We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Bieber. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.
Hi Sarah , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime; why not try our hardest and do the best we can? Work ethic is a learned trait from those around us. I’m surround by some of the most hard working and driven people, I had absolutely no choice but to be the same. My Mom raised 4 kids and taught religion while we were growing up. My Grandpa started a company that eventually turned into a legacy our whole family can be proud of. Most of my pride and self worth comes from my work. Whether it was retail sales when I was in my early 20’s or slinging Industrial bakery equipment like I do now I always put in the same amount of care and try to go the extra mile. Its much easier when you do something you truly enjoy with people that build you up. I’m incredibly blessed to be surrounded by family that can both work and play well together.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My job and life consist of a lot of things to balance and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My husband and I married in 2018 and have two beautiful children. During the week I dedicate my time to Discount Bakery Equipment as a sales executive and office manager. My main focus is online sales and marketing as well as ordering product/parts and handling all shipping logistics for large and small orders. I’ve come a long way since tagging along with my Dad when I was younger filing papers for extra cash on the weekends. At 18 I moved out to break away and find my own “thing”. Took me 5 years working the grueling hours of retail to realize I belonged in sales all along. My grandpa retired in 2015 which opened an opportunity for me to come work at the family company full time on a normal schedule. I was sold on the “normal schedule” aspect and jumped on the opportunity immediately. Of course there were learning curves and hurdles I had to overcome to get into the smooth(ish) groove I’m in today. There is a lot to learn about industrial bakery equipment! It’s our job to make sure the customer is provided with the correct equipment solutions and feels secure in their purchases. We offer a 90 day warranty on all of our fully rebuilt equipment so the customer has that additional support they can rely on. We attend both the NAFDMA Agritourism Convention and GLEXPO Great Lakes Expo every year – if you’re an attendee be sure to check us out!
On the weekends I spend time with my family and working on my side hustle. I started a small bakery business this year of my own offering custom orders and providing curated menus for special events. My list of events is stacking up for 2024 and I couldn’t be more excited. My daughter and I have a blast trying out new recipes but I think her most favorite part is the taste testing!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Equipment knowledge, honesty and time management are very important aspects of both my full time job and side hustle. Customer’s can quickly sniff out someone that knows what they’re talking about and someone that does not. We collectively have many years of support and knowledge at Discount Bakery Equipment. If I don’t know the answer someone here in the office will! When it comes to the equipment I use for my bakery business it’s given me a lot of knowledge on what I should recommend to a customer who is looking to upgrade their equipment. For instance; I would never recommend a manual Kook-E-King depositor to a customer looking to produce a mass amount of cookies. I tried it one Christmas and it was a challenging learning curve to get the dough just right and getting said dough to push through the rollers and produce a consistent product. I would have never understood that if I hadn’t used it myself.
We’ve heard the phrase a million times but honesty is always the best policy. Just like any other industry we are sometimes the barer of bad news. As much as we try to avoid it – it’s bound to happen; Equipment taking longer than expected to rebuild, equipment being damaged during transit, etc. It’s easier to notify the customer immediately and keep them up to date on the progress of the issue. Being honest and transparent won’t always be the easiest route but as business owners we owe that to our customers!
One of the largest struggles for myself is time management. Being able to decipher what is more important in the moment or what needs my attention now and what can wait until later. I like to focus on emails in the morning and order fulfillment in the afternoon. Finding time to sprinkle in quoting, customer call backs, billing/invoicing, website and social media management can be a struggle but it all depends on what the customers timeline is. Having a side hustle is just another factor to take into account. All of the events for my side hustle are on the weekends but I have to make sure I’m not going to burn out.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents instilled my brother’s and I with independence. If we wanted a dog we all had to agree to put in the work. We wanted to go out with our friends on the weekend we better make sure our chores are done or we weren’t going. If we planned on getting our license when we turned 16 we better get a job for gas money. Our parents followed through on their end of the deal which made us follow through on ours. This made me realize I can do a lot on my own but they have always been there to support and guide me. Buying my own house at 21 was stressful but I knew I could do it! With independence comes confidence and self worth. No matter how hard the task may be I have the confidence to take it on because of them!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.discountbakeryequip.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discountbakeryequip/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bakeryequip/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/discount-bakery-equipment
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@discountbakeryequipment
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/discount-bakery-equipment-wayland
