Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to J Jordan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

J, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.

The whole idea for Brown Rice Bakery came from my own need to take better care of my body, mind, and spirit. In 2020, I began experiencing some gut and skin health problems that were related, in part, to stress and lifestyle. My body’s needs were loud and I had to listen, so I began seeing a naturopathic doctor. She helped me discover my own personal food sensitivities to dairy, gluten and eggs, and transition my lifestyle and diet to support my overall health. But as someone with a huge sweet tooth, I knew I couldn’t give up baked goods and treats. So I started experimenting with gluten free, vegan baking. This was when I first came up with my customer favorite banana bread recipe! I kept researching and testing out gluten free baking techniques and learned a lot about how to get the textures, rise, flavor, and look I wanted for myself.

While working full-time at an environmental justice nonprofit, I realized that I could make a business out of my baking. I was grateful to participate in the Alchemist CDC Microbusiness Academy program, which provided all the information, tools and resources I need to get my permits and licenses, connect with other food business owners, and officially start my business as a cottage food operation.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is J (pronouns they/them and she/her), and I am the owner and baker at Brown Rice Bakery, which offers gluten free and vegan baked goods and treats made with high-quality ingredients. But the business is about so much more than baked goods; it’s about growing and supporting community, promoting health (in many different ways), practicing sustainability and creating joy through food.

I am a self-taught baker with a deep passion for food and agriculture, and a background in community organizing, social justice, and environmental policy. As a Black, queer and nonbinary woman, I also found that much of the gluten free and vegan food worlds – online and in-person – do not really reflect people like me. In starting the business, it felt important to lift up the reality that Black and other people of color, and LGBTQ+ people, can and do eat gluten free and plant-based diets. For example, many of the gluten free flour substitutes, like rice, corn, cassava, millet, sorghum, are common in many African, Indigenous and Asian diets. I wanted to show that Black & queer communities can create and value high-quality, environmentally-conscious, gluten free vegan food, and to create community events around this idea. I was also excited to show that eating in alignment with our bodies needs is deep medicine and everyone should have the joy of dessert, regardless of identity or dietary restrictions.

So many people are shifting their diets towards gluten free and plant based foods, for a variety of reasons. It is difficult to find food options that are BOTH gluten free and plant based, especially those that are high quality and incredibly delicious. As an intentionally inclusive brand and one of only a handful of bakeries offering specialized gluten free and vegan goods in Sacramento, Brown Rice Bakery fills a much-needed niche in the market. Some of my customer’s favorite products are my banana bread, sunflower butter rice crispy bars, and unique cupcake offerings like my Black History Month cupcake made with black sesame tahini and chocolate.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I have had to unlearn my own hesitation with making money as a small businesss owner and validating my new identity as a small business owner and a baker. As someone with a background mostly in nonprofit work and academics, and some experience working in food service, I had never learned the mindset or realities of business ownership. At times, I thought the idea of focusing on profit did not align with my values and beliefs. As I get more into the business, though, I have learned that it is possible to balance my livelihood with my social, environmental, political and community-based values. For example, my products use organic ingredients and 99% plant-based, compostable or recyclable packaging when possible. The business is an extension of me, and I can choose to infuse my values deeply into the food –something I’ve always done in my own kitchen.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am not a very committed social media person, but I do have an Instagram account which I am very active on and which has helped me start my business and build up support and customers. I was encouraged to start an Instagram account for my business when I took the Alchemist Microenterprise Academy course, which was a really helpful program for underserved entrepreneurs to learn about starting food busiensses, and I gained my first followers through that connection.

Though my following isn’t huge, I organically grew my Instagram following to 1,300 in the first year as a brand new, local cottage food business, strictly through connections with people at markets, events, and online. I love getting out there and meeting community members and other business owners in person, which helped my presence online. I took several classes on social media strategy for small businesses and paid close attention to what other similar business were doing on their accounts, what worked for them, and what I might adapt for myself.

I also developed a website using Square for those of my customers or potential customers who may not be on IG, and I linked my IG posts to automatically sync with my website. On Instagram, I’ve found that being authentic, honest, and open; having great videos, photos and other media; sharing at strategic times; and sharing about myself and my customers (not just the food) leads to the most engagement on my posts. I’ve found that social media can really help make connections, share information, and even just have fun. Take it with a grain of salt, as simply a tool to help reach your goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brownricebakery.com
• Instagram: @brownricebakery
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrownRiceBakery/
• Linkedin: J Jordan
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/brown-rice-bakery-sacramento

Image Credits
All photos except the banana bread and chocolate chip blondie are by me, J Jordan. Otherwise, the photos are by Janelle Rios (https://www.janellerios.com/)