Storytelling Bootcamp: Bakery Shop Owner Turns Challenges into Sweet Treats

Editor's Note: The Daily Inter Lake brought six rising freshmen together this summer for a weeklong storytelling bootcamp where they learned the fundamentals of interviewing and writing a profile story.

Once an aspiring history teacher, Hannah Bjornson changed paths to be an owner of Ceres Bakery in downtown Kalispell.

“I never thought I’d be a baker,” she said. “I was going to be a high school history teacher, which is what I went to school to do. It’s kind of strange.”

Ceres Bakery opened in 2006 and has run successfully ever since. The lively 25 staff members work in controlled chaos, making hearth breads, sweet pastries and coffee.

Bjornson’s day never looks the same, from early mornings to late nights. Sometimes it’s baking bread, other days it’s fixing equipment. There are days when she must sit in front of a computer.

“Every day is different. Every day, depending on what I need to do,” she said. “Sometimes I’m there at Christmastime. I usually go in at 3 a.m. because there’s lots of baking. Sometimes in the fall I’m just sitting in front of the computer, so I’ll go in late.”

Bjornson went to school to become a history teacher. When her husband’s friend had first tried her baking, he had suggested opening a bakery. She had always loved and was passionate about baking.  

She and her husband, Rick Grimm, looked in many places, then decided to open Ceres on Main Street in downtown Kalispell. Grimm had worked in a bakery in Missoula in the past, which made it easier to open a bakery.  

Bjornson faces many obstacles in keeping the bakery successful. One challenge that comes up on a daily basis is getting work done on her computer because she doesn’t enjoy that aspect of owning a business.

She elaborated, “Staff can always tell when I have computer work to do because I come upstairs ‘Do you guys need help? Do you guys need me to get anything? Do you want me to do the dishes?’”

When there are things going wrong in the bakery, she or Grimm has to fix it. Whether it is repairing equipment or changing something, it must be done.  

She also must hold employees accountable.  

“It’s huge because I don’t want customers to be able to tell who made their coffee drink or who made their croissant,” she said. “It should always be really good, and so that comes down to making sure that everybody’s holding the same standards.”

To keep Ceres successful, she makes sure everyone is working together. The family run Ceres bakery remains successful because of their hard work, passion and love for the community.

“Turns out, nice people like to come to bakeries, so that’s been really, I don’t know, kind of an extra thing that we didn’t initially talk about. That turned out to probably be the most important,” she said.

The Inland Northwest Journalism Foundation (INJF) champions ethical local journalism as a vital cornerstone of democracy. Through grants, scholarships, and educational opportunities, we empower sustainable editorial initiatives and support journalists within privately owned media companies. By protecting community voices and preserving archives, INJF works to prevent news deserts and ensure impactful storytelling continues to inform, connect, and inspire communities throughout the Inland Northwest.

If you'd like to support local journalism in northwest Montana, follow this link: Inland Northwest Journalism Western Montana - Innovia Foundation