five years, five things I've learned - Happy Birthday to my dad!!!

If you know my story, you know the start to Haven was the deep grief I was in after losing my dad and sourdough becoming my safe place (Haven) in my processing of emotions. Today is my dads birthday and year 5 of missing him. SO I wanted to share the 5 things i've learned the past 5 years in my journey of sourdough, grief, motherhood and more. 

five years, five things I learned

If you'd asked me five years ago what this stretch of my life would teach me, I wouldn't have guessed the half of it. I thought I was just trying to get through hard days. Looking back, I was learning things I didn't know I needed — about grief, about motherhood, about community, about family, about starting over, and about what it actually takes to build something from nothing.

on grief

Grief is strongest in the seasons I'd love for my dad to be here. watching me, rooting for me, telling me he's proud.

It's not the anniversaries that get me most. It's the ordinary moments: a good week, a hard-won win, a Thursday where everything finally clicked thats when I catch myself wanting to call him and tell him about my day or facetime him with the kids. I've learned grief doesn't fade so much as it finds new rooms to live in. It moved into this business with me. Some days that feels heavy. Most days, honestly, it feels like he's still at the table.

on being a mom while building this

Building Haven while raising my kids meant constantly redefining what "enough" looks like.

There was no version of this where I will do it all perfectly. enough presence, enough hustle, enough sleep. I had to let go of the idea that "enough" was a fixed number and start treating it as something that shifts daily. Some days enough meant closing the laptop for a puzzle on the floor. Other days it meant a long night in the kitchen after bedtime. I learned to stop measuring myself against a version of "enough" that never actually existed for anyone. A side note to this one.. one things im learning and working on is that I want my kids to feel so seen and BELOVED by me and my husband even during this season that feels so so full. I want to be able to set my computer and phone down when my name is called to be able to gaze in their eyes and intentionally hear and see them. sooo yes, my enough changes everyday but this is one thing that is a non-negotiable in our crazy little launch season and beyond. parenthood>business. 

on community

Community isn't given. You have to build it.

I didn't move here with a built-in support system, and nobody handed me sixty families who trusted a stranger with their breakfast. That happened one porch pickup, one Thursday, one conversation at a time. I learned that community isn't something you wait to receive, it's something you earn slowly, by showing up consistently for people, long before you ask anything of them.

on running a business with my mom

It's the reason Haven has heart, not just a product.

Working alongside my mom hasn't always been simple. we've had to learn how to be business partners without losing "mother and daughter" in the process. But every time I second-guess a decision, she's the one reminding me why we started. Haven isn't just my story on the label. It's hers too, in every batch. It's the whole soul of this brand.

on pivoting

Pivoting isn't failure. It's listening.

Walking away from the microbakery model felt, at first, like giving something up. It wasn't. It was me finally listening... to what customers kept telling me, to what my body and my capacity could actually sustain, to what this idea wanted to become next. what I am EXTREMELY passionate about. I've learned that the businesses (and people) that last aren't the ones that never change direction. They're the ones willing to hear what needs to change and brave enough to do it.

I guess bonus one??? ;) lol 

on becoming a business owner

You don't need everything figured out to start. This has been something multiple founders have shared with me and I hold onto it tighter every week.

Five years ago I didn't have a business plan. I had a starter on my counter and a willingness to show up for it every single day. I've learned that clarity comes from doing, not from waiting until you feel ready. If I'd waited to have it all figured out, there would be no Haven... just a really good sourdough recipe nobody outside my porch ever tasted.

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None of these lessons came seamlessly, and I wouldn't have chosen most of the years that taught them to me. But I wouldn't trade what they built either. a business with my whole families hands in it, a community that started on a porch, and a brand that only exists because I kept showing up before I had any reason to believe it would work.

I know my dad would be so proud if he was still here. I also know if he was still here, he would be in the kitchen frying up waffles, official taste tester, throwing my kids around in the pool and beaming with complete pride and joy seeing what Haven has become. These are the days I miss him a little more and wish I could feel his big ol bear hug but I trust in the Lord's will for our family and I know my dad is pain free and glorifying Jesus in heaven and that gives me peace. 

if you've been here since the beginning- thank you. If you are just finding Haven, come on over to the table and take a seat! I am so grateful you all are here. 

With so much gratitude,

Breanna Founder