Episode 142 // Julia Blaine of Strong Arm Baking
Today on the Rural Revival podcast we’re with Julia Blaine of Strong Arm Baking in Oxford, North Carolina. This is our first interview in North Carolina and it did not disappoint! Julia is sharing how it all started with a wood oven and a side hustle at the farmer’s market and a bread share program, and has since turned into a booming brick and mortar with over 68 employees! We also discuss the power of an email list, a recognizable brand, and creating great small town experiences.
Julia and her husband Thomas are proof that you really don’t have to have it all figured out, you just have to start and take it one step at a time. You’ll love hearing how this business has grown through all the stages and just how innovative and adaptive Julia and Thomas have been as they have sought to best serve their community throughout this growth.
“We didn’t have any money to start the business. We never took out any loans. We just grew very incrementally. But also it was because those same Oxford people were showing up and really supporting us. Those eight people stuck with us. They were super forgiving and they wanted it to work. They liked the idea.”
- Julia Blaine
“No one would call us a cheap place to eat, and we used to get hounded for our prices a lot. But we don’t really as much anymore because I think people recognize where the food is coming from, we buy locally, and they taste it and they’re like, ‘Dang, this is good!’”
- Julia Blaine
“That was a revelation. We’re a bakery and we’re selling bread and pastries, but these people want more. They want dinner, they want lunch, they want breakfast, but they want an experience too. They want to be together around a table, they want to see people that they know, they want to see people that they don’t know, they want to talk around a table. They want these experiences to add to their hometown life.”
- Julia Blaine
“When people think about rural communities there is the expectation that the people there don’t want a quality item because they don’t have one. But that’s totally opposite. They don’t have a quality item; that doesn’t mean they don’t want one or respect it or recognize it. And you’re not even giving them a chance by assuming you don’t want to put your business there.”
- Julia Blaine
“A lot of hard work and effort goes into it from a lot of people, and that’s what I want people to think about when they think about my business. It takes strength. And the people working here, my team, are a super resilient, strong group of people, and their hard work is what lets you enjoy that perfectly flaky croissant.”
- Julia Blaine
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