Meet Jen Bruzzone & Julie Polati | Baker(s) & Educators

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jen Bruzzone & Julie Polati and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jen & Julie, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
As people we value our community of friends and family and this is no different when it comes to our business model. This idea of making focaccia as a business was never a dream of ours until we realized how much we were craving time to be with our friends and family during the pandemic. What better way that to bring everyone together than with food. We decided we wanted to try to make focaccia for the very first time in December of 2020, a time where we were both craving more time with friends and family due to being at home for so much of the pandemic. We made bread for others as a Christmas gift and by New Year’s Eve we had our first thirty pre-orders ready for pick up. The idea took off overnight!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In 2003 we both started our teaching careers; Julie, as a kindergarten teacher and Jen as a 6th grade teacher and now a Principal. This career has been the most fulfilling job for both of us; something we can put our whole heart into. Never in a million years did we ever think of leaving the job, even when the most difficult of times surfaced during the pandemic. Strangely, the pandemic reminded us how much we both loved our work in education. To miss a job as much as we both did while we were unable to be on campus with our students, was a good sign of a successful career. In this career we have learned that you must always be flexible and prepared for the unknown. Mostly, what we both love is that every day is a different adventure. This is why in the same year as a major pandemic, we decided to add more to our plate by starting a side business of making and selling focaccia. What sets us apart from others is that we aren’t afraid to try and fail. It’s what we have been teaching our students for years. You can’t be good at everything from the start, but you have to be willing to learn and get better every day. This is exactly what we do with our business of focaccia. Neither of us had ever made focaccia before we tried it out for Christmas gifts in 2020. And our first few batches were definitely not our best (a little too salty), but instead of giving up, we kept trying. Taking this risk is something that has been very fulfilling. We started by selling 20 breads a month out of Julie’s driveway and now we are selling 60 a month at a local farmers market, with requests for more!
We want the world to know that our focaccia business is proof that if you’re willing to try, great things can happen.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We live in Redwood City, California and we love our city. It has changed very much in the time we have lived here and there is so much to do! We definitely love going out with friends and family to great spots for food and drinks. If we were hosting some friends in this area we’d definitely make sure to fit in a visit to some our favorite food spots for dinner, including our favorite local pizza spot: Vesta in Redwood City, a quirky and delicious brunch spot: Bucks in Woodside, and a go to meal any time of the day: Portola Kitchen in Portola Valley.  If you’re looking to see more of the redwoods, we’d recommend a hike at Wunderlich Park followed by brunch at Alice’s in Woodside. If it’s libations you’re looking for, stop by for some wine and beer tasting in San Carlos: so many spots to choose from you can’t go wrong! Flying Suitcase, Devil’s Canyon Brewery and Blue Oak in San Carlos are all on our list.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This is a tough question to answer because there are so many people in our lives that deserve shoutouts. We are both in education and so our communities are expansive. Beyond the obvious groups of our closest family members and friends who have supported us from day one, there are countless families and students from our school communities who have shown up at every sale to show their support for our small business (it doesn’t hurt that most of the kids also LOVE the salted chocolate chip focaccia!) A special shoutout should also go to Jen’s mom, Linda, who we fondly call our Green Onion Goddess. She has tirelessly sliced and diced hundreds of green onions for our orders each month. We are grateful for every one’s support.

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