Today we’d like to introduce you to Wil Wood.
Wil, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a teen, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself. Apparently, that was obvious because I was voted “Most likely to do anything” by my graduating HS class in 1999. After graduating I ski bummed for a year, logging over 100 days on the slopes. Then I went on a church mission to the border of Texas and Mexico and learned to speak Spanish. To my surprise, the language flowed into my brain and out of my mouth quite easily.
That was the first time I realized that I might be able to do something other than race bikes in the summer and ski all winter. I returned home to Logan, Utah from those two years of service and signed up for night classes at Utah State. Because of my low grades in HS and a bad ACT score they wouldn’t accept me as a full-fledged student until I proved myself to them. After that first semester, they let me in.
During College I continued to date my HS sweetheart as I worked at the local ski shop, then in a restaurant, then I found myself baking at Great Harvest on Center Street owned and run by James and Lisa Clawson. I fell in love with the rhythm of the bakery. Early mornings, 8-hour shift done by noon, seeing the same customers several times a week. It was magic and it mostly fit me. My boss, James Clawson, offered to help me start my own Great Harvest Bread Co.
In my undergrad, I had studied to become a doctor but that wasn’t working out, I was about to graduate with a Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in graphic design but sitting at a computer all day sounded more like a slow death than a career… so I jumped at the opportunity to own my own business. Lauren had already graduated from USU so I graduated with a BA in Art USU.
We ended up buying an existing (6months) Great Harvest in Meridian Idaho. We owned it for 10 years and sold it in 2017. That 10 year was really where and when we started. I say we because my wife, Lauren, has always run the business with me. She’s there for hiring, bookkeeping, CPA meetings, and lots of the day-to-day business.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The school was really rough for me. I was diagnosed with ADHD back in 1989. It took a couple of years for my parents to go through with actually putting me on a prescription. When they finally did I went from failing to straight A’s. I didn’t like how the meds made me feel so most of my pre-university schooling was done without medication. I’d love to talk more about this if you think it’s a point of interest.
For us, our biggest struggle was moving away from family and buying our own business. The first few years were excruciatingly difficult. All we knew how to do was work, so that’s what we did. Either Lauren or I was in the bakery from 4 am to 8 pm. Our first child (Liam) was 10 months old when we started so a lot of his time as a baby and then toddler was spent in a Kelty kid’s backpack while I washed dishes and Lauren rang people up.
We learned intimately the rhythm of business, customer service, employee management, marketing, and perhaps most importantly how to have fun at work. We stressed about money and time but we worked and slowly the bakery grew in sales. We bought the bakery right at the beginning of 2008 right when the Great Recession started. That was a hurdle for us. We learned not to worry about everything we hear on the news but to deal with our current situation.
I am so glad that we started at the worst time possible because now, everything seems brighter. Our daughter Piper is a bright spot in our lives. From the moment she was born we knew she was different. She didn’t scream as loud or move as frantically as I thought she should have. After years of mysterious health problems and delayed benchmarks with no medical answers, we had her genetically tested. I say “we” but trying to explain the immense impact of Lauren’s “Mother’s intuition” is futile.
It’s one thing to hear about intuition and it’s another to witness it up close. It looks more like magic than anything else that can be explained. Anyways, Piper was diagnosed with a Chromosomal deletion on 10p 15.3 It’s not a huge deletion but enough that she is missing some notable genes. She’s very high functioning, social, affectionate, and is in mainstream classes. However, she is more work and someone has to be one on one with her a lot more than other children.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Lots of business owners say the hardest part of owning a business is employee management. I’m not saying it isn’t difficult but I love talking to and developing my employees. When someone works at Love to Cook or for me at all we set goals and have meetings on a regular basis to follow up. There’s a big difference between leading and managing.
Managing is making sure the machine runs. Leading is making sure the machine is pointed in the right direction. I’m actually a horrible manager but I love to lead. I lead by training a ton up front and then turning the power of decision-making over to my employees. When they come to me with a question I always ask them, “What would you do if I weren’t here?” 90% of the time I tell them to execute their solution.
Rather than abdicating responsibility to them, they feel yoked with me in ownership. It doesn’t end there though. Sometimes they don’t handle things how I would like or in a way that meets up with our vision. The way I try to address this (I’m not perfect at this part) is by applauding their assertiveness and willingness to make a decision.
By doing this we reinforce the mutual trust we have rather than damage it. If you want your kids to talk to you about stuff don’t yell or shame them when they confess. This creates a culture of safety and comfort not one of competition and contention. Employees help each other, there’s very little drama, and most of all, it’s a place where everyone feels comfortable and can have fun.
What’s next?
We moved the business in 2020 from 1211 N main to 795 N Main and to a building that we own ourselves. We built a beautiful kitchen for cooking classes and we plan on using this space for a long time. So… no big changes with Love to Cook. Lauren and I love talking about life and working on our relationship.
One can imagine how hard it is to live with a husband that still breaks bones every year, climbs mountains, and in all reality is still just a kid. I’m getting sidetracked. We would love to be involved in or make a course where we could help other couples learn how to communicate better. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but it’s in the works.
My mother passed away in February of this year. I wrote a children’s book to help process the grief I feel. I’m getting it illustrated and I’m really excited about that.
Contact Info:
- Website: luvtocook.com
- Instagram: @lovetocooklogan
