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True Peak Journey: Angie Kenny

“A jour­ney of a thou­sand miles must begin with a sin­gle step.” ~ Lao Tzu

The Pref­ace

Dur­ing the fall of 2009, I attended a week-long lead­er­ship work­shop in North Car­olina.  This was a won­der­ful learn­ing and growth expe­ri­ence, and one I still hold close to me today.  The day I arrived, I sat next to a young woman, unknown to me at the time.  Our group that week was small — 7 par­tic­i­pants.  And our time together was also, very much a “get­ting to know you at a deep level” expe­ri­ence. Good, good stuff.

Back to that young woman, though.  Her name…Angie Kenny.   A soul-filled per­son, sup­port­ing the growth of a  local hotel in neigh­bor­ing Greens­boro.  We con­nected over that week together, and have con­tin­ued our friend­ship and sup­port of each other since that time.

A few months after this work­shop, Angie shared with me that her real pas­sion was bak­ing.  Not only that, she was going to give it a shot — going after her dream (awe­some, isn’t it!).  And that’s exactly what she did — and today, nearly two years later, she has a thriv­ing busi­ness, Zen Cat Gluten-Free Bak­ery, ser­vic­ing the Greens­boro area and the world!

Her motto:  Gluten-Free + Vegan + All Love (so, so fit­ting for this lovely soul!)

Read below as Angie shares a part of this jour­ney toward her true peak.

Angie and Zen Cat Gluten-Free Bak­ery

I am a dreamer.  I’m also a Gem­ini, so I like to do a lot of things and dream up a lot of ideas.  I like to learn things to help me grow and to just have an expe­ri­ence with life.  I’ve moved away from the thought that you “choose one thing to do and do it”, career-wise.  I wasn’t con­scious about this phi­los­o­phy until I looked at my job his­tory.  I’ve had expe­ri­ence in inte­rior design, farm­ing, film­mak­ing, serv­ing after­noon tea, assist­ing a bril­liant CEO and now work­ing in a bakery.

This is not a sta­tus list; it’s from where I’ve trav­eled so I value it as a snap­shot of my life.  I also see the tra­jec­tory of my choices.  One deci­sion to learn a new skill set (read: over­come fear or reser­va­tion) became a step­ping stone to the next learn­ing expe­ri­ence.  I only had to apply (basi­cally) one thing:  my heart.

Most of the “adult” career or job choices I’ve made were led by my heart and not by social pres­sures or a dol­lar sign.  Sure I wrote down the pros and cons of each move (I am an ardu­ous list maker), weighed options, took a deep breath and took a dive…

My cur­rent posi­tion in life is no excep­tion.  I am a baker.  I own Zen Cat Gluten-Free Bak­ery, and I started this busi­ness from my heart and with a few busi­ness skills picked up from my pre­vi­ous – full-time, salaried, with ben­e­fits! -  job at a very suc­cess­ful hotel and restau­rant company.

My heart and my tummy moved me!  I had to go gluten-free a few years ago, which is not an easy lifestyle change.  I was hun­gry!  I couldn’t find any good cookie to eat and worse, I wasn’t able to eat my grandmother’s most deli­cious pump­kin cake.  I knew that if I was look­ing for some­thing good to eat, then there were oth­ers out there look­ing for the same thing.

I real­ized that in help­ing myself to a good cookie, I could help oth­ers.  I would help oth­ers in open­ing a bak­ery busi­ness.  AND, I wanted to touch every­one, not just those who are gluten-free and vegan.   

This became part of Zen Cat’s mis­sion state­ment:  to cre­ate great desserts and bak­ery prod­ucts that are gluten-free and vegan (did I men­tion vegan??), that are more health­ful and that appeal to every­one.  I want to bake with mind­ful­ness, with love.  I want love and well-being to be the ingre­di­ents, along with organic sugar and fair trade cocoa.  You don’t have to be gluten-free or vegan to enjoy Zen Cat Bakery’s Oh Snap! Triple Gin­ger Cookie…you just have to love a good cookie! 

What this expe­ri­ence has brought me thus far:  joy, sweat, tears, hap­pi­ness, fear, sur­prise, fatigue, dis­ci­pline, deter­mi­na­tion, many friendly faces and love.  All those things you get when you are fol­low­ing your path of heart.

There are 2 things that keep me going

1 – When I ask myself “Can I do it, can I run a bak­ery busi­ness?”  I remem­ber my husband’s reply when I asked him this ques­tion early on:  “You are doing it”.  Present moment les­son for me.

2 – Curios­ity.  My CEO friend empha­sized the act of being curi­ous in life.  Ask ques­tions, find answers.  This helps in fig­ur­ing out new recipes, new mar­kets, busi­ness strate­gies, and of course what makes me tick, what makes oth­ers tick.   

For good mea­sure, there’s a 3rd – My dreams and ideas keep me going:  What’s next?  How can I grow the bak­ery?  What new health­ful cre­ation will peo­ple love to eat?  And the inevitable:  what comes after the bak­ery, what’s next on my life’s journey?

Angie has recently began sell­ing her deli­cious baked goods through Etsy, open­ing the world up to her yummy treats!! (check them out — they are a delight!)

I’ve tried sev­eral of her prod­ucts, and have JUST received my sec­ond batch of brown­ies (my favorite!!).   From the pack­ag­ing, to the per­sonal note of thanks, to  the care and love I know goes into every­thing she bakes — Angie has cre­ated amaz­ing and deli­cious baked goods that sat­isfy a gluten-free diet, while not sac­ri­fic­ing taste that some might expect from gluten-free food.  I eat these just because they taste great!!

Keep up with Angie by vis­it­ing Zen Cat Gluten-Free Bak­ery, lik­ing her Face­book page, and buy­ing her deli­cious­ness on Etsy!
 

Lance writes sto­ries from his heart, aim­ing to inspire and moti­vate, as you align more fully with YOUR true peak. When he’s not here, you can find him hang­ing out with his fam­ily, rid­ing a bike, or just gen­er­ally act­ing goofy.   Sign up for the Thoughts from the Tree­house newslet­ter and get addi­tional inspi­ra­tion in your email inbox!
Lance Ekum
View all posts by Lance Ekum
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Comments

  1. rob white says:
    August 24, 2011 at 7:45 am

    What a shin­ing exam­ple of con­scious and mind­ful liv­ing, Lance. Thank you for shar­ing this. The more we are exposed to oth­ers joy­fully express­ing their Authen­tic Self, the more we are urged on to apply it to our own lives. We must learn to honor our superla­tively cre­ative nature first and have no timid­ity about it. We feel most ful­filled when we go into our days act­ing as though suc­cess­ful expres­sions of our cre­ative essence are inevitable.
    rob white´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Love is a Spon­ta­neous ReactionMy Profile

    Reply
  2. Melody | Deliberate Receiving says:
    August 24, 2011 at 7:58 am

    This is bril­liant Lance! I can so relate to Angie’s drive to do more than one thing with her life. I’m the same way. When my heart pulls me in a new direc­tion, I go. I also have “start a bak­ery with all nat­ural ingre­di­ents and tons of love” on my bucket list. Per­haps Angie has beat me to it and there will be no more need for it. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there… :)

    I love sto­ries such as these. Keep ‘em comin’, Lance!
    Hugs,
    Melody
    Melody | Delib­er­ate Receiving´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Is There A “Rebound” Effect With the Law of Attraction?My Profile

    Reply
  3. Cinderella aka Laura Garber says:
    August 24, 2011 at 11:36 am

    What a nice thing for Angie to do and a con­scious way to live!

    Hope lots of peo­ple go see who who live locally — and if they don’t, go visit her Etsy store for her baked good­ies:)
    Cin­derella aka Laura Garber´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Let’s Sup­port Our TroopsMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Lynn says:
    August 24, 2011 at 11:40 am

    What a neat name for a bak­ery!
    Lynn´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sis­ters who can cook, friends and divine musicMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Keith says:
    August 24, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    Hello Lance and Angie,

    WOW! Angie is a great exam­ple and inspi­ra­tion. She has ACTED on her dream and did not allow any fear to stop her! What an inspi­ra­tion for me per­son­ally, espe­cially where I am cur­rently on my jour­ney. I am grate­ful you shared this LAnce, and for you Angie!

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:04 am

      Hey Keith!
      I love Angie’s story…and prob­a­bly even more so — as I’ve watched it unfold from the begin­ning!! So, so awe­some — what’s she has created!

      Reply
  6. Tess The Bold Life says:
    August 24, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    Angie, You look so happy. I love your…I am doing it and be curi­ous! Way to go girl­friend.
    Tess The Bold Life´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Bold Living…SummertimeMy Profile

    Reply
  7. Aileen | Kaizen Vision says:
    August 24, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    Such a deli­cious post!
    I love hear­ing about oth­ers pur­su­ing their entre­pre­neur­ial jour­ney and fol­low­ing their heart. — and I love gluten-free foods which are a bit chal­leng­ing to find at times.

    I loved this: When I ask myself “Can I do it, can I run a bak­ery busi­ness?” I remem­ber my husband’s reply when I asked him this ques­tion early on: “You are doing it”. Present moment les­son for me.

    The rea­son I loved it is — it reminds me how often I too for­get that I am doing the thing I’m want­ing and doubt pops up — and for a moment I believe the doubt. It’s very a human thing do to — and read­ing it reminded me.
    Aileen | Kaizen Vision´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..4 Easy Ways To Bring Feng Shui Into Your HomeMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:08 am

      Aileen,
      Love what you have shared here, and how easy it can be to let doubt creep in. It sure can be! And yet — if we really are out there “doing” it — that’s a tes­ta­ment, right there, to really liv­ing our life. And that’s a great reminder!!!

      Thanks for being here — I just love the energy you bring to the comments!

      Reply
  8. Angela Artemis/Poweredbyintuition says:
    August 24, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    Angie,
    This is fab­u­lous. I’m gluten intol­er­ant. I found out back in 2008. I’ve got­ten used to it but I sure do miss baked goods such as bread and but­ter and bagels and brown­ies. How you can you live in the NY area and not eat a bagel? I dream about eat­ing bagels with cream cheese.….
    It’s so great that you acted on your dream and that your now help­ing so many peo­ple.
    Keep u the great work.
    Angela Artemis/Poweredbyintuition´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Are You a Human Being or A Human Doing?My Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:10 am

      Angela,
      Mmmm…bagels. They sure are delicious!!

      You should def­i­nitely check out Angie’s Etsy site — lots of yum­mi­ness there!! I’ve tried sev­eral — and they are all so, so delicious!!

      Reply
  9. David Stevens says:
    August 24, 2011 at 10:22 pm

    Hello Angie & Lance,
    Well, you can’t argue with that. Good for you, hold the dream, embrace it with pas­sion.
    Con­tin­ued good wishes & be good to your­self
    David
    David Stevens´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Words…..My Profile

    Reply
  10. Bill Jensen says:
    August 25, 2011 at 4:42 am

    it made me feel so good to read that, brought out a tear of hap­pi­ness.. I really miss you guys.…

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:13 am

      Hey Bill!!
      Great to see you here!! And I’m right there with you — this arti­cle also reminded me how much I miss our group. We should do a reunion — and then we could all have some of Angie’s deli­cious treats (and some great con­ver­sa­tions, t0o!)!!

      Reply
  11. Evita says:
    August 25, 2011 at 8:47 am

    Won­der­ful guest Lance!

    And Angie it is such a plea­sure to get to know you through Lance here and learn about your inspir­ing story! Thank you for being a spark of joy and light, and shin­ing exam­ple for oth­ers of how won­der­ful mind­ful liv­ing can be in all areas of our lives. Fol­low­ing your pas­sion can only lead to good things, and you are also pro­vid­ing such an amaz­ing ser­vice to the world. Thank you!
    Evita´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..When Worlds Col­lide: Under­stand­ing the Chal­lenges of Life on Planet EarthMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:15 am

      Hi Evita!!
      It’s so cool what Angie is doing!! And it is, espe­cially so for me, as I’ve watched this all unfold over the last cou­ple of years.

      …and it’s just sim­ply delicious!!!

      Reply
  12. Tim says:
    August 25, 2011 at 9:37 am

    Lance:

    Wow, this is such a great story to share! Angie’s story is such a great exam­ple of some­one fol­low­ing their pas­sion and mak­ing a liv­ing out of it. As I get older, I’m real­iz­ing that time is just as valu­able –and per­haps more valu­able– than money. So it’s great to learn about how some­body is spend­ing their valu­able time pur­su­ing some­thing they love. Thanks for shar­ing Lance and good luck Angie!
    Tim´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Week­end Musi­cal Diver­sion: Tur­tle Island QuartetMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:16 am

      Hi Tim!!
      Great, great point! Yes — time is such a valu­able resource. And it’s easy to get caught up in the “money resource”…neglecting the value of our time (and how we’re choos­ing to use it). We all have the same num­ber of hours in our day — what are we choosing…

      Thanks for being here!

      Reply
  13. Justin | Mazzastick says:
    August 25, 2011 at 11:13 am

    What a great idea, I wish we had a gluten free bak­ery near us. I went gluten-free back in Feb­ru­ary and I could def­i­nitely tell the dif­fer­ence in the way that I felt and I also lost a few pounds in the process.

    I’ll have to check out her prod­ucts on Etsy as well.
    Justin | Mazzastick´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Have You Given Up On Your DreamsMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:18 am

      Justin,
      Def­i­nitely check out Angie’s Etsy site — great, great products!!

      I know sev­eral peo­ple who have went gluten-free (I have not) — and just gen­er­ally feel so much bet­ter. And that’s well worth it!!

      Reply
  14. Audra Krell says:
    August 25, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    Lance, you con­tinue to be a mag­net to peo­ple who dream big and live hard while pur­su­ing that dream. This is so encour­ag­ing. I love that Angie is a just a real life lady who makes any­thing seem pos­si­ble for every­one. Thank you for pro­vid­ing gluten free love to a des­per­ate world!
    Audra Krell´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..5 Things Not to Say to Col­lege ParentsMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:21 am

      Audra,
      I think back to when Angie and I met, nearly two years ago. By chance, we ended up at that same work­shop together…and sit­ting right next to each other. And I’m so, so glad I did (as well as meet­ing the other very awe­some peo­ple in that work­shop). See­ing Angie’s story unfold over the last cou­ple of years has been a com­plete joy!!

      Reply
  15. Jody - Fit at 53 says:
    August 25, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    OK, I love the point — thank you Lance! BUT I am so caught up in the bak­ery goods! Lance, if you recall, I am always on the look­out for good cook­ies as they are my go to treat. Those gin­ger coconut ones — OMG!!! And the rest of the goods — I just drooled all over my key­board! :-)

    None the less, a great read!
    Jody — Fit at 53´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Über Fit Neigh­bor Told Me So…My Profile

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:22 am

      Jody,
      Mmmm.…cookies!!! I just had a nut but­ter cookie from Angie (it was amazing!!)!

      Ha!! Hope­fully your key­board is still usable!!!

      Have a SUPER weekend!

      Reply
  16. Debbie @ Happy Maker says:
    August 25, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    Won­der­ful Angie I am very proud of you for fol­low­ing a dream and mak­ing it real. Thanks lance for shar­ing Angie’s story with us. It is very inspi­ra­tional and we all need to here sto­ries of dreams com­ing true. thanks Angie and bless­ing to you.
    Deb­bie
    Deb­bie @ Happy Maker´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..10 Little-Known Fac­tors That Could Affect Your MarriageMy Profile

    Reply
  17. Megan Bord says:
    August 25, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    Angie, I’m hooked! Not only by your glo­ri­ous smile and ener­getic glow, but by your life phi­los­o­phy to do what moves you. I’m per­haps not as adven­tur­ous as you, but I have dreamed of doing every­thing from act­ing, to being a bar­rista, to host­ing a radio show, to mar­ry­ing a mil­lion­aire, to … oh there are so many. (And yes, I think “mar­ry­ing a mil­lion­aire” could actu­ally be a job in itself!)

    I’m off to visit your web site and pos­si­bly order some gluten-free, vegan good­ies. There’s a bak­ery where I live that also makes gluten-free, vegan baked goods and I absolutely adore them. For my birth­day in Octo­ber, I’m excited to order one of their spec­tac­u­lar layer cakes… Ohh­h­h­h­h­h­hhh, I think I’m drool­ing now.

    Lance — thank you for this post! I knew from the minute I saw the teaser in my email inbox that I’d love read­ing it. Boy was I right! Both you and Angie rock!

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      August 26, 2011 at 7:27 am

      Megan,
      Mar­ry­ing a mil­lion­aire!!! (I *love* it!!! And — it prob­a­bly is a job in itself!!!)

      Angie’s good­ies are so, so deli­cious!!! (I’ve just had a nut but­ter cookie, too — and those, along with the brown­ies, are my very favorites!!)

      Cake!!! Birth­day!!! I want to be there!!!

      Yum­mi­ness!!! (YOU!!!)

      Reply
  18. Anna says:
    August 26, 2011 at 5:40 am

    Cool name for the bak­ery I think. I vis­ited Zen Cat Bakery’s site, I was hop­ing to find a clue about the nam­ing rea­son, but could not find any­thing about it :) . It sounds just so cool, a name that really remains in your head after hear­ing it once.
    Anna´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..How the hell did I get so damn obb­sessed about teeth?My Profile

    Reply
  19. Galen Pearl says:
    August 30, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    Great story! I espe­cially love her husband’s response. “You are doing it!“
    Galen Pearl´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..For­give­ness, the Final FrontierMy Profile

    Reply
  20. Joe says:
    August 31, 2011 at 5:38 am

    I went to col­lege with a girl who, once she grad­u­ated with the Com­puter Sci­ence degree, quit her IT job after 6 months and went back to school for a course on bak­ing. She now works at a very suc­cess­ful bakery/catering com­pany in the city. At first we all thought she was nuts for leav­ing a steady pay­check for a career in bak­ing of all things – but she is one of the few peo­ple I know who are truly happy with their jobs. It’s nice to know Angie and Zen­Cat are fol­low­ing a sim­i­lar path.

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      September 2, 2011 at 1:34 pm

      Joe,
      …it’s all about fol­low­ing you heart!! And — very cool for your friend, and that she did this also!!

      What looks crazy…is very often the very coolest thing!

      Reply
  21. Dr. J says:
    August 31, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    That’s a great story! Of course she is a Gem­ini and they are always slender!

    Ok, she earned it :-)
    Dr. J´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Lab Notes: Spe­cial Boots May Lower DVTs Due to C-Section; Choco­late May Improve Heart HealthMy Profile

    Reply
  22. Andrew Walker says:
    August 31, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    Hi there. Thanks for shar­ing this story. Very moti­vat­ing!
    Andrew Walker´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..CedarCh­ests Coupon CodeMy Profile

    Reply
  23. Jodi P. Woodard says:
    September 1, 2011 at 4:41 am

    I love the story too! I always tell myself: if she can do it, I can do it. Really nice moti­va­tional reading!

    J.
    Jodi P. Woodard´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..How to Make a Beat for Your Song?My Profile

    Reply
  24. Holly Latty-Mann says:
    September 2, 2011 at 8:40 am

    Lance, thanks for fea­tur­ing our amaz­ing rock star Angie!
    I was a part of that lead­er­ship course Lance men­tioned, and the 8 of us (includ­ing the facil­i­ta­tor) saw the birth of Zen Cat. We all wit­nessed the courage, the pas­sion, the drive, the smarts that drove the birth of Angie’s dream. Angie, another beauty about you and your busiess is how mod­est you are about your great­ness, which of course is in keep­ing with Zen Cat Bakery’s phi­los­o­phy of well­be­ing.
    Angie, I know I’m late in post­ing this, but every­time Zen Cat or your name comes up, it is like receiv­ing a big ball of happy, heal­ing energy and always puts a smile on my face.
    Tell your kitty that my cat Romeow sends his love. : ) Holly

    Reply
    • Lance says:
      September 2, 2011 at 1:38 pm

      Holly,
      You and I both know, first­hand, just how amaz­ing and bril­liant Angie is!!

      And to have been along on this Zen Cat journey…from the day it started — so cool! And it is, because Angie is out there, fol­low­ing her heart…and doing it!!!

      So, so, so great hav­ing you here!!

      And our cat, Rufus…he sends his love to Romeow, to you, and to Angie!! (and I do too!!!)

      Reply

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