We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dan and Kaylee Cahill Mathews a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dan and Kaylee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Minnesota’s North Shore is a rugged landscape that holds tremendous beauty and proud communities. From the Ojibwe and Anishinaabe bands who first built a life centered around Gichigamiing – or “the great water” – to the Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian settlers who homesteaded just inland from the shores of Lake Superior, this place has always provided a home for those willing to work hard enough. When we joined this community a few years back, we became enamored with the culture of Sisu, or the Finnish word for “grit” a.k.a. “gettin’ shit done.” We looked around and saw this history of farming and harvesting. Living with the land. We knew we wanted to use our talents to celebrate this tradition in the only way we know how – with food! We created a business that embodies sisu: early mornings, long days, and late nights. Making every dish from scratch using the bounty of local ingredients from this special place. Forging partnerships with our neighbors to improve both our lives and our community. And at the end of it all, we get to share a plate of some pretty damn good barbecue. Or, as we like to call it, “True Northwoods Barbecue.” This is what makes us Baptism River Barbecue Co.

Dan and Kaylee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Baptism River Barbecue Co. can only exist right here on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Our entire mission is to create “True Northwoods Barbecue.” That means forging relationships with the local loggers who harvest and split maple and birch wood from the boreal forests and sourcing from sugar shacks harvesting the maple sap for syrup. That means partnering with myriad small and family owned farms growing unique varieties of cabbage, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, and lettuces that flourish in our colder climate. That means sourcing pigs, cows, and chickens that breathed the fresh Superior air and grazed the native Minnesota grasses over the course of their happy lives. We know how important our community is in allowing us to serve True Northwoods Barbecue.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We have always wanted to keep our small business within our control and within reach from our capabilities. We started this by making financial decisions that pushed limits but allowed us to start somewhere. That being said, we truly started running this business out of a tent for two seasons. We created an approved kitchen endless weekends in a row with a vision of the future. We got to our kitchen trailer with determination and resilience – and demonstrated enough will to our local Entrepreneur Fund to get us to our trailer which we have operated out of for the last year. What’s next? Time will tell, but we whole heartedly believe in this business and one another so we know there’s more to come.

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

Living in the community we do has been the best source of new clients. Not only have we expanded on local relationships but we additionally have expanded towards our dream of no longer being a “hidden gem” of the North Shore but rather just a gem.

Our community clients are most important to us. We know the mission of “True Northwoods Barbecue” will strengthen our local food system, support many small businesses, and put Minnesota BBQ on the map. Ultimately, we want to create a successful and sustainable business that employs and empowers residents of Finland, Silver Bay, Beaver Bay, and the surrounding communities. We want to grow a business that drives the demand for local foods, giving farmers a safety net to pursue expansion of regenerative agriculture practices. We want to put more local food into more local bellies.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.baptismriverbbq.com
• Instagram: baptismriver_barbecueco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/baptismriverbbq