Catherine Misener talks about baking all day, dreams about it at night, thinks about it 24/7– she blames it on the Brownies. No, not the luscious chocolatey kind, but the Girl Scout kind. Earning her Brownie badge in cooking led to her becoming the family cook and to her lifelong love of baking.
“Throughout my college education and teaching career, I knew I’d open some kind of tea room or a bakery later in life,” she said. Even though she was finishing her advanced degree and teaching in the sociology field, she and her husband, Chris, recognized they shared a passion for baking and decided to commit to fulfilling it.
“We said, ‘We both love this, let’s do something with it,'” said Misener. “Eventually I made the full switch from an academic career to baking. I should have done it sooner.”
Name: Catherine Misener
Residence neighborhood: Salmon Creek
Business name: deda’s artisan bakery
Business address: 11819 N.E. Highway 99
Web: dedasbakery.com and on Facebook and Instagram
Age: 47
Educational/professional background: A native Texan, I’d lived in San Antonio and Austin, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. I attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where I earned a Master of Arts in Sociology. I’ve worked in the culinary trade as a hostess, waitress, kitchen manager and floor manager. But my favorite job was as kitchen manager of a New Orleans-style restaurant in San Antonio. I traveled to New Orleans as often as possible. One trip, I almost didn’t come back home — I was going to find a job, get an apartment and become a chef. But I was talked out of it and decided to finish my degree.
I had my own catering company — Catering by Catherine — as an undergrad student. It was super small, but taught me two things: that I love the culinary world, and that I didn’t want to be a caterer!
How — and when–you got started in your business: Chris attended a Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Austin, Texas. While I was in grad school, he applied for a job at a cheesecake bakery. Before the interview was over, the owner asked if he wanted to buy the business. With help from my father-in-law, we bought the business and expanded it to include a variety of baked goods. I continued to teach and work on my degree but helped Chris at the bakery. Eventually, I made the full switch from an academic career to baking. I should have done it sooner.
When we moved to Vancouver, we planned to open our bakery here and eventually found a commercial kitchen space and started baking wholesale. We had dreams of opening a retail space, but never thought it would happen. Deda’s location used to be a cookie bakery. The owner had some equipment listed on Craigslist. We came in to look at the equipment — before we left, he’d asked if we wanted to take over his lease! Funny how things happen. We took it as a sign, thought about it for two weeks, and then decided to move forward with our dreams and opened deda’s bakery in November 2015.
Personal/business philosophy: We care about what we do — the ingredients we use, the craft of baking. We want everything to be the best it can. But I guess through all of that, what matters is “people.” You do whatever it is you do with others in consideration. It’s either that or “only ever consume really good chocolate.”
Most rewarding part of job: Sometimes people come in — the first thing they do is comment on how amazing the place smells.
Usually bread is coming out of the oven, or maybe it’s coffee cake (streusel baking smells incredible). Then they say something like, this takes me back to when I lived in Germany or France and we’d go to the bakery nearby.
Or memories of their childhood — something their grandma made or that they would look forward to eating on special occasions. I love that — that our place takes them back to good memories. And when I see them take a bite out of something — maybe it’s a bread that Chris makes or one of the cookies I make — and that look on their face, their smile.
That we can make something that nurtures someone in some way — that’s pretty cool. It strikes us that this place has a positive vibe; we’ve become part of our customers’ lives. We weren’t expecting that. People say coming in here is like therapy. We’re making friends, community.
Most challenging part of job: Not enough hours in the day or days in the week. We’re such a small business — smaller than micro. Growing is tough — you’re not sure if you will be busy enough to bring someone on, but you know you need the help to grow. Just finding time to do everything you need and want to do.
Something surprising about your work: Neither of us were expecting such a tremendous show of support from our community. We’re sort of tucked away, amid a variety of businesses. That people venture out, often having to really search for us — that’s incredible. And they tell their family, friends, neighbors about it. They pick up boxes of baked goods and hand them out, along with our business cards — and then those people come in and they tell others about us. The power of word-of-mouth. So I guess the appreciation for what we are doing — that appreciation is reciprocal!
Best feature of my Clark County community: Well, I guess that would be what I wrote above. This community — our community — is very encouraging and supportive of small businesses! And they love baked goods.
What is your favorite travel destination and type: I had to look up “travel” in an online dictionary. I don’t think driving between our home and the bakery actually counts. Some day, though. Some day.
Hobbies: I write. And I enjoy playing games on Steam. I rely on our sons, Stephen and Brennen, to pick out the games I’d most like to play.
Chris loves to barbecue (I’m a lucky gal), and read, plus outdoor activities. We recently started yoga.
Favorite restaurant/pub: Our family’s weekly splurge is Dutch Bros.
Most enjoyable book/play/movie/arts event in past 12 months: Chris and I both loved Ben Stiller in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Very inspiring. I’ve never considered myself courageous. That movie encouraged me to follow more of my dreams. As for books — well, I do tend to read cooking and baking books all the time. But I also love to read Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series. Beautifully written books about loyalty, loss, life.
Something you’d like to do this year/within five years: Um, travel?? I hope we can take our boys to Denmark in a couple of years (they think they want to live there). Business goals — to open a second location in our community!
One word to describe yourself: Hopeful.
Person you’d most like to meet: Alan Alda
