Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenifer Clark
Hi Jenifer, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I always wanted to have a farmers market booth- got chickens to sell eggs only to find out I’d never have enough for profit. My sister got a sourdough starter- February of 2024 I established my own and started making more bread then we, and my funny farm could eat…. Started selling at the local archery center my disabled husband frequented. In a couple months I made the booth fee for the Lilburn market. Holding a job of my own had been hard, as both my husband and I are disabled but in different ways. Fridays at the market were a blur! The hot sun, lots of local people. I’d sell out two hours into a four hour market, selling sourdough bread, baked two at a time, pans of cinnamon rolls and of course those eggs. End of season, no clue what I’m gonna do next, Haven bodega is downtown Lilburn heard of my bread and gave me an outlet. Now I can bake a dozen loaves at a time, and my customers can find my bread and baked goods fresh at the bodega. One year in and my fresh simple sourdough bread is a local favorite.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
First month into market season, both my home oven and fridge died, and I needed those for my cottage business. A bad car accident mid season and several disabling diagnoses which explains the heat intolerance and passing out, but I didn’t give up. Used baking as a form of physical therapy.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was born into the kitchen industry. Family did it, I started apprenticing at 14. When I was a teen worked bakery for Mrs Rhodes bakery and a stint at the German bakery and bit at Publix, never thought I’d be a baker again. Went to college to be an educator for highschool history, but my health got in the way. Before Valkyrie Sundries is was what I called a “feral housewife”, taking care of my disabled marine husband.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Metal and blues. I don’t do podcasts and such. Music. I collect vinyl records and local metal albums. I’m likely just listening to the same thing I’ve been listening to for the last 20 years.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Photo credits to Jessica Grace photography ( who I didn’t know put me in for this, she just recently contacted me about eggs and she offered to help with the pictures, small town support is wonderful)
