What do environmental health and safety management and scratch-baked cookies have in common? For Kevin Lingg, founder of Loaded Dough, they're both part of one of the most unexpected entrepreneurial journeys you'll hear.

In this episode, hosts Bob Paden and Adam Hayes sit down with Kevin to trace a career path that wound through automotive manufacturing, a GE acquisition, a lean manufacturing pivot, and three job losses, before landing in a licensed commercial kitchen in Indianapolis, doing what he loves.

Kevin spent 15+ years as an EHS manager before a spark of curiosity sent him down a new road. After watching a Bobby Flay Throwdown episode featuring Levain Bakery in New York City, he went home, tried to recreate those iconic thick cookies, and, despite the recipe not quite working out, stumbled onto something people couldn't stop raving about. What started as a side hustle baked out of a home kitchen became Loaded Dough, a growing wholesale and events cookie business that Kevin has intentionally kept a lifestyle business on his own terms.

This conversation gets real about imposter syndrome, the ego hit of losing a corporate identity, what it feels like to cold-pitch your first stranger (and get ghosted), and why Kevin believes doing what energizes you is the only sustainable strategy.

Kevin also shares his take on pricing, scaling (and choosing not to scale), and the happy accidents, like chopped chocolate and a chance encounter outside a charcuterie shop, that shaped the business into what it is today.

If you've ever wondered whether the "slow build" side hustle can become something real, this episode is for you.