Making the Gluten-Free Life Sweet with Sandi Macklom and Sandi Sue's Gluten Free Bakery

Summary

On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell chats with Sandi Macklom, the Founder and Owner of Sandi Sue’s Gluten Free Bakery. This shop caters to the Northwest Arkansas community with gluten-free breads, pies, cakes and custom orders. After adopting a gluten-free lifestyle, Sandi found it challenging to discover tasty gluten-free alternatives. Being an avid baker, she decided to rectify this gap by opening Sandi Sue’s Gluten Free Bakery. Throughout the episode, James and Sandi delve into the bakery’s mission, Sandi’s experiences at Brightwater (Center for the Study of Food) and the advantages of founding her bakery in Bentonville. 

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Show Notes

(0:59) Introduction to Sandi Macklom

(3:23) Founding Sandi Sue’s Gluten Free Bakery

(6:47) About Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food

(8:43) Why Sandi Sue’s Gluten Free Bakery Started at the 8th Street Market

(10:45) Sandi Sue’s New 14th Street Location

(12:11) How Bentonville’s Culture Has Helped Sandi Sue’s

(15:30) Bentonville’s Exciting Future

(18:09) #BecauseBentonville Story

(22:51) Advice for People Thinking About Starting a Business

(32:01) Closing Question

‍Links

James Bell 

Bentonville Economic Development 

Sandi Macklom

Sandi Sue’s Gluten Free Bakery

Quotes

“8th Street provided us a great opportunity for proof of concept. It essentially limited financial risk on our part because we self funded…albeit it was only a hundred feet, we could get our product to a newer and larger segment of the community and make sure that what we thought was good is what everybody else thought was good.” - Sandi Macklom, (8:43)

“The thing that Northwest Arkansas, Bentonville and Rogers specifically, have is the breadth of things to do. It feels like a larger town with everything going on and all the social events, but you still have the regulars. I still recognize my people when they come in…you don’t really get that in larger cities, and that’s what brought me back [to Bentonville].” - Sandi Maklom, (12:32)

There were two things I was cognizant of when I was starting my business: One, the financial side because you can’t build a sustainable business if your finances aren’t in order…and the other harder thing, finding a marketing team that you trust…because you can have the best thing in the world, but if people don’t know you’re out there and how to find you, it doesn’t matter.” - Sandi Macklom, (23:31)

“Right now, a gluten-free diet is the only treatment for celiac disease. That’s why it’s such a passion of mine that people can come to my bakery and eat everything on the menu…being able to provide good food for people who unfortunately don’t usually get it, we’re very privileged and humbled and lucky to be able to do that for our community.” - Sandi Macklom, (32:15)