Kostas Karamichos may live and bake in a tiny village of 400 people in the mountains of Greece, but he is connected to people from around the world. While he bakes for the people of his village and cooks for special events, he also hosts travellers from across the globe, sharing his special piece of paradise.

In this episode, Mark goes on a virtual tour of Kostas' bakery as the delve into what being the Village Baker is truly all about.

Helpful Links

The Bakery of the Village on Facebook

@the_bakery_of_the_village on Instagram

The Poetry of Bread Making - Kostas' bakery on YouTube

Support the Podcast Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin

Khaled Mahmassani grew up in Dubai, but his family was originally from Beirut. Khaled moved back to Lebanon to when he became a professional baker, and has been making the good stuff for the people of Beirut ever since.

Switching from baking to teaching before the Covid pandemic, Khaled continues to teach baking in Lebanon and the Arabian peninsula. In this episode, Mark learns about Khaled's baking journey and how it led to publishing an Arabic cookbook for the bakers and online video courses.

Helpful Links

Buy Khaled's cookbook here!

@khaled_mahmassani on Instagram

Khaled's YouTube channel

Support the Podcast Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin

Jim Challenger is a passionate home baker who can't just sit with an idea. After trying every current method of baking great bread in a home oven, Jim created the Challenger Bread Pan, a cast iron baking pan specifically for bread. Response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive.

In this episode, Mark and Jim talk about the intricacies of designing and producing a new product, why it's so important to Jim to give back to the community, and how sometimes a good surname is a huge bonus.

Helpful Links

Challenger Breadware

@challengerbreadware on Instagram

Support the Podcast Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin

The Covid19 pandemic has thrown us all for a loop, forcing some bakeries to close and others to quickly adapt and change. But not all change has been bad.

In this episode, Annie Moss and Emily Squadra, bakery owners from Portland, Oregon join Mark to discuss how their businesses have changed in the time of Covid, and how the crisis has helped them remember what is truly important to them and to their businesses.

The bakery of the future will be different, for sure. It might be much better as well.

Helpful Links

Seastar Bakery

Wildflower Baking

@seastarbakery on Instagram

@wildflowerbaking on Instagram

Support the Podcast Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin

Chris Hruskova travelled the world as a chef before settling in London. There, he teamed up with his friend and successful former bakery owner Per Brun to open Bread Station, with Chris running a location in London and Per in Copenhagen.

In this episode, Mark learns how this multi-national partnership came to be, how adapting to English bread culture meant seeking wholesale customers and how the current pandemic is causing Bread Station to adapt once again.

Helpful Links

Bread Station website

@thebreadstation on Instagram

@christofferhruskova on Instagram

Support the Podcast Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin

Twelve years ago, Ciril Hitz wrote two of the most influential baking books around, complete with a companion DVD to bring his baking to life.   He continues teaching and sharing his skills to this day, through Johnson and Wales University, personal classes and his popular BreadHitz website.

In this episode, Mark learns about Ciril's early days as an Industrial Design student, how Peter Reinhart forced him to try out for Team USA and how that experience, and his early videos, continue to influence his work to this day.

Helpful Links

BreadHitz website

BreadHitz on YouTube

Ciril on Instagram

Support the Podcast Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin

Matthew Duffy is all over Instagram with his baking and cooking videos, spreading the good word about great bread.  He's also teaching the next generation of bakers at Centennial College in Toronto.

In this episode, Mark learns all about Matthew's long and winding career, cooking for celebrities and with celebrity chefs, while slowing and steadily developing his baking chops to the point where he can share them with his students.

Helpful Links:

@matthewjamesduffy on Instagram

Matthew & Centennial College Bread Program (YouTube)

Support the Podcast Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin

It seems that every baker and bakery owner out there has been affected by Coronavirus.  

We are hosting a free live Zoom Call on Monday March 30 at Noon PT to get together with bakers from all around the world to talk about how you are adapting in a world turned upside down.

You are invited!  To join the call, sign up to Bakers4Bakers.org (the free online community about the business of baking)

Once you sign up, head to the Community Calendar for all the call details.

Hope to see you on the call! 

How are you dealing with The Virus?  Are you hanging in there?   In this episode, Mark riffs on the impacts to bakers, how what was impossible is now possible, and how we need a better story once this crisis has passed. 

Now is not the time to give up!  We can get through this together!

Helpful Links

Support the Show Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin

Nicky Giusto is a fourth generation baker and miller and is carrying on the Giusto legacy with great aplomb. Nicky competed at the Coupe du Monde and was the coach of Team USA at the most recent competition, in addition to starting the Artisan Baking Center in Petaluma, CA.

In this episode, Nicky shares his family history in bread and flour. We talk about the connection between baker and miller, the purpose of the Artisan Baking Center and what it's like to compete at the highest level.

Helpful Links:

Central Milling

Artisan Baking Center

Artisan Baking Center on Instagram

Support the Show Here!

Rise Up! The Baker Podcast website

The Bakers4Bakers Community

Mark's Blog, with the Bakernomics series

Mark on Instagram

Produced and hosted by Mark Dyck

Theme song and music by Robyn Dyck

Orange Boot Human logo by Fred Reibin