We were lucky to catch up with Rachel Curran recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel, appreciate you joining us today. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?

Odd Bird Baking Co. began as a part time passion project in 2017 when my first child was one year old. From there, it has grown to become our family’s livelihood. We are also a homeschooling family, with two young boys. Our children participate in the farmer’s market in which we are vendors, they help with set up and break down, stamp boxes and bags, collect payment, and interact with customers. They accompany us on deliveries and other business errands, and they are often part of our business meetings (by proxy!). I believe this experience is invaluable to their education and also to their general life experience. My hope is that they will one day become more involved, helping with the actual baking and also the accounting and marketing sides of the business. And eventually they will be able to inherit this business and can run it as their own!

Rachel, 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?

I have been in the baking industry for nearly two decades as a pastry chef and baker. In 2017, after becoming a mother, I knew I wanted to stay home with my children, so I started Odd Bird Baking Co. as a passion project. Since then, it has grown and we hope to continue to do so. We specialize in distinctive pastries, cakes and pies – items that are slightly outside the box (or “odd”) but also delicious and memorable. Our followers know that we love to push the boundaries a bit and create exciting new treats. We strive to source local ingredients whenever possible, especially grains and produce, and we love collaborating with local businesses and markets.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Living on the front range in 2017, I started Odd Bird Baking Co. mainly for fun. After moving to Durango in early 2019, I started baking pastries for the company my husband was working at, just an order they placed each week for their employees to enjoy. When covid shut things down the following year, I had the idea for “Pajama Boxes” which were a dozen assorted pastries, baker’s choice, delivered on Saturday mornings to folks who ordered them. The idea was that you could enjoy bakery quality pastries without getting out of your pajamas! This took off and along the way we met the owners of Still Life Coffee who were looking for pastries for their new coffee and plant shop. The match was ideal for both of us and we have had a very happy relationship with them for going on three years. In addition, we became vendors in the Durango Farmer’s Market which gave us the opportunity to interact directly with our customers and continue to make connections.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner is also my husband! We met years ago when I was a baby baker and he was attending university. He worked for several years as a mechanical engineer but we always talked about opening our own bakery. After Odd Bird started growing during the pandemic, Jamie and I decided that he should leave his job and we should “burn the boats” and make a real go at owning our own bakery. Nearly three years later, my husband is still working hard to decipher my often hand-written recipes and helping in every way he can – from baking to accounting.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oddbirdbaking.co
• Instagram: @oddbirdbakingco

Image Credits

Ginger Moose Photography
Wild Child Media