We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jeremiah Richardson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jeremiah below.
Hi Jeremiah, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
After multiple work injuries that left Jeremiah 100% disabled he found himself wrapped in addiction and depression for over 10 years. A long hard battle he tried various business ventures to help offset his monthly disability payment to support his family. He eventually started a kettle corn business though covid that was very successful but extremely hard work being in the heat and cold for long hours. After Covid when things started to open back up the kettle corn business slowed down a little and he started selling at the Farmers and Crafts Market in Las Cruces, NM. He decided to complete his degree at New Mexico State University while still selling kettle corn at the Farmers Market, In January of 2023 with a year left to complete his degree Jeremiah became very ill with Covid-19.and unfortunately had to take a medical withdraw from N.M.S.U. While falling into a depression Jeremiah received a phone call from a friend who was vendor at the Farmers Market telling him they lost all but one bakery vendor and should sell bread. Jeremiah’s immediate response was NO! Jeremiah’s wife Lisa encouraged him to try making sone sourdough bread with a 130 year old started that was given to him by a friend. Jeremiah decided to try making a loaf and to his surprise was a decent loaf. He thought maybe he could give it try and learned to scale recipes to larger quantities. He asked the farmers market manager if he could try selling sourdough bread and her response was absolutely and gave him another spot next to his kettle corn booth to sell his bread. He came up with the name Proofed Bread Co. and in early March of 2023 Jeremiah took his first 50 loaves of sourdough bread to the farmers market and sold out in 30 minutes. The following weekend he increased to 75 loaves and sold out in 45 minutes, He quickly maxed out his baking capacity to 125 loaves a week and was selling our consistently every weekend within a couple of hours, After 3 months Jeremiah and Lisa decided it was time to invest in another bread oven. That increased his production to 250 loaves every Saturday. He also added on a variety of different pastries and pretzels.
A year to the date after Jeremiah and Lisa started at the farmers market they moved into their brick and mortar in Downtown Las Cruces. They now offer a variety of sourdough breads, pastries and pretzels. They currently sell over a thousand loaves weekly and have over 10 employees that help with the daily operation. They have plans to expand to Albuquerque, NM by Spring 2026. He is training one of his current employees to run the Albuquerque location with plans to expand to Colorado in the very near future.
Since Jeremiah is disabled it was extremely challenging to intrust the baking duties to others but has been fortunate to hire amazing employees who see his vision through while he oversees the daily operation of things.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Jeremiah is a self taught sourdough baker who began 2 1/2 years ago. Preciously before becoming a baker he was a Chef for 15 years. The intriguing thing about sourdough bread is its simplicity of 3 basic ingredients flour, water and salt. IT has tremendous health benefits as through a long fermentation process it makes the bread more digestible and is also great for diabetics as it is low on the glycemic index and won’t spike blood sugar levels.
Although sourdough is a premium product we make sure if customers aren’t able to afford it we will take what they can pay or give it away for free, Although there was been much success, it has never been about the money but the ability to feed people healthy bread.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Never make it about the money.
2. Lead by example. Make sure your employees see you do everything that you would ask them to do. You are never higher up than your employees other than you’re the owner.
3. Don’t be afraid to take a risk and you’re never to old to try something new. Remember “we weren’t born for millions of years and when we die we are dead forever”.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We are looking to grow our brand through either franchise are working/financial partnership. It is important we find not only someone who can financially invest but able to work in the business. There is an extreme shortage of sourdough bakeries in the United States and much needed in not only larger cities but small towns. They can connect with me through email at [email protected] or through any of my social media platforms Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.proofedbreadco.com
- Instagram: proofed_bread_co
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090427616915
- Other: TikTok @proofedbreadco
Image Credits
Image of Jeremiah and Lisa-Credits to Dee Bernal of WTHN Creative Co
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
