Stardough & Co.

Stardough & Co. was born out of a season when everything felt like it was falling flat. After a brutally difficult year as an assistant principal intern, I found myself in therapy unpacking the burnout, the pressure, and the feeling that I had to get everything right the first time. My therapist challenged me to try something I definitely wouldn’t be good at right away — to practice failing without losing my sense of worth. I chose sourdough… and wow, did I fail. Spectacularly. Repeatedly. But when I returned to the classroom the following year, I turned that struggle into a passion project alongside my students: make one loaf good enough to share.

By the end of the year, I did — and my students were the ones who told me to keep going. And because I’ve always been a little bit obsessed with the zodiac, the stars, and all things cosmic, Stardough was the only name that made sense. Today, Stardough & Co. is a bakery built on resilience, creativity, and the reminder that rising takes time — but it’s always worth it.