From Our Mesa Sourdough Microbakery

BUSINESS OWNER: Sisario & Anabel Mesa 

BUSINESS NAME: From Our Mesa Sourdough Microbakery 

MAIN PRODUCTS/SERVICES: Sourdough breads and baked goods 

LOCATION: Sioux City, Iowa 

WEBSITE: www.hotplate.com/fromourmesa 

IG & FB: From Our Mesa 

Short description of your business: 

We are a home-based sourdough microbakery in Sioux City, Iowa, serving small-batch, long-fermented artisan sourdough breads and baked goods. While we are not organic certified, we do use organic flour in all our baked goods and love incorporating organic, high-quality ingredients. 

What motivated you to start your business? 

During the pandemic, I was determined to make good bread for our family and learn the art of sourdough. In March 2022, I made a sourdough starter from scratch and started making bread. I fell in love with the process! My first few loaves were a bit flat, but I didn’t care. I was just excited to be making bread at home!  

Our friends asked if I’d sell to them, but I wasn’t ready. I didn’t think my bread was good enough to sell, and I was also working full-time. I didn’t have the time and energy to dive into bread making on a full-time basis. I just continued baking for our family and gifting a few loaves here and there. In retrospect, that’s what helped me improve my baking, so I’m grateful for that. 

In July 2022, we found out we were expecting our greatest blessing, allowing me to stay at home. This gave me time to bake, but then I had to stop because the morning sickness was pretty rough. After our baby arrived, making sourdough bread stayedl on the back burner because we wanted to soak up that precious time with our newborn.  

I really missed baking for my family, so I finally started doing it again. In July 2023, I sold a few loaves, and it just took off from there. In August, we officially launched From Our Mesa Sourdough Microbakery. The name From Our Mesa is special to me – it is a play on our last name! Our last name (Mesa) means table in Spanish, which is fitting because I started making sourdough in our home, on our dining table. It’s a true joy to get bread from our mesa to yours.

In September, we had our first-ever vendor pop-up, and it sold out within a couple of hours. I was baking more than 20 loaves in our home kitchen oven, which would take me more than eight hours because I could only bake two loaves at a time every 40 minutes. In October, we prayerfully decided to purchase a bread oven that allows me to bake 12 loaves in just 30 minutes! We are now baking more than 60 artisanal loaves and other sourdough goods every week!

What drives you each day?

My family; I’m grateful for the privilege of being able to stay at home with our baby and for the opportunity to pursue this creative outlet that accidentally turned into a business. I will never take that for granted. I’m also strongly motivated by the joy that it brings me to be able to make good bread for our community.

What’s unique about your business?

We specialize in small-batch, handmade sourdough breads, and baked goods. Everything we bake is made with our sourdough starter “Bruno”, and we never use commercial yeast!  We are a small family business and take pride in our work. Yes, I’m the baker behind From Our Mesa, but I could not do this alone. My husband does a lot of the vital behind the scenes work in the business, doing the packaging and organizing of the preorders. He loves being organized and has an impeccable attention to detail. We also have a lot of help from my dear mom, sister-in-law, and nephews, who lovingly watch our son when it gets a little hectic on prep days. My dad, uncle, and older brother helped us with our bakery room set-up, and our cousins and friends have been there to cheer us on since our very first pop-up. It really does take a village!

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome as you grow your business? 

Balance. I’m still working on it, I love baking , but I have other important things in my life that take first place and I never want to lose sight of that.

What has been your greatest reward? 

I see how this business has blessed our family. My husband was able to stop working nights and be home with us. We still work hard, but now we get to do it together! Another great reward is seeing the joy in our customers’ faces when they pick up their bread. Their positive feedback keeps us going!

How have you benefited from the startup community in Sioux City and the region? What resources did you use? 

The startup community and customers have been very supportive of the launch of our business. We would like to thank Iowa’s West Coast Initiative for providing us with this opportunity for the article. We are also grateful for the kindness Flippin Vintage Boutiques & Thrift, Red Valley Natural Foods, Council Oak Supply, and Jefferson Beer Supply extended to us in allowing us to do pop-ups. We also received the support of Best Of Siouxland. They kindly shared one of our reels on their page at no cost to us.

Why is it important for the community to support startups and small businesses? 

Community support is vital for businesses; without it, we wouldn’t be successful. We feel that we truly have the best customers! Week after week, we are blown away by their positive feedback. We have been consistently gaining new customers each week and that has been thanks to our customers who tell their friends and family about us. Our hearts are filled with gratitude when we continue to see our customers return. Everyone can shop where they please, but for them to reach out to us and choose our product is something special!

What is one thing you know now that you wish you knew when starting your business? 

I think fear sometimes holds us back, so if we had known that our community would be so supportive, we wouldn’t have been so afraid. Another beautiful aspect of owning a small business is experiencing the support of other businesses in our area—they get it, and they are happy and ready to lift you up!

What advice would you give to someone looking to start a business? 

Don’t let fear hold you back from pursuing something you’re passionate about! Give it your best, and don’t get discouraged if things don’t work out in the beginning. Reach out to other small business owners and ask questions; you’ll be surprised by how many entrepreneurs in our community are willing to help you!

How can the community continue to help your business? 

Keep telling others about us! Share a picture when you pick up your baked goods and tag us. Leave an honest review on our Facebook page. If you like our baked goods, tell us, we love to hear about it!

What are some future goals for your company? 

We are content with where we are now, but as we continue to grow, we have also thought about long-term goals for this little business! We hope to one day have a storefront with the rest of our family. We also hope to be at the farmer’s market this season!