Meet Sarah Chisholm | Founder of Wild Rye Baking Co.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Chisholm and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When I think of risk, I think of courage. I don’t believe you can achieve a rewarding and meaningful life without embracing risk. It often feels very scary for me to take risks, but that’s usually when I need to take them! It is a risk to put yourself out there. Its risky to start a business! But I’ve taken big risks before, and my life experience has taught me that there’s some really great stuff on the other side of that comfort zone.

So: consider the risk. Consider the reward. And then consider the cost of not going after what you want.
It also helps me to remember that courage isn’t an absence of fear. It is action in spite of our fears.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Wild Rye Baking Co. disrupts everything everyone thought they knew about a baking mix from a box. I mean, what respectable pastry chef decides to put their name on a boxed mix?! This one right here! But here’s why: I love the fine art of pastry (I’m a ballerina after all) and the wild world that is working in restaurants, but I love the magic that happens when baking at home more.

I saw an opportunity to change the way people experience home baking. Especially if their lifestyle required them to be gluten free or dairy free or plant based etc… so I set out to create a line of cake, frosting and pancake mixes that reflected the way my friends and I were eating, living, loving and celebrating today. Our mixes are just as easy to make as the ones you might remember from your childhood, but they’re better tasting, better for you, and frankly, much more bad *ss.

It took a lot of time to formulate recipes with the highest quality ingredients and without any of the chemical and artificial “foods” that come standard with grocery store baking mixes, but my goodness was it worth it. One of the things I am most proud of is the fact that Wild Rye Baking is a company that critically acclaimed chefs, restauranteurs and food purveyors have come to love and back.

In response to the question about lessons I’ve learned and challenges I’ve overcome… know that there are many. When I decided to own, operate and grow my own business, I learned very quickly that I will be in a constant state of personal growth. I will often feel like I have no idea what I am doing. I will sometimes get it wrong, but that’s part of the deal. My promise to myself is to keep going. I promise to do the very best I can, with everything I have and to go back to my motivators when it gets really hard.

One current example of a motivator is a video of my friend’s kids. They’re eating our best-selling Wild Rye pancakes with utter joy on their faces, calling them “Sarah’s pancakes” and asking for seconds.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Okay, you have no idea what you just came into here with this question. I am a TRAVEL LIST JUNKIE! I have a living database of lists for every city I visit. If you’re a friend of mine, you know these lists well. If you want in on these lists, hit me up on Instagram and I’ll be happy to share.

Do:
Hike Camelback Mountain
Bike along the canal and stop for greyhounds at Ingo’s
Desert Botanical Gardens baby!
Picnic with provisions from Arcadia Meat Market at Papago Park
Heard Museum – gets me every time.
Visit the Uptown Farmer’s Market and cook dinner at my home
Shopping at Phoenix General & Framed Ewe
Lisa Sette Gallery – treat your eyes
Day trip to Sedona

Coffee:
Provision (if you like light roast)
Lola (if you like dark roast)
Moxie (if you want to experience a Mark Chaconne pastry, which believe me you do.)

Food:
Vecina – lively and soulful and unbelievable delicious.
FnB – James Beard’s best chef southwest… need I say more. Charleen, I’m obsessed with you.
Glai Baan – The set, setting and the food make for a perfect evening with friends.
The Parlor – I am admittedly biased here, but the food, drink and team are everything I love about the Phoenix food scene.
Bacanora – Good food from great people. Deal with trying to get a res. Its worth it.
Tacos Chiwas – best tacos in Phoenix.
Valentine – go for brunch or dinner, but if you do dinner: hit up bar 1912 afterwards in the back. Oh so swanky.
Wandering Tortise + Nelson’s Meat and Fish – this is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. Seafood tower from Nelson’s enjoyed next-door at the tortoise.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My life is about community and connection, so my list for this question is LONG!

That said, if I could choose one organization to dedicate this Shoutout too, it would be the Judith Svalader School of Ballet and all of the teachers there. Julie, Judith, Greg, and more… you helped me discover myself and my love for living. Ballet is the “great love” of my life. It opened up the world to me. Gave me purpose and direction and dreams. It is clear that I would not be who I am or where I am without so much of my childhood spent within the walls of JSSB. I am forever grateful and so so proud of where I come from!

Website: wildryebaking.com

Instagram: @wildryebaking, @sarahchisholmpastry

Facebook: @wildryebaking

Image Credits
Neal Mei Photography