Name: Jordann Windschauer
Age: 25
Location: Tampa, Florida
Business/Blog: Base Culture
Website: www.baseculture.com
Twitter: baseculturellc
Instagram: baseculturellc
Facebook: facebook.com/BaseCultureLLC
“Bread” has a negative connotation in Paleo food culture. Sandwiches. Muffins. Bagels. Wraps. You name it—if it’s packed with “whole grains,” Grok didn’t eat it. And if you don’t want to experience the host of side effects from it (you’ve heard it all before: leaky gut, “grain brain,” weight gain, bloating and lethargy), you don’t eat it, either.
But what you wouldn’t give sometimes for a hearty sandwich with roasted turkey, mustard or mayo, crispy lettuce and tomato, maybe some creamy fresh avocado or quality, raw grass-fed cheese? A blueberry muffin with eggs over easy and crispy fried bacon? A warming slice of fresh-baked banana bread or a melt-in-your-mouth brownie alongside a chilled glass of unsweetened almond milk?
Jordann Windschauer, founder of Base Culture, decided to change that three years ago after an enlightening Paleo challenge inspired her to be the change she wished to see in the world.
“After graduating from college in 2012, I moved to downtown Tampa and joined a CrossFit gym. I participated in their Paleo challenge that began soon after I joined simply because I wanted to make friends. Once I completed the 30-day challenge, I lost 5 inches of total body fat, decreased workout times and increased the amount of weight I was able to lift,” she says about her humble beginnings.
Jordann adds, “What really won me over was the lifestyle shift I was experiencing. I had more energy throughout the day and was able to sleep through the night. I continued eating by the Paleo guidelines for another 30 days to see if it was just a fluke. Sure enough, I continued to see the same results and realized I was changing mentally and physically for the better,” she says.
Everything was going wonderfully… except for her sweet tooth.
“I wanted a brownie at night and a piece of banana bread in the morning. At the time, there were no baked goods in the marketplace that followed the Paleo diet, so I began making my own,” she said.
Becoming the CEO of a Paleo-based bread company was not originally in Jordann’s post-college plans. She had earned a mass communications degree, specializing in public relations, from the University of South Florida in May 2012, and her aspiration was to become an event planner.
“After graduating, I got a job planning corporate events at an engineering firm. This was a transition period in my life where I was figuring out what it was like to live in the ‘real world,’” she says.
As Jordann began to experiment in the kitchen, however, making Paleo breads for herself, a different plan began to find her.
“I began doing research to find what was and wasn’t Paleo. I also did a lot of experimenting in my apartment kitchen with different combinations of nut flours and natural sweeteners and learned quickly what worked and what didn’t. Three months later, my family and friends were telling me that they would pay me to make them baked goods that followed the Paleo diet,” she said.
The rest is history.
The now-25-year-old explains how a cooking experiment for herself turned into a Paleo-bread company, providing modern day Groks with grain-free, cardboard-taste-free bread options.
Q. How did your business unfold?
Windschauer: When family and friends started asking me to make them my breads, I was excited to make a little bit of extra cash, so I would work my desk job from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., work out from 5:30 to 6:30 and bake from 7 p.m. until all the orders were complete. On some occasions, this did not end until 3 a.m. Deliveries would take place on the weekend. I had created a Facebook page for my items, post when I would be baking, and collected orders in this manner from the local community. I quickly became the local Paleo girl with the sweet stuff.
Q. How did your business really begin to take off? Any distinct “a-ha” moments in your journey?
Windschauer: Word began to spread of what I was doing, and a local news station tweeted me, asking if I wanted to come in for an interview. I was thrilled with this opportunity, bought a new dress and heels, and went to the news station. The interview went flawlessly, and I left knowing that I conveyed the message I wanted to about my small company. To my surprise, the news station put my story in their network pool and their sister stations all over the country picked it up and played it through a week’s period of time. I had people and stores all over the country calling and wanting me to make and sell them my baked goods. This was the moment of realization that there was a hole in the marketplace that I could fill, and in just one week, Base Culture went from a hobby to a business.
Q. What need or role does Base Culture serve in the community?
Windschauer: People are becoming more focused on health and wellness, and as a result, they are paying more attention to what they eat. The importance of eating natural food that fuels the body and uses the food as energy instead of being stored as fat has become prominent in many lifestyles. However, people still want to enjoy their life with products that allow them to indulge in their sweet tooth without breaking their diet. Base Culture serves those people and hopes to inspire them to continue their pursuit of living out their dreams.
Q. What challenges have you faced in the process of starting and running a business?
Windschauer: I started a business in a niche market that didn’t exist… EVERYTHING is a challenge! From expansion, to a lack of capacity due to demand, to funding, to food safety certifications, to an ever-changing marketplace, to fluctuating ingredient costs, I have faced multiple challenges every day. Starting a business is not easy and is not for everyone. You need a strong backbone and a fire to fight until the end. If those do not exist, you will simply crumble, as the pressure these challenges bring can become crippling.
Q. What top three things have you learned that you wish you’d known before?
Windschauer:
- It is all about the people. Don’t do business with anyone you wouldn’t consider a friend. If you do not trust them as a friend, you will never trust the decisions they are making that could affect your business.
- When you’re making a major decision that could change the future of your business, fear complacency, not the unknown. Trust your gut and don’t be afraid to get it wrong, because if you don’t try, you will never know what could have been.
- What you know to be true today can be taken away tomorrow. We are guaranteed nothing. All we can do is do our very best every single day and find joy in every experience, good or bad. This is an opportunity that is terrifying in a wonderful way, but if you can embrace that, you have the ability to change lives.
Q. Any advice for other entrepreneurs?
Windschauer: It is not about making the right decision 100 percent of the time. Actually, in the beginning, you will get it wrong more often than right. That’s just the way it goes. It is how you handle the struggles that will lead you to the success you are looking for and the perseverance you have to not quit during the process. A wrong answer or challenge, to most people, is perceived as a failure; however, success comes from how you handle these troubling times and move forward with a better knowledge of what works and doesn’t work. If you’re able to shift your perspective about “unintended outcomes,” which are commonly referred to by most people as “failures,” to “trials” or “attempts,” in which you gain knowledge and experience to move forward in a different direction. By doing this, you will avoid becoming defeated and will be able to get back on your feet right away rather than wallowing in what seems to be an impossible defeat. It is all about having the right perspective.
Q. What are your vision and goals for your company? Anything coming up we should know about?
Windschauer: Base Culture’s vision is to help people develop their own Strong Base and Spirited Culture. That’s what we’re about. I want to evoke a positive emotion that sparks inspiration to live a life of enjoyment. To transport individuals to a place that is free from the daily hustle and struggles they face. Base Culture is a lifestyle brand that will help others find tools to make their “happy place” even better. We want to make things “Simple. Natural. Primal.” by embracing a healthy lifestyle that empowers people to explore opportunities and make positive choices in their life. To allow them to realize their hopes and dreams, and press forward with confidence that they can accomplish whatever it is they want to do. Real life, real talk, real people, doing real things that make them happy.
