Meet Ben Kullerd

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ben Kullerd a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ben, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I grew up in a family of dedicated workers, but I can thank my mom, Sue Kullerd, for my work ethic. Allow me to gush for She has always been a risk-taker, running full steam ahead toward each new goal, defying gender norms every step of the way. She earned back-to-back degrees in biochemistry and mechanical engineering before working as an airframe engineer at the naval base in Coronado. After my parents’ divorce, she raised me as a single mom, navigating three cross-country moves and several major career changes. Following a stint doing aircraft composites research for NASA Langley, she gathered data at an aerostat balloon site and later designed earth-moving equipment. She eventually went back to school not once, but twice: first to get her teacher certification, after which she taught high school math and science for almost a decade, and later to get her Master’s to become an LPC before opening her own counseling practice in 2013. Somehow, she found time to take flying lessons to help my grandfather fly his Cessna across three states, hike to Machu Picchu, raft down the Amazon River, explore parts of Mexico, Turkey, Europe and most of the United States, and go skydiving – twice! And in all of my 37 years, I could always count on her to support me in my endeavors. She is my daily reminder that a positive attitude, a curious mind and dedicated, focused work are the secrets to a life of adventure.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I started Good Judy Bakery in 2024 with a couple dozen recipes and a single wedding cake order on the books. Back then, I’m not sure that I had any clearly defined goals for the business other than to feed people – my favorite thing in the world – and to work for myself. It wasn’t until I had a few years professional kitchen experience under my belt that I felt confident enough to take that leap. Now a year and a half later, I’m happy to report that business is growing at an exciting (but comfortable) pace, and the recipe binder is so full, I had to buy a bigger one! If I had to distill my goal for Good Judy now, it would be to foster a sense of community that feels like home – safe, comforting and welcoming – in a time when it is far too easy to feel disconnected. Breaking bread with other people – family, friends, coworkers, total strangers – and making memories around a great meal has always done that for me. We have a few fun things on the horizon, including festivals in Manor this fall and winter, holiday pastry drops for Halloween and Christmas, and our second collaboration with Home Barbell Club in November: a D&D-themed Strongman competition called Strength Check, which I could not be more pumped about.

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?

Time management, recipe math and self-care. Efficiency is what separates a struggling, chaotic kitchen from a calm and successful one, so focusing on the process as much as the flavor or presentation is vital. Taking the time to ask yourself whether the tools you’ve been using are actually the best for the job, if doing things in a different order would save time, or if you can get multiple uses out of the same ingredient or process will all improve efficiency. Growing up, I remember classmates whining about why we needed to learn certain types of math, even basic algebra, but cooks and bakers use math all day, every day. Getting good with fraction-to-decimal conversions, cross-multiplication (solving for “x”) and mental math in general will prevent a lot of food waste and save you time and money. I have historically struggled with “self-care” and am still working to unlearn the idea that putting my needs first is a bad thing. It’s not. It’s selfish in the best way! This industry can be very physically and mentally taxing, and burnout sometimes felt inevitable. It turns out that getting consistent sleep, staying hydrated, going on walks in the sun, and taking time to stretch and eat a healthy meal are all very important for your sanity and happiness. Who knew?

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

There’s a line in the Tim Burton movie Big Fish about how it would help to know when the end was coming because you’d know you could survive everything else. I think it would free me from some fear and push me to have the life of adventure I’ve always imagined would just happen for me eventually. I’d travel the world and see as much of it as I could. I’d adopt all the dogs I could and take them everywhere and buy them all of the treats and toys I could afford. I’d eat everything, everywhere. I’d watch all the movies and read all the books. I’d try things that scare me. I’d stop being embarrassed about things I genuinely enjoy just because they’re “cringe.” I’d make amends. I’d gush every time I met someone I admired and tell everybody I care about just how much I love them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://paa.ge/goodjudybakery
• Instagram: @goodjudybakery

Image Credits

Joseph Veazie