We were lucky to catch up with Ana Fanakra recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

What does it take to be successful? I would say that one of the key things to making someone successful is to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect others to believe in you? I have adopted a new motto lately, that I use almost on a daily basis when dealing with pretty much anyone: The only limitations you have are the limitations you put on yourself. You have the ability to do pretty much anything you put your mind to, if you allow yourself to believe that you can achieve it. Will it be easy? Most likely not. Will it be possible? Yes, most likely. Will it be worth it? Always! Even in failure it will be worth it because it will teach you so much, if you allow it to.

Ana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

In May of 2020 I decided to open a cottage food bakery after being furloughed from my job in Human Resources, launching Ana’s Norwegian Bakeri by offering authentic Norwegian baked goods through my website and by attending multiple farmers markets. In June of 2021 I opened my first brick and mortar bakery location in Centennial, Colorado, and truly enjoy the freedom this has brought not only me but my family. It is hard work, early mornings, and dedication to the business that now drives me on a daily basis, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity I have been given both in life, in love and in business, and I do not take any of it for granted.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

There is a large community of Norwegians in Colorado, specifically in the Denver Metro area. When I started my business I started an add campaign on Facebook, targeting people within a 30 mile radius. I started getting customers that had relocated from Norway to this area, who missed the baked goods they grew up with. One of them ended up being the membership clerk of one of our local Sons of Norway groups, who started sharing my baked goods and Facebook posts. This lead to more Norwegians finding me, as well as people with ancestry from Norway, and they started to follow me to the various farmers markets I would go to. Consistent product kept them coming back for more.

As I grew, I gained many different European followers who all missed something they grew up with, and although WHAT I make isn’t quite the same as some of them were used to it was more similar than what you can typically get over here so they kept coming back. The American following I have gained has come from not only the farmers markets, but also from simply searching for local bakeries online and being curious about our offerings. Once someone tries my products they typically come back for more because the product is freshly baked daily, less sweet, and a good value.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word of mouth, no question. A couple of months ago a sweet lady came into the shop and was so EXCITED about what we had to offer that she wrote a post on Nextdoor that literally changed our lives. The post garnered a large amount of interactions, and the next three weeks our business grew more than we could have imagined. People are still coming into the shop because of this post, and because their family and/or friends have recommended it to them after coming in and trying us themselves. It’s been amazing to witness the power of word of mouth!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.anasnorwegianbakeri.com
• Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/norwegianbakeri
• Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/norwegianbakeri
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-fanakra-8999a6140
• Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/ana-s-norwegian-bakeri-centennial