The point of all this...
We have a family and an understanding that life is short.
As humans we can become obsessive over our work life and feed on the stresses that surround it. Sometimes work and stress can take over our minds completely (Do you find yourself constantly checking your email, fretting over the anticipation of a phone call or only thinking/discussing matters regarding your business or job?).
When we find ourselves bound up in these situations, we cannot function in a healthy and complete way. The fog seems to block creativity, personal ambitions and vision for the future (Can you no longer think outside the box?, Do you feel unmotivated to spend time doing things you used to love like camping, etc.?, Are you uninspired regarding your goals and dreams?).
It takes time to escape those patterns and habits.
Once we personally realized we needed the space/time it was a very long road to get to where we actually achieved it. While work is crucial for us all, our hope is for everyone to see that life is very short and will be swallowed up by this world if you let it.
We would love if the insights shared here will encourage you to THIRST for MORE with your family! Please email us with your situations, stories and ideas!
Read on for the full story!
As humans we can become obsessive over our work life and feed on the stresses that surround it. Sometimes work and stress can take over our minds completely (Do you find yourself constantly checking your email, fretting over the anticipation of a phone call or only thinking/discussing matters regarding your business or job?).
When we find ourselves bound up in these situations, we cannot function in a healthy and complete way. The fog seems to block creativity, personal ambitions and vision for the future (Can you no longer think outside the box?, Do you feel unmotivated to spend time doing things you used to love like camping, etc.?, Are you uninspired regarding your goals and dreams?).
It takes time to escape those patterns and habits.
Once we personally realized we needed the space/time it was a very long road to get to where we actually achieved it. While work is crucial for us all, our hope is for everyone to see that life is very short and will be swallowed up by this world if you let it.
We would love if the insights shared here will encourage you to THIRST for MORE with your family! Please email us with your situations, stories and ideas!
Read on for the full story!
The Story
Zion & Bethany
Our journey with kids began with Zion.
He was carried and born in the midst of two exciting business startups. The first was an outdoor adventure company with which we coordinated rock and ice climbing excursions and wilderness medicine courses.
The second, a side project, was a mobile food cart called Mighty Bagel. We were obsessed perfectionist entrepreneurs who worked around the clock all in the name of our growing ventures.
Zion was our personal cheerleader through it all.
He was carried and born in the midst of two exciting business startups. The first was an outdoor adventure company with which we coordinated rock and ice climbing excursions and wilderness medicine courses.
The second, a side project, was a mobile food cart called Mighty Bagel. We were obsessed perfectionist entrepreneurs who worked around the clock all in the name of our growing ventures.
Zion was our personal cheerleader through it all.
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We eventually weeded out the outdoor adventure company, but the mobile bagel biz seemed to keep giving us signs to move forward.
Eventually after groundbreaking changes to city ordinances, millions of dollars in revenues at events/farmers' markets (slight exaggeration) and the most ludicrous rental-kitchen baking schedule in the history of man, we decided to open our own bakery/coffee bar storefront. While praying together for a name for the new business, Kyle used the word "legacy." As soon as the word came out of his mouth I knew there was something to it. Little did we know, Legacy Bagelry & Bakery would end up having a legacy-like impact on our own future. |
Zion at the bakery.
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Soon after, came Orli.
Orli being weighed by our midwife.
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Orli
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Zion & Orli grew up at the bakery. The unruly pair were with us the entire time. We would bundle them up and drive to the bakery at 2am to bake and often spend the entire day piddling in bakery tasks only to return home in a zombie-like state. They only saw the good-- the walks around the bakery block, the inner-city apple picking (and the time we found a crazy colorful spider on the apple tree), climbing on bags of flour, licking bits of glaze and sugar and of course, their daily bagel. They remember it well.
The bakery was not something Kyle ever desired. We prayed a lot about what else to do, but didn't hear any literal words. Certain signs (such as open/closed doors) led us through the motions. Overall, we didn't care what it was, as long as it was God's will.
The business grew. We went through many big changes in business structure, products and remodels. We experienced the spectrum of team members. We also received about a gazillion phone calls each day beginning at 2am. We were very entwined in the inter-workings of the operation. That needed to change, but we weren't quite there yet.
FLASHBACK: My closest friends know that my past escapades, college loans and some poor decisions brought on a substantial amount of debt. Kyle didn't like the fact that I had made some crazy life choices, but he accepted me despite all of it and the debt didn't frighten him. One time his mom and I were discussing it and she confidently exclaimed, "$70,000...?! That's nothing! Kyle will figure a way to pay that off in no time!" I knew she was right, and those words stuck with me, but the burden still weighed heavy on my shoulders. So as a goal from the beginning, we worked hard toward becoming debt-free.
Next, I happened to pray specifically for a miracle that would remove all debts.
Then came Noah.
The business grew. We went through many big changes in business structure, products and remodels. We experienced the spectrum of team members. We also received about a gazillion phone calls each day beginning at 2am. We were very entwined in the inter-workings of the operation. That needed to change, but we weren't quite there yet.
FLASHBACK: My closest friends know that my past escapades, college loans and some poor decisions brought on a substantial amount of debt. Kyle didn't like the fact that I had made some crazy life choices, but he accepted me despite all of it and the debt didn't frighten him. One time his mom and I were discussing it and she confidently exclaimed, "$70,000...?! That's nothing! Kyle will figure a way to pay that off in no time!" I knew she was right, and those words stuck with me, but the burden still weighed heavy on my shoulders. So as a goal from the beginning, we worked hard toward becoming debt-free.
Next, I happened to pray specifically for a miracle that would remove all debts.
Then came Noah.
Noah
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Zion & Noah
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At that point, I was exclusively caring for the children with very little onsite bakery involvement. How could I, with three small wild ones?
My plate was still very full (just how I liked it... or so I thought) with invoicing, payroll, account relations, emails and social media responsibilities. I accomplished these duties from home while juggling the children. Even though our kids were always with us, they needed us to be more present. We had been so exhausted and overwhelmed over the course of business startup that we didn't even go climbing or camping anymore! The kids even pointed this out to us. We started prioritizing our family. Kyle began to distance himself from the daily duties so he could get some personal space/sanity and to have time for our family. He gave himself a few certain tasks and delegated the rest. The same went for me. These changes made it possible for a couple of impromptu road trips with the kids. |
Orli, Zion & Noah
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Right about that time we got a call from our landlord, who we lovingly refer to as The Man (imagine nicely dressed men, with slick-backed hair, driving Mercedes). We were told our portion of the shopping center was selling to a redeveloper and that there were some options for us.
The first option was to "simply" move to another area of the center. At first that seemed like a valid option, but not considering the three hard years of building the business and remodeling/refining it to be its best! Plus, we had just become semi-free and were attempting to focus on our family. The thought of a huge relocation, build out, etc. did not sit well with us. Additionally, if we had agreed to move to a different spot in the center, we would have taken the place of another existing business which didn't feel quite right either. |
"The Man" with Cinnamon Rolls
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When The Man realized we weren't into the relocation idea, we were re-approached with a lease buyout offer. After a crazy amount of pressure, tension and weeks of negotiation, we came to an agreement with The Man and the redeveloper.
By the time we signed the contract, we only had a couple of months left to figure out a new location. We immediately advised our team and closed retail in order to focus on serving wholesale accounts and finding a place to move. We already knew every potential location within a 40 mile radius, as the year prior, we had begun looking at spaces for a second location. During our new and more urgent search, we found nothing, except very closed doors. It started to seem like maybe the bakery wasn't meant to continue. We gave it as much time as possible, but when we knew it was too late to make a big move without downtime we announced our intent to stop operation--one of the most emotional experiences we had faced.
That didn't fly with our accounts. One of our largest accounts, a local natural foods store chain, offered baking space within one of their kitchens. We toured the facility and it was magically a perfect fit and simple move. So we quickly transitioned out of our original space and into the new kitchen over a weekend and experienced zero downtime. We stuck with our wholesale-only operation which was one of the best family decisions we ever made. For several months, we worked out the kinks, but overall, the new setup was a win for all parties.
By the time we signed the contract, we only had a couple of months left to figure out a new location. We immediately advised our team and closed retail in order to focus on serving wholesale accounts and finding a place to move. We already knew every potential location within a 40 mile radius, as the year prior, we had begun looking at spaces for a second location. During our new and more urgent search, we found nothing, except very closed doors. It started to seem like maybe the bakery wasn't meant to continue. We gave it as much time as possible, but when we knew it was too late to make a big move without downtime we announced our intent to stop operation--one of the most emotional experiences we had faced.
That didn't fly with our accounts. One of our largest accounts, a local natural foods store chain, offered baking space within one of their kitchens. We toured the facility and it was magically a perfect fit and simple move. So we quickly transitioned out of our original space and into the new kitchen over a weekend and experienced zero downtime. We stuck with our wholesale-only operation which was one of the best family decisions we ever made. For several months, we worked out the kinks, but overall, the new setup was a win for all parties.
We were thankful to be operational, to have jobs for our remaining team and to keep serving our fans. Kyle and I both surrendered nearly all responsibilities to our first ever manager who was a refreshing calm in the storm. A huge shoutout to our baker and manager who stood by us and were totally amazing and incredible throughout the move and changes!
We believe, in essence, we experienced a truly miraculous act of God. We have a growing family and the freedom to be together, and through all of this every single debt (business investors, vehicle loans, college debt, credit card, etc.) was repaid to the penny. How's that for clear direction from the heavens?!
So, through the newfound freedom, we started to gain back some inspiration. There were things we knew, like, we wanted to be together with our kids, we loved adventure, we didn't want to live in a subdivision. There were also many unknowns like: Where should we live? How far could we wander from the bakery? And, how could we ever recover from the intense stresses we had just escaped from?
A sabbatical was in order.
Our first idea was to venture into South America via road trip in a Volkswagen CamperVan. We had accumulated two vans, three engines and a variety of parts & upgrades. One van was running, mostly original and otherwise already restored (and worth more without the modifications we would've made for our family of five). So we sold that one. Then we started fixing up the fixer-upper. Kyle forecasted needing a year to finish it.
We believe, in essence, we experienced a truly miraculous act of God. We have a growing family and the freedom to be together, and through all of this every single debt (business investors, vehicle loans, college debt, credit card, etc.) was repaid to the penny. How's that for clear direction from the heavens?!
So, through the newfound freedom, we started to gain back some inspiration. There were things we knew, like, we wanted to be together with our kids, we loved adventure, we didn't want to live in a subdivision. There were also many unknowns like: Where should we live? How far could we wander from the bakery? And, how could we ever recover from the intense stresses we had just escaped from?
A sabbatical was in order.
Our first idea was to venture into South America via road trip in a Volkswagen CamperVan. We had accumulated two vans, three engines and a variety of parts & upgrades. One van was running, mostly original and otherwise already restored (and worth more without the modifications we would've made for our family of five). So we sold that one. Then we started fixing up the fixer-upper. Kyle forecasted needing a year to finish it.
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That's when I started to freak! I began looking at missions trips, living abroad via some other job, and a mess of other adventure-related lifestyles. Then one day, in desperation, I made a comment to Kyle that I wished we could just take our kids and all volunteer to be swabbies on an Antarctic research vessel!
The next thing I knew... he was bidding on sailboats on eBay. We ended up buying two sailboats. Some refer to it as the two-boat headache, but we consider the time we spent in the two-boat phase crucial to our boat enlightenment and bakery-distancing period. While restoring the Mason 41 we shed blood, sweat and tears. Once we completed the restoration, it sold. In the meantime, the 30' S2 became our home. |
Two boat LIFE: The Mason 41 (left) and S2 (right).
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Then one day, about a year after the bakery move, we started getting creative with our entrepreneurial powers.
We began to work on a cookbook project that would include the full story of business startup, trials, triumphs and the miracle we had experienced. We had material for DAYS! Writing a book had been on our radar for years (we had taken all kinds of notes on funny situations that had happened, etc.), but while we were in it, bakery life didn't allow us the time to sit down and write. Once we knew we would have a few months of solitude, we decided to go for it. After compiling all of our fan-favorite recipes we realized the book would be massive and impractical to publish. With much consideration, we decided to break the large book into volumes and we began with Vol. 1 Bagels.
Next we released Vol. 2 Doughnuts and Vol. 3 Fermented Loaves
We began to work on a cookbook project that would include the full story of business startup, trials, triumphs and the miracle we had experienced. We had material for DAYS! Writing a book had been on our radar for years (we had taken all kinds of notes on funny situations that had happened, etc.), but while we were in it, bakery life didn't allow us the time to sit down and write. Once we knew we would have a few months of solitude, we decided to go for it. After compiling all of our fan-favorite recipes we realized the book would be massive and impractical to publish. With much consideration, we decided to break the large book into volumes and we began with Vol. 1 Bagels.
Next we released Vol. 2 Doughnuts and Vol. 3 Fermented Loaves
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We then launched Legacy Micro-Enterprises. These micro-businesses were designed to create unique opportunities for others. On the first micro-enterprise we teamed up with a non-profit organization who was interested in taking over the operation of our food cart. The second was another collaboration with the same non-profit, in which, we established a Doughnut Micro-Enterprise. The third consisted of an agreement in which we transferred the ownership of the original bakery operation. This amazing opportunity increased business profitability for the buyer and created even more freedom in our family life. It was a win-win!
Next... came sailing! Visit the Blog to learn more about our journey and all the other crazy stuff that's happened in Our Story since we made the decision to PUT THE THIRST FIRST!
May the THIRST be with YOU!
With MUCH LOVE,
Kyle & Bethany
May the THIRST be with YOU!
With MUCH LOVE,
Kyle & Bethany