We were lucky to catch up with Eric Berg recently and have shared our conversation below.

Eric, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I’d had plenty of regular jobs since I was fourteen, but I was a grass-hopper until my late twenties. I held transient, seasonal jobs out West every autumn, but I would bake from home each summer to sell mostly sourdough bread at the farmers markets. Eventually my baked goods and crafts supported my lifestyle which freed me up for my other passions.

Eric, 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?

The name is Bergy Bread, and it’s probably hard for a passerby to tell exactly what my primary business is, but the bread is the masterpiece. At least the center piece. It’s hard to say where it came from. Although there was plenty of inspiration and related training along the way, the bread is unique because it was developed over time, by an amateur. One would think the bread is popular because it tastes good, but there is some evidence that the presentation is just as important. Each loaf is hand made, actually mixed by hand, fermented for a day or so, formed by hand, baked, and then packaged in a brown paper bag or sleeve, labeled with a hand carved stamp, and then stapled. The customers browse the display models of the day, but ultimately walk away with a surprise. They’ve been coming back for almost ten years now.
Along those same lines there is also hand made ceramics, cutting boards, hand screen printed, hand tie dyed recycled t-shirts, and repurposed bed sheets sewn into screen printed bread bags.
Bergy Bread is a busy-work brand, and it is it’s own reward.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society at large could consider their actual relationships with creatives. Monetary transactions can feel superficial, repetitive and fleeting interactions can take their toll over time. Any producer, artist or creative has to compete with others at the market, but staying true to oneself is a sure way to be differentiable. As differentiable as ones customers.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

While just being an artist could be it’s own reward, it’s possible that you are the best boss you will ever have. Creative thinking produced the world as it is now, it’s cyclical and not necessarily predictable, but there’s room at the table for everyone.
Artistry and creativity are related, but are not inextricably linked. It’s been suggested and debunked that mastery requires ten thousand hours of practice or exposure, but how many of us will ever feel as if we have arrived? Would it hurt to self-develop in public?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @breadbergy