Lindsey Bakes Bread: From beginner to home baker mentor

📍 Grand Rapids, MI
🔗 hotplate.com/lindseybakesbread

If you’ve been following Hotplate on Instagram, you might already be familiar with Lindsey from @lindseybakesbread! She runs an organic sourdough microbakery out of her home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In addition to her weekly drops, she teaches sourdough classes and helps other home bakers stay organized. If you’re thinking about baking and selling from home, check out her page for time-saving tips, equipment reviews and considerations, and ways to set yourself up to operate profitably and sustainably.

How it started

Lindsey was hooked after baking her very first loaf of sourdough. Her family stopped eating grocery store bread and never looked back.

“We all felt better knowing exactly what was in our bread: flour, water, and salt.”

In the spring of 2023, a lot changed for her family when Lindsey’s daughter Eden was born with significant health complications. With this news, the idea of trying to balance her day job while raising her two (now three) little ones no longer felt sustainable.

“My husband and I knew we had to make a shift in our rhythms to better serve our family,” she says.

That’s when the idea of turning sourdough into something more began to take shape.

“If I could sell a few loaves a week, I could cut back on my hours at work.”

What started as a practical solution grew into something bigger.

From first sale to full-time shift

In January 2024, Lindsey posted that she was selling bread for the first time.

“I was so nervous,” she says. But the support of friends and family kept her going.

“I loved it because I could be creative and make it exactly what I wanted it to be. I loved sharing the behind-the-scenes of making bread, and connecting with my community as more and more people began to follow along.”

She kept going. That meant baking every week, posting consistently, and steadily building momentum while still working her job.

A few months later, she made her first major investments in the business: an Estella mixer and a double oven she found on Facebook Marketplace. Then she applied to her local farmer’s market and decided that if she got in, she’d quit her job. She got in!

What her business looks like today

By May, Lindsey had fully stepped into a new chapter.

She became a stay-at-home mom, pulled her daughters from childcare, and began selling regularly at her local market. On her very first day, she sold out and kept selling out every week after that.

“I learned tons of lessons on how to run a business, manage inventory, and bake at a high capacity every single week,” she says. “It was challenging, but I loved it.”

Today, her business is a blend of selling her goods, teaching sourdough classes, and sharing everything she learns with her community.

“Baking is both a creative and administrative outlet for me,” she says. “I get to plan new recipes, have fun with packaging, and also be extremely organized.”

Just as important is the community she’s built.

“It’s just the coolest thing to see people waiting for my Hotplate drops to open, or have someone at a market tell me they follow me online and wanted to try my bread, or to have a customer become a friend.

After over two years of posting and baking consistently, I feel like I’m building a small, but strong corner in my real community and online community, and I never could’ve guessed it.” 

Why she bakes

At the center of Lindsey’s business is something simple but powerful.

“The heart of Lindsey Bakes Bread is to bake better bread while having fun, building relationships in my community, and spending more time with my family.”

Her journey hasn’t been perfect or easy.

“Social media does not tell the whole story,” she says. “Trying to bake and uphold the administrative side of the business with my girls at my feet is sometimes really chaotic. Then an hour later, we’re reading a book together on the couch. It’s a Tuesday afternoon, and a few years ago I would’ve been at work away from them. I cherish this opportunity. It is a gift we never thought would be possible for our family.”

A lesson that shaped her approach

Q: What’s a piece of advice about running a baking business that changed how you work?

A: If you present yourself well and put out a consistent product, there is no lack of opportunity. The real challenge is determining what your goals are, and being diligent to say yes or no depending on if an opportunity aligns with them. 

More than just bread

Her story is a reminder that you don’t need to have the entire path laid out to take the first step. When Lindsey began selling, her goal was to cut back on her hours at work so she could spend more time with her family. That quickly turned into a full on business, which led to uplifting a wider community with her own learnings and advice.

In her own words, here’s why Lindsey is passionate about helping other home bakers:

“I do not have any formal training as a baker or in business, but I have over a decade of experience in administrative roles. Organization, structure, and processes come really naturally to me, so I immediately applied that to my business.

Over the last few years of sharing online, I’ve learned there are many bakers who are desperate for this sort of structure, and I’m thrilled that I can help them in a small way. I said to my sister I’m just sharing about how I organize labels, and people are loving it! What is happening???”

Happy Microbakery May from our kitchen to yours, Lindsey! Here’s to helping home bakers build their dream businesses. We’re grateful to be on this mission with you.