And again, I never spoke about it to anybody. I would randomly get either a message on social media or a phone call from a customer saying,

hey, we really love your stuff. And you made such a big difference in our lives and it's like almost like a bat signal goes up saying hey Mina needs a you know somebody a boost give them a boost and somebody will like pick up uh so I'm completely blessed I know 2020 has been a hell of a ride for a lot of people right like there's no words to describe how hard it must be from so many people but I am so fortunate to have such an amazing community that like literally when the pandemic hit my first thought was like okay I gotta keep my team safe um didn't want to close really but I'm trying to figure out how to do it safely and still continue serving our community um so now i do have a place to live i actually went to my landlord and i'm like i don't know if i'm gonna be able to pay you but i'm happy to move out i need to keep the money for

the bakery and he was like you're kidding right he's like get back into your place it's just don't worry about it uh and and because i didn't know right like i mean everything had to close and we don't know what to do and and then you know i know a lot of um restaurants and bakeries and stuff were like oh you know buy gift certificates and i did not see that as a good solution uh so i i again i went on our social media i'm like hey we're open we're here for you we'll do like contactless deliveries um just and I just waited and our bakery business knock on wood is almost 10 times more than it was in January and February. And it's climbing.

And that's all because of word of mouth, all because of the community, all of just people telling their friends and their friends are telling their friends. And now I'm like from, you know, being just me and a couple of people helping me in the kitchen. It's like, we have a team of nine, you know?

Oh, it's like, wow. It's amazing. So you's amazing jobs for other people yeah yeah like since the pandemic I hired five people uh and it's amazing and it you know like I literally have the whole family that bakes the bread right like it's uh siblings and you know it's so amazing it's just like I always share their pictures on our social because you know they're the superstars they're baking and they're like making sure everything is coming out perfect um and yeah we're growing it's so amazing it's like everything that everybody told me won't work it worked i i my bet was on the community and

the other thing that doesn't happen a lot in the food industry is taking care of my team um so yeah my team i pay a lot more than on purpose because it's the bay area yeah a lot more than other places uh and because they have to feel safe they have to be happy if my team is not happy nothing is going to come out of it um and and it just it all works it's so awesome that i'm able to do this i'm able to you know build a business share this whole you know crazy idea with so many people and not just in the bay area but across the country um and and again like the main reason i wanted to share this is you know it's thanksgiving and it's hard for so many people but there's a lot of hope

sometimes you just have to like you know keep punching uh until you get there uh i i punched through it for five years um and with so many people ignoring and so many people like saying it's stupid and just don't listen you know put your headphones on and keep rocking you know just listen to your own drums and that's it just just people don't have to see it your way uh just do your thing and make it happen my biggest thing is like if you love what you do it doesn't matter if anybody else believes it eventually people will see it and that unfortunate side effect of that is like yeah sometimes it will be very very hard for a long period of time but if you love it you stick with it and it's so worth it it's so worth it like

I just I try to share every now and then how many people send me messages like, oh my God, my kid is so happy now because they can eat a cookie or, oh my God, you know, like, especially at couples, right? Like one that has to be gluten-free and one that doesn't have to be. And it's usually like, it's hard because they can't find something in common and then now they can eat stuff from the bakery and they don't it doesn't matter right like everybody's happy with that because it tastes good um it just it warms my heart it makes me happy that we can do that um and growing in the middle of a pandemic it's it's I still pinch myself

wow wow I've had tears in my eyes and goosebumps for the last like five minutes because I'm just the way that your community, I feel like I'm going to cry. The way that your community really like banded behind you is, oh man, it's really inspiring. You know, like, yeah, it's, it's awesome. It's just, there's no words. And this is where my English breaks up, right? Cause it's my's awesome it's just there's no words and this is where my english breaks up because it's my second language it's like i really have no words to describe how grateful i am you know to be where i am now with the bakery and have such an amazing community around that like literally

i think i mentioned the story to you on on um when we spoke a week or so ago, like I had this guy that was a male Karen, like threatening that he's going to sue the bakery. And I got so many messages saying, you know, one customer that was here before him, she was like, Oh my God, if I was still there, I would have punched him in the face. And then so many customers that were like, you know, you wasted a loaf of bread on this guy we're we're gonna place orders some people went above and beyond they're talking like orders that were a couple hundred bucks i was like wait what like thank you but you just it's it was one loaf of bread and people were like no no we're gonna order two loaves because to hell with this guy yeah yeah it's it's amazing like I literally it's it's like an extended family where you know

like don't mess with the bakery because it's like important for us right like it's it's phenomenal they got your back um yeah yeah that's why it's like I I know I have something here and I'm just so glad I didn't listen to all the people that said, this is not going to happen. It just, yeah, I wanted to build a community around it. I wanted to have a good place for people to be working here and help me grow it. And we're well on our way and it's amazing. And I'm excited for what's to come.

I'm so excited for you. I can't wait to see where, where Misfits goes next. Fresh bread in all the grocery stores. Yeah, I would love that. Would be incredible, especially for someone like me. Like I said earlier, you know, I can't eat gluten. So I'm like, yes, finally fresh bread that's made with integrity. Yeah, just a really cool, amazing dude. Yeah. And, you know, I've basically said this before, but just given the current state of

affairs that's going on in this country right now, like with the pandemic and then with Trump and all the hatred, like it's just so refreshing to hear stories like this, where, you know, there's a lot of really good people in the world. And they, yeah, it's just, oh, I love this story. I mean, it's like, you know, again, the road has been so tough. And, you know, like, business wise, there's, it's not where I really ultimately want it to be, but I am, finally, it's like, when people are talking to me, it's like, oh, yeah, no, that makes sense now, because, right, like, for the longest time, I would say, oh, I want to grow the bakery, I want to grow the team, and I want to be in, like, spend in different states, and people are like, yeah, okay,

and now people are like, yeah, that will happen, actually, like, oh, welcome to my, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, you know, it's, it's, it's awesome. I'm glad it's like, and it's like one of those things where I can like hold grudges and be upset about what people did or, you know, that's like, I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder, you know, whatever, but I'm not holding a grudge. It's like, it's cool. I'm so happy that people are seeing this I'm so happy that more people are opening their eyes to what's happening and like you know not being as arrogant because like the food business is full of arrogance like probably more than like

I worked with engineers and scientists and usually here there's arrogance there but oh my god no chefs are cool yeah but I'm just I'm I'm fortunate and I'm blessed that we're here and we're growing and I'm doing what I love and I'm you know growing the team and it's it's phenomenal. Oh, man. Well, thank you so much for coming on and telling your story. I can't wait for everyone to hear this. It's so inspiring. Can you tell everyone where to find you? Instagram, website, whatever. Yeah.

So our website is misfits.kitchen. There's no.com. It's just misfits.kitchen. Our Instagram and Facebook is misfits bakehouse uh all one word and on twitter it's misfits kitchen amazing and we'll also add all that to the show notes so people can get it and for everyone listening make sure that when you order from his website because i know you're going to this, get his tortillas and those croissants when they come out in hopefully January. The tortillas are my favorite. What is your favorite item? What would you recommend people order? It's so hard when somebody asks me that. It's like asking a

favorite child. Right. The tortillas are definitely... They're so good. Yeah, definitely a favorite. I'm really, really happy with how they come out. Um, but always a classic is the bagel. Cause you know, I love bagels. Um, by my first, you know, a few years I was on the East coast and, you know, bagel and cream cheese is a big thing. Um, and then, you know, the sandwich breakfast can make your sandwiches and it's awesome. I had some today actually with butter and eggs. It was so good. Right on. Thank you. And check out our new focaccia too. The focaccia is fantastic. Oh, yum. I love it. Well, thank you so much for coming on. This was so special. I appreciate it. Thank you, Courtney.

Okay. I just ended the recording. Awesome. You can also end your little voice memo. Oh, and before I forget, will you email that to me so I can give it to my editor? Yeah. Yeah. I'll, um, do I have your email? Let's see. I don't know here. I'll text it to you right now. Yeah, please do that. Oh, and then I can email it to you. I'll probably upload it to like a Dropbox and share that with you. That's what I was going to say. Yeah. Because it's probably going to be too big. Um, just to email. Oh my gosh. This was so amazing. I can't wait for people to hear this story. I was literally holding back tears hearing that. Oh, thank you. I literally,

I literally never shared that with anybody. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Seriously, what an incredible story. Really. I still, honestly, I still pinch myself because I don't, you know, like, it's insane, right? Like, how many times do you hear about a food business that it's completely dead and gets revived by their customer and in such an epic way, right? Like literally when the investor group formed, their whole thinking was, oh yeah, we want you to go back to baking and do the farmer's market and go back on good eggs. That's it, right's they really just wanted me to continue baking um yeah

and I was so self-conscious because I got overwhelmed was like oh my god they're just giving me this huge opportunity I didn't even talk about like oh I have these ridiculous dreams of like you know being everywhere um and then like what it was like three months in we got this place which is the retail location. And they're like, dude, we did not think that you were going to do all this. And I was like, oh, wait. You didn't listen to me. Big game.

Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, it's just, it's like amazing that I'm able to realize that, you know. And trust me, so much. I shared on our Instagram today about the meaning of my name in Arabic. Let's see, where is it? Hold on. It's like being... So in every other culture other than Egypt,

the name Mina is a female name, right? Oh. Yeah, even from Bram Stalker's Dracula, right? Mina was the main... In Egypt, it means somebody who's committed unrelenting and determined or pretty much stubborn and i am very very stubborn you're living up to your name you know it's in my name yeah you're like is anyone surprised surprised because I'm not. That is so cool. Thank you. Well, thank you again for sharing this. I wish I could stay and chat longer. I actually have to go because I have to be. No, no, yeah.

But seriously, again, thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you. Like I'm, I'm so excited for people to, to hear this story and thank you for being vulnerable and sharing all that. And it's going to help a lot of people. I think you already are helping people with your bread. I really hope so. Yeah. That's, that's all been the goal. Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. Take care. Talk to you soon. This is a resident media production produced by Drake Peterson and mixed by Chris McComb.

The song is by Georgie. As always, please don't forget to rate and review the podcast. It really helps me in this show a lot. See you next week. Thank you. I know that smile is funny.