Purpose Baked Into the Business with Matt Kreutz of Firebrand Artisan Breads
At Firebrand Artisan Breads, making exceptional baguettes and brioche (which they do) is secondary to their mission of creating meaningful work for people who are often not given those opportunities.
Matt Kreutz, the founder of Firebrand and our guest on today’s show, founded the company with the goal of making a positive impact on his community by hiring homeless and previously incarcerated people. During this episode, Matt explains how his open hiring policy, his commitment to living wages (and additional benefits), and his acceptance of the messiness that comes with the people-first approach has led Firebrand to become a thriving company of 100 employees with a long, bright future ahead.
To hear about the life changing power of a bread-making business, tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
The inspiration behind the founding of Firebrand Artisan Breads and the impact that Matt hopes it will make on people’s lives.
Firebrand’s hiring and employment policy.
The people-first philosophy that underpins everything that Firebrand does.
Why Matt opted to use a trust model for Firebrand.
Supportive measures that Matt has put in place to equip homeless and previously incarcerated people with valuable skills and resources.
What drew Matt into the world of baked goods at age 14.
How Firebrand has evolved since its founding.
An overview of Firebrand’s Sliced Bread program.
The importance of following your own path and not getting distracted by what other people are doing (or seemingly doing).
What it means to be a good leader.
Matt’s goals for the future of Firebrand, and his hopes for the future of the industry.
Tweetables:
“We wanted to see how we can use a business to really effect change.” — Matt Kreutz [0:04:09]
“We’re in the bakery business, but we’re really in the people business. We’re really all about people, and people are messy. If you’re going to be about people, you have to embrace that level of chaos that comes with that.” — Matt Kreutz [0:08:08]
“A better culture around honoring what people do in the service industry would be fantastic.” — Matt Kreutz [0:51:20]
“Being in the service industry is very ingrained in who I am.” — Matt Kreutz [0:56:06]
