A milestone for Peggy Bakes: production moves into a dedicated gluten-free facility. Same recipes, same Purity Protocol oats, same hands-on care — now with the capacity to reach more shelves and more gluten-free shoppers who refuse to compromise on taste. My focus shifts to what comes next: sourcing, accounts, and growing the brand.

Outgrowing my home kitchen means moving production into a shared commercial facility — bigger batches, more capacity, and the first real conversations with independent retailers. The small, independently owned shops that say yes that year become the heart of Peggy Bakes wholesale. Customers can now find the brand on shelves, not just at markets or online.

After winning the county pitch contest, I take first place at the regional New North Launch Alliance competition. Huge exposure for a small Wisconsin business — and proof that a taste-first, gluten-free granola brand belongs in rooms much bigger than the one I started in. The wholesale conversations that follow change the trajectory.

My SBDC consultant tells me to enter. I almost don't. Peggy Bakes takes first place at the Level Up pitch contest — and the volume of orders that follows is the moment the business shifts from a passion project to something that needs real infrastructure. A reminder that the right people, at the right moment, change everything.

A summer of markets teaches me what customers actually want — and they want Peggy Bakes year-round, not just on Saturday mornings. So I build it. The website launches that fall, opening the door for shoppers across the country to find granola worth eating, no matter where they live or what season it is.

Four weeks. That's how long I have between committing to the Elkhart Lake summer farmers market and showing up at my first booth. The recipes are ready. The bags are ready. I'm not sure I am — but the customers who taste it that summer become the reason everything that follows happens. The pivot is real now.

After years in marketing and branding, I pivot to solve a problem I couldn't stop thinking about: granola that leads with refined sugar and only shows up at breakfast. I want bold flavor, balanced sweetness, and something worth eating any time of day. Peggy Bakes is born — the name, the voice, and the brand built from the ground up.