We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Chisholm. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.
Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I think if you let other people determine what success looks like for you, then you will never truly find it. I am continually refining what success in my life looks and feels like, but I am always as detailed as possible when writing that definition.
So, I think it takes whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, until you experience that feeling of success for yourself.
Sarah, 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?
Some are surprised to learn that I was a professional ballet dancer before I was a pastry chef. The joke is that I needed some carbs and some butter in my life. If only it were that easy! In reality, I was in a world of hurt when I retired from ballet and made a transition into the hospitality industry. Professional ballet is a career that takes everything you have. I didn’t take a minute to think about what I would do if I couldn’t dance. When I was diagnosed with a set of lower leg fractures so bad I wouldn’t be able to dance again, I realized I had no plan for my future. I felt entirely lost and without identity. Very fun times!
I can look back now and be grateful, but man, that was a daunting question to answer: “what do I do now with my life?” In the depths of all that tough stuff I reconnected with my ever present passion for cooking, food culture, and for dining. For the longest time I thought it normal to buy four cookbooks a month and read them cover to cover. I mean, isn’t everyone fascinated by the way bread is made or what it takes to make delicate French macarons?! Doesn’t everyone look up the best restaurants in every city they’re visiting and deep dive into menus before picking the spots one must eat at?! As a child I was watching one thing: The Food Network. My point is: this food thing was coming for me from the beginning. I just didn’t know it, because I was busy being a ballerina.
When I started sweeping floors and scooping cookies as an entry level pastry cook, I realized that I could make a life for myself in the pastry kitchen, because the work brought me back to life! I found a home in restaurants and felt purpose in that next chapter of my life. The lessons and techniques I mastered in professional kitchens laid the foundation for how I bake, teach and think about food today. It’s the reason Wild Rye Baking Company exists. The goal was not to disrupt the baking mix industry, but I certainly enjoy that I have! I simply believed that people deserved to bake better at home. I knew I could help people make a bakery quality breakfast or dessert, in their own kitchens, while supporting their lifestyle choices, and also sharing with them what I call “baking magic.” It’s my “why.” The point where it all comes together. It’s the feeling you get when you share something you’ve made with someone you love. The culmination of experience that happens as you bake! The whisk in the bowl, the scent of cake in the oven, the wildness of simple ingredients coming together and transforming. The face people make when dessert hits the table or when you say “we’re having pancakes for breakfast”… What is it about that face?!? Whatever it is, I love it. It’s magic. And so here I am now. An entrepreneur! Yet another plot twist!
I hope my life path can encourage people to be disrupters. Of the status quo or of the things in their life that they want to change. Dreaming of a pivot to an entirely different career? Do it! Don’t think all those dreams are possible? They are and then some! Have an idea to improve the world around you? Make it real!
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
“You should always look like you know what you’re doing and you shouldn’t let people know when you don’t.”
I have a habit of wanting to present only the most polished and perfect parts of myself and my company. This simply doesn’t help you when you own a small and young business. I was so scared of seeming under qualified or inept that I took too long to ask others for help and mentorship. I was afraid to admit when I was struggling. Here’s the thing though: once I got real with myself and with others, they got real with me. I learned a lot more, a lot faster, and I got connected with the right people who were willing to help me. (Because, here’s a cool thing to remember: nobody knows what to do all the time, and we could all benefit from a bit of help.) 
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Tools of Titans – Tim Ferriss See You At The Top – Zig Ziglar
Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading Books – Ari Weinzweig
Amy Cuddy’s 2012 TED Talk
Contact Info:
- Website: wildryebaking.com
- Instagram: @wildryebaking
- Facebook: @wildryebaking
Image Credits
Neal Mei Photography