If there is a theme to this website, it is reconnection. At its most basic it is an outlet for me, a journalist and editor by training who accumulated 20-plus years in those trades, then got sidetracked (voluntarily) by taking on the resurrection of a wholesale bakery for about five years as COO.
It is also about providing a space to (hopefully, and perhaps naively) reconnect readers and website perusers who are either on opposite sides of the political spectrum, or are simply tired of reading about the latest tantrums and over-the-top blathering. The idea first appeared in my noggin during a drive across the state of Minnesota in the early days of October, 2016, to South Dakota, and the subsequent reality that occurred shortly thereafter. There’s more to that story, of course.
Finally, it is about reconnecting to some talented folks I’ve met and worked with over the years, of whom I am twisting their arms to share their creative bursts on this site, whatever they may be.
A bit about me:
I have been a journalist and editor, most recently for Franchise Times Corp., writing for Franchise Times, the Restaurant Finance Monitor and Foodservice News. The latter I took over as managing editor for about eight years, until 2013. I have also written for a bevy of local publications, from the defunct (Twin Cities Reader) to the still-in-existence (Minnesota Monthly).
While managing editor for Foodservice News, I joined the advisory board for a troubled wholesale bakery, Saint Agnes Baking Co. After a year or so of that, in response to a query from the bakery’s owners, Gary and Deanna Sande, I negotiated coming aboard as COO. With the help of hard-working employees open to change, we turned that place around very successfully, with a 36-percent sales growth over three years and, most importantly, very strong profitability. Then this happened.
From there, I and the former Saint Agnes CEO brought the remaining crew to another wholesale bakery to set up a bread program. When that was accomplished, I resigned and started my own consulting company, Interval 51. Like my career, it’s wide-ranging. I work with small business owners (usually, but not exclusively, in the food world) to help get them organized for their next growth step, which might include working on their books and budget, to HR issues, to writing marketing materials. I also work in the media, marketing and publishing world, from writing original content to copy editing, to photography, to building WordPress websites. You can contact me about those services at this email: interval1951@gmail.com.