Conversations with Sadie Stutzman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sadie Stutzman.

Hi Sadie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always loved baking…I love the idea and process of turning simple ingredients into magical things through mixing and baking. And I also love that people tend to gather where there is food… it’s one of those things that draws the best out of people! BUT, given that I got two degrees in mechanical engineering, I assumed that the whole “bakery thing” would have to wait. Until one day, I decided it didn’t and I initiated my “career pivot”. It all birthed out of a very “BUSY” season. I was constantly going and doing and I needed a break. I needed a ~Full Stop.~. So, after a bit of planning (and I truly mean a bit…I pretty much just jumped in and figured it out as I went) and nailing a few of the original recipes for the OG and PEP sourdough crackers, I opened up Full Stop. Bakery! I was a little unsure, at first, how they would be accepted…did people need another cracker?! I guess the answer was and is and will hopefully always be, “YES!”. So, here we are two years later, still making crackers, still growing and learning, celebrating small wins and “crackering” with more enthusiasm than ever!

I had a lot of encouragement from family and friends along the way. While I do love it & remain obsessed with the crackers (I often have them for dinner), I admit that not every day is “sunny” and I really lean on my family to help me through those mental and emotional slumps. They offer me endless encouragement and counsel!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Yes and no. I feel like I’ve had a lot of favor over the bakery in the last two years. There have for sure been those moments when I think, “that should not have worked out”…and I’m beyond thankful for those moments. However, there have also been times that it feels VERY much like an uphill battle. Those are my very vague and brief comments about my journey in general. But specifically, I would say a struggle I’ve faced, and probably forever will, is finding a boundary/balance between saying “yes” and “no” to things. I fell into this mindset that I “HAD” to say ‘yes’ to everything, I had to grind, I had to prove that I was working hard to make this work and that every ‘yes’ was getting me closer to a storefront, etc. But too many ‘yesses’ led to exhaustion and I was running out of battery a bit. Since I feel like I’ve found a more sustainable and focused course of action on what my best ‘yesses’ are…which in turn makes it much easier to say no.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
SOURDOUGH CRACKERS!! The crackers started it all and I’m wanting them to go all the way! There aren’t a lot of sourdough crackers on the market, so I really think it’s a possibility. Stay tuned!

We’re celebrating the 2nd year anniversary of our bakery and we’ll be at The Rayback from 12-7pm on Nov 12th. Live music, raffles, 15 local art vendors/small businesses and of course, sourdough crackers!

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I feel like I should have my parents or siblings answer this one!

I feel like my personality and interests haven’t changed much over my life, but they have matured. I’ve always loved most active hobbies (volleyball, basketball, tennis, running, biking, dancing (recently), etc.) but do like to balance it with reading, baking, crafting, TV, or doing a puzzle.

Personality-wise, I’m generally an optimistic and driven person. I like a good amount of challenge and healthy competition. I would say I’m internally motivated and often put expectations into place that don’t exist from anyone else’s perspective…a blessing and a curse I think. My default personality is probably sarcasm and humor. It seems to have done okay for me so far, but I’ve also had to rein it in at times! I’m an extrovert…but I can easily overdo it and then I need to really shut it down for a couple of days to recover.

A lot of who I am comes back to how I was raised (my parents are so incredible and very cool people). I grew up in a sports family…we all played it, watched it, coached it, or some combo of all of the above. I really think that sports shaped me a lot as a person, interest-wise and personality-wise. It may be a cliche, but I think it’s an accurate one. Sports taught me how to work hard, work in teams, be goal/task oriented and how to put in the work for future success. Sports will always be something I value and promote. I hope to coach it at a high level someday, too (volleyball)!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fullstopbakery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullstop.bakery/ 

Image Credits
Solus1 Photography